Did you see what happened with clue 2? It was a blast to knit! After work last Friday, I got right on knitting the first part of the third clue. This part is a super fun boomerang shape wedge that is knit off of the mesh section that started the whole shawl. I used a neon green and dark speckle dyed yarn for this segment. I love the giant eyelets that are created at the corner of this piece.
This section of the project is one of many that uses short rows. I have done these before, but not the way Stephen West does them. Usually, when I knit short rows I feel like they are so noticeable and the stitches never lay right. The way Stephen West does them is so simple and the gaps are seamlessly closed up. If you watch the end of this video you will see how he does it, and you will get to see part of clue 2. What is your go to short row technique?
The last part of this clue is another seed stitch triangle chunk to even out this side of the shawl. At least I think it is to even it out! I am finished with the third clue and I am left with sections of live stitches on the top and bottom of my project. I only have one clue left and don’t really know where we are going from here. I guess this is where the fun (and maybe a little anxiety) of the mystery comes into play.
I have been knitting for years and have never had a problem finding the perfect yarn for a project. Even though this is the case, as I continue to knit it seems only natural to want to dye my own yarn. What could be better than being able to say that the delightfully soft, imperial alpaca hat you are wearing is not only hand knit by you, but that it started out white and you changed all that? I guess the only thing better would be having my very own alpaca, but that would lead to needing to shear, clean, comb/card, spin, knit, and dye the hat. Even for me, at this point in my life that is too much, although I might be able to trick my wife into letting me have a furry little fiber producing friend, maybe I should leave that idea for another day.
Back to my point, I dyed some of the yarns that I used for this shawl. I wanted to add a hint of sparkle here and there. I am not a sparkle-loving person however, I wanted the tiniest accent of it. Plymouth Dye for Me had the perfect yarn for this. They have a lace weight, Suri alpaca and merino blend with a hint of glow. I held a strand of this with my fingering weight yarns in a select few areas to add that sparkle I found my project needing. Dyeing your own yarn is such a fun process! All you need is a little acid dye, some vinegar, a dye pot (not for food use), and a few utensils (again, never to be used with food). Country Classics Dyes have an amazing range of colors to choose from. I know that I may be oversimplifying the process of dyeing just a little bit, but that is a post for another day.
Friday will be here before I know it, but it is not coming soon enough. I would like to say that waiting on each clue has taught me a lot about patience and it has, I don’t really have any. The only thing that saves me is, like many creative people, I have more than one project going on at any given time. Stay tuned to see how the final clue finishes off my masterpiece.
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Tye
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