Week 1

The week before, I colored in the schematic a bunch of different ways to play with color order. It took a long time, but I’m really happy I went through the effort. The first order I was planning on I ended up hating, and the one I decided to go with looked great after knitting up Week 1!

Those ends though. So many!

Week 2

Loving the textured sections! Can’t wait to see what the other patterns will be if this design sequence continues throughout the rest of the shawl.

Week 3

Went rogue on color 3 and did two smaller rows of the cross stitch instead of one big one (6 st x 2 wraps, vs 8 st x 4 wraps). I didn’t like how snaggy it looked like it would be, and am much happier with this. Looking forward to seeing how it blocks out. Also, I managed to reverse my color order without realizing it, but I think I prefer it this way! So… :woman_shrugging::skin-tone-3:

Week 4

Didn’t care for the giant stockinette gaps in the cable section, so veered off the rails and mixed it up a bit. I added another mini-cable in between, and kept the flat section all purling. Very happy with how it came out.

I’m not in love with the last zig-zag section at the end of Clue 4, but the technique was really interesting to learn. I did it with a cable needle instead of just letting the long loop hang, which I found much easier and also prevented twisted stitches.

Week 5

Gone rogue again! I didn’t like the patterned portion of this week. It felt too plain and boring, especially after all the other beautiful patterns. I did see on the forums how it went pretty nicely with the cabled section, so maybe if I’d left that one by the book I would have liked this part more. Anyhow, to stay true to the intent of the pattern, I wanted to stick with eyelets and decided on the Eyelet Lattice Insertion Stitch from New Stitch a Day. I think it turned out great.

Week 6

It’s done!! Well, almost! Just need to find some time and space to block it. Followed week 6 by the book, and I think the design for these sections is really pretty. I like how the last color tied in both the repeated garter stitch and the lace.

This was both my first MKAL and just regular KAL. It was fun trying to keep up the pace with friends; I’ll definitely have to do another one some time!

12-26-2019

Finally blocked! The patterned sections really look nice now. It’s hard to pick a favorite! I’m very pleased with all the places where I diverted from the pattern, too. I highly recommend that if you make this shawl, you let yourself get creative as you feel inspired!