knit equals joy

The Second Annual Pumpkin-A-Long (PAL)

Posted on September 12, 2019November 1, 2020 by Carol

As you know, we love Fall around here, and we love pumpkins!! And to celebrate, we are having the Second Annual Pumpkin-A-Long.

There are two ways to participate: on Instagram and/or on Facebook.

On Instagram, hashtags make our job easier. You can tag your photos with our specific hashtags, and you can also follow our hashtags, so that you will see any posts that anyone makes with those specific tags. The tags we will be using are #knitequalsjoy2019PAL and #knitequalsjoy for any photos posted relating to the PAL. If you follow those tags, you will see any announcement-type posts I make about the PAL on Instagram, too. The tag for finished pumpkins is #knitequalsjoy2019PALFO (the FO is for finished object). That tag will be important, because those finished object posts are the ones that are eligible for the random prize drawings. I have some great prizes on deck and will be sharing about those in later posts. Please also tag me @knitequalsjoy so that I will see your post – just in case the hashtags don’t work correctly.

Of course, some folks may not use Instagram, so we also will be posting photos in the Knit Equals Joy Facebook group. You can find the group here: Knit Equals Joy Facebook Group. I have set up an album there for progress photos and one for finished objects.

If this works well, my hope is that we can use the same format for upcoming KALs and for knitting along with next year’s Olympics.

How to Pumpkin-A-Long

To play along, knit any Knit Equals Joy pumpkin pattern (see below).
To be eligible for prizes, complete 1 or more Knit Equals Joy pumpkin by October 31, 2019. Each completed and properly posted finished pumpkin counts as an entry for prizes. You may enter as many times as you like. No more than one prize per person.
Have fun! Share your beautiful pumpkin pictures on Instagram or in the Facebook group (see above)! We want to see what you are making and cheer you on. If you have any questions, ask in the PAL. We can share and learn new things from each other.

I think that’s it! See the eligible patterns below…

Plaid Pumpkin, with a plaid colorwork design, a great basketweave design, and a fun graphic design a bit reminiscent of a spider web. Also includes instructions for non-stranded stripes or plain knitting. Just published.

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Plaid Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

Autumn Spice Pumpkin is knit in super-bulky and is nearly 40″ in circumference! The jumbo cables are a joy to knit. This is a statement piece knit in the recommended yarn, but it looks great in any weight yarn. Published 2018.

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Autumn Spice Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts

Wee Pumpkin is knit flat, and it is reaaalllly tiny, about an inch tall and an inch-and-a-half in diameter. It would be fun to make a wee pumpkin garland! Published 2018.

Wee Pumpkin PDF at LoveCrafts.

Large Colorwork Pumpkin has four fun colorwork designs. Knit in worsted weight yarn and pretty much life-sized: about 12 inches in diameter and 12 inches tall. Published in 2017.

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Large Colorwork Pumpkins PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

Colorwork Pumpkin, with charts for Art Nouveau lilies and 2 versions of spiders. Published 2016.

Colorwork Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

Mini Colorwork Pumpkin, a tiny pumpkin pattern with 6 different colorwork charts. Published 2015.

Mini Colorwork Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

Prizes

The four wonderful items in the corner frames of the photo below are PAL prizes.

Clockwise, starting from top left, the prizes are
1. Amanda Hope Yarn Yankee Doodle Sock (Fingering Weight; 80% Merino Wool, 20% Nylon; 410 yards/100g) in Burnt Orange.
2. Amanda Hope Yarn Aussie Extra Fine Single (Fingering Weight; 100% 19.5 Micron Extra Fine Merino Wool; 437 yards/100g) in Nocturne II.
3. Awesome Pumpkin Scissors donated by Carla (thank you Carla!).
4. Fabulous Cookie Stamps featuring a sheep design and two knit stitch designs. Set shown is mine; winner’s set is sealed.

Winners will be chosen randomly from all completed and properly posted finished projects. We reserve the right to replace these prizes with items of equal or greater value.

I hope you will join us for our joyful Pumpkin-A-Long! Questions? Send me a message or ask on IG or Facebook.

xoxo

Carol

GAL2017, Indie Design Gift-a-Long, knit equals joy, Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitters, knitting, knitting resources, Ravelry

Final Day of the Indie Design Gift-A-Long Sale!

