Romi’s 2014 Mystery Shawl!
We are now finished with clue releases!

As with most Romi patterns I knit from the written.

Clue 1

For this cast on, I knew it would be picked up after the garter tab, so I did a figure 8 cast on over the 2 ends of my circular, and reserved the one side for when I was ready. When Romi said to pick up and purl stitches I just purled the stitches already reserved at the start.

Charts A and B
There are so many cdd that I wouldn’t bother marking more than the 2 edge stitches on each side. This lace is reminiscent of the lace mesh near the start of Red Brush.

Chart C
Watch out for row 5. There is a tricksy stitch (pfbf - purl in the front, back front of a single stitch) at the beginning and end of the row for the first time.

Clue 2

C2 shows up for the first time. I was really trying to not use purple, but the contrast was better with the purple.

I hope you don’t mind purling. There is a lot of it in this clue. I like the look of the clue, but it was slower knitting for me, because it starts to hurt my arm when I do a lot of one stitch.

Chart D
In the written markers are introduced. They will flank the 2 sides of the center stitch. Make sure they still do throughout chart E.

Chart E
I found this chart to be easily memorized. After a couple passes I no longer needed to look and the pattern for every row.

If you’ve marked the middle stitch for row 3, then you should stop doing the k2tog two stitches before the marked center stitch on row 5.

Watch out for the YOs at the edges of row 6 they are easy to miss.

The last picture shows the back and how I floated C1 and C2 up the edge. I’m catching the yarn on every WS row between the first and second stitches.

Clue 3

Chart F
This clue only uses C2. I was tempted to cut off C1, but Romi says on the pattern not to.

I actually used markers for the repeats on this chart. I had trouble on the first few rows reading my knitting, and the markers were just another little guide. In this clue there is patterning on both sides.

Watch rows 7 and 8 the beginning and end of the rows change from the norm of previous rows.

For the twisted stitches, I did them without a cable needle.

On the last row of the chart there are increases in the center of the row. I didn’t like the un-balanced look of the kfbf, so I did a p1, YO, p1 into the center stitch, and on the first row of the next clue I knit them tbl. These increases will move your marker if you are not careful. Make sure that your center stitch is still the one marked.

Clue 4

Uses Chart E again. Make sure your center stitch markers are still marking the center stitch before row 3.

Watch out for the YOs at the edges of row 6 they are easy to miss.

On Chart G row 1, I had to tink back half the row because on the 3 central repeats I was thinking twist 3, and did a k2tog 3 times on one of the repeats. Don’t do what I did. Keep the markers for the center stitch even though they aren’t used in this chart.

Chart H is a fairly straight forward feather and fan knit. Keep the markers for the center stitch even though they aren’t used in this chart.

Clue 5

Chart E fancy seeing you here! ;)
Make sure your center stitch markers are still marking the center stitch before row 3.

Watch out for the YOs at the edges of row 6 they are easy to miss.

You can cut C1 after this repeat of chart E. The rest of the shawl is knit with C2.

Chart I Markers are helpful here. I kept the center stitch marked, as the stitches around the center are different from the rest of the shawl.

Row 8 (the BO) Read through the BO at least once before you start. I found keeping the markers into the BO to be useful even though there is a decrease that straddles the marker. I could tell fairly quickly if I got off on the BO sequence. Counting to 3 consistently and accurately is very helpful! ;)

Yarn Usage

C1 start = 102.5g
C2 start = 108g

Chart A used 2g
Chart B used 8.5g
Chart C used 4g
Chart D used <1g of C1 and C2
Chart E1 used 4g of C1 and 2g of C2
Chart E2 used 5g of C1 and 2g of C2
Chart E3 used 6g of C1 and 1g of C2
Chart E4 used 6g of C1 and 3g of C2
Chart E5 used 7g of C1 and 2g of C2
Chart E6 used 8g of C1 and 2g of C2
Chart E7 used 8g of C1 and 3g of C2
Chart F used 27g of C2
Chart E8 used 12g of C1 and 3g of C2
Chart E9 used 12g of C1 and 4g of C2
Chart G used 4g of C2
Chart H used 13g of C2
Chart E10 used 14g of C1 and 4g of C2
Chart I used 17g of C2 through row 7
BO used 6g of C2

C1 used a total of about 96 grams
C2 used a total of about 93 grams

26 inch drop, and 86 inch wingspan

On the yarn, my C2 does not seem to hold dye. First I put it in wool wash, then a vinegar bath, then some Dawn, I ran water through it (The water ran clear and gave me hope.). I then put it in somewhere between 5 and 8 baths, and they each came out a pretty royal blue. I gave up and blocked it before it stopped loosing dye.