Way Ahead MKAL - Frogged, Dress It Up - Cast On!

I finished Clue 3 (the picture above), and Clue 4 (sorry no picture, but more of the mosaic with the colors switched) and was working more stripes to use up my yarn when I decided that I just wasn’t happy with the shawl.  The design is cool, but the striping of the colors was not working for me - the stripes seemed to vibrate in a most annoying way and I just couldn’t see myself wearing it.  I also felt that this pattern was not showcasing the yarns very well.  So, last night I frogged it and cast on a different shawl - Dress It Up, by Lisa K. Ross.  Even while I was working on this shawl, I had my doubts, so I had been looking for an alternative and I had a couple of potential patterns I could knit instead.

This shawl is crescent shaped, and features swaths of garter stitch with the variegated yarn, alternating with the dark purple worked in a section of twisted rib, and another section of lace.  I might add beads to the lace.

Pattern:  Dress It Up by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Divine Beauty (Way Ahead MKAL) - Two Clues Done!

One of the many designers that I follow is doing a mystery knit along, and I decided to join.  I haven’t done one in quite a while, although I have bought more than a few MKAL patterns over the years, and then not done them, just because I like the designer.  This one is by SweaterFreak.  It is a shawl (obviously) and requires two skeins of fingering.  I have a lot of single skeins of fingering in my stash, so having the opportunity to use a couple is always good.  I did some stash diving in my Dream in Color boxes - I do love their colors.  I initially came up with three possible pairings:

Amethyst Ink and She Walks in Beauty

Cranberry Cocktail and Happy Birthday Loopy

Divine and The Color of Hope

In the end I picked Divine and She Walks in Beauty, which led me to name my project Divine Beauty.  The first clue was just stripes.

The second clue added the mosaic section.  I almost abandoned my color choices at that point, thinking I needed more contrast between my two skeins, but in the end I decided not to, and I am very happy with the way things are turning out.  The top picture actually has the set up row for clue 3 included, which has you bind off half of your stitches, so you are only knitting off of one side.  I am just over half-way done with clue 3.  The MKAL started on July 5, and I have been keeping up, so this project is taking priority over others right now.  The last clue comes out this coming Sunday.

Pattern:  Way Ahead MKAL by SweaterFreak

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)