Knit-along details and questions.

Several people have asked where to sign up. Leaving a message just about anywhere on the blog saying "sign me up!" gets the job done. I took the liberty of adding everyone who'd left messages like that, assuming that was the goal. If not, let me know. And if I've screwed up your name or your link in the sidebar, also let me know. I'll try to add new sign-ups once a day, so if you go a couple days without being added, remind me. I may have missed the e-mail or the cat ate it or something.

In related news, we've bagged our very first real Scandinavian, who joined today! Welcome, Hobbygasa! ('Real' meaning she lives in Norway and speaks Norwegian.)

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There have been some concerns about people being required to knit elaborate projects and being stuck working on it for the next three decades. Please don't tie yourself into knots over it. That wasn't my intention. Knit a pair of socks or a hat. It's fine. Really. Drink a slug of aquavit sometime in the month of October and all eligibility is covered.

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Catie asked about Norsk StrikkeDesign and what would I suggest as an easier project in the book. Well. The reason our knit-along isn't focusing solely on that book is, there aren't any easy projects. The book has a fairly even skills level throughout. Unfortunately that skill level is high. Nearly everything is in stranded color, and steeked. (As I flipped through the book, I mentioned to the husbeast I was looking for easier projects to suggest. After living with me for 15 years, he knows knitting, and said 'Oh my god'.) Here is some food for thought:

NOT QUITE SO HARD PROJECTS:
-There's a pretty good assortment of hats and wristwarmers, a couple bags, I think one pair of socks, and a pair of fingerless gloves. All of those would be good, because they're smaller and don't involve steeking. Many of them DO involve stranded color, though.

-The sideways knit garter-stitch cardi/jacket from Solvieg Hisdal doesn't have any steeks, and it is garter stitch. However, the pattern writing is minimal, to put it mildly, and there are short rows for shaping. It's also in eleventy-million colors. (It's very close in design to Mermaid, though, and you could easily use a color scheme like one of those, dare I suggest it without getting sued.) In her other book "Poetry in Stitches", she does a winter version all in black that's very pretty.

-The aran sweater by Kari Hestnes also does not have steeks. It also does not do color, just cables. It's knit in the round, then separated at the arm holes and knit flat. If you can get your gauge to work out (there's usually a big shift between working in the round and working flat, but it's less noticeable in cables), it's an easy construction method.


THE 'YOU MIGHT WANT TO THINK TWICE' COLLECTION:
-Lunde, by Irene Haugland Zahl would probably take as much time in finishing (sewing up, mostly, and putting that neck on wouldn't be easy) as it would take to knit.

-Season of Darkness and Winter Light by Margaretha Finseth (the cover sweater) has two vastly different gauges between the body of the sweater (the blue and gray vines) and the edging (the gray cables). Getting it to go together without puckering would be hard. Plus it's got an odd construction with lots of steeking. I absolutely LOVE this sweater, it may be the next one I knit from the book, but it's not easy.

-White Sea Trading Coat, also by Margaretha Finseth, has got a massive abount of square footage to knit, all else aside (it's a floor-length heavy coat). It's got a lining to put in, hems all over, and crocheted fake fur, into the bargain. And pom-poms.


Otherwise, all the projects in the book are about the same in terms of skill; stranded color with complex patterns, and steeks for armholes and cardi openings.

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See now why I changed the requirements to join?

Oh, and Amy Lane and I have added another loophole: If you think Vigo Mortensen is hot, you are eligible. (Vigo is half Dutch.) Bells' husband says if you listen to Norwegian death metal, you're eligible. And I was thinking anyone who has ever eaten at a smorgasboard would certainly be able to join.