Mystery Cushion Club 2022: post 4, September

HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE PENULTIMATE INSTALMENT OF THE 2022 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB! We are about to begin instalment number four, which means we are just one mail out away from completing this year’s project.

It’s been a tricky one to guess, but since the last blog we’ve had three correct guesses. So that leaves just two-hundred and forty-seven of you four more weeks to put your thinking caps on! Maybe this month’s pattern will give you the vital clue you need, let’s see…

The tech vids this month focus on sewing up and finishing, so if you haven’t already sewn your front panel strips together, this will be your first task before you knit the Upper Back Panel. These are the new tech vids this month:

• Horizontal Mattress stitch
• Vertical Mattress stitch
• How to knit Chevron stitch
• How to knit a three-needle cast-off

But before you make a start on sewing up, may I suggest that you stick the kettle on, find yourself a comfy chair and join me for my September intro vlog!

INDEX OF MCC22 VLOGS BY SUBJECT AND MONTH, to enable you to locate them more easily as and when you need them:

• How to thread beads onto your yarn (JUNE blog)
• How to bead, the slip-stitch method (JUNE blog)
• How to bead, the hooking-in method (JUNE blog)
• How to pick up stitches along a cast-off edge (to knit the next square) (JUNE blog)
• Square 1, Hearts & Flowers: the fairisle technique (JUNE blog)
• Square 1, Hearts & Flowers: how to work rows 12-17 (JUNE blog)
• Square 4, Crazy Cable: intarsia cast-on (JUNE blog)
• Square 4, Crazy Cable: how to cross yarns over on a right-side row (with increases) and a wrong side row (JUNE blog)
• Square 4, Crazy Cable: intarsia cables (c7b) on a right-side row (JUNE blog)
• Square 4, Crazy Cable: intarsia cables (c7b) on a wrong side row (JUNE blog)
• Square 5: the Intarsia technique (AUGUST blog)
• Square 5: how to knit contrast coloured bobbles (AUGUST blog)
• Square 5: chain stitch (AUGUST blog)
• Square 6: how to pick up stitches to knit Square 6 (AUGUST blog)

THE SECOND SET OF PATTERNS WERE EMAILED TO ALL THE MEMBERS ON 15^TH SEPTEMBER, so you should find an email from us in your inbox with a link to the September file.

Due to ongoing postal strikes by Royal Mail in the UK our printed patterns may arrive late. We have been warned of possible delays, so please don’t panic if they don’t arrive by the 15^th. They are on their way to you. If you signed up for printed patterns, they were posted to overseas members on the 8^th September, and to UK members on the 12^th September.

Don’t forget that you can also download your pattern files from your account on our website.

OUR 2023 MYSTERY BLANKET MEMBERSHIPS WENT ON SALE JUST UNDER THREE WEEKS AGO, AND ALREADY THREE-QUARTERS HAVE SOLD! So a huge thank you goes out to everyone that has signed up and booked their place!

We have an Early Bird offer for everyone who signs up before 30^th September, so there’s still time to take advantage of this if you sign up within the next couple of weeks.

Last month we sent you an email about the club which hopefully you received. But if you missed it, this is what we said…

Memberships are limited and when all of them have sold out the Club will be closed, so it is advisable to secure your place early to avoid disappointment. The Club begins February 2023 and runs for ten months until November.

SO WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2023?

Debbie is thrilled to be using her own bespoke 100% Wool DK yarn for this project which she has combined with a few of her favourite Rowan yarns – Felted Tweed, Alpaca Soft and Soft Yak. The colours are bold and bright and have an Autumnal feel, with rich shades of rust red, emerald green, gold and deep turquoise included in the palette. There are plenty of sparkling beads in it too, giving the blanket an extra sparkle!

Each member will receive a knitting kit which includes over thirty balls of premium quality yarn, ten sets of emailed patterns (with the option to purchase additional printed patterns), Debbie Abrahams size 6 beads and a woven label. The kit will be posted in two halves with the first one delivered in February, followed by the second one in May.

