Mystery Baby Blanket Club 2023/24: Mail Out 5
Debbie AbrahamsHELLO AND WELCOME TO THE FIFTH BLOG OF THE 2023/24 MYSTERY BABY BLANKET CLUB! So far it’s been a cold and wet start to the year, with only an occasional glimmer of sunshine, and consequently I find myself in a seemingly never-ending bout of a nasty cold, which I just can’t shake off. However, looking on the bright side, it does mean I can snuggle up all day on the sofa with my knitting which is by far the best comfort, so I am sure this will help me hugely on my road to recovery.
If you are feeling fine and ready for your next batch of squares, then I have five more for you to knit this month. There is an intro vid from me (recorded pre-cold virus!), which is followed by some extra tips and advice about the squares to ensure you are prepped and ready for this instalment. Plus there is news of some forthcoming product launches in our online shop, and the chance for you to have another guess of the title of the blanket. Have you guessed what it is yet?!?
There are no new tech vids this month, but if you need a reminder of any of the techniques in the squares, then here is where you will find them:
- How to knit intarsia (MO1 blog)
- Picking up stitches to knit the next square (MO1 blog)
- Mattress stitch (horizontal) (MO1 blog)
- How to carry yarns up the side of the work (MO1 blog)
- How to knit fairisle (MO1 blog)
- How to add Swiss darning to your knitting (MO1 blog)
- How to cable (MO1 blog)
- How to knit a bobble (MO1 blog)
- How to add Chain stitch to your knitting (MO2 blog)
MAIL OUT 5 HAS BEEN EMAILED TO ALL THE MEMBERS ON 1ST FEBRUARY, so if you can’t see an email from us, check your Spam folder as this is sometimes where it ends up.
The printed patterns have been posted to both the overseas and UK members, with the overseas posted on 23rd January, and the UK on the 29th January.
BEFORE I TALK ABOUT THIS MONTH’S SQUARES, I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT TWO NEW LAUNCHES THAT ARE HAPPENING VERY SOON…
ON THE 2ND FEBRUARY WE ARE LAUNCHING PRE-ORDERS FOR OUR MOTHER’S DAY MYSTERY KNIT BOXES. This is a great gift idea which we have been selling in our online shop for the past couple of years, and as they have been so popular, we have decided to offer them to you again.
Each box includes eight gifts which include beauty, something sweet, a knitting accessory, stationery and a brand new knitting kit from Debbie’s fashion accessory collection. Everything in the kit is a ‘mystery’, so I am not going to tell you anymore about the contents, but all of the items in the box are different to what we put in them last year so it’s a whole new collection of goodies to treat yourself (or someone else) to.
We have a limited number of 100 boxes, so we are taking pre-orders for them and will prioritise the customers on a first-come first-served basis. The boxes will be shipped week commencing the 26th February so that they arrive in time before Mother’s Day on Sunday 10th March 2024 (UK).
THIS YEAR I WILL BE LAUNCHING MY FOURTEENTH MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB WITH APPLICATIONS OPENING ON THE 1st OF MARCH! So if you fancy a smaller project than a blanket (which is just as much fun!), then maybe this is just what you need to knit your way through the warm summer months into the Autumn.
Over the years I have designed a large collection of ‘mystery’ cushions with themes varying from all sorts of things from 1980’s geometric patterns to designs inspired by the ancient ruins in Greece. If you follow us on Instagram then you will be able to see images of each of the previous thirteen Mystery Cushions which I will post day by day in the lead up to the launch of our sign-ups opening on the 1st March. So do keep your eye on that if you are interested to see the whole collection to date.
Above: 2023 Mystery Cushion, 'Picnic Party'.
The 2024 Mystery Cushion Club begins mid-June and runs for five months until October. If you signed up to this year’s Mystery Blanket or Mystery Baby Blanket Club, you will get a discount on your 2024 Mystery Cushion Club membership. A knitting kit will be sent to each member which will include premium Rowan yarns, Debbie Abrahams beads and fastenings.
In next month’s blog I will tell you more about this year’s design, but for now I will leave you pondering over this new adventure which hopefully you feel as excited as me about and will decide to be part of…
SO NOW FOR THE TITLE OF THE MYSTERY BABY BLANKET! Correct guesses have been few and far between since last month, with just one correct answer sent in. It was Katie Mason who got it right with the help of her husband Phil.
