It's Mystery Hat-a-Long time again!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 10:39AM Where does the time fly? One minute we're bringing our summer travels to close, the next I'm launching the annual November Mystery Hat knit-a-long!
And here we are again... this is our 5th year of the KAL - isn't that amazing? 5 years. Wow.
This year will be a little different to the last few years... y'all know that this year has been rough on the personal front; so many things have happened and it's been difficult to work my way through all of it. There was a point a couple of months back when I wasn't even sure I could manage the Mystery KAL - it is an incredible amount of work, especially on the preparation and support front - and time was against me. In the end, it was obvious something had to give, and so instead of the choice of 2 patterns that we've had in previous years, there is only the one. I hope you can forgive me - one Hat is better than no Hats, yes?
This years' Hat is a winner, style wise. A few folks tried it on during the 2 week teaching and promotion tour that I've just completed, and it suited *everyone*. Not only that, it's incredibly adaptable to gauge and customisable for style and fit, which overall makes it a winner.
The recommended yarn is a sportsweight, and the sample was knit with The Wool Dispensary's 'Useful Restorative', a skein of which came home with me from TNNA this June. It's lovely and squishy with very subtle colouring.
That said, most yarns within a given gauge range (23sts to 30sts per 10cm/4in) will work fine, provided they're not wildly variegated. Infact, this design will work just as well in finer of heavier gauges, although the proportions of the Hat (and it's pattern) will work differently. But it's definitely knittable in many, many yarns.
Skills wise, it's nothing we haven't covered before. There is a little bit of provisional cast on and crochet (or kitchener) bind off but they're only a minor part of the Hat. There is some picking up of stitches too, but otherwise, it's all skills an advanced beginner would be comfortable with. And don't forget, I have plenty of tutorials available for PDF download, and there'll be plenty of us to help out on the forum, too.
Support wise, I'm having to be strict and remind everyone that I can only answer questions relating to the KAL in the 'Wormheads Hats' group on Ravelry. Already 700 people have signed up, which is a staggering figure! That number beats any level of participants we've had before and it's kinda blown me away! And to that end, I'm afraid I can't answer questions via email/twitter etc. And really, it benefits everyone if we all read and post on the forum - every email I received last year about the KAL had already been asked and answered on the forum. We are all knitting along together so it makes sense to post and work things out together!
The first instalment goes live on 1st November - folks are already swatching and comparing yarns - I wonder how many of us there'll be come Thursday?
All of the details can be found on the 2012 Mystery Hat KAL page. Do hope we'll see you on the forum!
Reader Comments (2)
I am so excited to do this Mystery KAL! It will be my first Mystery KAL, and my first time to knit one of your hat patterns. Thanks for all the hard work you have put into it!
700 of us already? That is simply amazing.
Roll on the 1st of November, I'm all swatched ready and waiting!