4 Day KAL Preview with Marie Greene
Join us in July for a 4 Day KAL! We knit the Fireworks sweater last year and are excited about this years KAL!
Join us and Marie Greene of Olive Knits on June 9 at 5pm CST for an exclusive virtual zoom chat to preview this year’s 4 Day Knitalong design! We’ll be talking about choosing your sweater size, choosing the right yarn for your project, winning color combinations and more!
Save your spot! Register here!
When: Jun 9, 2022 03:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0of-qupjkjHNTlX1G3W4GxbUH6IUR1uLND
Excerpt from Olive Knits blog…..
Why 4 days?
It was a fluke. I had a four day weekend ahead of me last year and a sweater sample that needed to be knit, and I thought, “I wonder if I could whip this out in four days?” I tried it, and the idea resonated with my friends on social media, enough so that they started asking for a KAL. Really? You want to try this, too? So we did it, and it was a blast, and here we are teetering on the 2nd Annual 4 Day KAL and there are thousands of knitters joining us so far. We don’t even cast on for a month – this is bananas!
What if the timeline doesn’t work for you or you don’t want to rush?
That’s okay! Like I said, it’s not really about the timeline. The “4 Day” concept was about my own personal challenge, but it can be whatever works best for you. I’m a fast knitter so a sweater in four days was an opportunity for me to push myself to stay focused on only one project for a short window of time to see how far I could get. Frankly, I was surprised I finished in four days. Until that point I had no way to know if it was possible. For others, knitting a sweater in a week, two weeks or a month is a huge accomplishment and worthy of a celebration. If you want to follow my timeline, great. If you want to create your own timeline, that’s great too. The most important take-away is that it’s possible to knit a sweater more quickly than you think – but “quick” is subjective, and it should be whatever feels achievable for you. Choose a timeline makes you feel excited, motivated and eager – but not overwhelmed – and go with that. But remember this: You might surprise yourself with what you can do. Maybe it won’t be four days, but it might be much more quickly than you thought.
The timeline is provided as an outline for what is humanly possible, but not necessarily the timeline that will work best for you. Do what is right for you, have fun, and take care of yourself. If your hands hurt at the end or you find yourself frustrated, take a step back and adjust. This is meant to be a fun challenge, not a frustrating one.
Choose a timeline that makes you feel excited, motivated and eager – but not overwhelmed – and go with that.
Last year we had a host of knitters who continued to work on their sweaters throughout the month (and even the year!). The beauty of the Student Lounge Facebook group is that you’ll discover oodles of other knitters who are plugging along, too, and everyone is kind, helpful and cheerful about supporting each other. The best part about the KAL is the friendships you make along the way (oh, and the sweater!). If you are knitting with your yarn shop – great! If you are knitting with a virtual knitting group, that’s great too! Whatever you do, find a support team to help keep you going. If you don’t have one already, join us over in the Lounge and we’ll cheer you on.
If you really want to knit it in the timeline, here’s what you need to know:
- I recommend reading through the suggested blog posts on the Beekeeper Cardigan Tutorial page (especially the ones related to the 4 Day KAL and how to gauge your knitting speed).
- If you’re planning to knit your days consecutively, you’ll need someone else to take over your usual tasks. You’ll want easy, quick meal options and no other demands on your schedule.
- Get up and stretch frequently, and maybe go for a short walk every hour or so. Keep the blood flowing.
- Focus. I found that I knit significantly faster when listening to an audio book versus chatting or watching a movie, but – that said – the point is to have fun, so if you’re knitting with friends, just enjoy yourself and don’t panic about the minutes ticking away. They’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy them.
- If you run into a road block, don’t worry about it. Life happens. If something comes up that throws you off track, lace up your comfy shoes and jump back in when you can. In the end, I want you to have a sweater you’ll enjoy wearing and be proud of – the timeline is just for fun. If you veer off course, just steer back around when you can. Whatever you do, don’t give up.
- SWATCH! The stitch pattern is simple and relatively quick to work, but make absolutely sure you’ve learned it before you try knitting it on a deadline. Swatching in pattern will ensure you will know what to expect.
- Read through the pattern ahead of time. It helps to get a little idea of the landscape of the pattern and how it’s set up.
- Highlight or circle your size instructions/numbers throughout the pattern. It helps to do this ahead of time.