MKAL finishing party!

On the Other Hand MKAL finished two weeks ago and I am still catching up! It was a fantastic four weeks of fun. Thank you to everyone who joined in and contributed, both Ann and I had a great time watching everyones progress and seeing what wonderful colour and pattern combinations you all chose.

The final pattern was released with the official photos with both myself and Ann doing a live periscope.

My mittens were knit in Woolyknits 4ply classics in Navy and Duck Egg Blue.  The corrugated rib and slip stitch mosaic and cable pattern was my design. 

Ann designed the corrugated rib and lice (not an errata as many people thought!) and stranded colourwork patterns knit in King Cole merino 4ply.

There seemed to be lots of people choosing both designs and lots of mix and matching too. There was also a lot of very speedy knitters out there that managed to get both patterns done in the 4 weeks! I managed one and a half mittens in Ann's pattern and it is still on the needles waiting for me to finish....

It was very hard for us to choose the winners in the prize thread as there were so many fantastic colour combinations and people challenging themselves to try new techniques. I wish I could have given everyone a prize but we promised winners so my winning mittens were:

First prize to Yogelgryff for her wonderful use of colour and I love the addition of adding the buttons! She won an ebook copy of my book An Elven Reckoning.

Second prize went to Knittingyogi2  as I love her fraternal mitts and colour choice, and also for being adventurous and trying lots of new techniques! She wins 2 balls of Woolyknits 4ply classics.

Third prize went to EvilOverLady314 for a really fun mitten picture! Personally I am hoping that the little Totoro won the card game as he is one of my favourite characters, but it does look like EvilOverLady314 might win this one. She won a choice of a digital download of one of my patterns.

I hope everyone enjoyed the MKAL as much as we did. Ann and I are already beginning discussions about what we might do next year but we both need a bit of a rest from all the fun for a while! Don't forget to sign up to both of our newsletters for exclusive discounts and be the first to get news of our next MKAL! Thanks once again for all the lovely comments too, it is really great to read how much you all enjoyed it too.

On The Other Hand MKAL

I have exciting news about my first Mystery Knit ALong (MKAL)! Over the next few weeks my friend Ann Kingstone and I will be releasing the pattern for On The Other Hand - a pair of fingerless mittens that are a mystery. Each week starting on Friday 5th February a section of the pattern will be released, until the whole pattern is released three weeks later.

What is very unusual about this MKAL is that there are two designs to choose from each week, each one by a different designer. Ann and I have been working together to come up with two great linked designs. On February 5th the cuff patterns will be delivered, then a week later the hand and thumb gusset and finally the finger and thumb cuffs. Each week you can choose to make either Ann's or my design as both will work with each other. This means you get lots of different options to choose from and it lets your creativity run wild!

The pattern is available to purchase now for £3.50 and you receive the initial information. Then each week an email will let you know that an update is available and you can download the next part. The patterns will be available to purchase after the MKAL for £4.25 so purchasing now and join in the MKAL fun for a bargain price!

The mittens use 4ply yarn in two colours. I recommend using colours to contrast well for the pattern to show at its best. The designs use 100m at most of the main colour and 90m of the contrasting colour, so it works well with 50g balls and leftovers. I am going to be joining in and making another pair with everyone and I have chosen to use some BaaRamEwe titus that I have left over from my Nórui jumper as I just love these two colours together. I might have a change and use the parkin as the main colour and the eccup as the contrasting colour.

The best thing about MKAL's though is the fun and social aspect. We have set up a Ravelry group for chatting, planning and any questions you might have about the MKAL. There is a sense of companionship and sharing that happens with MKAL's that you don't get from other pattern releases.  Please come and join us over there and let us know how you get on. You can also share on twitter and instagram with the hashtag #ontheotherhandMKAL

Throughout the MKAL Ann and I will be holding your hands with online tutorials for some of the techniques used and we will be broadcasting these live on periscope and then uploading them to youtube so you can see them if you miss the first showing. I will also post the links on my blog.

So please come and join in the fun!