Welcome to the 2024 mystery shawl KAL:Patchwork. Patchwork is about the unexpected moments and people we piece together in our lives, and how each little stitch matters. Come join us for a cozy knitalong full of warm stories, caring people, and cozy fabric!

This triangular shawl is a new take with an unexpected approach to a traditional shape. Each clue is worked off the last using various angles & shortrows, adding on (or patching) as you go! Cozy fabric & basic shapes inspired by your favorite quilt blocks are accessible and fun, while the little patchwork clues are quick and satisfying. Hints of Ohio Star, Flying Geese, Bear Paw, & Log Cabin are present in concept only. The instructions include diagrams at the end of each clue demonstrating orientation & direction of knitting without spoiling the surprise. Choose 4 contrasting colors in your personal palette and enjoy the calming rhythm of garter stitch for a cozy hug of a shawl full of squish & crisp lines.

Please note that yardages listed do not include 8”/20 cm swatch. To swatch, cast on 48 stitches. K 12 rows of each color you plan to use to see how they interact. Because used yardage is all of color D, a second skein of color D is provided. Extra optional clues to extend the shawl for remaining yardage will be provided

Color A (lightest)- 340 yds
Color B (second lightest)- 257 yds
Color C (third lightest)- 100 yards
Color D (darkest)- 185 yards

NOTE: Farmer’s Daughter Fibers has some gorgeous kits available in different color combos!

Release Day: February 20, 2024

The PDF file download is a placeholder and has all your swatching, gauge, and yardage needs!; the first clue will be released digitally on March 5, 2024 at 10 am EST. We will be knitting together in the Alicia Plum Knits forum. There will be a separate thread for spoilers. One year after the KAL is over, your mystery pattern will update to the full pattern.

Clue 1: March 5th
Clue 2: March 12th
Clue 3: March 19th
Clue 4: March 26
Clue 5 & 6: April 2
Clue 7 & 8:April 9
Clue 9: April 16
Clue 10: April 23
Clue 11: April 30
Clue 12: May 7
Clue 13: May 14
Clue 14: May 21

Hints before the first clue:
-Either sport or heavy fingering weight will work, as long as you get gauge

-It’s ok to use colors that are relatively low contrast. Take a photo, turn it black and white and see it looks- all the colors will touch each other at some point.

-Any dye types will work: solids, tonals, speckles, and handspun/fade yards!

-Non superwash will keep your lines really crisp, as they tend to have more stitch definition.

-Swatch, and block your swatch (so you know if it grows) prior to casting on!

-Remember: do not substitute a yarn of which you have less than suggested yardage

Her grandmother’s lamp cast a muted golden glow on the room. When the family cabin had sold, she’d tucked it away quickly so it wouldn’t get lost. Now it was one of the things that brought the most comfort to her days-a thing with story, with age. Indeed, she’d curated most of her house with old things instead of new. Things like a pilly plaid throw blanket, thrifted cedar chest turned coffee table, and a chipped diner mug of stinging nettle tea. The living room felt peaceful. The dog lazily opened one bloodshot eye and looked her over before returning back to rest. She was in a most nostalgic mood this evening. Or… was it most evenings? As her eyes drifted around the room, they rested on the box. Tucked away in a dimmer corner was an old wooden box that read “”/. She’d fallen in love with it immediately, though admittedly all old boxes and unfinished wooden things were lovely. Once it was home, she knew: a box this special could only hold something that embodied comfort and warmth down to its very fibers: fabric. Scraps and yards from outings with her mother, trips with her husband, times she’d let the kids choose their favorites, that had been saved up over the years. She was a knitter by trade but these hobbies tended to spill over into each other, much the way her yarn stash had spilled into her bookshelf. Loving other handcrafts had snuck up on her, and been rather unexpected.

Also unexpected was running into fellow knitters in public. Earlier today,two rows below her at the event, a woman had spied her knitting and excitedly struck up a conversation. She’d expected to just take in the show from the back row and slip a few rounds of ribbing in. She’d wanted to be somewhat invisible today. She was tired and smiled politely. Animated and bright, the smiling woman told her about different yarn shops she’d been to, joked about continental hold, and shared other wool related chatter. And that conversation, though she’s felt too tired to speak when it had begun, had brought her much needed joy. “And if you go to that one yarn shop,” the woman was saying, “make sure you go to the END of the plaza, it’s in a spot that’s kind of hard to find. You have to look for it, but the owner is just lovely.” “When the power went out a few weeks back, and it was so cold, she made some soup to bring to her mother,. Mother still lives alone! Well, she couldn’t get to the house one way because of downed lines, and it got cold, so she stopped at a house on the way that had lights, and would you believe, she asked them to warm the soup up. And they did! They were happy to. So she was able to bring her mother some warm soup!” the woman laughed delightedly at the punchline, and the joy was infectious.

She studied the woman as she spoke- her smile, her absolute delight in someone else’s joy, and she decided that it was exactly what she needed today. What many of us needed- and perhaps it was time to start quilting. She knew that as she pulled the scraps of fabric from the box, each one would tell a story much as her new friend had today. Unexpected joys in unexpected places.*