Posted on November 27, 2017May 8, 2020 by Carol

Don’t miss out on the Indie Design Gift-A-Long sale on Ravelry!! The SALE ends tomorrow (Tuesday), November 28, 2017 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time! Grab those patterns now at 25% off!!! Use coupon code giftalong2017.

While the sale ends tomorrow, the Gift-A-Long is just getting started and goes through the end of the year.

Click GAL Sale Bundle to check out ALL the sale patterns – over 5,400 of them!

Find my 20 sale patterns here (click on the picture):

(My sale bundle and the jumbo GAL sale bundle will disappear shortly after the sale ends.)

One other item of note, you can knit (or crochet) any paid pattern by any of the participating designers during the GAL. This means that all of my paid patterns are eligible. You can use patterns already in your Ravelry library for the GAL – new purchases are not required! Check out the gift-a-long here: Indie Design Gift-A-Long.

Soon I’ll share about the patterns that have caught my eye and new designers I’ve discovered. Stay tuned!

xoxo

Carol

GAL2017, Indie Design Gift-a-Long, knit equals joy, Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitters, knitting, knitting resources, Ravelry

Indie Design Gift-A-Long 2017 is Underway!

Posted on November 24, 2017May 8, 2020 by Carol

As promised, now that the GAL is started, here’s a short post with links to the 311 designers (!!!), the sale patterns, and the prize-eligible patterns. It still blows me away: all the work that went into (and is still going into) organizing the GAL!!!

Designers

Sale Patterns

Click GAL Sale Bundle to check out ALL the sale patterns. Over 5,400 patterns are on sale at 25% off!!! Use the coupon code giftalong2017.

Be sure to catch the sale before it ends at 11:59 PM EST Tuesday, November 28, 2017!!!

Prize-Eligible Patterns

The GAL Giant Bundle has links to all of the participating designers and to all of their paid patterns. If you begin and complete one of these designers’ paid patterns during the GAL, you will be eligible for one of the myriad of fun prizes.

Prizes are given away in the different threads throughout the GAL. These prizes are often given away randomly, to someone who answers a question, or to someone who posts a picture of their work in progress.

Join the Group

In order to win prizes during the Gift-A-Long, you do need to join the Ravelry Indie Design Gift-A-Long Group. This link will take you there: https://www.ravelry.com/groups/indie-design-gift-a-long.

That’s all there is to it! I hope you’ll check it out if it sounds like fun to you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that your upcoming holidays are filled with love and joy!

xoxo

Carol

Christmas, knit equals joy, knitters, knitting, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Advent Mini Swap Sign-Ups

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Carol

Dear knitters,

It’s time to sign up for the second annual advent mini swap in the Knit Equals Joy group on Ravelry. Sign-ups end September 20th.

This awesome swap takes place during advent, with one gift to be opened on each Sunday in advent and the final gift on Christmas Day. Here’s what our awesome swap organizer, Katherine, says to describe the swap:

This swap will require 5 presents total. One for each of the Sundays during Advent + one for Christmas. Only one of the days will require a handcrafted item although you are welcome to craft as many of them as you wish.

Dec 3 – Theme 1: Tree(s)
Dec 10 – Theme 2: Something with a pointy red hat (Santa, elves, gnomes….)
Dec 17 – Theme 3: Something red OR green
Dec 24 – Theme 4: Something inspired by a favorite Christmas Song
Dec 25 – Theme 5: Something special for your SP….a Notion/yarn/fabric (something for knitting, sewing, quilting…etc) based on your SP’s likes and hobbies.

A small food treat (or other non-edible treat) will be considered “bonus”… and could be opened when the package arrives.

Your one handcrafted item can be for any of the above days. If you want to craft more than one day (or all 5… that is fine too!).

Again, our swaps are “secret” swaps, so you don’t know who your swap partner is until you receive your package in the mail.

If you’d like to join in, come on over and sign up here by September 20th. Hope to see you there!!!

knit equals joy, Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitters, knitting, knitting swaps, Spa Cloth

Reminder: Final Day for Summer Spa Swap Sign-Ups!

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Carol

TODAY is the last day to sign up for the summer spa swap in the Knit Equals Joy Ravelry Group! This is our third annual summer swap – Summer Spa Swap III – Les Jardins. Our swaps are a great way to connect with other knitters – chatting, making and sending a small gift, receiving a fun package in the mail that another knitter made for you with care…come on over and sign up! The original post about this swap is here.

