I thought it might be fun to host a POLKAMANIA! KAL for folks who have downloaded the pattern and are planning to knit it. It can be a simple thing – I can produce prizes for different categories and we can encourage each other and share our progress in the KNITSONIK Ravelry group.
If you want to join in, here’s how it will work:
1. buy a print or digital copy of the POLKAMANIA! cowl pattern
2. join the KNITSONIK Ravelry group and find the POLKAMANIA! KAL thread for sharing polka dot fun, inspiration and encouragement
3. knit a POLKAMANIA! cowl, completing by 28th February, 2019
4. PRIZES!
I haven’t worked out the details for the prizes yet, but they will be knit-related and joyful; they will include dots of some sort; and there will be three of them.
To launch this KAL, I’m running a giveaway. The giveaway winner will receive a copy of the superb Knitter’s Graph Paper exercise book made by Narangkar Glover of Rowan Morrison Books (which I am now stocking in the KNITSONIK shop); a selection of dotty stickers with which to mark cowl progress in this or another preferred notebook; and a printed copy of the POLKAMANIA! cowl pattern.
To enter, leave a comment on this post before Monday 10th December, sharing what it is that you like most of all about joining in with a KAL. I’m really interested to know and really want your input so that we can have the best time knitting dots together over the festive season and on into the New Year.
Who’s in?
YOURS IN ALL THE DOTS,
FX
I’ve never done a KAL before, but I’m excited to knit some dots. You’ve inspired me with your openness and enthusiasm.
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I have not joined a KAL often but when I did I really learned a lot and enjoyed myself.
It was terrific to watch others’ progress and encouraged me to get the project done!
Thanks for the excellent contest and excellent pattern. (Not sure if the contest extends to Canada)
My best thing about a KAL is the encouragement and inspiration from others in the group. With a KAL, every day is a school day, lots to learn and share – different yarn bases, colours, weights, help with problems – even if you don’t finish by cast off date, being part of the group is rewarding in itself.
Although I have knitted all of my life, I have only just discovered the joys of stranded colourwork. I am totally besotted and can’t stop knitting! I am looking forward to the KAL to see other people’s progress and their choice of colours. I would also like to thank Felicity for the wonderfully clear pattern and tutorial.
I like knitalongs because they really motivate me to focus on one project, rather than jump around from project to project (ha!), and often get me to try things I might not otherwise do, when I see others doing them.
I have not joined many KALs but when I did I realized I learned a great deal from the other participants. There was a lot of momentum to complete the project. It was exciting to see progress for me and the others.
Great contest and great cowl pattern!
(Not sure if the contest extends to Canada.)
Oooooooo polka dots are my favourite!!! How can anyone resist?!
I love joining in a KAL because it gives me a real incentive to start and finish (!) a project. I usually have lots of projects going on at the same time, but a deadline can give me the extra push I need not to abandon a project mid-way
What I also love about a KAL is that you can really share your progress with the other participants and get inspired by what other people are doing too. It creates a real sense of community IMHO.
My favourite things about the KAL is to connect, to share, to learn and be inspired by others and vice versa. It pushes you to actually ‘do it’ rather than just thinking about a project. It takes you beyond yourself in many respects, which is magic!
A KAL helps me feel accountable for actually making the time to have some self care time and then proud of my accomplishments at the end, when I actually have a finished product.
I am very socially isolated in my real life and am very likely to just watch the progress and posts of other knitters, but for me that is still enjoyable.
I have never joined a KAL before and in fact there aren’t even any knitting or craft groups where I live. This can occasionally lead to slight feelings of knitting isolation. I therefore think that a KAL is just what I need. It would be great to be part of a group and share the good and hopefully not too often, the bad. A community of knitters sounds fantastic.
I think it’s fun to see people’s different interpretations of the same prompt!
I have only joined one KAL before and I found it spurred me on to keep up with self imposed knitting deadlines – i enjoyed the community comments and support through the Ravelry group and seeing the myriad of finished projects.
The best part of a KAL for me is the connection and camaraderie with other knitters, since my work schedule prevents me getting together with local knitters very often.
What i like more about KALs are two very disparate things actually, how sometimes people will reach the same mod or technique on their own, and how different or original people can sometimes be.
It’s always lovely to see people pick the same things (yarn/colour/pattern) and end up having quite different end results, and sometimes you see people choosing disparate materials and colours and the end product ends up being much closer than you’d think.
Also the way we always motivate each other to go through hurdles (sleeve island…)
I love seeing other people’s colour combinations plus I enjoy the accountability. It’s nice having a group to chat to about a shared interest too.
Inspiration, forging frienships, a learning curve, and not least a wonderful FO (well mostly…). A KAL can fire the imagination with other knitters interpretations, you meet new folk and more often than not learn new techniques/ideas and finally who doesn’t love a new woolly FO!
I love seeing everyone else’s colour choices and ideas and progress and all the chat too – fab when you work from home to come online and chat with folks! (Apologies if this posts twice don’t think the first one worked…)
I love seeing everyone else’s ideas and colours and progress and the chat that goes with it – helps break up the days when I’m working from home!
I like the feeling of being part of a community. It’s like knitting and chatting together in person, except virtually. I also like that you can ask for help when stuck on something.
i am stuck in a nightmare training course untilgbar mid-march and while I keep daydreaming about stranded colourwork, by the time I‘m home in the evening I can‘t motivate myself to pick up my needles. I think a KAL might work its magic on me!
Aw I hope so – I think that because it’s such an easily memorised pattern, and the yarns don’t change colour very frequently, it can be done meditatively in sections. I hope our KAL can provide a cheery counterpoint to the “nightmare training course”!
This sounds like a lot of fun! My wonderful local yarn shop closed and I miss the group that used to meet there, though some of us continue to get together. There were often group projects going on at the shopand a KAL sort of reproduces that feeling of knitting together with a group and helping each other with problems that come up.
I enjoy the encouragement and the deadline! It’s too easy to put aside the things that nourish you in the crazy of every day life but knowing that others are knitting away too and seeing their progress encourages me to keep going and a deadline keeps me from getting distracted and starting something new…both are great for getting things finished…and ultimately that is very good for my mental health…win win situation
I’m on maternity leave at the moment and so haven’t been to my knitting group for months. My favourite thing about joining a KAL, therefore, is that it makes me feel like part of the wider knitting community. It’s great to see everyone else’s progress and how the different projects turn out.