Hello Everyone!
In keeping with
our theme for October, Happy Fall Y’All!!! As many of you may know, the term
“y’all” is not something you hear too often in New England. But, half my Family
says y’all without missing a beat, as well as many of my former work
colleagues. Hearing y’all makes me think these of amazing people in my life and
that always makes me smile (big time!!). Since Fall is such an incredible time
of year, full of color and beauty, and all things pumpkin spice, and the
happiness this time of year brings, y’all fits just perfectly!
As we make our way
fully into Fall, we are continuing with another Mystery Knit Along, Speckle
& Pop, by the one and only Stephen West. I think I have successfully
branched out into brighter colors from my experience with the “What the Fade?!”
MKAL. Having to choose three main colors and five pop colors could sell the
great iPhone alone. Thankfully, Linda helped me choose my colors and even she
was surprised I picked the brightest of the gorgeous choices. Although one of
my three main colors for Speckle & Pop contains my all-time favorite dark
neutral shade, one of my colors is a combination of the darker neutral with the
brighter shade that is my third shade. The names are really a lot of fun, too.
I am using Hedgehog Skinny Singles in Potluck (bright and light oranges and
pinks with speckles of purple and turquoise), Madeline Tosh Tosh Merino Light
in Dirty Harry (!!) (dark charcoal with medium and light orange with speckles
of purple and red), and Mrs. Crosby Plays Satchel in Frank (a shaded dark
neutral in charcoal). My pop colors are from Wonderland Yarns Cheshire Cat in
turquoise, purple, red, light plum, and pink. I look at combinations of colors
so differently now since I have learned how to fade. And anything that breaks
me out of my dark neutrals but still lets me keep some of them is great all
around! And I love my yarn, because as you recall, for larger projects
especially, you have to love the yarn!!
We all have
different ways of approaching a project that has multiple changes of color and
specific placement of markers. While the stitches themselves are not difficult,
the mastery in using their simplicity in intricate ways is the sheer creativity
of Stephen West. Who would have thought my years of planning at work would be
so helpful in retirement where knitting is a daily activity. In fact, one of
our very resourceful knitters created a spreadsheet (love this!!) to keep track
of the rows and color changes. I am using the spreadsheet along with
positioning my yarn much like the last MKAL, with my different color pens, and
notebook at the ready. I have my assortment of markers waiting. I was more than
a little excited to use my WeeOnes Hedgehog markers. What else could I use with
Hedgehog yarn??!
While knitting
through Clue 1, I highly recommend viewing Stephen West’s embedded video. He
offers great instruction and tips (my favorite - folding your yarn to decrease
ends to weave in) in a highly entertaining way. As I knit Clue 1, I can see the
beautiful lacy effect fingering weight yarn with yarn overs have on size 4
needles. Although each of my yarns is the same weight, their textures are
different. I think this adds to the tactile delight of knitting in addition to
the yarn’s visual stimulus as the clue itself and future clues unfold.
Here are my yarn
selections and my progress, so far. I am looking forward to Clue 2. I am also finishing
my What the Fade?! Shawl so our living room has been taken over by my knitting
projects. I have a feeling that I am not alone in this!!
Enjoy everything
this season brings and Happy Fall Y’All!!!
Knit On!
