Knitting

Mystery Knit-Along: Postcard from the Edge

June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 annbh3562 Comments

handknit shawl in purple, green, and peach colors on a white background

close up detail of a handknit shawl in purple, green, and peach colors on a white background

My in-house “colorist” helped select the lovely hues for the Spring String mystery knit-along. I am so pleased with the result that I am keeping the Postcard from the Edge shawl for personal use. When making my initial yarn selection, I identified several pairings from among my stash that looked good but I was stumped when moving beyond two complimentary skeins. However, the pattern required a third selection – a main color, a contrasting color and an accent. I will admit I was hesitant when Richard chose Farmers Market (MC), Macrame (CC), and Pumpkin Spice, a variegated accent skein as I could not envision the outcome. (Note to self – Trust the artist in the house!)

Knitting began when the first of five mystery clues was revealed on April 1 and continued quickly with the release of a new clue each Tuesday; all while learning several new stitches. The hand-dyed organic Merino from Heather Best at Sew Happy Jane had a lovely feel, flowing through my fingers. The Knit Camp pattern from Marie Greene offered clear, tech-edited directions and even provided stitch counts as the shawl grew by four stitches every other row – from just five stitches at cast-on to 419 at bind-off. The end result a triangular shawl featuring lacy scallops and slipped stitches drawn into flowery bursts.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

No fool’n…

April 1, 2025 annbh3563 Comments

…it is time for Knit Camp’s 2025 Spring String Mystery Knit-along (MKAL).

The first clue dropped today without any April Fools tomfoolery. The remainder of the pattern will be revealed over the next four weeks. Just like a well-written dust jacket blurb that offers story hints without giving away the plot, the pattern’s pre-release notes provided an overview sufficient to know this will be a triangular shawl, in three colors using fingering weight yarn.

three skeins of yarn with colors (left to right) purple, varigated coral, and green — Colors: Farmers Market, Pumpkin Spice & Macrame

The yarn for Postcard from the Edge is a lovely selection of hand-dyed, organic Merino from Heather Best at Sew Happy Jane. And, with a move to a new house always on the fringe of my consciousness, there will be three fewer skeins to pack and move as I did a “stash dive” for this project.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Mystery Knit-a-Long: Bubble Wand Shawl

December 3, 2024March 22, 2025 annbh3563 Comments

Only the barest details were revealed before the start of the fall Knit Camp mystery knit-a-long (MKAL).

The title: Bubble Wand Shawl – inspired by the whimsy of bubbles flowing gently through a wand.
The yarn: Fingering weight in five contrasting colors. Ahead of time, designer Marie Greene, shared recommendations for fiber content, including the brand and colors she chose for her initial sample. Sleuthing knitters were welcome to make their own choices. I opted to match the Knit Camp sample rather than resorting to the color wheel to find complimentary and contrasting colors that, when put together, played well.
The schedule: Five clues released, one per week in October. MKAL participants graciously kept undercover the developing design by posting progress pictures only after a new clue was revealed. As my early October schedule included hosting visiting Swiss cousins this led to my late start so I benefited from seeing my fellow Knit Campers’ progress reports.

The Bubble Wand Shawl began with a five-stitch cast-on. A four-stitch increase on every right-side row – one stitch added at the beginning of the row, two along a central axis, one at the end of the row – provided the shape and size. From that simple cast-on, the stitch count grew through the final lacy edge and a bind-off of 389 stitches. The Stroll Fingering blend of 75% merino wool and 25% nylon, knit using a larger than recommended needle size resulted in an airy fabric with a lovely drape that wraps nicely around the neck and shoulders. Now, I just need a lucky recipient.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Midsomer Mystery

July 20, 2024August 29, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

The May mystery knit-along (MKAL) with Solène Le Roux evolved from an acknowledgment of Beltane, the Gaelic May Day, into my very own midsummer celebration sans the numerous murders of the British TV drama. I cast-on with the other knitters as the MKAL began May 1 but changed plans not once but twice. I switched from a tweedy, deep forest yarn which proved too dark to reveal the delicate cables and then changed needles for a different gauge. (Note to self – The time “ saved” by not swatching is definitely not saved!)

blue handknit shawl draped on a wooden hanger — Kala Mae MKAL Shawl

close up of knit stitches on a handknit blue shawl showing lace and cables — Kala Mae MKAL Shawl

The crescent shawl showcases a soft single ply Merino in Stockholm blue, hand-dyed in Hastings at Muse2320. The cables along the top edge mimic two embedded I-cords and the central design reveals left and right leaning 2-over-2 twists that frame the braided central cable. I discovered too late that 40 grams of yarn remaining from the starting weight of 200g (approximately 874 yards) was insufficient for bottom border as designed, so I modified the pattern (something I rarely do) and exchanged the ribbed border for a lacy edge.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Celebrating May

May 13, 2024July 15, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

I discovered French knitting designer, Solène Le Roux, in 2018. Her designs offered me a glimpse into the Parisian world of haute couture through a blend of simple elegance paired with stitches that are technically challenging enough to keep me alert and learning. In the early days of Covid, I joined her for a bilingual virtual retreat and then followed her move from Paris to the Château de Parançay in southwest France where she hosts knitting classes and fiber adventures.

