Fun
Lace Up Your Needles: A Knitalong Is Coming!
Guess what? It’s September! It’s the time of year when we look for the hint of cooler days to come. It’s Back to School time, even if school this year is the kitchen table. The welling-up of longing for crisp notebooks and pens, a new pack of anklets, and fresh knitting projects can be denied no longer.
It’s the perfect time to cast on a project from MDK Field Guide No. 15: Open. In this tiny tome, Jeanette Sloan gives us modern lace, with clean lines and fresh perspectives on everything from the shape of a cardigan to mixing lace motifs with color changes. Some of us (ahem, me for example) have cast on already, and we’re ready to join hands and have a rollicking good time knitting these designs together, in what we’re calling the MDK Open Knitalong.
The Patterns
Here’s a brief review of the designs to choose from, ranging from simple scarves to get your lace skills going, to magnum opuses (opi?) that you can swan around in all fall, creating a sensation.
Mood Cardigan
Here it is, a brilliant design that allows you to wear this cocoon two ways. The Mood Cardigan is one of the most artful constructions we’ve seen.
This sample was knit in double-stranded Gleem Lace by Fyberspates. (Shade: Pebble Beach.)
There are clever moments of adding cuffs and edging, but at its core, the Mood Cardigan is two rectangles that meet and hit it off famously. We’re in love with the simple lace pattern. We love it upside down or right side up. We love it, period. I got a head start on my version (in Neighborhood Fiber Company’s Rustic Fingering merino wool), and I am glad I’ll be in good company when I join up the pieces and do the finishing of the cuffs and mitered neckline.
Clerestory Shawl
One design, two weights of yarn. When worked in worsted weight yarn, Jeanette’s pared-down lace patterns are bold and gutsy.
Look what happens when you change to a lace weight yarn: a completely different effect.
Ann got a head start on her version, in single-stranded Gleem Lace. (Shade: Deep Aqua.)
Translucent and swingy.
Instructions for both weights of yarn are included in MDK Field Guide No. 15.
Aperture Stole
As if by improvisation, two lace patterns come and go in this delightful design. Jeanette plays not only with lace patterns here but also the yarns and colors—the pattern lays it all out exactly for you. Or you can play with the colors, yarns, and stitch patterns. So much possibility here.
This sample was knit from one of our Aperture Stole kits. (Shade: Water.)
Tumbling Block Lace Scarf
This design is a skill builder for knitting lace patterns. Again, we’re fascinated with what Jeanette’s lace patterns do when worked in yarns of differing weights. It’s delicate in lace weight, and strikingly graphic in worsted weight yarn.
Rib Lace Scarf
On the left, Lichen and Lace Superwash Worsted in Evergreen. On the right, Gleem Lace in Tweed Imps.
Such a pretty, simple lace pattern—great for your first experiments with yarnovers and decreases. With the pattern written for both fingering and worsted weight yarn, you can explore these differing effects using all sorts of yarns. If you’d like a wider scarf, simply double the number of stitches at cast on and repeat the lace pattern.
The Dates
The official rope drop is two days from now, on Friday, September 11, and we’ll keep knitting together in an official way until Friday, November 6. That’s two full months of fun and virtual togetherness, with some surprises and prizes in store. Unofficially, though? A good knitalong is forever. Take your time, and enjoy the ride.
Where to Share
If you’re on Instagram, our hashtag will be #MDKOpenKAL. Tag your photos with the hashtag and we’ll share them in our posts and stories. (And don’t forget to share any MDK project with the hashtag #mymdk, so we can freshen up the gallery of FOs on our homepage.)
And of course, we’ll be knitting and carrying on together in the MDK Lounge. Be open with us: Ask your questions, and share your trials, tribulations, and triumphs in the MDK Open KAL topic. Thanks to our early birds, there’s also a dedicated topic for the Mood Cardigan, where we’ve already collected loads of tips, tricks, and photos from fans of this versatile, quick, cardigan.
Lace Up
As with all MDK knitalongs, all knitters and all yarns are welcome, so don’t hesitate to dive into your stash. If you need supplies, we’ve got exquisite yarns and handy tools in the MDK Field Guide No. 15: Open One-Stop Shop.
For easy matching of our yarns with the projects, flip through our look book. Your purchases fund all the daily fun here on MDK, and we’re so grateful for your support.
See you Friday for needles up!
I love reading your posts first thing each morning! This morning I laughed out loud at your plural for opus. It’s opera. (I’m the only living American who took Latin in high school.)
I’m impressed. I took Latin but don’t remember opus/opera. We were too busy learning to fight Caesarean wars ( bellum, bellī) and winning (vincere) them. But glad to see there is a fellow Latin student out there! Chloe
Why do i only remember hic, hike, hoke, huyus, huyus,….obviously don’t remember spelling
Please let us not forget amo amas amat amamus amatus amant! 3 years of Latin here and forever grateful to Miss Shultz!
You’re not the only one but perhaps the only one that remembers the words. In my minds eye I can still see the cover of the book just not what was in it 🙂
I took high school and 3 quarters of college Latin…don’t remember much of anything after the first sentence on the first day: “Agricola puella non est.” (“The farmer is not a girl.” Doesn’t come up a lot in conversation, LOL!)
‘Gallia in tres partes divisa est’. Opening line of Caesar’s Gallic Wars (Gaul is divided into three parts). For some reason that’s the sentence that stuck from my high school Latin. But I’ve never regretted taking it! Invaluable for crossword solving. And figuring out word definitions.
My father made us memorize that line when we were little (have no idea why) and he made me take Latin in high school—which I actually went on to use in my second career as a horticulturist!!!
Magna opera facienda sunt! It’s lovely to know that Latin is a fond memory for many. I taught it eons ago as a teaching associate at the University of Minnesota. Recently returned to it for pure enjoyment. The above translates, “Great works must be done!” A good motto for the KAL.
My high school Latin was nearly 60 years ago. I am so proud of myself because I could translate that,
Is Lichen and Lace worsted the same as “Aran” for the Rib Lace Scarf? Gratias tibi. (another Latin student)
Yes, worsted and Aran are usually the same.
thanks, Dany!
I’m so looking forward to this KAL. I wasn’t sure whether to start with Clerestory or Mood, but now that I’ve perused the Mood thread one more time, I think I have to start there. It’s such a cool design.
Wow, I just ordered my Gleem Lace yarn in color Shoreline and can’t wait to knit with you all and ask my questions. Thank you.
Latin was my favorite subject in high school, but was not offered at the 2 high schools that followed (military family), nor college. But I loved it!
I took four years of it and loved every minute! Made me a great English and philosophy major and a better librarian.
What is the yarn on the right in the photo at the head of this ‘lace up your needles’ post?
It’s magnificent. Thanks you. JS
Yes, I would also like to know what that yarn is
All patterns in this Field Guide are so beautiful. Congratulations to you and Jeanette Sloan for the inspiration. I’ve decided to knit the Mood Cardigan and just ordered the Helix yarn in the color Lannister which is a tonal red wine color. I’ll get started as soon as it arrives.
I love the Open Field Guide. I am doing the Mood Cardigan and I have been using stitch markers between the pattern repeats. Is anyone else using them? Do I dare try to do without?