The Magic of MKALs and Other Musings

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Between  how much fun I had with my first MKAL and my newfound love of shawls, I found myself joining just about every shawl MKAL that popped up in the last few months. I've been remotely reasonable by skipping things involving beads,  lace or particularly weird shapes that really didn't interest me. As I participated in more and more knitalongs (mystery or not), I felt like I was learning more about knitting from other participants than I had managed to teach myself in all my years of knitting.  The sense of community is definitely a major part of the magic. I have also discovered several designers whose patterns I really enjoy because they happened to be hosting KALs in the midst of my obsession.  




The problem with obsession is that it can lead to feeling overextended and add stress to what is supposed to be a fun, relaxing hobby. I started to feel this way while doing some organizing, plotting and planning recently. I had joined four MKALs that started in January and I had been outlining some other year long goals. Some KALs are announced so far in advance that I obviously didn't realize that they all overlapped. I picked out yarn for all of them while wondering if I could possibly keep up with all of them. I started two of them and decided to just follow along with the other two and see if they
turned into something I really wanted to knit.

Mokume by Jennifer Weismann and Forest Mosaic Shawl by Kay Hopkins


I'm glad I made the choice I did.  One of the projects I chose not to start is beautiful,  but not my style and the other is a toss up. I'm curious to see finished projects before I pass my final verdict about casting on. I'm also thrilled with the way the two I'm actually working on are coming together.  

Long Winter's Night MKAL by Laura Aylor and Geometrica MKAL by Claire Slade

My other current struggle is keeping up.  I am very rule and order oriented. MKALs have set clue release schedules and a deadline to finish. In theory,  totally ideal for the way my brain works.  In reality, feeling like I can't keep up can add massive stress in the corner of my life where it has absolutely no business.  In the last week I have finally managed to relax about the fact that I'm behind on both projects and accept that I'd rather work on my socks than keep up right now.  I'm hoping to find a balance between all of my goals for the year,  but I'm pretty sure I'm just overly ambitious and will have to regularly remind myself that it's ok if everything doesn't go exactly as planned.  

xo uhlissa


Knitting in my house is never lonely.  

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