Getting Ready to Bang Out a Sweater: A Guide

Dear friends in search of February fun,

For those of you who were in a long winter’s nap last week, we’re here to recap the upcoming knitalong that promises to get you from yarn to sweater in a quick 28 days.

Yes, it’s true: The longest-running knitalong in MDK history returns. Bang Out a Sweater is back!

This is our cordial invitation for you to join us for a month of beautiful knitting—it’s going to be a perfect combination of pattern, designer, class, teacher, and yarn.

Mark the start date on your shiny new calendar: February 1, 2025. By the end of the month, our goal is to have a finished sweater. (Which month, of course, is entirely decided by you. The fun here is to start big and it doesn’t matter, really, when you finish.)

The Plan

We all decide to knit a sweater together during the shortest, wintriest month of the year. The collective joy involved in this is hard to overstate. Over the years, hundreds of sweaters have been banged out. Lives were changed. New skills, new friends, so much fun.

The Pattern

The Bolin Cardigan by Norah Gaughan, from Field Guide No. 28: Renewal. The minute we saw this design, we knew it would be The One official sweater to bang out.

It’s so good. Kay has already made one, and declared it a sweet ride, start to finish. (Felted Tweed in Stone with Kidsilk Haze in Rose shown.)

Norah’s skill as a designer is on full display here: this is superb design, full of clever moments that are manageable to work and beautiful in the finished sweater.

The back is stockinette, with ribbing at the hem.

The Workshop

We’ve created a brand-new workshop for this.

Bang Out a Sweater: Bolin Cardigan with Lorilee Beltman. Three Zoom sessions, two hours each, will lead you through the steps to make this sweater. Tuition includes an ebook download of Field Guide No. 28: Renewal, so you’ll have the pattern when you sign up. Class recordings are sent soon after each session, in case you need to watch later.

The Teacher

The one, the only: Lorilee Beltman.

The accolades for Lorilee Beltman last year were five stars, off the charts, wow:

• I just delighted in the class. Lorilee is an exceptional teacher. Her organization is next level.
• Lorilee is the best online teacher I’ve “met.” 
• Lorilee was fantastic and how she had her camera for us to see her work was excellent!!! So much fun, learning new techniques, customizing fit and trying new yarns!!!
• Lorilee is an amazing, patient teacher. Though I am not finished yet and did not really take advantage of the sessions live, I have the wonderful security of knowing that I have the recordings to refer back to!! Thank you, it was and is great!!

The Yarn

The Bolin Cardigan calls for two of our all-time favorite yarns, held together to create a sumptuous fabric: Rowan Felted Tweed and Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

We’ve created five colorways to make it easy for you to choose your favorite.

Find yarn quantity and size information for the Bolin Cardigan here.

(As ever, if you’d like to use your own yarn, that’s totally great.)

How to Join

Register here for this class. If you’re a charter member of the MDK Society, you’ll save 10% when you use your member coupon code, emailed to you on December 20.

Finally . . .

If you’re on the fence about taking a virtual class, here are comments from last year’s Bang Out a Sweater workshop.

• Thank you so much for these sessions. Each was more than worth the price. I have watched each 2+ times and am still learning from them. I will be referring to them in the future so am glad they will be available. Lorilee is amazing and most patient.
• Excellent instruction! I watched none of videos live (west coast/Alaska person) because the timing never worked BUT being able to watch the full recordings was great. I appreciate learning so many practical tips along the way.
• Hi, your knitting class was one of the very best that I’ve ever had. I’ve never done a sweater or used this type of yarn and I know I couldn’t have done it without your class!

Hope you’ll join us—sign up here!

Love,

Ann and Kay

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