This spring, I’ve also been participating in a Mystery KAL. “KAL” stands for Knit-A-Long. The idea is that a lot of people knit the same thing at the same time. Social media are great for this, because people chat about the project as it goes. A mystery KAL means that you don’t see the final project until the end: the instructions are released as clues, each of which guides you to completing the next phase of the project. New patterns for lace shawls are sometimes revealed as mystery KAL’s, but this one is for an afghan.

The pattern is from Rowan Yarns and designed by Martin Storey. It’s free – you just have to register as a member at their website to be able to download the PDF files with the clues. It’s designed to highlight their new yarn, Pure Wool Worsted, and if you knit it in that yarn, you can register for the KAL and be eligible to win prizes. If you knit it in another yarn—as I”m doing—you can still join in the chitty chat around the internet, and knit something pretty.

I decided to stash-dive for this project and remembered that I’d bought a “tangle” of Patons Decor years ago. A tangle is a huge skein sold by the mill. It’s not really tangled, but it’s big. This one weighed more than 5 lbs. Patons Decor is a wool and acrylic yarn specifically intended for afghans and household items – because it feels like wool but is machine washable. It’s also close to the weight of the PWW used in the pattern, and certainly close enough to substitute. My plan when I bought it was to make an afghan, but I didn’t enjoy knitting the pattern I’d chosen, so all the many (many) cakes of yarn went into the stash. This yarn is variegated instead of a solid colour, which adds another dimension to knitting this pattern. It might end up being too much visually, but I kind of like it. Maybe I have a high chaos tolerance. Here’s my first block in the first clue:

I’m already behind, as I’d anticipated. Each week, you’re supposed to knit 6 blocks in the provided clue. I finished clue 1 on time but right now have only 2 of the clue 2 blocks finished. Clue 3 won’t be out until Tuesday, so maybe I’ll catch up in time.

If you’d like to join the KAL, there’s more information on the Rowan website. There are also some YouTube videos with the designer, Martin Storey, as he talks about the project. The wonderful thing about this KAL is that it’s planned for the blocks to become gradually more challenging—the KAL is designed to help knitters learn new skills. To aid in that, there are lots of links provided with each clue for videos about techniques. Rowan has more info and chat on their Facebook page, and of course, there’s a lot of chatter on Ravelry in the Rowan yarns forum(s) about the KAL.

Are any of you participating in this mystery KAL? Have you ever participating in a KAL, mysterious or otherwise?