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Announcing the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along!

December 27, 2016 3 Comments

Join the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along starting January 1. Designed collaboratively by three designers: Heidi Gustad, Christopher Salas & Sarah Abram, this knit along is not to be missed!

What happens when three knitwear designers come together to create a mystery knit along design? Lots of fun, it turns out. Fellow designer Sarah Abram (aka sarahbearcrafts) approached Christopher Salas (aka alternaknit) and I several months ago with a proposal: help design a pattern where each of us is given three balls of yarn and two weeks to design a third of a finished pattern. Inspired by the exquisite corpse storytelling model, each designer would build on the previous designers’ section, not knowing at ALL what to expect from the other sections until the finished designs were in their inboxes. Kind of crazy, right?

Yes, yes it was totally crazy, but it was also the most satisfying creative collaboration I’ve ever been lucky enough to be a part of! At the end of the design process, we all got together in Chicago (Sarah’s and my home turf) to shoot some photos of each of our finished pieces, to shoot videos with tips for success and behind the scenes tidbits about our clues, and of course, to edit the pattern as a whole. Here’s the first little video that may be familiar to Facebook followers.

That’s right! Preorders of the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along pattern are open now through January 1 for just $5 before jumping to $7 when the first clue drops. Here’s the schedule we put together for this knit along:

January 1 – Clue 1 by Heidi Gustad/me drops
January 8 – Clue 2 by Christopher Salas goes live
January 15 – Clue 3 by Sarah Abram is published, completing the pattern

All three of us designers will be active on the Ravelry thread for the duration of the KAL, ready to help answer all of your questions. I’ll also be releasing video tutorials for the particularly tricky stitches on my YouTube channel throughout the process, and all will be available on this playlist if you’d like to bookmark it to get ahead on things. :)

How to get ready for the #exquisiteMKAL

Speaking of getting ahead on things, there are a few things you can do besides bookmarking the Ravelry thread & playlist. Before we cast on January 1, pick out your yarn and swatch! We recommend 3 skeins of Dream in Color Jilly with Cashmere or Jilly, in a light color, a dark color, and a bright color. Swatch with the dark color to make sure you choose the right needle for your project! (Spoiler but important: we built enough yardage into the design to accommodate swatching with the dark color. Gauge is important only with regard to yardage. Knit a swatch of stockinette in DC and gently wet block it to measure your gauge.) For now, this is all I can tell you, but soon, all will be revealed!

Join the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along starting January 1. Designed collaboratively by three designers: Heidi Gustad, Christopher Salas & Sarah Abram, this knit along is not to be missed!

Yarn support for this design was provided by Dream in Color yarn. To learn more about the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along and get tips for choosing color combinations before the first clue goes live, check out the Exquisite Mystery KAL Ravelry Thread and preorder the pattern here.

Filed Under: Knit Along, Knitting, Knitting & Crochet Tagged With: alternaknit, christopher salas, dream in color, exquisite mystery knit along, exquisitemkal, handsoccupied, knit along, mkal, sarah abram, sarahbearcrafts

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a knitting, crochet and crafts designer. She first learned to knit at age 8 from a grandmother who saw in her a need for something to keep her busy. She's now a full time designer, video host, blogger & teacher. You can keep up with her designs and more by following handsoccupied on your favorite social network.

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Comments

  1. Sarah Abram

    December 27, 2016 at 9:03 am

    So excited!!!

    Reply
  2. Kelly davis

    December 27, 2016 at 11:04 am

    Cant wait have three Cashmere jilly grey,purple DC, teal. Love mystery kal.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      January 9, 2017 at 11:25 am

      Those colors sound amazing! (and pretty close to what I designed with too!)

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad modeling the Intarsia Mountain afghanHi! I’m Heidi Gustad, a Knit & Crochet Designer obsessed with colorful knitting, crochet & yarn crafts. In this picture, I’m wearing my favorite vintage Norwegian sweater.
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