Nantucket Vest KAL (again!).

My how time flies! Was it really over three months ago that we announced our plans for the Nantucket Vest KAL? And then a few weeks later, we had to put it on hold because the Tahki Ripple yarn was on backorder. At that time, we expected the yarn in late July. Well, it finally arrived yesterday! Yes, the Tahki Ripple is now in stock in three colors - white, black and natural.

The good thing is that since we live in Georgia, and it's still August, we have plenty of time to knit - and then wear! - the Nantucket Vest before the temperatures drop (but can I say, honestly, if it got just a bit cooler right this very second, I wouldn't complain!). So we're still moving forward with the KAL. We'll cast on next Friday, September 2 - which will allow everyone who's participating in the Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL to finish that project first.

The Nantucket Vest pattern is the in the Summer 2011 issue of Interweave Knits. We still have a few copies available. And if you're not sold on the Ripple, the Maggiknits Maggi's linen is a great substitute. I've seen a work-in-progress with with the linen and it shows off the stitches and the lace perfectly. I had planned to use the Ripple, but after seeing the linen, I'm strongly considering changing my mind!

If you have any questions about the upcoming KAL, please post them here, or in Ravelry or on Facebook. and please - if you're participating in the Westknits KAL, share photos in our Ravelry thread. We've seen a few in the shop and they are looking lovely!

Spoiler Alert #2! (and a few tips).

Before I share the spoiler, I thought it might be helpful to first share a tip about getting pattern updates from Ravelry.  Designer share updates to their patterns not only for Mystery KALs (where each clue is typically distributed as a pattern update, so you end up with one file at the end that includes all the clues), but also for errata corrections, improvements to charts and photos, and even formatting. Usually, you'll receive notification via a Ravelry message or an email when an update is available. But if you don't, you can also retrieve updates manually.

Log into Ravelry and select Purchases from your My Notebook page.

Then find the pattern that's been updated and select View.

And Pattern Updates

You'll be able to store the updated pattern in your library and download it.

Now for the spoiler and Clue #2 tips. Like last week, if you are participating in the Westknits Mystery KAL and don't want to know about clue #2, please stop reading!

OK - Clue #2.

This week's tips relate (again!) to the M1s. First, the M1Ls in color A during the 1st section of the clue. These M1s should be worked with a bar of color A... which is tricky because the color change happens right before. The "bar" is part of the xCA from the row below.  And you want to be sure the xCA from the current row is "snug" - I held the strand of color C tight while I knit the picked up bar with color A.

color A is pink and color C is dark gray

The M1L in the final garter stitch section should be worked with a bar of color C - so that works just like the tip from last week (you can read about that here).

Stephen wraps up this week's clue with a suggestion to clean up the ends. Yikes! no kidding! I think there are 16 total so far!

Spoiler Alert! (and a lesson learned).

If you're participating in the Westknits Mystery KAL and do NOT want to know about Clue #1, please don't read any further.

OK, so you want to know about Clue #1, right?

I thought it might be helpful to share a lesson I learned knitting it.

It has to do with working M1s on the edge where the colors change. I typically find the bar to pickup for an M1 by looking at the stitch on my left needle and finding the bar that comes from it.

The M1R is worked in Color B (light gray) at the edge where Color C (dark gray) begins. When I knit the clue the first time, I followed my normal M1 technique, and ended up with dark gray bleeding into the light gray section. oops!

Yep, ripping and re-knitting!

The second time through, I found the bar to pickup by looking at the stitch on the right needle and finding the bar - note that I had to go down a row to find it, since I had already knit the stitch on the right needle.

Happy with the end result now!

(and here's a shot of the back, to show how the color crosses should look)

Please share your progress, questions, etc. on Ravelry. The Westknits fanclub group going crazy ... tons of posts! and you can post in our group, too.