Above: Mystery Blanket 2014, Back To The Country

The blanket design will include the techniques of intarsia, fairisle, lace, textured stitches, stripes and beads, offering you a feast of squares to knit up over ten months. There will be a choice of two options for the trickier squares (fairisle and intarsia), enabling both novice and experienced knitters to participate in this unique knitting experience.

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL OFFER!

We have an Early Bird special offer for everyone who signs up before the 30^th September:

• 5% off the cost of the membership
• 10% discount voucher for a single transaction in our online shop*
• Entry into our Double Prize Draw with ten gifts up for grabs!

For each of these prizes there will be two winners:

1^st Prize: 2023 Mystery Blanket Club membership (we will refund what you have paid in full)

2^nd Prize: 2023 Mystery Cushion Club membership

3^rd Prize: Set of 10 printed patterns for the 2023 Mystery Blanket Club

4^th Prize: Mystery Festive Knit Box

5^th Prize: Knitting kit from a selection in our online shop

*excludes Mystery products.

Winners of the Double Prize Draw will be notified by email on the 1^st October.

CHOOSE TO SPREAD THE COST OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP

For those who would prefer to pay in instalments we have a new payment system in place called Splitit which enables you to choose to make your payment between 2-4 months. Simply select this option at checkout when you make your first payment and then your remaining payments will be taken automatically from your account.

Above: Mystery Blanket 2021, One Thousand and One Nights

If you are enjoying your Mystery Cushion, then maybe the Mystery Blanket Club is something you should add to your list of projects for next year! It’s easy to sign up - you can purchase your 2023 Mystery Blanket membership today by visiting the online shop on our website. I hope that you decide to join me!

THERE IS ONE PANEL TO KNIT THIS MONTH:

UPPER BACK PANEL, Zigzags – chevron stitch stripe pattern with buttonhole band:

Here are some tips to help you knit the Upper Back Panel:

UPPER BACK PANEL, ZIGZAGS: this panel is knitted separately and then joined to the Front Panel by a three-needle bind-off. It is advisable to sew together the Front Panel squares to create one block before you knit this square so that it is ready to join to the Upper Back Panel. Guidance for how to sew the strips together is given further on in this blog.

At first glance, this panel may look quite complicated to knit with its wavy edge and brightly coloured zigzag stripes. However, it is based on a very simple 2-row pattern repeat called Chevron stitch which is created by balancing pairs of increases with pairs of decreases. There is a tech vid in this blog that shows you how to knit Rows 1 and 2 if you need some guidance. On Row 1 of the repeat pattern, the increases are ‘yf’ (yarn forward), and the decreases are s2kpo (slip two stitches, knit one stitch, pass the slipped stitches over and off the needle). Row 2 is really easy, you are simply purling back across all the stitches but slipping purlwise the stitch in the centre of the paired increases (sl1p).

When you have completed all the repeats for the chevron stripe, you are instructed to knit a row using Amethyst on smaller needles (watch out, there is a decrease in this row!), and then a further 2 rows are knitted, ending with a RS row. You then transfer the stitches back onto the other needle so that the WS is facing, and leave to one side.

Above: the Upper Back Panel blocked out and pressed.

On page 7 you are instructed to pick up the stitches along the top of the completed Front Panel block, and then keeping the Amethyst yarn joined to the work, you join it to the Upper Back Panel using a three-needle bind-off. If you are not sure how to do this, check out the vid in this blog to see a demo of the technique.

And there, you’ve done it! Front Panel and Upper Back Panel completed, leaving only one more panel to knit in the final month!

HERE IS SOME ADVICE ABOUT HOW TO JOIN THE FRONT PANEL STRIPS TOGETHER. Not all of the squares have the same amount of rows so you will need to ease some of them in:

STRIPS 1 & 2:

Sew Square 1 (45 rows) to Square 4 (49 rows): you need to ease 4 rows of Square 4 into Square 1.

Along the edge of Square 1 place a marker between rows 22 and 23.

Along the edge of Square 4 place a marker between rows 24 and 25.

Join the squares up to the marker, easing in 2 rows.

Continue to join the squares to the last row on both, easing in 2 rows.

Sew Square 2 (62 rows) to Square 5 (44 rows): you need to ease 18 rows of Square 2 into Square 5.

