It’s our favorite time of the year! Time for the Brown Sheep Spring Mystery Knit Along!

Did you know we’ve hosted mystery shawl knit alongs since 2021? That first year, we knit Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter’s Low Hanging Fruit Shawl in Prairie Spun DK. Then in 2022, we knit Aud Bergo’s Lofty Ambitions Shawl in Lanaloft and Lanaloft Handpainted in the spring and Mone Dräger’s Swift as an Arrow Shawl in Shepherd’s Shades in the fall. In 2023, Tonia Lyons desgined the True Blue Shawl in 3 colors of Nature Spun Sport. And last year, we knit Olya Mikesh’s Spring Meadow Shawl in Cotton Fleece or Cotton Fine.

This year, knitwear designer Aud Bergo returns with a mystery shawl in Prairie Spun DK. The Imaging Shawl combines simple garter stitch, stockinette stitch, and a lovely lace pattern alongside easy striped colorwork. We always love to incorporate a little colorwork into our mystery shawls because it lets us showcase our expansive color palette.

Let’s get to the details of the MKAL!

How do I join the MKAL?
How do I enter to win prizes?
What is the MKAL prize?
What do I need to make the shawl?
Can you tell me about the MKAL kits?
Can you help me understand which colors work best for MC, CC1, and CC2?
Do you have any other color pairing suggestions?
MKAL registration + kit link

How do I join the MKAL?

Joining the MKAL is as easy as entering your email here. We’ll release instructions for the Imaging Shawl in 4 clues spread across April and May. Here are all the important dates:

April 29 – Clue #1 releases via email
May 6 – Clue #2 releases via email
May 13 – Clue #3 releases via email
May 20 – Clue #4 releases via email
May 27 – The final Imaging Shawl pattern PDF (all clues included) releases via email
June 10 – The last day for knitters to submit their shawl photos for the chance to win an MKAL prize!
June 11 – Winners announced on Instagram and Facebook

How do I enter to win prizes?

On June 11, we’ll choose two knitters as the winners of the MKAL. You must post a picture of your finished shawl in Prairie Spun DK to the Brown Sheep Company Crafters Facebook Group or on Instagram with the hashtags #BrownSheepMKAL25 or #ImagingShawl to enter to win. Posting in both spaces doubles your chances of winning!

What is the MKAL prize?

The two winners of the MKAL will each receive a $50 digital gift certificate to BrownSheep.com!

What do I need to make the shawl?

To make the Spring Meadow Shawl, you’ll need:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Prairie Spun DK, 100g/256 yds per skein, 4 skeins, 2 for MC, 1 each for CC1 and CC2.
Needles: US 6 (4 mm) 32” or 40“ longer circular, or size to obtain gauge
Gauge: 22 sts and 43 rows = 4”/10 cm in Garter Sts, relaxed and unblocked
22 sts and 31 rows = 4”/10 cm in Stockinette Sts, relaxed and unblocked
24 sts and 30 rows = 4”/10 cm in Lace pattern, relaxed and unblocked
Gauge is not critical since this is a one size shawl. However, your gauge will change finished measurement.
Notions: Tapestry Needle, Blocking mat and pins

Can you tell me about the MKAL kits?

We created 4 Prairie Spun DK kits just for the MKAL. However, knitters can choose their own colors of Prairie Spun DK. We’re extending free shipping until May 20 on all kit and Prairie Spun DK orders with the code PSMKAL.

Can you help me understand which colors work best for MC, CC1, and CC2?

The kit colors featured above include the following:

Tahitian Pearls – Damselfly (MC), Lost Lake (CC1), Shimmering Mauve (CC2)
Sunflower Symphony – Painted Desert (MC), Swallowtail Butterfly (CC1), Mediterranean Olive (CC2)
Neon Shadows – Half & Half (MC), Owl Gray (CC1), Green Apple (CC2)
Strawberry Mocha – Sandstone (MC), Seal Brown (CC1), Desert Rose (CC2)

When choosing colors for our kits, we made sure that CC1 and MC belonged to the same or very similar hues, but with different values. For instance, in the Tahitian Pearls kit, Both Damselfy and Lost Lake are shades of turquoise (light and dark), and Shimmering Mauve contrasts against them. There are 2 contrast colors (CC1 and CC2) and we recommend that knitters choose a CC1 color that best matches the MC color in hue.

Some things you can note:

CC1 and CC2 will feature together in the colorwork
MC, as the name suggests, is your main color and will feature prominently in large sections of the shawl

Knitters should feel free to experiment and mix up the order of their colors. For example, for the Tahitian Pearls kit and the Neon Shadows kit, we’ve chosen the MC to be the lighter value hue. If you wish the majority of your shawl to be a dark color, for the Tahitian Pearl kit, switch Damselfly (MC) and Lost Lake (CC1) and for the Neon Shadows kit switch MC (Half & Half) and CC1 (Owl Gray). Keep in mind in those instances that CC2 will now interact more with the lighter color than the darker color in the colorwork because you’ve changed the hue value of the MC.

One other suggestion: we think treating MC as your contrast color and CC1 and CC2 as two values of the same hue would also result in a beautiful shawl. Check out the Blackbird, Coneflower, Shimmering Mauve pairing, the Owl Gray, Denim Jeans, Dew Drop pairing, and the Rain Cloud, Red Barn, and Coral Rose pairing, all shown below.