Katie says: “I am not a word person, so I gave the challenge to guess the title to my husband Phil, the brains of our outfit. With this month’s clues he thinks he got it (and he did Katie!). It’s been great to involve him in my hobby. Love the blanket so far and looking forward to seeing the rest of it!”
So if you are still trying to guess what it is, perhaps another letter in the puzzle might help (there aren’t too many more to go!). This month I’m giving you the letter “M”:
_ O W / I / _ _ O W / M Y / _ _ _ ‘ _
If you think you know what it is, please email sue at sue@debbieabrahams.com and if your guess is correct we will (with your permission) publish your name in the next Baby Blanket blog. With just a couple more months of the project left, it won’t be too long before the title is revealed. But why not have one more go?!?...
THESE ARE THE FIVE SQUARES TO KNIT IN MAIL OUT 5:
Square 6: Snuggle 2 – cable and bobble pattern:
Square 7: The Letter ‘A’ – striped pattern with fairisle letter motifs (two colourways):
Square 26: The Letter ‘K’ – intarsia letter motif:
Square 27: The Letter ‘G’– striped pattern with fairisle letter motifs (two colourways):
Square 28: ‘D’ is for Dog! – intarsia dog motif with contrast coloured bobbles (two colourways):
On each pattern page there is a list of Pattern notes and tips that are worth reading before you start to knit each square. These bits of advice give you a pre-warning of what to look out for, as well as some useful information about how to knit each square. In the following notes below I am going to give you a few extra tips about the squares so that you can knit them with complete confidence.
SQUARE 6, SNUGGLE 2: you’ll recognise this cable pattern from a previous mail out, but look closely and you'll see that it is slightly different, with stitches crossed to the front instead of to the back.
Tech vids to watch for assistance with this square:
- Picking up stitches to knit the next square (MO1 blog)
- Mattress stitch (horizontal) (MO1 blog)
- How to cable (MO1 blog)
- How to knit a bobble (MO1 blog)
In this cable pattern all the cables twist to the left, which is what happens when you hold the stitches to the front. On page 18 you will find the explanation for ‘c7f’ - it is worked so that the centre stitch of the cable stays in the centre as you cross the stitches over. It is a very regular repeat pattern with a self-coloured bobble knitted in the middle of each cable. It can sometimes be tricky to get the edge stitches of a cable neat, so make sure that you pull the yarn firmly when changing from knit to purl or purl to knit when working the stitches between the cables.
You can choose to work from worded instructions or from a chart for this square. If you are new to working from a cable chart then it is a good idea to check each row as you knit it against the worded instructions, just to make sure that you are following it correctly.
SQUARE 7, THE LETTER ‘A’: this square is in the same style as Squares 1 and 29, with fairisle letters knitted into bands between garter stitch and stocking stitch stripes.
- Picking up stitches to knit the next square (MO1 blog)
- Mattress stitch (horizontal) (MO1 blog)
- How to carry yarns up the side of the work (MO1 blog)
- How to knit fairisle (MO1 blog)
Having knitted a variation of this square a few times before, you should find this one quite straightforward to do. There’s just the right amount of fairisle to keep you motivated (but not overworked!), with simple stripes to knit in between.
There are two colour options for this square so make sure that you follow the correct instructions for the colourway you are knitting. The fairisle bands are identical for both colourways, but the colours in the stripes differ. Colourway 1 (Silver) is always written first with any changes for Colourway 2 (Rosy) written afterwards in brackets and bold.
SQUARE 26, THE LETTER ‘K’: this is the fifth large letter motif in the design and is knitted in Cream and Camel to match the letter ‘P’ from Mail Out 3.
Tech vids to watch for assistance with this square:
- Picking up stitches to knit the next square (MO1 blog)
- Mattress stitch (horizontal) (MO1 blog)
- How to knit intarsia (MO1 blog)
This is an intarsia pattern, so you will need to wind off small balls (or bobbins) of yarn to knit each section of colour to achieve a single thickness multi-coloured fabric. My suggestion is to use three balls of Cream and two of Camel. With Cream being the background colour and therefore used in larger quantities than Camel, you could wind off just two bobbins of this colour and work from the ball of Cream for the third. This is what I did and it worked really well.
When you reach Chart Row 24 you can reduce the number down to one bobbin/ball of Camel and two of Cream, and then reintroduce the others again on Chart Row 26.
