sock!; SFCKAL reminder; bowerbird pulls out the essay
1. Sock!
2. One week until the Sweaters From Camp knitalong "officially" starts! If you are participating, and have any updates for me (website, project, etc.), please send an email! Also, if you're participating, but aren't listed in the sidebar, please send an email! That's the only way I'll know that you are knitting along with us, and the only way your progress will get included in the weekly updates that will start a week from today.
As a reminder of how the whole shebang will work: Knit! Update your blog! On Tuesday nights or Wednesday mornings, I will go through the list of blogs, find out what progress you've made on your projects, and include that in the update post. There's no need to email me with updates if you're blogging about your project. If you don't have a blog, but have knitting progress to report, just send me an email by late Tuesday to get included in the Wednesday updates. So simple! And don't worry - I know a lot of you have started already, and I won't forget to go back through blog archives to make sure I know where all of you are for next week's update.
3. In honor of the start of the SFCKAL, here's a little essay:
In a couple of days, thousands of knitters around the world are going to cast on for new projects, with the goal of challenging themselves in some way, and completing that challenge within a 16 day timespan. It's pretty impressive. I love that so many people are up for a challenge, and I'm amazed and impressed that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has not yet gone crazy from the challenge that is coordinating the whole thing.
But not every knitter on the internet is taking the challenge. That's okay, too. Personally, I know of a small group of knitters (about 1% of the number of the Knitting Olympians) who committed weeks or even months ago to a different type of challenge. 25 or 30 women and men (or man) who didn't need the prompting of the internet's most famous knitter, a worldwide sports festival, or the peer pressure of thousands of other knitters, to take up a challenge. The Sweaters From Camp knitalong participants may not finish their sweaters in 16 days, and may not earn a gold medal badge for their knitting efforts, but I have the highest respect for all of them. While I love that 3,000 knitters took up the Yarn Harlot's call for a 16 day period of challenging oneself, I've always been partial to the people who challenge themselves by habit, not just by prompting. While I'm sure many of the Knitting Olympians fall into the former group , I know that all of the wonderful SFCKAL participants fall into that group. They wouldn't have asked to participate if they didn't enjoy a challenge just for the sake of a challenge, without the hoopla and spectacle of it all.
So kudos to the knitting Olympians, and even bigger kudos to the SFCKAL participants. (And if you're participating in both, well just blow me away, I'm beyond impressed.) I am incredibly excited to watch both knitalongs progress. As I'm a sucker for an underdog, and love Brenda's whole attitude toward the silliness of knitting like a mad person for 16 days, I'm 100% behind Team Wales for the Knitting Olympics. And since I can't get enough of watching gorgeous fair isle sweaters slowly progress, day by day, 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch, I know I'll have tons of knitting porn to keep me happy for weeks and months after the Olympics is over. I only hope that after the craziness of the Olympics passes, a good number of Knitting Olympians will decide to continue the challenge, and inspire themselves to learn new skills and knit things they never thought they could knit before. 'Cause when it's all over, it's not about medal (or stitch) counts. It's about what you get out of the whole process.
(As an addendum, I got a comment from Julie yesterday, as I was working on this post. She's planning on challenging herself with her first colorwork project after the Knitting Olympics are over. Yay! Julie - I think Dale of Norway patterns are a great place to start, if you're interested in doing a sportweight cardigan. A lot of their patterns use sportweight yarn. If you do some web searches, you can find photos from a lot of their pattern books. I suggest doing that as a way to get started. Find a pattern that inspires you, and go for it! The "Fana" sweater, which is in Dale book 126 (the same book that Ingeborg is in) looks like a great starter colorwork cardigan, if you're looking for a specific opinion. But I bet you could do something more complicated, too, if you wanted.)
2. One week until the Sweaters From Camp knitalong "officially" starts! If you are participating, and have any updates for me (website, project, etc.), please send an email! Also, if you're participating, but aren't listed in the sidebar, please send an email! That's the only way I'll know that you are knitting along with us, and the only way your progress will get included in the weekly updates that will start a week from today.
