Knit in Progress: Fuzzy Mitten Mystery KAL 2015

My first mystery knitalong (abbreviated to KAL) is underway and I’m already really enjoying it- the Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Toy KAL is so much fun. Mystery KALs require you to have faith and a love of surprises, since it can be very difficult to tell what it will look like while in progress. Each week another part of the pattern is revealed, and because it’s a toy, it’s easy to fit in knitting each week’s clues into my schedule, no matter how busy I get. Before the first clue was revealed, Barbara talked about what colours and weight of yarn would be necessary for the pattern. She recommended a light green and a dark green (leading to much early speculation on the mystery KAL ravelry chat thread– a crocodile? A lizard? a frog? A turtle? Gecko? Iguana? More names of different lizards that I don’t actually know? But therein lies the fun of a mystery knit. Starting out and not knowing what it’s going to be, but trusting the designer and having fun with the mystery. This is what the critter looked like after the first 3 clues:

I’m a big fan of Rowan Handknit Cotton for knitted toys, it doesn’t pill and it machine washes really well (perfect for toys). I intended to use stash yarn for the toy, but I was in a local yarn store and came across it, and couldn’t resist- I had to buy it. It was just the right shade of green.

The first clue started with a a rain hat and rain boots, which I knit in a contrasting yellow. I love that about Barbara’s toy patterns- she always has really cute accessories and clothes for each of her toys. I know that the hat and boots won’t be the last of the accessories for this knit (and if there is a coat I’m thinking of adding in some colourwork for a bit of fair isle style).

For the photos, I dressed Lila’s toy panda in the yellow rain hat and boots:

I took these photos before last week’s clue was revealed (which was the critter’s head!) so now it is pretty much revealed to be a turtle. I haven’t knit the head yet, but will be very soon. When taking these photos, my cat Yarn was napping nearby. I figured she would happily get involved in the photos: