Heliopath Vest KAL - Coming Soon!

I am SO excited to announce that I'm going to be hosting another fun KAL. This time I'm hosting with my Instagram friend @GhostFaceKnitter. And this time I'm hosting it here on my blog instead of on the Ewe Ewe Yarns blog. Not that hers' isn't awesome.  It totally rocks but I thought I'd do it on my own page. You'll find that GhostFaceKnitter will have det's on her blog too.

So, what are the these "det's" I mention? Well let's get to it, shall we?

First of all, this is what we're making:

Image courtesy of KnittingDaily.com

The Heliopath Vest from The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits Magazine

Is that not the cutest vest you've ever seen? I'm not normally a vest girl but I can't wait to wear this. If I can find a polka dot blouse to go with it I'd be even happier.

I'm going to use Ewe Ewe Yarns Wooly Worsted yarn in the  Saffron colorway. Why use that and not the wool the pattern calls for? Because I like to throw everything in the washing machine and you can do that with Ewe Ewe's superwashed yarns. And because I like to support Local and Ewe Ewe just so happens to live up the street from me. :)

Just looking at this picture makes me want to start swatching now but I'll resist and wait until March 1st. Why March 1st? Well because...

We're going to cast-on on March 1st. And yes, there's a plan of attack. And YES, THERE'S A PRIZE! Also, and maybe most important, it's after the Olympics and if you're partaking in the Ravellenics your needles will be bare and you'll be wandering aimlessly looking for something to knit come March 1st.

As a former wedding planner (I know... who CHOOSES that as a job, right?! Crazy people, that's who) I am a still planner at heart so I like to have short term goals to work towards to make a new project seem less daunting. So here's what we're aiming for:

• March 1 (Sat): Knit swatch and measure gauge.
• March 7: Cast on and work 2" of rib (per pattern)
• March 14: Begin working Cable and Lace Chart for 7"
• March 21: Continue working Cable and Lace Chart for 7" more (to the split for the armholes
• March 28: Shape Armholes and neck.
• April 5: Finishing and armbands and buttonhole row

I'm going to host posts here each weekend for each step of the KAL so we can all stay on track and not get stuck on anything that will impede our progress.  And between now and then I'm going post about swatching and gauge so we all end up with vests that fit us. I HATE working so hard on a project only to have it not fit. 

Ok, ok, the prize? A 100g skein of sock weight yarn from Black Market Wool. If you haven't seen this amazing work yet, please go check it out. I have skein upon skein upon skein of this stuff just waiting to be knit up (and almost always have at least one project on the go with it on my needles). You'll absolutely love it! Oh, and she's Local too. My sphere of "Local" is pretty much anyone in California and she's just "up the road" in Sacramento. And I FINALLY get to meet her in August and I'm dying of excitement. 

Ok, Meaghan, digress much? Yep. 

We'll be posting updates on Instagram using #heliopathkal and would love to see your stuff up there too. We'll also be posting on Ravelry in our Instagram-Along-Ers discussion topic: Heliopath Vest KAL. Please join us in both places to see everyone's progress and to ask questions. Or you can ask questions here. Or send smoke signals... but those will be harder for me to answer since we've got a major drought here in San Diego and I don't want to get in trouble.

Seriously. Do it. You'll love it. And we'll have fun. Can't wait to knit with you!