The 2022 Mystery Knit Along (MKAL) is right around the corner (cast on 6th October), and I’m super excited to be participating for my second year. I’ve selected my colors and I’m sharing my predictions for the Twists and Turns MKAL!
CHOOSING COLORS FOR THE TWISTS AND TURNS MKAL
Last year I participated in my first MKAL ever, the 2021 Westknits Shawlography MKAL. I had so much fun working on the mystery shawl along with everyone that I knew I wanted to participate again this year.
When the Twists and Turns MKAL was announced, I was really excited especially after seeing this promo picture. I thought we might have to pick 14 different colors and I could pick the rainbow palette of my dreams. I have a lot of single skeins that I bought when I knit up the last bit of my stash yarns and I would love to pour them all into a beautiful shawl.
But the Twists and Turns shawl only uses three colors and I had to reevaluate my plan. This video was released about the color relationships that would work well for this mystery design:
I had thought that my single skeins would be sufficient to build out a palette like with the Shawlography, and I wasn’t planning on needing to buy new yarn. But with Twists and Turns needing two skeins each of the MC and CC, I started to look at the kits available.
When the shawl design is a mystery you really have to rely on the color recommendations to ensure the result looks as good as it can. It’s possible I end up not liking the finished shawl design, but it would be worse if I also hated my color choices. At least with a kit or choosing yarn in the recommended color relationship, you know you’ll get the best possible result.
From dreaming about a kaleidoscope rainbow to seeing a three-color palette left me feeling uninspired. I watched the yarn kits video and I wasn’t really drawn to any of them. Or I liked some of the colors but I didn’t like that specific base. I considered using my random single skeins and just making up my own scrappy/multi-color Twists and Turns shawl. I also thought about trying to just buy duplicates of yarn I already own so I could supplement/use my stash yarn, but I was concerned about dye lots not matching.
TWISTS AND TURNS MKAL YARN
Ultimately, I decided to order my Twists and Turns MKAL yarn from La Bien Aimee like I did last year. I chose the colors from the Fluoro Sansa kit Stephen West put together, but on the Cashmerino base that I love.
- 2 skeins Fluoro Morganite
- 2 skeins Sansa
- 1 skein As If
This kit is perfect for me because they are all colors that I like individually. I would be happy to have any of these left overs to add into any project. Some of the kits looked pretty to me as a palette, but I wouldn’t know what to do with the individual leftovers.
Also, I have a skein of ‘As If’ in the Kumo base in my stash, so I may be able to interchange the two for my accent color, or hold two together for something extra.These colors look even better in person, and I’m really excited to wind them up and start working on the Twists and Turns shawl.
TWISTS AND TURNS MKAL PREDICTIONS
I thought it would be fun to make some predictions about the Twists and Turns shawl given what little information we’ve been given so far.
Cables/Twists
We already know that a cable needle is required for this MKAL, and cables are created by twisting the order of the stitches. So knitting cables seems like an obvious guess.
The Fantastitch shawl used a cable needle to create little twisted columns. I think that would be super fun to knit in the Twists and Turns shawl.
German Short Rows/Spiraling
I’ve seen some speculation about German short rows being the turn reference, and I think that could be a good guess too. The Dotted Rays shawl uses short row shaping, so does Vertices Unite, and Shawlography.
I’m don’t think that the Twists and Turns will revolve around German short rows, but that short rows will probably be used to get the shaping. I think that the overall vibe of Twists and Turns will be *spiraling* in some way. Since we are basically only using two colors, I am imagining a lot of striping, and possibly some 3D elements with the accent color.
Size
In a few of the Twists and Turns videos, Stephen West has mentioned that the size of the shawl will be “big, but not overwhelming”. But then he references the Speckle and Pop, which looks kind of small to me. Maybe it’s the long shape that’s throwing me off, but it doesn’t seem very large.
I think the Shawlography was a good size, but I wish it was a little bigger. There were times in the week where I’d finished the clue and wished there was an option for more or a bonus clue. I prefer a large shawl; a shlanket — like a Fantastitch, or my Combination Shawl.
The mystery knit along is only four weeks, so I’m sure the size of Twists and Turns will be small enough for a good amount of participants to complete in that time. The MKAL seems to get more participants each year, and I bet everyone is a lot happier when they can finish “on time” (there are no time limits, but I’m sure a lot of people prefer to finish within a week of the final clue’s release).
When I knit the Shawlography, I was aiming to keep up with the clues, and finish as soon as I could after the last clue. I think it might be discouraging to some who are participating in the community aspect of the MKAL to feel like they are falling behind the clues. So, to keep the completion rate high, I speculate that the Twists and Turns will be similar to the Shawlography size or smaller.
Brioche
I hope the Twists and Turns shawl has brioche because I love to knit two color brioche and I think the the MC and CC would make a fun brioche combination. However, I don’t think there will be a brioche option this time — only because we had brioche in last year’s Shawlography.
Fun
I know that whatever the Twist and Turns shawl ends up being, it’ll be a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my first MKAL last year and I expect this year to be the same. Learning new techniques and knitting along with everyone on the same project makes the Westknits MKALs really enjoyable for me. I can’t wait to see what the Twists and Turns shawl is like!
Twists and Turns MKAL
I’m super excited to begin the Twists and Turns MKAL on October 6th. This will be my second year participating in the MKAL and I’m a lot more relaxed about it this year. I’m just really looking forward to see what we make and how it’ll all come together. ♡♡♡
