Oh my goodness, you guys, I did it! I completed the @westknits mystery knit-along and I am now the proud owner of a crazy, bold, stripy shawl! This was my first-ever Stephen West MKAL and I must confess, it was tough!

The knitting itself was not super difficult, although I did learn some new techniques (more on that below), but the amount of knitting needed to complete each section (the different clues) was way more than I’d EVER attempted in my life in a single month. 

As much as I wanted to be on track to complete the shawl in 4 weeks, I fell behind from the start. The first clue was published on Thursday, October 6, but I wasn’t able to start until Sunday, October 9. I spent the next three days knitting at my fastest speed (and what felt like around the clock) for the first clue, but I quickly realized there was no way I would finish part one by the following Thursday, when the second clue would be revealed. That was a bit disappointing at first, but I quickly got over it and embraced my own pace. It still blows my mind how fast other knitters are!

Nevertheless, I am proud of myself for completing the project and not giving up (even if I did take the early bind-off option Stephen provided). Finishing became the most important thing for me. I tend to get bored and leave things unfinished, so I thought that working on developing some grit would be good for me, and perhaps serve as motivation for other areas of my life. 😉

After a little over 6 weeks of knitting (a lot!), I finally blocked my shawl yesterday and boy did it feel good! I think I might add some tassels or i-cord decorations to the loops, but at this point, I’m considering it done.

Will I wear it? Uh, maybe. As you can tell from these photos, the shawl is bright pink, not exactly something you can wear every day. I wasn’t so sure about my color choices from the start, but as I knitted, they slowly grew on me. I can see this becoming a nice cozy wrap for hanging around the house on chilly days. I don’t think I can give it away — at least, not yet.

Things I learned by participating in the Twists & Turns MKAL

1. Stephen West’s shawls are huge! You are going to be knitting a lot. I enjoyed this video (https://youtu.be/NPiB8pzBLSA) by Knitty Natty, who tracked the hours it took her to finish this shawl.
2. Your color choices matter! Not only are you going to be staring at the same colors for hours on end, you should want to wrap yourself in them after all your work is done!
3. These shawl projects are a great way to sharpen your knitting skills. Plus, Stephen West’s videos are incredible, like sitting right next to the teacher. This shawl will teach you about i-cord, short rows, and more!
4. If you don’t like surprises, a mystery knit-along is not for you.
5. There are some incredibly fast knitters in the world! 🤯 I am not one of them. 
6. Embrace your pace!
7. When you finish your shawl, it will feel like you’ve earned a new belt in Karate. 🥋
8. It feels great to be part of a large community of knitters around the world. On Ravelry the group has over 11,000 members.
9. It’s quite possible you will become a “shawl person” and will need to mark your calendar for next year’s MKAL.

Did you knit this shawl? What do you think I should knit with my leftover yarn? (I have almost enough to make another one.)

Let me know in the comments.