KALs

I puzzled over this abbreviation for a little while--what the heck is a KAL? Well, I finally figured it out: It's a Knit-Along! KALs provide opportunities for knitters to knit a project with other knitters across the nation. They have a website where various knitters can post pictures of their projects: what yarn they chose, their progress, and finally their finished project. It's really pretty nifty.

If you want to participate in a KAL, here is a good website to find one. KALs are good ideas because they give you a support group to try something new (like socks, or perhaps some nifty scarf pattern). You can ask for advice from the other knitters or share ideas. It's another way of being in the knitting community!

Another neat thing that the Knit-Along website I linked provides are things called swaps. I recently participated in my first swap, and found it to be a satisfying experience. You sign up and receive the name of someone to make a package for--the one I did focused on favorite colors--and send it off to them, revealing your identity within the package. You in turn receive a package from someone else. It's a pretty fantastic way to meet new knitters (I now have two new knitting friends) and get some cool stuff in return.

I recently signed up for an International Scarf Exchange, where I will make a scarf for someone, perhaps overseas. International knitting buddies--how nifty is that?

As you can see, the online knitting community is strong and active. However, knitting with a group of people is also just as satisfying--which is why I wanted to form a knitting group in my area. Though, this blog is a meshing of both the online and the real-life knitting communities, something that's just really cool.