Along the edge of Square 2 place a marker on row 31.

Along the edge of Square 5 place a marker on row 22.

Join the squares up to the marker, easing in 9 rows.

Continue to join the squares to the last row on both, easing in 9 rows.

Sew Square 3 (45 rows) to Square 6 (49 rows): you need to ease 4 rows of Square 6 into Square 3.

Along the edge of Square 3 place a marker between rows 22 and 23.

Along the edge of Square 6 place a marker between rows 24 and 25.

Join the squares up to the marker, easing in 2 rows.

Continue to join the squares to the last row on both, easing in 2 rows.

STRIPS 2 & 3:

Sew Square 4 (49 rows) to Square 7 (45 rows): you need to ease 4 rows of Square 4 into Square 7.

Along the edge of Square 4 place a marker between rows 24 and 25.

Along the edge of Square 7 place a marker between rows 22 and 23.

Join the squares up to the marker, easing in 2 rows.

Continue to join the squares to the last row on both, easing in 2 rows.

Sew Square 5 (44 rows) to Square 8 (62 rows): you need to ease 18 rows of Square 8 into Square 5.

Along the edge of Square 5 place a marker on row 22.

Along the edge of Square 8 place a marker on row 31.

Join the squares up to the marker, easing in 9 rows.

Continue to join the squares to the last row on both, easing in 9 rows.

Sew Square 6 (49 rows) to Square 9 (45 rows): you need to ease 4 rows of Square 6 into Square 9.

Along the edge of Square 6 place a marker between rows 24 and 25.

Along the edge of Square 9 place a marker between rows 22 and 23.

Join the squares up to the marker, easing in 2 rows.

Continue to join the squares to the last row on both, easing in 2 rows.

HERE IS A REMINDER ABOUT SOME NEW KIT AND PRODUCT LAUNCHES IN OUR ONLINE SHOP WHICH ARE HAPPENING VERY SOON:

• Friday 16^th September: Cali Bag kit – a textured and beaded bag is soft shades of blue and cream using Rowan Revive, inspired by the seashore. Kit includes yarn, beads and a magnetic clasp. NEW! - also available to purchase as a download.
• Friday 16^th September: Cali Purse kit – a textured and beaded purse using Rowan Revive in soft shades of blue and cream, inspired by the seashore. Kit includes yarn, beads and a magnetic clasp. NEW! - also available to purchase as a download.
• Friday 28^th October: Festive Mystery Knit Boxes – the perfect idea for a gift or a treat for yourself. Debbie’s Mystery Box includes ten mystery gifts including a brand-new festive knitting kit.
• Friday 25^th November: Let It Snow Wall-hanging kit – a fairisle and beaded design using Rowan Felted Tweed and Baby Cashsoft Merino in soft shades of purple, lilac and white. This was the kit that was included in the 2021 Festive Mystery Knit Box.

AND FINALLY FOR THIS MONTH’S BLOG, IT’S TIME TO HAVE ANOTHER GO AT GUESSING THE TITLE OF THE MYSTERY CUSHION! I am absolutely delighted that we have had three correct guesses since the last blog, so massive congratulations go to Gail Coles, Ruth Simmons and Jane Campbell! But for the other two-hundred and forty-seven members who are still guessing, here is another clue. The letter I am giving you this month is…’U’:

_  U  R  E  / _  O  U  _  E  A  U

That’s the last clue I am going to give you before the reveal next month, so if you think you know what it is, send us a quick email to find out if you are right. It would be lovely to add some more names to that list of correct guessers, so why not have a go?!?

With just one more instalment to go, the excitement is building in the lead up to the final reveal next month. In October you will get the pattern for the Lower Back Panel which will complete your 2023 Mystery Cushion and then it will be the end of our journey together for this year. But don't despair! - there will be a brand new Mystery Cushion adventure starting next June. However, if you fancy another KAL before that you could hop on board the Mystery Blanket in February - memberships are still available if you're quick...

It's time for me to sign off now, so I wish you all a fabulous month, and I look forward to seeing you back here mid-October for the final instalment when the mystery of the 2023 Mystery Cushion will be revealed. Excited? - I certainly am! Take care, Debbie x