As a reminder of how the whole shebang will work: Knit! Update your blog! On Tuesday nights or Wednesday mornings, I will go through the list of blogs, find out what progress you've made on your projects, and include that in the update post. There's no need to email me with updates if you're blogging about your project. If you don't have a blog, but have knitting progress to report, just send me an email by late Tuesday to get included in the Wednesday updates. So simple! And don't worry - I know a lot of you have started already, and I won't forget to go back through blog archives to make sure I know where all of you are for next week's update.
3. In honor of the start of the SFCKAL, here's a little essay:
In a couple of days, thousands of knitters around the world are going to cast on for new projects, with the goal of challenging themselves in some way, and completing that challenge within a 16 day timespan. It's pretty impressive. I love that so many people are up for a challenge, and I'm amazed and impressed that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has not yet gone crazy from the challenge that is coordinating the whole thing.
But not every knitter on the internet is taking the challenge. That's okay, too. Personally, I know of a small group of knitters (about 1% of the number of the Knitting Olympians) who committed weeks or even months ago to a different type of challenge. 25 or 30 women and men (or man) who didn't need the prompting of the internet's most famous knitter, a worldwide sports festival, or the peer pressure of thousands of other knitters, to take up a challenge. The Sweaters From Camp knitalong participants may not finish their sweaters in 16 days, and may not earn a gold medal badge for their knitting efforts, but I have the highest respect for all of them. While I love that 3,000 knitters took up the Yarn Harlot's call for a 16 day period of challenging oneself, I've always been partial to the people who challenge themselves by habit, not just by prompting. While I'm sure many of the Knitting Olympians fall into the former group , I know that all of the wonderful SFCKAL participants fall into that group. They wouldn't have asked to participate if they didn't enjoy a challenge just for the sake of a challenge, without the hoopla and spectacle of it all.
So kudos to the knitting Olympians, and even bigger kudos to the SFCKAL participants. (And if you're participating in both, well just blow me away, I'm beyond impressed.) I am incredibly excited to watch both knitalongs progress. As I'm a sucker for an underdog, and love Brenda's whole attitude toward the silliness of knitting like a mad person for 16 days, I'm 100% behind Team Wales for the Knitting Olympics. And since I can't get enough of watching gorgeous fair isle sweaters slowly progress, day by day, 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch, I know I'll have tons of knitting porn to keep me happy for weeks and months after the Olympics is over. I only hope that after the craziness of the Olympics passes, a good number of Knitting Olympians will decide to continue the challenge, and inspire themselves to learn new skills and knit things they never thought they could knit before. 'Cause when it's all over, it's not about medal (or stitch) counts. It's about what you get out of the whole process.
(As an addendum, I got a comment from Julie yesterday, as I was working on this post. She's planning on challenging herself with her first colorwork project after the Knitting Olympics are over. Yay! Julie - I think Dale of Norway patterns are a great place to start, if you're interested in doing a sportweight cardigan. A lot of their patterns use sportweight yarn. If you do some web searches, you can find photos from a lot of their pattern books. I suggest doing that as a way to get started. Find a pattern that inspires you, and go for it! The "Fana" sweater, which is in Dale book 126 (the same book that Ingeborg is in) looks like a great starter colorwork cardigan, if you're looking for a specific opinion. But I bet you could do something more complicated, too, if you wanted.)
posted by Rebekkah at 11:53 AM
4 Comments:
The KAL that took over the world, I'd say! I think it's great to have all those people participating, but what a headache to host (I am quite sure you'll know what I'm talking about soon, Rebekkah!)
Wish I could participate in SFCKAL, but I need to work on my steeking first.
- MJ
I'll comment here when I receive my copy of SFC and pick out a pattern. That way you won't have to keep on checking my blog to see when I've finally got my act together. :)
You're right - KUDOS to all the SFCKALers. Only wish I could locate a copy of the book, dedicate myself to something so intricate and detailed, had the time, etc. Good luck to you all
You've hit the nail on the head with that one:
"I've always been partial to the people who challenge themselves by habit, not just by prompting.......a challenge just for the sake of a challenge, without the hoopla and spectacle of it all."
I agree totally and it's precisely that line of thinking that stopped me from participating in the KO. I don't need artificial deadlines or challenges to keep me motivated to learn all I can. That doesn't mean I don't respect all those knitters who are taking on the challenge. More power to them. I hope they all come away from the KO with more knowledge and confidence in the skills they are expanding.
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