Welcome to “A Mystery KAL on Baker Street”, inspired by the classic consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes.

Kits including the Jimmy Beans Wool exclusive colorway “Baker Street” are available here!

Join the discussion page here, and check out spoiler photos here!

The team at Jimmy Beans Wool and Lorna’s Laces came up with a special colorway to celebrate the household name of the skilled detective, based on the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All it needed was a design to go with it. And of course, we had to make it a mystery knit-a-long, because it wouldn’t be a Sherlock tale without one!

The project, which can be a cowl OR a shawl, is truly unique in construction and design. It uses two skeins of the Lorna’s Laces base, Solemate, a blend of wool, nylon, and Outlast (which helps regulate body temperature). The Main colorway, “Baker Street” (based on the street where Holmes and his assistant, Dr. John Watson share a flat) is a proper reflection of Sherlock’s mystique and wardrobe (complete with the famous deerstalker hat). The contrasting color is a deep gold to make the design shine as brightly as the intelligence of Holmes.

Additionally, the kit from Jimmy Beans Wool also contains options for the contrasting colorway in Burgundy, and Neutral to fit your desired color palette.

Please note! Two skeins of color A and one of color B are required for the shawl, and only one skein of each color for the cowl.

The clues for the MKAL are as follows:
Clue One: January 1st, 2017
Clue Two: January 8th, 2017
Clue Three: January 15th, 2017
Pattern Release with photos: Jan 29th, 2017.

THINGS TO KNOW:
Most of the project is fairly simple, but there are a few things to know, including casting on and knitting in the round. For this, either double pointed needles or a circular needle for Magic Loop is required. Additionally, this project will contain brioche knitting, notably uses of decreasing and increasing. If you have not worked the brioche stitch before, I suggest practicing before beginning this pattern. For a YouTube guide, I highly recommend the tutorial by sosuknits at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY9-qT8Lxnw.

YARN, NEEDLE, AND GAUGE INFO:
For Color A, you may feel free to use any yarn color – multi, variegated, speckled, solid – that you choose. Think of it as Sherlock himself: eccentric, bold, brilliant. As for B, I recommend something solid or tonal to soften the project. Much like Dr. John Watson, this color will keep the partner in check as much as he can in a more subdued nature. You will also need two different sets of needles, US 2 and US 4 32” circular needles. I also used a set of US 4 DPNs before switching to circulars. The reason for two is because brioche stitch is fairly loose when using the recommended needle on the yarn, so using smaller needles will tighten the gauge. The gauge for this project is about 12 sts and 22 rows over 2” in garter stitch