Knitalongs and Quiltalongs!

One thing that I would really like to use this blog for is knitalongs and quiltalongs.  It never occurred to me that some people might not know what those are, however, so today I'm going to explain!  Lecture time!

Those of you familiar with the Lion Brand Notebook will probably know what a knitalong is.  The coordinator will pick out a pattern, and provide a place for everyone to get the pattern.  There would be a post dedicated to details such as yarn used, needles used, skill level of pattern, etc etc.  This initial post is to get people excited about doing the project!  I'm already excited about the idea of knitalongs in general, so I want everyone else to be excited too!  The second post would be dedicated to gauge swatching, and making sure you're on track to make what you want to make.  The third post will be about step 1 of the project!  Huzzah!  Generally a project is chosen that has several different steps (i.e., NOT a scarf made using one stitch the whole way through), so that the knitalong can last for more than one week.  Whoever chooses to can knit along with the coordinator (me!) while I'm doing the project, or all of the posts will be in the archives if you would like to do this at a later time.  Basically a knitalong online would be the equivalent of holding a knitting class where everyone does the same project, and the teacher is there to help everyone out.  With the blog, however, I'll be posting pictures of my progress, rather than hanging over your shoulder and trying to tell you what to do (people who have tried learning to knit from me will tell you that I'm not very good at that), so you can do it whenever you feel like it!  Also, I will be able to post pictures of other people's progress and projects, provided they send them to me first.  I draw the line at breaking into houses to get pictures of works in progress.

The first knitalong I would like to do is a simple hat with earflaps and ties.  This would be a great project for people who:
* have never knit before and want to learn
* have never knit with circular/double point needles and are scared of them
* need to make a hat for a gift right quick
* pretty much anyone else ever! :)

The project that I will be making is a baby-sized hat that looks like a strawberry.  I'll post a picture of one that I've already made so everyone can ooh and aah about how darn cute it is!  The pattern is one that I've adapted from several different patterns, so I'll be able to offer it to you for free!  Even better!  In the future, with more complicated knitalongs and quiltalongs, I may pick patterns that need to be purchased, but for now we'll stick to free stuff.  Also, this hat would be super easy to make whatever size you want, and embellish however you want, in case you decide to make a hat for your husband, and he decides he'd rather not have a strawberry hat after all.

The quiltalongs will be along the same line as the knitalongs, starting with simpler projects and working our way up.  We are very fortunate to have two shops in the Presque Isle area to buy supplies; yarn and needles can be purchased from Merchants on the Corner on the corner of Academy and Main Street in Presque Isle (beware: if you've never been here before, or even if you have, you WILL spend lots of time and money here.  Or at least want to very much.), and fabric for the quiltalongs can be purchased at our very own Garden Gate Fabrics in Chapman (we never said we wouldn't shamelessly advertise ourselves on here!)!  Also, in the Houlton area, Peggy Crane has a quilt shop called Rather B Quilting on Lincoln Road, and Carol's Country Yarns is on Main Street in Houlton.  If you don't live in these areas, we're excited to have you anyway!  Let us know and we can try to find a place for you to get supplies.

As a sidenote, if you are a more experienced knitter who is interested in doing a knitalong, the Lion Brand Yarn Company is doing a beautiful sweater on their blog (blog.lionbrand.com).  I might even participate in that myself; you can never have too many projects, right?  Soon there will be more information about the first knitalong for us, and we would love to have you join us online.  See you then!