Fun
Announcing: MDK March Mayhem Knitalong
This is going to be fun.
Kind of disorganized fun.
I know that many of you out there have just bought a pattern or two or twelve from the 64 designers whose patterns landed in the MDK March Mayhem tournament of patterns.
I have scooped up a bunch of patterns myself.
In the interest of sharing and caring and fun and knitting together, Kay and I are opening up a knitalong of a pretty wide scope.
Basically: knit any pattern from the MDK March Mayhem bracket.
Show and tell over in the Lounge, in “MDK March Mayhem Knitalong.” Seek counsel for your questions, help out a fellow knitter who’s stuck. And share your progress on Instagram, with the hashtag #MDKMarchMayhemKAL.
We get it that a knitalong featuring 64 patterns is maybe one of the most wide-open knitalongs ever attempted. But we also realize that there is a lot of interest in all these patterns. And we are curious to see them in progress.
So.
Let’s knit up a storm and see how far we get in eight weeks.
How to Participate
Start date: this minute!
Duration: through the end of May.
Consult the bracket. Buy a pattern. Order up yarn from us if you feel a need for new yarn. (Of course you do! Have a stroll through our juicy offerings.) Cast on that hat or wrap or yoke or sweater.
If you’ve already started a Mayhem project, that’s great—projects in progress are fine. This isn’t a speed contest; it’s a let’s-all-knit-cool-stuff-together thing.
Prizes!
We’ll be watching Instagram and awarding prizes including a) MDK yarn kits and b) sets of MDK Field Guides to knitters. To be eligible, post your project on Instagram with the hashtag #MDKMarchMayhemKAL. Once a week through the end of May, we’ll announce on Instagram the projects that have won a prize.
Our criteria for prizes? Beauty. Ambition. Wonderfulness.
What I Am Making
I’ve been scheming since the day the bracket was set. At the moment I have three under way, and several that are marinating.
This trio follows our crucial MDK Rule No. 483: There is a project for every knitting mood.
Number 1: Dohne Wrap by Gretha Mensen.
I’m using the divine farm-to-skein yarn of Prado de Lana. It is so rare that they can’t even wholesale it to us. It is a measure of my profound devotion to Alberto and Amanda Barcenas that I am telling you about this beautiful yarn, because I am very bitter that we can’t offer you this yarn ourselves. JUST KIDDING! Hurry up and grow your flock, y’all.
This yarn is called Wee Bairns, named for Cormac and Connor, the Romlinc lambs whose fleece makes up this worsted yarn. It has gray and brown and love all built into it. I acquired it in Edinburgh and so it is larded up with tender memories of trying to steal Tom of Holland’s bag full of this stuff. I managed to get my own. But larceny was contemplated.
This yarn is a perfect match for Gretha’s pattern, which is absolutely gorgeous.
Number 2: True Colors by Melanie Berg.
Meanwhile, a color party of total abandon is going on at the same time.
Our Canon Hand Dyes mini skeins have found their destiny! Amy Lee Serradell cooked up two exclusive MDK colorways, seven skeins in each, and I have gazed upon them, waiting for the right project. This is it.
It’s a sort of wacked-out Easter egg palette. 14 shades, some extremely close. I threw in a skein of our MDK Exclusive Backyard Fiberworks Sock to follow the pattern’s yarn specs. I can hardly express how fun this thing is to make.
I suppose one could make this in one color and it would be very subtle and beautiful. But that is not my jam on this thing. Exuberance is one of the most important moods in knitting. When else can you exuberate so wantonly?
Number 3: The Weekender by Andrea Mowry.
Meanwhile, in the cool corner . . .
A sweater in Tahki Donegal Tweed has been on my list for a while, and when I saw the reverse stockinette of The Weekender, my head besploded.
Tweed yarn looks amazing in reverse stockinette.
My only question now is what color to choose. A neutral? Murky, peaty superdark green? Bright and springy grass green?
We carry a dozen shades of this classic, straight-outta-Ireland wool in the MDK Shop. Any of them would make a spectacular Weekender.
Knitters, please weigh in with your MDK March Mayhem Knitalong project. What are you going to make? I can’t wait to see.
Yes!! Now to decide!
Decided on day one WEEKENDER for me!
Same same! I’ve ordered Briggs and Little heritage which is pretty rustic but I think it will be great! It’s a gray marl
Interesting how a pattern just SPEAKS TO YOU. What yarn?
how are you finding the pattern section of the Dohne Wrap? – is it tricky? –
I’m so pleased to read some of you are knitting Dohne. If i may share my little trick: i’m very visual so i always print the chart, for example C1, and i’ll mark -the repeat and last few sts before the edge- at each RS row with color markers, like row 1 all the symbols in blue, in row 3 pink etc. Now it’s easier to see what to do when and to keep track in which row i am and after finishing that row i check it off.