At the moment, I have a larger than normal number of items on my needles (two scarfs, a pair of socks, a twelve-month afghan, and a summer shawl). It feels quite frivolous to start another project, especially a mystery knit-along (MKAL) but then Solène is offering an “online knitting + meditation experience to celebrate Beltane and the month of May.” Since Clue #1 promised a variety of cables (my favorite design element) I cast on my Kala Mae mystery shawl using a rich tonal blue yarn, hand-dyed just up the river in Hastings at Muse2320.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Fritillary Socks MKAL

March 24, 2024March 23, 2024 annbh3562 Comments

With only a trio of socks to my credit and having sworn off this particular article of clothing 1,258 days ago, a new mystery knit-along (MKAL) has piqued my interest. The five clues that will evolve into the first sock will be released April 1 (no fooling) through April 13. Then I get to do all the work again to make the pair, hopefully, finishing in time for the second sock party just days into May.

Fritillaries, a flowering herbaceous perennial with bell-shaped blossoms, inspired this new knitting pattern. Whether the design will capture the delicate checked petals is yet to be discovered but the pre-clue notes promise cables – my favorite stitch.

Happy knitting!

Graphic credit: © Marie Greene

Knitting

The Tuesday Night Wrap

November 15, 2023 annbh3563 Comments

handknit lace scarf in two-toned gold yarn draped on a wooden hanger

A mystery knit-along (MKAL) requires confidence in the designer that your time and (more importantly) your precious yarn will not be wasted. As I was very pleased with my version of The Aquarelle Shawl (an April 2022 MKAL), I cast on The Tuesday Night Wrap the very afternoon the first clue dropped.

The early details alerted the 100s knitting along that the pattern would be released in four parts, create a rectangular wrap in two sizes (either scarf or larger shawl), and require two different yarns (one fingering and the other a lace weight mohair) best if undertaken in complimentary colors. With Miss Marple serving as the pattern inspiration, lace work was a must as her character is always adorned in lace – lace collars, lace gloves, even lace wound in her hair.

With finished dimensions of 16 inches by 67 inches, this scarf is wider than I would normally feature. Although the softness of this lovely merino fingering yarn, hand-dyed by Heather Best at Sew Happy Jane, will wrap nicely for squishy, cuddly warmth.

Librarian’s bibliographic note: Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s popular knitting sleuth, was introduced to readers in a short story published in 1927 and entitled: The Tuesday Night Club.

Knitting

If knitting was like baseball

September 3, 2023 annbh3564 Comments

hand knit triangular shawl with a cream colored star and orange accents

… the game would be tied 3 Scarves – 3 Shawls. An earlier decision to skip a summer sweater knit-along (KAL) did not result in a knitting hiatus but rather a steady flow of smaller projects, just perfect for gifts and silent auction donations.

Having worried I would be overwhelmed when I committed to two fingering skeins each month from the Happy Hand Dyed Yarn Club, multiple skeins of Heather Best’s rich color combos have gone directly from mailbox to needles. The purple and white shawl with a whimsical bobble edge was a Knit Camp mystery KAL pattern which paired one of the April skeins with stashed yarn. The deep teal was the second in the April showers yarn offering, again mixed with a lovely merino silk blend. Heather’s dye pots yielded totally different hues for August (reminiscent of a large scoop vanilla bean ice cream served in an old-fashioned waffle cone on a hot day) and these were transformed into Martina Behm’s Half Norwegian. My zigzag choice for Sommer Camp.

Knitting

A Sheep Story: MKAL

March 22, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

two skeins of yarn with aqua varigated tones on the left and peachy colored on the right

Who doesn’t love a mystery? Whether on paper or film? Puzzle or yarn? As a reader, channeling one’s own powers of detection against the author’s controlled revelation of details which may or may not be clues leading to the discovery of whodunit. As a knitter, reveling in a new stitch and then trying to deduce where the design will go next.

Despite our Minnesota days feeling nothing like spring, it is nearly time for Marie Greene’s spring mystery knit-along (MKAL). Her new pattern will be revealed in four clues, over 10 days, April 3-13. The advance teaser alerted MKAL participants that this will be a triangular shawl in two contrasting colors, knit from top-center down, incorporate texture and special design elements, and the accompanying story will feature the adventures of one rambunctious sheep – hence the title of the MKAL and the shawl – A Sheep Story.

The March surprises in my Sew Happy Jane Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club subscription could combine nicely for a lovely A Sheep Story mystery shawl. But, my April box arrives on Friday, so I will make my final decision with two new skeins in hand.

Knitting

The Aquarelle Shawl

April 18, 2022April 18, 2022 annbh3563 Comments

handknit shawl in teal and varigated yarn

Reminiscent of a walk along the beach collecting shell treasures, Marie Greene describes her latest design as “watercolor-inspired waves opening into shells and scallops”. Using a lovely merino wool and silk blend, The Aquarelle Shawl is my most recent mystery knit along (KAL) project.

Trusting the designer, I cast on in real time with other Knit Campers on April 1 (no fooling) and watched my project evolve without benefit of knowing a final design other than its crescent shape. The pattern was released over two weeks in four mystery clues and revealed shells constructed with yarn drawn over rows of stitches and then mirrored in lace. The long rows of garter stitch, which anchor the decorative design elements, remind me of tides lines lightly scored in water packed sand.

In addition to the fluidity afforded by the silk, the contrasting colors of the two skeins ripple through the fabric alternating between a solid rich teal and a complimentary fingering with ivory, blue and green tones. The colors flow quite like John Lurie’s watercolors on HBO’s Painting with John proving that The Aquarelle Shawl is true to its painting namesake, aquarelle – a “technique of painting in transparent, rather than opaque, watercolours” as defined by Encyclopedia Britannica.