JBW Spring Knit-a-Long Kick-off and Roll Call!

Hello everyone! The JBW Spring KAL/SAL is finally here! We are so excited to get started! For those of you just tuning in, we are knitting the Goodale Cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. You can read all of the KAL/SAL details in last week’s post.

The response to this KAL on Ravelry so far has been huge! I am so thrilled to have so many of you join us in this KAL! At last count, four of us “beans” are participating as well: Jeanne, Terry, Leanne, and myself so I’ll share our projects with your as we go along!  I’ve got pictures of Jeanne’s, Terry’s and my starts to share today. Jeanne is cruising so fast already! I’ll need to work hard to catch up!

Jeanne's beautiful Goodale in Tosh Pashmina- Alizarin

So far, the pattern is going great! I was surprised at how easy the i-cord edge was once I got going! I don’t know what I thought it was going to be like, but it’s definitely a cinch!  Thanks to Jeanne who told me, “Just follow the directions literally and don’t over think it and you’ll be fine.” I’ll pass that same advice onto you all.  Seriously, you can do it.  

Look ma!  I'm knitting a sweater!

The Cascade Venezia is a dream
to work with and my new needles
aren't bad either!

I used this project as the perfect opportunity to try out the beautiful Ebony Wood needles that Sharon from Lantern Moon gave me during her recent visit to Reno. Thank you again so much Sharon, I love them!  Also, the beautiful beaded stitch markers were a gift for joining the Among Friends Yarn Club with independent hand dyers Sincere Sheep and Knitted Wit. There were just enough markers for this project and they are so pretty to look at while I'm knitting! 

Some of you have also already gotten started too and I encourage all of you to post project pics on the Ravelry Group. We love to see photos! I know for me it’s a great motivator. I'm going to work on it heavily in the next week so I can get you all some good progress pics too!

Here is Terry's project as well, she's using Jagerspun Heathers 2/8s Wool from her stash:

Although this is a fingering weight yarn,
when it is blocked it blooms
 to the perfect fullness!

Another thing to remember, I am available at any time to help with patterns.  You are welcome to join in the conversation on Ravelry at any time and have the group help you out or if you’d rather, feel free to e-mail me directly at: kristen@jimmybeanswool.com.  I am always here to help out and if I don’t know the answer, one of our other beans will!

Lastly, you may all have heard about the SAL portion of the KAL. Once again I just want to remind you that it’s not required you do the SAL to participate, we just thought it would be super fun to throw in a twist! I hope it will be a good excuse for many of us to dust off the old sewing machines!  


This is the super cute and simple skirt we'll be making from Brett Bara's book- Sewing in a Straight Line:

1-Hour Skirt

To help encourage some more sewing action, we are going to do a give-away with this KAL/SAL roll call!  The winner will receive 2 yards of a fabric of their choice from our website--enough to make the 1-hour skirt by Brett Bara that we’ve chosen for this SAL. To be eligible to win you must do two things: 1) participate in the KAL, 2) post a comment here to let us know what yarn you are knitting your Goodale with.  I’m going to leave this giveaway open until May 15th at Midnight (PST) for anyone who wants to join us late.  On Week 5 of the KAL/SAL, the week before we start to sew our skirts, I’ll randomly pick a winner and announce it!  

Thanks so much for joining us here and I look forward to knitting-a-long with you the next six weeks. It’s sure to be a lot of fun! We’ll be back next week with updates and stay tuned for guest blogs from both designers-- Cecily and Brett!  We are so excited to host them both here!

As always, Happy Knitting!

Kristen