I also put a removable stitch marker in each first row of a repeat and at your work the first yo’s in rows 1 and 7 are easy to read and to keep track. I hope this helps.
thanks all for the hints/tips! – off to pick a yarn …..
Yes! These are brilliant. Thanks so much, Gretha!
It’s not tricky but I find myself needing to pay attention to where I am so it’s not a pattern I work on when I’m with friends. Trick is to make sure you always have 59 stitches between markers. I tore out about 20 rows when I realized I had knitted one extra row of pattern.
It’s very clever: the dimensionality comes from k3togs and sssktbl–no cables. The repeat is 8 rows, and 4 are basically WS purl rows. It’s a simple lace pattern–once you do a few repeats, it becomes very straightforward.
Oooh… i want to make that one too! Loved it from the start. Can’t wait to see yours!
Oh my GOODNESS! How can I chooooooose? I am going to spend a lot of time (and money) on this one, and I am forcing myself to finish my Carbeth before I officially join in.
Maybe.
Am I able to order yarn and patterns to be sent to England? I do so enjoy and appreciate all the wonderful knitting and tips in your newsletters. Jocelyn
Yes, happily! We do ship to the UK now.
I just bought Dohne and Big Sister. Have been trying to choose the perfect yarn for both!!
At work on Big Sister for about a week now.
Definitely trying my hand at the big winner, Humulus! It’s my first time tackling a yoke. I’m totally looking forward to it.
Yes, definitely, Weekender and Humulus are on my list. And I’m about to succumb to Tahki tweed! But not on Instagram, I’m afraid. Whatever happened to good old Ravelry KALs? (I know, I’m a curmudgeon.)
Because you have taken over my life, I have yarn on order to make Miromesnil (since it suggest two strands of different yarns, I am rationalizing that I needed to buy some yarn to use yarn already in my stash). And I do plan to make Weekender, and have a couple of choices of yarn already on hand, so there’s that. But I might decide to do Wheat instead so its an issue, a very big issue which rrewuires much thought and staring at the ayrn closet to resolve. Because, you see, I have two log cabin projects already on the needles, as well as the Corrugated Shawl, and so if one of you can’t come over and do my laundry for me, I can’t start another project yet!
How could I forget Wheat? Wheat already has its yarn set aside for it,, and actually do does Tailfeather.There is actually no hope of keeping up with this madness!
I am waiting for my MDK yarn to arrive to start on Tail Feather. I’ve ordered some yarn for Still Water and I’ve had my eye on Big Sister for a long time. So I guess I’m in the KAL! Can’t wait for something to arrive in my mailbox so I can start.
Excellent list! Big Sister would definitely fill a gap in my wardrobe.
I started on Hummelo last week: love that crunchy stitch pattern!
Agree! There’s something about it that seems fresh and modern.
I am in the mood for a cardigan, so I think I will start with Tailfeather or Stillwater. I have others on my list – Weekender and Cranberry Gose and Tracie and Amalgamation …
This weekend is the always fabulous DFW Fiber Fest, so I will choose my yarn there.
I’ll be there on Friday, shopping for yarn for Cranberry Gose!
Maybe we’ll all get lucky and run into Franklin Habit at some point!
I’ll be at DFW FF too! I’ll be shopping for yarn for Humulus for sure. Haven’t decided what next. I made a Tracie and it’s on the blocking board.
I hope to run into you. I’m Mary Kay aka MerryKarma on Rav and IG.
Looking forward to it! Are you taking classes? PennieB on Rav and Insta.
Easy choice for me. I had 2 projects in my planning before the Mahem bracket was announced. My allover favourite made it to round 3: SKÓGAFJALL. It will be knitted in fall though. At the Edinburgh Yarn Festival I was looking for the perfect yarn for a FANTOOSH to go with a silk summer dress (no sleeves). Never knew there are so many shades of brown! But I did find it: John Arbon Textiles Alpaca Supreme in Bronze. I am a max 2 project knitter. I will start with Fantoosh after my actual bigger project is off the needles. Later in the year I might cast on a WEEKENDER and a JOYCE.
I just stRted Big Sister.
I will make the Dionisio Point Cowl with some mini skeins I got through a yarn club and then start Weekender for a friend. Might be a chance to try that Donegal Tweed yarn, not that my stash cupboard is bare.
No interest in joining instagram… I did purchase a few patterns tho….
Bobble Shrug for me! Love its fun look, and with the way the weather is in the Northeast right now, a chunky something in a bright color is just what’s needed.
The Weekender was on my list anyway – it just moved up in the queue!
