OOPS! We had a goofy link in the email on February 14—if you’re looking for the Show Your Shop Some Love post, click here to be taken to the Facebook post. Sorry about that!
We’re kicking off the new year with a new Knit-along! This first KAL is for a favorite Berroco knitting pattern—Mrs. Watson, from Portfolio Volume 1.
Mrs. Watson was designed by Martina Behm, and showcases Martina’s incredible creativity (for more from Martina, check out her website). By combining two shades of Berroco Ultra® Alpaca Light and easy short-rows in garter stitch (no picking up wraps!), Martina designed a stunning asymmetrical shawl knitting pattern that many knitters have fallen in love with. There’s nearly 300 project entries on Ravelry, and there have been some absolutely gorgeous Mrs. Watsons! (Photo below by Martina Behm.)
Want to add your own Mrs. Watson to the number of finished projects? Participate in our KAL! Here’s everything you need to know to get started:
- You’ll need the pattern. You can download the individual PDF from the Berroco website (our patterns are hosted on Ravelry, so it will be added to your Ravelry library) or purchase the whole collection of Portfolio Volume 1, either as a digital download or as a physical book from your LYS. Please note: If you already have the printed Portfolio Vol 1 book, there are a couple of corrections—you can find them on the pattern page.
- You’ll need yarn. To officially participate in this KAL, you can use any Berroco yarn, or yarn from one of our yarn partners (LANGYARNS, Amano Yarn, James C. Brett, or Ístex Lopi). The pattern calls for three skeins of Berroco Ultra® Alpaca Light in #4209 Moonshadow (that’s the gray) and two skeins of Berroco Ultra® Alpaca Light in #4288 Bluebrry Mix.
- We’ll be chatting about our knitting progress in our Berroco Lovers Ravelry group, and we’ll also be trying out a virtual Facebook event KAL. So if you don’t have a Ravelry account or aren’t active on the Ravelry forums, you can still share photos and discuss the pattern via Facebook.
- Of course, if you’re not on Facebook but use other social media sites, you can always share your photos and progress using the hashtag #MrsWatsonKAL.
We’ll have more info over the next few weeks, including other yarn choices and technique discussion, but we wanted to make sure you had time to dig through your stash or treat yourself to some new yarn before we started. Hope you’ll join us!
Count me in! Mrs Watson, in Ultra Alpaca Light, that’s a nice yarn. The difficult part will be the colourway choice. Greenery is very attractive, for once I completely agree with Pantone. But, what to pair it with?
The sky is the limit. Everything from pink, blue, etc. I am paring greenery with blue or even ecru or off white. If you have access to a color wheel, that will help you to visualize it more.
Can’t wait to start. I have the pattern book and yarn in my stash for this project. Just need to find it!
Just ordered my yarn from Fabric.com – Picked Ultra Alpaca Light in Moon Shadow and Winter white. I am very excited to start this project. All I need to do is purchase the pattern.
Looking foreword!
got the pattern…need further info on what you do to do the KAL in Ravelry.
Hi Denise! All you need to do is join the group and post in the thread about the knit-along—say hi and let us know which yarn you’re using!
I think I figured it out.
thank you apalmerberroco. will do
Do you think that the Amano Puna is to fine a yarn for this project
Hi Linda,
I don’t know that Amano Puna is too light for this project—the recommended gauge for Puna is 5.5 stitches on a US 6, and the recommended gauge for Ultra Alpaca Light is 5.75 stitches on a US 5. It’s actually a little heavier, too—2.73 yards per gram in Puna, versus 2.88 yards per gram in Ultra Alpaca Light. I say give it a try and see if you like it!
ok thanks, I have dyed some Puna and am excited to use it.
What do I do to participate in the KAL ON WED. IS THERE A SPECIFIC TIME? Or other dates for the Mrs W shawl?
Hi Lor! All you have to do is cast-on, really. If you want to join us in the Ravelry thread, you can just start discussing the pattern there. Or if you’re more of a Facebook fan, we have an event there and you can chat in the discussion thread. The links are in this blog post (one of the bullet points).
Hi Amy,
I am knitting a second Mrs. Watson using your suggestion of adding repeats of leaf pattern 3, Will I need to change anything at the end to make the pattern work? Thanks for your help,
Jeri
Hi Jerilyn,
I don’t think you’ll need to change anything other than the number of times you repeat Body Pattern 2 and the respective Leaf patterns to get to the point that the center “spine” stitch ends up in the right place. Not sure if that makes sense—I’m still trying to find time to work on mine and haven’t finished working the Body pattern 1 repeats, so I’m trying to make an educated guess by just looking at the pattern.