Pick a path

I'm knitting something a bit different at the moment, which is teaching me a lot about the way I knit these days - I've joined in Ysolda's "mystery" knit-along (or KAL), Follow Your Arrow.

The idea of a mystery KAL is that each week, a new "clue" or section of the knitting pattern is released, and the knitters taking part complete that section and share photos. This is the first mystery KAL I've attempted! I got seduced into it by the choose-your-own-adventure aspect: there are 2 options per "clue", and 5 clues in total, so there are 32 possible shawls.
Plus, I'm an Ysolda fangirl, so it was inevitable really. ;)

I'm choosing between the 2 options for each clue by flipping a coin. This is so I don't change my mind a million times, and to preserve the mystery aspect - I don't know quite what's going to emerge from my needles....

Because I don't have any pictures or diagrams of the finished shawl as I'm knitting, I find I really have to pay attention to each set of instructions - I sometimes need to read sentences several times, and compare the charts to the written instructions to be sure of what to do. It shows how much I usually rely on the visual cues when following other patterns. It's kind of like being a beginner again.

This is my shawl with 3 clues completed (and lifelines in place between sections):

Follow Your Arrow by Ysolda, knit in Vintage Purls Sock.

Of course, after looking at everyone else's photos, I really want to knit some of the other options too! My plan is to knit a second shawl, taking the opposite "path" through the options. The two shawls will be knit from the same pattern, but have no elements in common. Pretty cool. :)

I'm in a book!

Last July, I was contacted via Ravelry by an author who wished to use some of my photos in her new book about geek knitting and crochet. I provided some high-res files, and proceeded to forget all about it until I got an email a few days ago. Now the book is out!

You can find it here at the publisher's website: Häkeln + Stricken für Geeks. Yes, it's in German! Fortunately I have enough of my basic German skills remaining to understand the title: "Crochet + Knitting for Geeks". :)

Two of my designs have been featured in the book's list of cool, geeky knitting patterns: my Tetris scarf 'I Dream of Falling Blocks', (p.231), and my Dalek hat 'INSULATE!' (p.232):

As one of the contributing crafters, I've received a free e-book copy to nosey through. It looks like a seriously interesting book, covering maths, science, coding, and pop culture geekery as they relate to knitting and crochet. It looks nicely in-depth and substantial - the e-book version is 388 pages. I really hope they do an English edition so I can read it properly!