Summer of the "along"

There are so many alongs going on this summer, I can't even.

Gradients.  Beautiful, luscious, gradients

Not sure what an "along" is?  It's when a stash of knitters (I just now decided that the plural descriptor for knitters is "stash") all decide to work on the same thing - more or less - at the same time - more or less.   How strict, structured, or scheduled participation is will vary from group to group.

Anyway, they are busting out all over the place and I got a fever.

Now I know, I know.  I swore off alongs.  I said I was tired of allowing social pressure to harmoosle me into knitting things that I don't like or that make me look like a psychedelic gila monster, exiled from the 60s.

No really.  Psychedelic Gila monster. Terrible.

I've learned my lesson though, and this time all of the alongs I'm considering are much more "choose your own adventure" and less "you must knit this specific pattern."   Which means that I can still get my social-lemming knitting groove on without another travesty like the one above.  (What was I thinking?)

Without further ado:  the alongs under consideration this summer.

Stash Dash 2015

Michelle from Actually Knitting observed that if you were the drinking sort, and you took a shot every time a podcaster mentioned Stash Dash you'd be in a world of hurt by now.  She ain't just whistlin' Dixie either.  It is EVERYWHERE.   Hosted by the Knit Girllls, Stash Dash is a summer long event where the primary goal and focus is to knit a bunch of stuff.  Specifically enough stuff to add up to a 3K, 5K, or a 10K worth of meterage.  (I confess, I have been converting everything to Imperial, because I am that way, and because I speak yards not meters).

Stash Dash runs from May 22 - Aug 14.  You can learn more about it here.

This is like February is for Finishing on steroids.  Absolutely perfect.

Gradient-along

My online knitting community is hosting a very low key, join when you want, knit what you want Gradient-along.  The only rule?  Knit something out of yarn that you can convince yourself qualifies as a gradient.

I'm using this for my first project (there might be two, we'll see how it goes).

This is the same yarn I showed above -- I used Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls' trick to wind all of the minis into one cake.

The Gradient-along runs from now until we all get bored and wander off.

Outfit-along or OAL

This one is jointly hosted by Andi Satterlund (link to her Ravelry designer profile)  of Untangling Knots and Lauren of Lladybird.  It's a sewing-and-knitting-to-create-an-outfit-along.  The rules are that you sew one garment, knit another, and they should go with one another.  There is an official sweater pattern (designed by Andi) and an official dress pattern (that Lauren will provide pattern support and tutorials for) but you can knit or sew anything you want.

I ran across this just as it was wrapping up last year, so I'm seriously considering giving it a go this year. I've been wanting to get back into sewing and this seems like a great excuse.

The OAL runs from June 1 - July 31, so if I'm doing this I'd better get a move on.  More details can be found here.

And last but not least is the:

Colors of Fall 2015 KAL

Every year Pantone announces to the world what colors will be trending in up-coming seasons.  (I know they do it for Fall and Spring,  Anyone know if they do Summer and Winter too?)   This is another along that I caught too late last year to join.  

The idea is to use the Pantone Fall 2015 color palette to knit something and then create a "look" (read: outfit).   If I play my cards right I could totally double dip this one with the OAL.   Although, I have a summery dress with a light sweater in mind for that, so we'll see if the colors work.

My favorite color is "fall" so I'm all over this palette.

The Colors of Fall KAL is hosted by Gayle and Sharlene of the Yarniacs podcast.  (This reminds me, I really need to do a blog post on knitting podcasts).  

It runs from June 21 - Sept 23.   That would make the timing tricky if I did try to combine it with the OAL, but if I did the sewing first (before June 21) and then cast on the knitting after June 21... I could make it work, as they say.

More on the Colors of Fall KAL here.

So what are you into this summer?