Hi everyone, and welcome! We hope you’ll join us for this year’s MKAL! It’s going to be SO much fun, I can hardly wait to get started!



Here are the details for this year’s Game of Thrones Mystery KAL:

• The MKAL will begin on Sunday, May 4th and run for 6 weeks (through the end of Season 4 of Game of Thrones.)
• We will be knitting a lace shawl inspired by Daenerys Targaryen! The mystery is in the design…
• The recommended yarn is 2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock and we are using the Limited Edition color “Fire and Blood” (avail. 4/25.) Lorna’s Laces Solemate is also a great substitute, and as usual, you are welcome to use ANY fingering weight yarn of your choosing. You are never required to buy yarn from us to participate in one of our KALs. Anyone is welcome!  
• The pattern difficulty level is considered Intermediate. The stitches are basic enough (a list of abbreviations is available immediately when you download the pattern in case you need to brush up on any skills), but there is some interesting shaping that may challenge you a bit (in a good way of course.)
• The pattern will include both written instructions AND charts (by popular demand!)
• The KAL will be hosted entirely on Ravelry, so the pattern will also only be available on Ravelry this year.
• You will need to go here to download the pattern: Game of Thrones MKAL 2014
• Each Sunday during the KAL, you’ll receive a message that the pattern has been updated. You can download and print each clue individually, week by week. 
• As usual, we’ll have threads for each clue in the JBW Group on Ravelry, so come on over and join in the conversation, ask questions, get help with the pattern, etc.!!!

Since we started doing these MKAL’s a little over a year ago, we have learned a ton! With each one, we’ve tried to improve the participant experience a little bit, and learned a little more each time as we go. After this year’s Downton Abbey MKAL, we received tons of great feedback (thank you all!) and think we’ve hit the nail on the head in terms of optimizing the KAL experience for all of you, and streamlining the process and information as much as possible. If you are returning this year for your 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) MKAL with us, you’ll notice a few key changes:

1) The pattern will now be available as a Ravelry download making it easier for you to print, store on an iPad or e-reader device, save for future reference, etc.

2) Each week, the new clue will be published separately from the week before (and e-mailed to you on Ravelry) so all you have to do is print the new section, not the whole thing over again. Once the KAL is over, you will receive a fully formatted all-in-one version of the pattern.

3) Because of this huge change, we’ll no longer be putting the instructions on the JBW Blog (which most of you mentioned is tough to print from anyway. Win-win!)

4) This also means no more going back and forth between the blog and Ravelry. Everything is in one place! Hurray!

5) Last time (for the Downton KAL 2014 AND the Game of Thrones KAL last year) the yardage on the pattern ran really close to the yardage needed to finish the KAL piece. I will never do that to you all again! This time there is ample yardage to finish the project, with extra to spare! (Gauge is still important! So please do check your gauge!)

6) As mentioned in the KAL details above, I have created charts along with the written instructions for this pattern. I have been asked for charts in the past, but not been able to provide them for various reasons. Now, thanks to my awesome new chart software, I’ve got nice, clean, and easy to read charts for every section of the project. :)

7) Lastly, (and please don’t tar and feather me for this) we are going to be charging a small fee for the pattern this year. The KAL promotional price for the pattern is just $3 and helps to cover the awesome changes I’ve listed here as well as my time in the design process and running the KAL. After the KAL is over, the price will go up to $6, so if you think you want to knit the shawl but are planning to wait to cast on, be sure to order it now and save the pattern in your Ravelry library for a rainy day to take advantage of the 50% off price!

I hope this covers any questions you might have about this year’s Game of Thrones Mystery KAL! As usual, you are welcome to leave comment/questions here, or send me a message on Ravelry at either JimmyBeansWool or Marinade (my personal account.) Also, be sure to join in the conversation in the Jimmy Beans Wool Group!

Hope to see you all in this year’s MKAL!

Happy knitting,
Kristen

So that is it for the Week 2 instructions! It's a lot of knitting for 1 episode so just take your time, and mostly enjoy the episode. Of course, if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. I encourage you all to wait until after the episode has aired as most questions will be answered for you in the episode or once you start knitting. Feel free to chat away in the Ravelry group as well.

Also, I will be at TNNA (a yearly knitting trade show) in San Diego for work all weekend and through Monday. I will try to get online and answer as many questions as possible in that time, but I may not get to everyone until I return to the office on Tuesday. Asking questions in the Ravelry group may turn up the answers you need from other participants to please try there first if your question is urgent. Thanks for understanding.

Happy knitting everyone!
Kristen

Hello! We were so thrilled to announce our next KAL over the weekend, and it seems many of you are excited as well. After all of the excitement over last year's KAL, we knew we just HAD to follow up this year with another. We are glad you all are excited. :)




This year's KAL has a little bit of a different format, with a twist. Starting with a basic shawl pattern, this year's KAL is based on the film drinking games of our college years with a “Choose your own Adventure” element. The difference is that in this case we’re taking a more productive approach: instead of drinking when something happens on Season 4 of Downton Abbey, we'll be knitting a specific stitch pattern into our shawl based on the directions given each week! (Of course, we wouldn’t blame you for pouring a glass of wine or a drink to enjoy with your project and Downton, but all we’ll be focused on is the knitting!!)


Sound fun? Ready to join the conversation? Be sure to check in and join the Jimmy Beans Wool Ravelry Group for all of the pre-KAL chatter! Also be sure to "start your project" on Raverly by going to the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL 2014 project page.

I've had a few questions about how to join the KAL. Basically, there is no formal sign up. Just by saying you are in, you are in! Just be sure to join up in the group on Ravelry above and start your project. Then, try to wait patiently until Sunday morning when the blog post is posted (I know, SO difficult, right?!?!) It's as simple as that!

If you are an LYS and would like to host Downton Abbey KAL Meet-ups or Knit-nights in your shop, that’s great! We are thrilled to have you participate with us! Please feel free to share the pattern with your customers, as long as you give full credit for the content to the designer and Jimmy Beans Wool. Also, feel free to let us know (support@jimmybeanswool.com) you are participating and we’ll happily give you a shout out on Facebook and our other social media accounts. We want your business to do well and receive some attention too! Thank you for participating!

I'll be back here bright and early Sunday morning (1/5) with your first post and your casting on instructions! Hope you'll join us!

Happy knitting,
Kristen