Thursday Latvian KAL Update

The Latvian Sampler KAL starts next week on Wednesday October 5th.  Every Wednesday for 43 weeks the designer  Wieke van Keulen will give us a new clue.  

"In October 2016 the Latvian Sampler start as a knit-a-long. The kal consists of 43 parts.  The Sampler is knit in the round, and at the end of the 43 weeks, you will have a lovely scarf."

She says about her designs -

(There will be ) "elaborate patterns – The weekly patterns are very elaborate. There will be charts and photo tutorials of all the techniques used in this sampler. At this point, the pattern consists of more than 110 pages!"

-And-

" techniques – A large part of this scarf will be worked using the Fair Isle technique."

-Also-

"new techniques – There will also be some new techniques"

(Note from me: Weike messaged me to say we will be using 2 circular needles at once, a new technique for me!)

Materials-

Weike offers a lovely selection of yarn, but if you are stateside you might want to check out Knit Picks Palette Yarn which comes in an amazing array of colors.  I do love their yarn!

They also have wonderful needles, I like their colored wooden circular needles, wonderful! Knit Picks Needles

-Finally-

" 43 weeks – The Latvian Sampler KAL consists of 43 parts. That’s 43 weeks of knitting. We will reach the halfway point on Wednesday March 8, 2017, and the final part will be published on July 26, 2017."

From the designer Wieke -

 "donation – This design has taken a lot of time and effort, and will continue to do so for the next 43 weeks, while I support all the participants and write out the patterns. I have also had to spend quite a bit of money (on materials, swatches and the English translation). While it is possible to participate in this KAL for free, it would be greatly appreciated if you could, at some point during the KAL, donate 3,75 if you think it is worth it." (If I got it right, that should be $4.21 in U.S. dollars).

More detailed directions on how to navigate the Wieke site to get the pattern (some English direction is provided).

     Go to her site https://www.wieke.com/latvian-sampler/latvian-sampler-kni... and first register, then go to the top drop down "breien" and then scroll down to "knit-a-long" (brei mee) and the 2016 Latvian Samplier will show, click on this.  On this page "buy" the pattern by either pledging to promote the pattern or make a donation (the words involved are Dutch but close enough to the English to guess).  Once you get past this the pattern site will open - Latvian Sampler (link top of page).  Also on the comment section of the Ravelry pattern there are lots of people offering "how-to's" on getting through successfully - Wieke van Keulen > Latvian Sampler kal > comments.  Think of it as a Treasure Hunt, it also seems to get better as Wieke updates the site.