Perseverance Knit Along - Finished!

I finished this up last Sunday.  I am pretty pleased with how it came out.  It is a hefty blanket, and my gauge is not perfect, but not bad, especially considering I only did a gauge swatch on the first pattern. The rest I just winged it, going up or down a needle size depending on what the pattern was and how it felt as I was knitting.  It did cause me to have to rip back a couple of times when I realized the knitting was too loose, but I didn’t mind that.  Jezebel has photo bombed to apply her seal of approval on the project.  I think if I were to knit this pattern again I would knit it at a tighter gauge.  It just feels a little too stretchy to me (an effect of the fact that the yarn is superwash, perhaps).  I never had any issues with running out of yarn on any of the sections.  I do like the design, and it was a fun project.

Colors used, in order of use (from bottom right corner to top left corner):

Unshaken

Nightlife

Caricia

Black Hole

Unwilling Hero

Blue Goldstone

Like Rain

In the Cabana

Fugue

Swept Away

Country Village

Captain

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm), US 8 (5.0 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 11 Done

Finished up clue 11 this morning.  Just one more to go.  I’m pretty pleased with how it has come out from a gauge perspective, especially as I have not knitted any gauge swatches.  I have changed my knitting needle size on some of the patterns, but I just winged it, adjusting based upon the stitch pattern.  I have never run out of yarn, either.  I have a nice bag of little balls of leftovers.  I will have to figure out something fun to do with them.  Maybe a matching pillow.  I used US 8 (5.0 mm) on this clue.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm), US 8 (5.0 mm)

 

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 10 Done

Clue 10 went quickly.  It is a fun stitch pattern that is easy.  I used a US 6 needle on this clue, just as I did on clue 3, which is the same stitch pattern.  Just two more clues to go!  I am using the recommended colors:

Unshaken

Nightlife

Caricia

Black Hole

Unwilling Hero

Blue Goldstone

Like Rain

In the Cabana

Fugue

Swept Away

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

 

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 9 Done

My yarn for clue 9 arrived last week and I took advantage of a long weekend to get it knitted up.  I did stay with a US 7 needle for this clue, and that seems to be giving me a good gauge.  With this clue we are turning the corner and decreasing to the other point, so the rows are getting shorter, which is nice.  I’ve woven in most of the ends, but haven’t trimmed anything yet.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Perseverance MKAL - Clue 8 Done

I also finished up Clue 8 of the Expression Fiber Arts Perseverance MKAL.  Clue 9 for both the MCAL and MKAL should be coming out this week.  As we have gone past the midpoint of the blanket we are now working the same patterns, in the reverse order.  Thus Clue 7 was the same as Clue 6 and this one is the same as Clue 5.  Luckily I had made a note of the needle sizes that I had used.  I’m guessing that with the next clue we wills start to decrease back down to a point.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm), US 8 (5.0 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 7 Done

When I picked this back up again to start on Clue 7 I discovered that I hadn’t actually completed Clue 6.  I had missed working a repeat, so I finished that up and took another picture of Clue 6.

I then started in on Clue 7, but made a mistake somewhere along the line and decided to rip back.  In the end I ripped all the way back to the start of the pattern in Clue 6.  I knit Clue 6 over again and Clue 7.  By the end I had the pattern pretty well memorized.  I used US 8 needles for all of the slipped stitch pattern.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 6 Done

I finished up Clue 6 back on July 29, but I’ve been busy working on a test knit.  I barely finished it up in time to enter the drawing.  I already have the yarn for clue 7, which is just more of the clue 6 pattern, so I suspect that the second half will be a mirror image of the first half.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm), US 8 (5 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 5 Done

I have actually had the yarn for this clue for almost a month, but I was focused on my Elora and wasn’t worried about working on this.  With my Elora finished I now feel a little bit at loose ends, so I pulled this out this weekend and worked clue 5.  When I was not quite half way through I decided to rip back as the gauge seemed a bit too loose and I was worried about running out of yarn.  No, I did not do a gauge swatch.  I haven’t done a gauge swatch since clue 1.  I’m just winging it and if I think it is going to be too loose I rip back.  Ripping back never bothers me, and this yarn is very well behaved.  I switched to US 7 needles at the start of this clue to work the transition rows, and then switched to US 6 for the lace section.  I switched back to US 7 for the last two rows.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm), US 8 (5.0 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along: Clue 4 Done

I received the yarn for clue 4 of both Perseverance and Hearthside at the same time, and immediately caked them up.  I did clue 4 of Hearthside first, it took me a little while to get around to working clue 4 of Perseverance, but I finally tackled it this past weekend.  Then it took me a couple of more days to take a photo.  This was a very easy pattern and it did not take me very long to work it.  I did not have to change my needle size for this one.  My clue 5 yarn will be delivered today and the clue is already set up in knitCompanion.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted 

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 3 Done!

I finished up Clue 3 on April 5.  I will confess that I did not work a gauge swatch.  I started out on the same needles that I had knit clues 1 and 2 on, but quickly realized that it would be too loose.  So I put in one of my afterthought lifelines and ripped back and started over with a needle two sizes smaller.  It worked perfectly.  It was a pretty straightforward knit, except for a couple of rows - the ones with the increases and decreases.  I put in markers at the end of each repeat as I worked the row across so I always knew where I was and it worked great.  I did screw up and did not work enough rows so I did the decrease row and came up short, but I just tinked back and did the extra rows and then everything was good.  I switched to a US 7 when I started the transition rows and ended the transition rows with a US 8.

Colors:

Clue 1 - Unshaken

Clue 2 - Nightlife

Clue 3 - Caricia

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 2 Done!

I finished up clue 2 on March 18.  It was a fairly straightforward knit and a fun stitch pattern.  I did have to pay attention though, and when I didn’t I did make mistakes and had to tink back.  The yarn for clue 3 should be here today.

Colors:

Clue 1 - Unshaken

Clue 2 - Nightlife

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm)

Perseverance - Clue 1 Done

Expression Fiber Arts is hosting two year long Mystery Make Alongs - a Knit Along and a Crochet Along.  Both of the projects are blankets.  I am planning on doing both.  This is the first clue for the Mystery Knit Along.  I am using the cool colorway.  There is actually some texture, but it is a bit hard to see.  I have the second skein already but Clue 2 has not yet dropped.

Color 1:  Unshaken

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm)