Happy Top-Down Knitalong kickoff day! I have so many important points to make, I’m resorting to a bullet list!
PLEASE READ!
– First things first: Let’s talk about PRIZES! I’m returning to the WIP of the Week format this year, where I’ll feature one sweater in progress from the community on the blog each Friday, and that person will win a jaw-dropping prize, y’all. There are seven Fridays between now and the end of September, and each Friday I’ll be awarding a sweater quantity of yarn from one of my favorite yarn companies. This week’s prize comes from my friends at Shibui and comprises 12 skeins of Pebble in the color of the winner’s choosing. (That’s mine in the photo, hands off!) So make sure you’re posting your progress somewhere publicly online, and either use the #fringeandfriendsKAL2016 hashtag at Instagram (which I’ll be monitoring most closely) or leave a link in the comments below if you’ve posted anywhere else. (For this particular week I’ll be pulling from everything posted so far, not just this week.) Thanks so much to @shibuiknits for this week’s prize!
– The top-down tutorial is now completely updated with new photos and more up-to-date thinking (most importantly how to add basting stitches and/or knit flat along the way, if you like!)
– As of yesterday, there’s a new front-end on it which is a concise outline of the process, in the form of a “pattern” called Improv, where every step is linked to the corresponding section of the tutorial. So you can see the whole process at a glance and dig in deeper wherever you need to.
– This is now also a pattern listing at Ravelry, so if you’re knitting along or have ever knitted a sweater from the tutorial in the past, please link your project to the new Improv pattern page so I can see everything! And it would mean the world to me if you’d Favorite that listing!
– For those about to ask: As long as you are knitting a sweater in one piece, from the neck down, and doing all of your own planning and calculations, you qualify for this knitalong! There are no other rules or sign-up procedures. Just knit and share.
– I’ll be introducing the panel tomorrow! (I know, it’s so hard to wait! We all feel the same.)
– The next day I’ll have a post on how to incorporate a stitch pattern, so if you’re planning to do anything but stockinette, look for that on Wednesday.
– If you’ve never read Hot Tip: Save time at try-on, do it now! And if you missed How to knit the right size sweater last week, give that a minute, too!
– Don’t forget to use the hashtag #fringeandfriendsKAL2016 across social media so everyone can find you. There’s already a lot of great planning and discussion happening on the feed over on IG.
– And we’re overlapping with Shannon’s #sskal16 this year. For more on how to participate in that and this at the same time, see her knitalong page.
I’ll be back tomorrow with our Meet the Panel post for this year — and see you on the hashtag in the meantime!
(Yarn notes: The Pebble was given to me by Shibui. The purple pullover is Lettlopi Color 1413 purchased from Tolt; the black cardigan is Purl Soho Linen Quill given to me by Purl.)
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PREVIOUSLY in Top-Down Knitalong: Improv: A basic pattern for a top-down sweater