A Brief History of My Brief History with the Westknits MKAL
Stephen West’s Shawl MKAL season is nearly upon us and it has me reflecting on my own experiences with the MKAL and debating whether I should jump in again this year.
But first, the intro bits!
Stephen West is an artist and a prolific knitwear designer. His designs push all kinds of limits and are truly incredible. Every fall for over a decade he has released a mystery (the “M” in MKAL) shawl pattern. First he releases yarn information and beautiful kits so that you can be prepared. Then, every week for 4 weeks in October, a new part of the pattern is released with in-depth video tutorials. If you manage to avoid spoilers you can knit the entire shawl without knowing the end result and be completely surprised by each section.
There is wonderful community and hype around this mysterious knit along (the “KAL” in MKAL). Stephen has infectious positive energy and it’s difficult to not get swept up in all the excitement!
So, there’s the background, now back to me and my brief history with this shawl MKAL.
2021: Shawlography: The MKAL That Taught Me How to Knit
Ah, 2021, good times. I was a complete newbie knitter. I had made a garter stitch shawl with no drape, a wonky oversized sweater and a couple very dense pairs of socks (foreshadowing…). The most complex stitch pattern I had done was YO, K2TOG.
But none the less, I got swept up in the excitement! I happened to watch the right content on the right day and found out about the Shawl MKAL and the infamous artist Stephen West just in time. I was all in! I also had no idea that it was “supposed” to be difficult.
I used some eccentric colors from my stash because I wanted to use what I had (if I had known how many hours I would commit to this, I may have invested in some colors I liked a little more…) and I even swatched like Stephen suggested!
If I remember correctly, I kept up with the clues pretty well! The excitement of the mystery really motivated me. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without Stephen’s video tutorials. They are so detailed and clear! Sometimes, you read the pattern and can’t even begin to envision what you’re supposed to do. Then you watch the video and it becomes crystal clear and so doable.
That said, towards the middle of the shawl, things started to not quite work out for me. I was doing *everything* that Stephen was doing in the pattern and the video, but mine just didn’t look right and was very tight.
Remember how I said that up until now I hadn’t knit anything complex and all of my projects came out a bit dense? Yeah, this is where that comes into play…
I continued knitting these complex drop stitch patterns in denial for a little while, but soon decided that I needed to investigate further.
Come to find out, I was knitting wrong! Every single stitch was twisted! I was inserting my needle correctly, but I was wrapping the yarn in the wrong direction. This is why my socks were so dense, my sweater had no drape and why those complex stitch patterns didn’t look right!
So, I had a few decisions to make. Should I continue knitting twisted so the entire shawl was consistent? That was an easy no. I couldn’t continue knowing it was wrong and potentially missing out on upcoming beautiful stitch patterns. Then, should I rip it out and start over? As a newbie, I knew that I wouldn’t catch up again with the MKAL, I would be discouraged and probably give up.
I considered what Stephen would say if I could have ask him about this situation and I had a gut feeling that he would say, just learn and keep going! What I had done so far was not bad, maybe a bit dense and not showcasing every stitch pattern, but not inherently bad. So I slowly continued with the shawl, fought my muscle memory and learned how to correctly knit along the way!
I am very proud that I finished Shawlography and I like to say that Stephen West and his MKAL taught me how to knit.
2022: Twists and Turns: I Tried, But It Was All Too Much
You may remember this year as the “loops of doom” year. Yeah. The loops got to me.
I was pretty psyched for this year, but a few key things went sideways and I didn’t make it past Clue 2.
To start, I was on a budget and my yarn stash was no help since you needed 2 skeins of 2 of the colors. I turned to KnitPicks, my favorite budget friendly yarn source. This worked out perfectly since I needed the equivalent of (10) 50 gram skeins which works out to be a “Value Pack” which gets you a discount and, with the addition of a couple skeins of Felici, I got free shipping!
As far as my color palette, I knew that I wanted something more “wearable” than the wild palate that I went for in 2021. I was also confined to solids with my budget friendly yarn plan.
I settled on two shades of gray and a pop of purple. And I was left feeling pretty ehh… But, hey, I wanted something wearable! So I onward I went on my Twists and Turns journey.
And, like so many others, the loops got to me. The seemingly endless binding off and casting on made me crazy! The effect was so cool though, and I did complete Clue 1 and started Clue 2. Life was busy, extra time and brain space was sparse and I began questioning if it was worth continuing and dedicating my knitting time to this project.
ALSO, Clue 2 was riddled with twisted rib. Hot take incoming: Twisted rib makes me cringe hard. I can’t stand doing it, looking at it or feeling it.
I decided to set it aside and wait to see more of the shawl pattern as it was revealed. If I ended up loving the product, then I knew the work would be worth it.
In the end, I didn’t love my yarn and I didn’t love the pattern, so Twists and Turns didn’t end up being a successful MKAL year.
That said, each year is a new start, right? Just because I “failed” last year, doesn’t mean I can’t get hyped about this year, right?
2023: Geogradient: My *not so* Tentative Plans
Stephen West just released preliminary information about this year’s MKAL and I’m already swept up in the thrill of it! It’s called Geogradient and it uses a 4 color (1 skein each) fade! Ah! I love it!
Here’s my plan (I say tentative, but let’s face it, I’m already completely attached to this plan):
Finish WIPs and get my yarn leftovers under control: I have 2 active works in progress right now, a pair of shortie socks and a bandana cowl, and 3 long-term scrappy blankets. A pair of socks is a constant WIP, but I would like to finish up the bandana cowl and then spend the remainder of the time until the MKAL working on my scrappy blankets to help my leftovers stash get under control.
Shop for yarn that I love: My full-skein stash is intentionally very small right now, so I don’t have yarn that will suit the Geogradient. I have also learned over the past two years that there is a balance between a palette that is “fun and crazy” and something “wearable and boring” and I’m hoping to find that balance this year.
Complete the shawl by advent season: Finishing in 4 weeks is a tough goal and, as amazing as it would be to keep up, I want to set myself up for success with the goal of finishing Geogradient by the end of November in preparation for advent and holiday knitting.
That’s all I’ve got right now for a plan, I’ll keep you updated and blog all about the next phases of my Stephen West MKAL journey!
Have you attempted or completed any MKAL Shawls? Do you have a favorite shawl from years past? Will you be jumping in this year? Let me know in the comments below!
