Lunar Fade MKAL - Finished!

I finished this up last weekend, but it has been so hard to get a good beauty shot.  In this one the colors are good but the point won’t hang down properly.

And this one doesn’t do justice to the full splendor of the shawl.

Nor does this one, but you can at least appreciate the shape.  This was a very fun knit, and now that I know how it all goes together I think I need to knit another.  And there are so many wonderful possibilities with the construction. More half moons, different attachment points, short rows!

Pattern:  Lunar Fade MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lunar Fade MKAL - Clue 7 Done

We put the pieces together in Clue Seven.  It is hard to get a full picture of the shawl.  First we placed markers on the crescents in the lace swirl sections.  Then we started with the tips.

For all of the stitch picks ups, I picked up a stitch in each of the I-cord stitches.  For the tips I ended up with one more stitch than the pattern called for, but I just went with it.  Once I had one tip done, I tackled the other tip.

I made sure that I had the same number of stitches for my second tip so they would match.  Then we connected the two pieces.

Here I ended up with four more stitches, two on each side, then the pattern called for, but again I just went with it.  It means that I end with my Color D instead of Color B as the pattern called for, but I’m good with it.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lunar Fade MKAL - Clue 6 Done

Clue Six finished up the other crescent and instructed us to block them.  Clue Seven comes out today and presumably there will be much picking up of stitches and casting on to join the pieces together.  I did not pin anything out when I blocked, just smoothed and stretched and straightened things to make them look nice.  Most of the ends are woven in.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lunar Fade MKAL - Clues Three, Four and Five

Apparently I have been forgetting to blog about my Lunar Fade MKAL and here we are up to Clue 5. The photo above is Clue 3, and it is a bound off piece that will somehow get incorporated into the final shawl.

Clue 4 started another piece and had a modified version that preserved the symmetry of construction. I started out using the standard instructions, but decided I wanted the symmetry so I ripped back and started over.  The color use is different though - flipping the color schemes.

Clue 5 is almost the same as Clue 2 except the increases are at the beginning of each section instead of at the end.  I’m guessing Clue 6 will be almost the same as Clue 3, except the line of yarn overs will go in the opposite direction.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lunar Fade MKAL - Clue 2 Done

Clue 2 went pretty fast.  This is actually pretty good knitting for working on while I’m reading, which allowed me to catch up on my Heinlein biography.  I’m really liking my colors.  I put in a lifeline, as recommended by the designer, and am also using markers, which I rarely do.  I did make one mistake - I forgot an increase at the very end of the first increase row in the pink section.  At first I thought about adding an increase on a later row, but the next increase row had you skip the increase in the first section, so I did not skip that increase and that got me to the correct stitch count.  The last row establishes a new pattern, with 14 stitch markers instead of 11, so I figured it wouldn’t make a difference.  The pattern called for m1r increases, but I did lifted increases instead.  I just like them better.  I’ve been weaving in my ends as I go so I don’t have all that finishing to do later.  I did the same thing on my Xuan Wrap.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lunar Fade MKAL - Clue 1 Done

Back in February, Larissa Brown announced another Mystery Knit Along.  I did some stash diving and came up with the fours skeins above.  They are all Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single and the colors are, from left to right:  Rose, OOAK Mishy, Fire Red and Kyanite.  The pattern called for a light, medium and dark color and something as a pop.  I decided to use Kyanite as my light color, Rose as my medium color, Fire Red as my dark and the variegated skein as my pop.  Larissa had recommended using a variegated for that color.  This first clue came out yesterday and after some initial technical difficulties with the pattern update delivery I was finally able to cast on yesterday evening, finishing the clue this afternoon.

I have already woven in my ends.  The two ends I have not woven in I will use to anchor my color A (the Kyanite) when the next clue comes out.  I have taken to using a little clip to anchor the tail of my yarn to the other yarn on the project to keep things neater and more under control.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)