Mystery Cushion Club 2019: post 3, August
Debbie AbrahamsHELLO AND WELCOME TO THE THIRD INSTALMENT OF THE 2019 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB! And at this point we are just over halfway through this year’s project, so if you’ve kept up to date with your knitting you will be well on the way to completing the front panel! And if you haven’t, then panic not as you can knit it at your own leisure and catch up when you have time. So no pressure!
THE THIRD SET OF PATTERNS WERE EMAILED TO ALL THE MEMBERS ON 15TH AUGUST, so you should find them waiting for you in your inbox. For the members who opted for printed patterns, the overseas were posted on the 8th August and the UK were posted on the 13th August. So if they have not arrived with you yet, they are definitely on their way to you.
MEMBERSHIPS FOR THE 2020 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB GOT OFF TO A GREAT START THIS MONTH, with an Earlybird discount being offered to all memberships purchased through our online shop. However, if you have not signed up yet there is still time to take advantage of our special discount. And it’s really easy to do! Simply enter EARLYBIRD20 after clicking “Checkout” and 5% discount will be applied to your membership purchase. But you must sign up before 31st August to claim your discount, after which memberships will be sold at full price.
Above: previous Mystery Blanket, A French Romance (2016)
This is just a little bit of information about what I have in store for you for the 2020 Mystery Blanket…without giving the game away, of course!...
The 2020 design focuses on stitch structures and combines together a mixture of beautiful cotton and wool blend yarns in tonal shades from the Rowan collection. They include the eco-friendly recycled yarn Denim Revive, Felted Tweed, Summerlite DK, Baby Silk Merino DK and Soft Yak. The yarns have been selected for their texture and subtle colourings, giving a tweedy, grainy look to the project. The colour palette I have chosen is soft and calm with an emphasis on blues, greys and neutrals which are complemented by a scattering of sparkling beads. There will be some intarsia patterns in the blanket – in other words ‘picture knitting’ which are multi-coloured patterns using separate balls of yarn. But remember that there is always a second option offered on colour-work squares which gives you the opportunity to opt out and knit something a bit easier.
You can visit my online shop today to purchase your membership. You will find various options for UK, Europe and World Zones 1 and 2 including Printed Patterns and Tracked delivery.
If you want to find out more about next years Mystery Blanket, it would be a good idea to visit the FAQ page on my website where you will find lots more information under ‘Mystery Club FAQS’: https://debbieabrahams.com/pages/faq
THERE ARE THREE MYSTERY CUSHION BLOCKS TO KNIT THIS MONTH:
FRONT PANEL, Block 7: Grecian Urn – fairisle pattern with slip-stitch and hooked-in beads:
FRONT PANEL, Block 8: Mosaic 2 – ribbed pattern with stripes and hooked-in beads:
FRONT PANEL, Block 9: Fresco 2 – fairisle pattern with slip-stitch and hooked-in beads:
In addition to the Pattern notes and tips on each pattern page, here is some extra advice on these blocks…
BLOCK 7, GRECIAN URN: two purples and a green are added into the design with this block which focuses on fairisle and beading. It is similar in its content to Block 1, Fresco, but it has different coloured beads and the centre fairisle section is different too.
Rows 1-9 are given as worded instructions, and then you knit rows 10-30 from the chart. After completing the chart you continue to knit rows 31-42 from worded instructions again.
At several points in the pattern you are instructed to transfer your stitches onto the other needle – this is so you can knit two rows beginning with a right side row, which creates a garter stitch ridge (rows 8-9, 31-32 and 40-41). But be aware that after you have transferred the stitches onto the other needle, the next row in the pattern may be an even numbered row with the right side of the knitting facing you – usually in knitting all right side rows are odd numbers and all wrong side rows are even numbers. Also note the change to a smaller needle size which will keep the rows of garter stitch neat and even.
All of the beads on the chart are hooked-in to the knitting. When you come to a bead symbol on the chart, you hook in the bead onto the stitch and then knit the stitch. This means that the bead actually sits on the stitch on the row below where the bead symbol is on the chart. That is why the beads on chart row 12 look as if they are off centre, but in fact they sit in the middle of the cross pattern on row 11.
Embroider the horizontal lines using chain stitch and Sienna yarn onto chart rows 6 and 16. The embroidery will cover a row of Spring Green on each side of the central fairisle block. I embroidered over one knitted stitch with one chain stitch, beginning between the first and second stitches of the row, and finishing between the fortieth and forty-first stitches. Make sure that you cut a length of yarn which is long enough to embroider each line in one go as it is very frustrating if you run out before the end!
BLOCK 8, MOSAIC: this is very similar to Block 2 from Mail Out 1, but it begins with Pale Blue rather than Oyster.
Remember that if you are having trouble with hooking in the beads – and there are a lot of them – then try using a piece of Oral B Superfloss (dental floss) as this might be much quicker and easier to use than a crochet hook.
And one last thing to watch out for in this pattern is the stitches which are knitted ‘K1tbl’ and ‘P1tbl’. These two abbreviations mean that you knit/purl the stitch through the back of the loop, thus tightening it up and making it neater.
BLOCK 9, FRESCO 2: this is very similar to Block 1 from Mail Out 1, but the two blue shades in the centre fairisle section have been swapped around. And you begin by knitting two rows of Sienna before commencing the slip-stitch beaded section, rather than knitting two rows of Sienna at the end of the block.
MONTHLY MEETINGS FOR MYSTERY CUSHION AND MYSTERY BLANKET MEMBERS ARE BEING HELD IN NOTTINGHAM, so why not come and join us?!? The meetings used to be held at Yarn in Beeston, however, following the closure of the shop they are now held at Sarah’s house. It’s a great opportunity to meet other members for a couple of hours of friendly knit and chat over a drink and usually a lovely homemade cake or biscuit (that’s reason enough for me!).
Above: the group meeting last month - with lovely homemade flapjacks!
There is no meeting this month due to the summer holidays. So the next one will be on Wednesday 11th September from 4pm-6pm. You can find out more details by contacting Sarah at: info@yarn-in-notts.co.uk
AND FINALLY FOR THIS MONTH … THE THEME OF THE MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB! We still have not had any correct guesses for the title of the Mystery Cushion. So here is another letter to help you. The letter I am giving you this month is ‘I’:
_ _ _ _ _ I _ _ _ / _ R _ _ M _ _ _
Any ideas?!? Email Sue at sue@debbieabrahams.com to see if you are right, otherwise the theme will continue to be a “Mystery” for you until the next clue in another four weeks’ time…!
Thanks for reading my August Mystery Cushion blog, and I hope that you have found the contents of it helpful. Don’t forget to send in your own ‘mystery’ photos and stories, and with your permission we will include them in the next Mystery Cushion blog – it’s always good to hear from you! I wish you happy knitting this month and look forward to seeing you back here in another four weeks’ time for all the latest Club news. Until then, take care, Debbie x