This mini swap is all about sending your secret swap partner a mini “pampering kit”. This year we will use the summer garden as our inspiration. Your package will include a hand knit or crocheted wash cloth that has a Les Jardins (garden) theme or is inspired by the garden, a pretty and preferably a handcrafted bar of soap and one other fun little item that you think your swap partner would like (perhaps a pretty bookmark, some bath salts or a special lip balm…) (Max Value = $10.00).

Part of the joy of the swap is in chatting with the other swap participants, and we post our thanks and photos as soon as we can after we’ve received our swap packages. It’s how we roll in Knit Equals Joy.

That’s it! I hope you will check it out and come sign up TODAY. If you’re not yet a member of the group, please join. If you haven’t posted in the group yet, please introduce yourself and let the group know how you found the swap.

You can read about some of our other swaps here.

See you there!

knit equals joy, Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitters, knitting, knitting swaps, Spa Cloth

It’s Time for Another Summer Spa Swap!

Posted on June 1, 2017June 2, 2017 by Carol

It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside. ~ Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib

Yes! Hurray! It’s time for another summer spa swap in the Knit Equals Joy Ravelry Group! In fact, this is our third annual summer swap – Summer Spa Swap III – Les Jardins. Our swaps are a great way to connect with other knitters – chatting, making and sending a small gift, receiving a fun package in the mail that another knitter made for you with care…come on over and sign up! Read more about this swap below.

Our wonderful swap organizer extraordinaire, jenb69, wrote this lovely piece about summer:

Summer. That one word can conjure up so many memories. When I think of summer, I think freedom (s.c.h.o.o.l is now a dirty word). Bare feet. Shady trees. Watermelon. Watermelon covered faces. Big floppy hats. Grills and backyard barbecues. Lazy days in the garden. Roses. Heat, humidity and thunderstorms and little boys with dirty feet and fishing poles.

I think I would love to live in Mayberry.

And she says this about the swap:

Regardless of where we live though, summer is the perfect opportunity to find some selfish time. This mini swap is all about sending your secret swap partner a mini “pampering kit”. This year we will use the summer garden as our inspiration. Your package will include a hand knit or crocheted wash cloth (maybe you have some extra special cotton or linen in your stash?) that has a Les Jardins (garden) theme or is inspired by the garden, a pretty and preferably a handcrafted bar of soap and one other fun little item that you think your swap partner would like (perhaps a pretty bookmark, some bath salts or a special lip balm….be as creative here as you like) (Max Value = $10.00).

Sign-ups end June 9th.

Mailing deadline is July 7th.

That’s it! I hope you will check it out and come sign up. If you’re not yet a member of the group, please join. If you haven’t posted in the group yet, please introduce yourself and let the group know how you found the swap.

You can read about some of our other swaps here.

See you there!

knit equals joy, knitters, knitting, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Valentine’s Day Swap! Sign Up Now!

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Carol

January 4th is the last day to sign up for our Wuv, Tru Wuv Mini Swap in the Knits Equals Joy Ravelry group! Knitters, we would love to have you come join us!

This is a really great way to get to know other knitters, and we always have a lovely time. In this mini-swap you will send one small knit, crocheted, sewn or stitched gift, a card and a small treat ($5.00 max) to your secret swap partner. You won’t find out who your secret swap partner is until you receive your package in the mail. Come join the fun: sign up here now!!!

More lovelies from last year’s swap:

Come join us – you know you want to! 😉

knit equals joy, knitters, knitting, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Wuv, Tru Wuv, The Second Annual Valentine’s Day Mini Swap

Posted on December 29, 2016January 1, 2017 by Carol

Dear Knitters,

I am so excited that we’re going to have another Wuv, Tru Wuv Mini Swap in my Ravelry Group! You can read all about the 2016 Valentine’s Day Mini Swap here.

And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva…

…from The Princess Bride

The rules for this swap are easy:

You must be a member of the Knit Equals Joy group on Ravelry.
You will send one small knit, crocheted, sewn or stitched gift, a card and a small treat ($5.00 max) to your secret swap partner.
Sign-ups end January 4th and partners will be assigned by January 5th.
Our mailing deadline is January 25th (if you have an international swap partner, we encourage you to mail a few days earlier).
You must participate in the swap discussion at least once a week.
When you receive your package, you must post your thanks as soon as possible and post a photo as quickly as you can.
You must stitch your project with love. 🙂

Sign-ups are here. Don’t miss out: Sign up before January 4th!