My Very First MKAL: Agate Dawn Twists & Turns

This year, I decided that it was the year that I finally, finally do an MKAL.

MKAL stands for a Mystery Knit-A-Long, as in, you are knitting along on a pattern, and you have absolutely no idea what’s going to come next in the pattern. You don’t know the techniques used, you don’t know the stitch patterns or the shapes, you don’t know anything at all about what the final product will be. It’s a risky go, especially if you’re doing a Stephen West shawl pattern.

If you don’t know Stephen West, you should take the time to get yourself familiar. He is all about crazy color combinations, varying and dizzying stitch patterns, and unusual construction techniques. He designs textile art pieces that just so happen to be wearable, and I adore him. I’ve made two of his designs before, but they were definitely less adventurous, so I was really excited to give this a go.

I ordered the Life in the Long Grass singles kit called Agate Dawn, which included 2 skeins each of Agate Stone and Baroque, and 1 of Cool Dawn.

This stuff is super soft and lovely to work with, spun just enough to have good stitch definition and to not split, but not tight enough to over-energize the skein or compromise on loft and drape.

We also got a very cute project bag for participating.

As well as some fun extras, like a sticker, a project tag, and a needle gauge.

Now, MKALs are arranged in sets of clues, and this one was 4 clues all together, released in week-long increments. You had to knit like the wind to finish the clue in 1 week, but I gave it my best shot. (Seriously, I only missed the completion date by about 1 week because of the bad behavior of the shawl. More on that later.)

Right off the bat, the first clue was crazy. There was a long i-cord cast-on edge, then picking up stitches with big open-air loops dangling off the side.

Then more loops.

And chevrons. And stripes. And more goddamn loops!

WTF.

Also, the edges (and every single edge thereafter, I would discover) had an i-cord roll to it, so that the color-switching on all those stripes was cleverly hidden within. I see you there, Stephen. That’s some sexy stuff.

So what to do with all those loops?

Holy shit.

Knit stitches made out of loops of knitting. It’s almost too good.

So, of course now we’re fully hooked into this insanity. Onto the second clue.

Our beautiful accent color makes its first appearance.

And we go full-tilt short row wings, twisted ribbing, and, for some brilliant reason, cables?

It’s become bat wings as well, which pleases me immensely.

I didn’t take very many pictures of this part, because the yarn was dark and hard to photograph, but I did catch this moment, where I thought at first that I was knitting so hard (?) that I bruised my finger, but then I realized that it was just the dye rubbing off. The joys of hand-dyed yarn.

I really loved the way that the picked-up and cast-on stitches made this fun criss-cross pattern on the wrong side.

It’s just getting very cozy and squishy in here. The third clue?

Just batshit again, right out the gate. You knit these long straps of twisted stitch travelling cables, just shooting straight out from the sides of the thing.

Just. What? It was like putting ties on an apron.

Also, right around here is when I got slowed down on my frantic knitting race. I opened up the project bag to start one evening, and a moth flew out.

THAT’S RIGHT. My mortal enemy, the moth. I had an epic showdown with some moths a few years ago, and there was no way I was going to sacrifice this project to those bastards. So, the shawl got bundled up and thrown into the freezer for 5 days so that everyone that was trying to eat it was summarily murdered.

After that, I got to move on, and I opted in on the optional fancy-pants bit of i-cord decoration that winds around the cables.

I mean, how could you not? It’s completely unnecessary, and totally fiddly and time-consuming, and right up my alley.

So, now we have a giant batwing with huge weird straps coming off of it. How on earth does this become a wearable shawl? The fourth clue!

Oh.

This shit just makes my stripe-loving heart skip a beat. All of the negative space created by the straps got filled in with more of these high-contrast stripes, and it all looks amazing with those rolled i-cord edges.

Then there was some more twisted-stitch ribbing, and more stripy chevrons to form the drop on the back. In a very clever bit of sewing, the loops of the formed sculptural knit stitches get incorporated into the whole.

Are we ready for the full reveal now?

It’s just…the weirdest thing possible, and somehow also very…timeless? I have no idea how to describe it. It’s definitely got some Native American influence in the overall effect, but when you wrap it around yourself?

You feel like the most stylish person in the room.

Let’s take a few more looks at those details.

Like, I know that I made the damn thing, but every angle of it makes it seem like a magic trick.

Dan and I tried to take it for a photoshoot on the river, but the wind was just not agreeing with us. Instead, we drove around until we found a tiny picnic table area outside of some stables, with possibly the most beautiful weathered wooden tabletop in existence.

I tried my best to gloriously spread my wings, but I have very short arms and a whole lot of anxiety about having my picture taken.

I was just so happy to be the owner of this beautiful thing. That’s all that matters.

Now, I don’t know if I can ever do a MKAL again, because I don’t know if it can ever live up to this one. Every week was a new, weird, wonderful surprise, and I’m so glad I took the plunge.