Holy cow, as if y’all don’t already dominate my knitting plans. Dare I start Kune-Kune in Sylph, although I’ve just started a non-bracket sweater? [Reader, she’ll dare.]
Just purchased Dohne and will use Phildar Laine & Cachemire from my stash.
I’m knitting a Fantoosh. I’m going to knit the winning sweater next.
decisions decisions…. every one of the 64 patterns is calling me
Dohne won my heart from the beginning and I’m so eager to knit it. Would like to use some Brooks Farm wool/silk yarn (remember them?) from stash, but have only about 600 yards. Would this pattern easily scale down to scarf size? Large scarf that is. Haven’t bought the pattern yet, so maybe my question would be answered with a close study.
So happy to read you love my Dohne shawl. The texture eats a lot of yarn amd therefore 550m would be too short. I’m afraid it won’t be enough for a scarf either. Having some other lovely yarn in stash? Or this might be a good excuse to buy some?
Zweig and Humulus are underway! I love them both so much. Zweig will be wonderful to wear all year & Humulus will be so cozy for the coldest winter months. This is Bound to be the best KAL of all time!
I already had the yarn for Fern and Feather in my stash, and I’ve been itching to start it after voting for it so many times in March Mayhem. I’m almost done with a huge project, so I’m ready to cast on some new things!
OMB! So many of the patterns were already on my list that I can’t decide but being as we are still having summer here I was thinking a Ranunculus maybe because it looks light enough to wear now but funky enough to wear over a long sleeved T in a month or so
Fine, twist my arm.
Cranberry Gose, for my daughter, and it just so happens that DFW Fiber Fest is this weekend, so now I also have an excuse to buy an exquisite yarn for this sweater.
It’s perfect for her: Loose-fitting, a layering piece, squishy-squooshy turtleneck-ish, and a bit of design detail that makes it interesting.
End of May, eh? *Looks at stack of current WIPS*
I’ll do my best, but no one should be surprised if I don’t quite make the deadline!
Hopefully someone here can answer a question I would like to purchase and get started on “Sonder”. However, I can’t get an answer from the designer (she doesn’t respond on ‘Wednesdays” evidently) as to whether the pattern is “written out” completely. I found where someone else asked the same question a few months ago but it was never answered on Ravelry. I’ve also tried posting a question on the pattern forum but to no avail. If anyone can answer, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much!
Big Sister for me. I just scored a giant stash (36 skeins) of Irish wool. Will have to do some maths as the Irish is aran, but I’m sure I can make it work.
Easter egg palett was my thought too. Besploded! Add that to Ann & Kay’s lexicon of knitting-associated words…Can’t join the KAL til next week. Thinking the Ankers Cardigan. Can’t wait!
On my third WEEKENDER with Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok in color Golden Meadow and size 9 needles. Best boxy (by not being too boxy) fit for me ever.
True colors in linen? I do have a mini skein set. And many leftovers…
I have started Dohne. I am not a shawl person usually but loved the pattern as soon as I saw it. Using Miss Babs Kuhne for it. Thanks for your hints Grethe!
So great to hear, i’m looking forward to see your shawl!
Well, the more times I saw True Colors, the more I liked it, and I kept voting for it. And I am currently cleaning out the craft room, and find that I already have enough yarn for…oh, let’s say…a bajillion of them!
Whoops! I meant Miss Babs Kunlun.
Just the enabling I need to buy yarn for Big Sister. Even thiugh doing so breaks 3 rules I established for my next project. Thank you!
(Rule 1: Stash only; 2: Pullover; 3: some stranding since I finally finished knitting my first stranded cowl).
I was wondering whether it’s too late to join now?
For this KAL, I’m making The Twigs sweater in fingering weight yarn. I’ve been dying to cast this on, but I made myself finish up some other projects first. I cast-on on April 1st. I’m using Plucky Knitter Yarn.
About to cake up yarn for Humulus and am also starting a Tracie once that yarn arrives in the mail! Several other patterns are in my queue: Weekender and Dohne for sure!
I think I’m in with The Weekender – already made one with some mods in DK weight but want one in worsted for the more boxy fit. Hmmm – blue or purple Tahki Donegal Tweed – decisions, decisions.
Late or early, too tempting not to join!!!! I have started THE TWIGS, yarn order for the GALLOWAY on the way!!! I am a huge fan of both of these creative geniuses!!
I’ve never joiner a KAL because I am the slowest knitter who ever cast on! However, last year some time, I started my first-ever sweater, after MUCH deliberation, and it’s Anker’s. I had to set it aside for holiday gifts, and then a stash-busting charity blanket and then a baby gift, but now this is the perfect time to pick it up again.
My Anker’s is knit in Malabrigo Sock, Lettuce.
MDK Hive Mind: would (hoarded) Rowan Lightweight DK work for True Colors?