The 16th annual Westknits MKAL is here, and this year we’re knitting in four-part harmony! You’ll need four contrasting colors of fingering weight yarn to compose your masterpiece. Go for a subtle gradient that whispers like a gentle ballad, or a set of bold, clashing shades that bring down the house. Your Mystery MusiKAL shawl will crescendo into a show-stopping finale!

SCHEDULE
CLUE 1: October 2
CLUE 2: October 9
CLUE 3: October 16
CLUE 4: October 23

KITS KITS KITS
Kits are available from Stephen & Penelope here:
www.stephenandpenelope.com/collections/mkal-2025-all-kits

Size & Finished Measurements

The overall shape and dimensions are part of the mystery! Mystery MusiKAL Shawl will be a similar size to last year’s Go Go Dynamo Shawl. There is an option at the end of the knit along to customize to final size, so you can stop early for a smaller size or maximize your yarn and knit a larger final clue.



Yarn

Fingering weight

If you want to add a Mohair Dare to your shawl, then read the Mohair Dare page of this PDF to add some optional fluffy goodness to your Mystery MusiKAL.
Collect your Mohair Dare here!

Recommended Yarns 

You can use plied or single ply yarns. This year’s shawl works well with lots of different fingering weight yarn types and fiber contents.



Yardage
Approximately 1748yds / 1600m total
Color A - 437yds / 400m
Color B - 437yds / 400m
Color C - 437yds / 400m
Color D - 437yds / 400m

If your fingering weight yarn comes in 100g skeins, then you will need 1 skein of each color. If yarn comes in 50g skeins/balls, you will need 2 skeins/balls of each color. You may have some leftovers, but it’s best to have the recommended amount of yarn listed above.

Needles

US 4 / 3.5mm circular in 40″ / 100cm length or size needed to obtain gauge

1 spare circular needle the same size or smaller for holding sts.



Notions

2 stitch markers, tapestry needle



Gauge
24 sts & 48 rows = 4″ / 10cm in garter stitch before blocking

Try to get close to the recommended stitch gauge to ensure you don’t run out of yarn. A similar stitch gauge is more important than getting an exact row gauge.

Garter Stitch Swatch

If you would like to see how your colors interact, cast on 30 stitches and knit some colorful stripes, knitting on the right side and wrong side for garter stitch.

I recommend striping the colors by knitting 8 rows of each color, resulting in 4 garter ridges for each stripe like this…

Knit 8 rows with MC.
Knit 8 rows with CC.
Knit 8 rows with MC.
Knit 8 rows with CC.

Repeat those stripes to visualize your color relationship and check your stitch gauge.

Ravelry Group

Join the Ravelry MKAL 2025 group here for discussion threads each week and to show off your beautiful MKAL progress! 

Use #WestknitsMKAL2025 & #WestknitsMysteryMusiKAL for posts on Instagram.