There is a half-page Notes section on page 11 which could be useful if you want to write down how you knitted this square, and on which rows you joined in the yarns.
SQUARE 27, THE LETTER ‘G’: this square is similar to Squares 9, 13 and 23 but this time you are knitting ‘G’s instead of ‘T’s, ‘F’s and ‘U’s.
Tech vids to watch for assistance with this square:
- Picking up stitches to knit the next square (MO1 blog)
- Mattress stitch (horizontal) (MO1 blog)
- How to carry yarns up the side of the work (MO1 blog)
- How to knit fairisle (MO1 blog)
This square is the fourth and final one in this set and should be one of the easier ones to knit this month as you’ll be familiar with the pattern. There are two colourways with the variations clearly visible in the images of the squares on page 12. Note that there are two charts (on page 13) – one for each of the two colourways. And if you are in any doubt, take a look at squares 9, 13 and 23 that you’ve already knitted as these are very similar to this square.
SQUARE 28: ‘D’ IS FOR DOG!: so here’s the cute square for this month, a jolly little dog who can’t wait for you to knit him – woof!
Tech vids to watch for assistance with this square:
- Picking up stitches to knit the next square (MO1 blog)
- Mattress stitch (horizontal) (MO1 blog)
- How to knit intarsia (MO1 blog)
- How to add Swiss darning to your knitting (MO1 blog)
- How to add Chain stitch to your knitting (MO2 blog)
The dog is knitted using the intarsia technique, so it requires bobbins or small balls of wool to knit it. To cut down on the number of balls, I knitted the section in Silver/Vintage Pink minus the nose and mouth and embroidered these on afterwards using Swiss darning. Not only was this easier to do, but it made the nose and mouth sit slightly proud on the knitting which I think works well for these details on the dog’s face. So if you decide to do this you will need six bobbins to knit this square – two of Duckling, one of Silver/Vintage Pink, one of Puddle/Rosy and two of Taupe.
You might also want to Swiss-darn the letter ‘D’ depending on whether you think you can get it to look neater this way. I Swiss-darned all of the letters onto my squares, so I will continue to do this so that they all look the same.
Other things to watch out for are the few reverse stitches (knit on RS, purl on WS), around the nose. And there are two contrast-coloured bobbles as well to knit in. Two separate ends of Sea Green are purled on chart row 24 so that you have them in place to knit the bobbles on the next row up. If you need a reminder of how to knit a contrast coloured bobble, you can scroll back to my 2023 Mystery Blanket for some assistance: https://debbieabrahams.com/blogs/news/mystery-blanket-club-2023-post-1-february
THE MYSTERY CLUB MEETINGS AT ‘YARN LOFT’ IN NOTTINGHAM WILL RESTART THIS MONTH. So this is great news if you live close to Nottingham and fancy a knit and a natter while you knit up your blanket squares. Usually the meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month, however, as we are launching the 2024 Mystery Blanket Club on the 16th February, I am going to talk to Doreen to see if we can schedule in the first meeting on Wednesday 21st. Within the next couple of weeks we will send an email all our members to see who is interested in attending. And then hopefully I will get to see some of you in a few weeks’ time. It will be the ideal opportunity to bring along your completed (or uncompleted!) 2023 Mystery Blanket to show to the group, as well as your Baby Blanket squares and the new squares for 2024 to knit.
Yarn Loft is at 118 Hucknall Road, Carrington, Nottingham, tel number 07825 702433, website: www.yarnloft.co.uk. Meetings are held between 4-6pm and to cover the costs of hosting the meeting there is a small sub to pay (£3.00), which can be paid to Doreen on the day.
I hope you will be able to join me!
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If you are not already a Ravelry member, then it is very easy (and free!) to join. Just follow the instructions on their website: http://www.ravelry.com
The Debbie Abrahams Mystery Knitters group on Facebook is another fun way to keep in touch with other members. It was set up a couple of years ago and has grown in size to over 500 members, so that’s well worth joining too.
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With just two more instalments to go after this, we are fast approaching the end of our Mystery Baby Blanket adventure for this year, but there is still plenty more in store with some new squares plus the edging to come. Next month you will complete two strips and will therefore be able to make a start on sewing them together, so I will include some hints and tips about that in the March blog. And if at this point you are still trying to guess the title, then all will be revealed in the final instalment in April, so that’s not too far away now! Have a great knitty February everyone and I’ll see you back here next month! Debbie, x
