Great American Aran Afghan Knit Along

Happy Thursday, one and all!  Today I got a long-backordered shipment from Skacel - two colorpacks of Zauberball sock, and the associated patterns.  The colors of this stuff are amazing, but what really impressed me is the patterns.  Pictures to the right.....

The Great American Aran Afghan knit-along will be held at the shop on the third Saturday of every month, (excluding 18 December 2010) from 1 PM to 2:30 PM.  You do not need to be present at every meeting of the Knit-Along to participate; participation may be on-line, or occasional.  You do not need to knit all the squares, either - you may choose to knit a few and make pillows out of them, or knit 12 squares instead of 20 for a smaller throw.

Yarn choice is up to you.  The pattern book calls for Plymouth Encore, but I will not be carrying any Plymouth yarns for some time yet (minimum order is too big).  You may substitute any of the following:

• Cascade 220
• Cascade 220 Superwash
• Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted
• Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash
• Berroco Ultra Alpaca

The classic color choice is a cream-white color, but you may substitute this also.  Keep in mind that darker colors will be more difficult to work with, especially on some of the trickier squares.  As dye lots will matter with this project, you may want to order enough yarn for the project size you will be doing.  Please order no later than 31 July, so there is enough time to get everything in.  Also, please leave a comment on the blog if you are going to participate so I can have enough pattern books on hand.

Speaking of the pattern book, the afghan squares will be done in the order they are presented in the book.  If you are doing less than 20 squares you can either take off the months for squares you are not doing, or skip on ahead - it's totally up to you.  Being part of the Knit Along will give less experienced knitters the opportunity to increase the level of difficulty of their knitting, with the advantage of  having more experienced knitters working on the same project readily available for advice.