The Rules

Hi Everybody! Welcome to the Do Something New KAL!!This is my first shot at hosting a Knit-a-Long, but I think this is going to be a lot of fun!

To Join: E-mail me (wonderlandsgatekeeper AT hotmail DOT com) - obviously changing the 'at' and 'dot' to what they are supposed to be and taking out the spaces - with KAL in the subject line. Include your name as you'd like it to appear in the side bar, along with your email address and blog URL, if you have one. I will add your name to the sidebar and send you and invitation to join. After you have accepted the invitation, you will be able to post. Make sure your name appears in the sidebar, and let me know if it doesn't within a few days after you have signed up, as it has to be there for you to qualify for prizes.

Details - This KAL is for all of you knitters who have a To Do list that is about a mile long and dripping with with new things you'd like to try. It will run from August 1st, 2007 to January 31st, 2008 and you can participate as much or as little as you'd like; enter once total or once each month, it's up to you, no pressure here. Each month, you can do something new - so long as it is knit related - to get a letter for the month by your name in the side bar, which will get your name in the hat for the prizes!

What sort of things count - Try any new knitting technique, style, etc. as long as
A) it involves knitting in some way, and
B) you've never successfully tried it before.
Examples: felting; intarsia and Fair Isle; knitting something Continental style; yarn dying; spinning; making a new type of garment that you haven't made in the past, such as socks, mittens, a scarf, sweater, or hat; designing and creating your own pattern for a knitted item (and you would have to knit it up); knitting socks on circulars; knitting two socks at once on circulars; cables; Entralac; or, for those who have already done it all in the Knitting world or the less adventuresome, knitting something from a particular book or working on that certain pattern you've never taken a crack at will do just fine. Other things that will count are things that involve knitting in some indirect way. You've been itching to make your own stitch marker or fancy knitting needles? Well, whip 'em up and take a picture of them actually being used for knitting, and by dingies, it will count!

The Rules:
1) The item you're working on must be finished, photographed and posted on this blog before the sun comes on the first of the following month to count for your letter. The item could have been started at any time, but must be finished during that month to count. So to get your "A" for August, you would need to make your post no later than September 1st at about 6am Central Standard Time. (If you choose to skip a month or two, that is fine, too, but you get your name in the pot for prizes each time you get a letter.)
2) As stated above, your project has to be used in the knitting process to count. Yarn that you spin or dye will count on its own, so spinning or dying it would be your project, and of course you could knit it up into something new for the following month if you want, under your first time using yarn you have spun or dyed. If you make stitch markers or knitting needles, you have to show them being used knitting something, even a swatch. Get it? I'm pretty easy to please! If you have any question as to whether something you have in mind will work, just post your question or email me.
3) The new thing you are making does NOT have to be perfect! Trying new things is a learning process and nobody expects that everything will be a success. Your gloves have six fingers, they still count! The yarn you were dying caught on fire while still on the stove? Show a picture - ever how pitiful it may be - of your burned yarn that is no longer snowy white, and it will count. If you are knitting an item that isn't coming out exactly like you want it, you do need to finish it to count, even if you think it looks like crap. You can throw it out the window after you post it.
4) Feel free to post as often as you'd like, it doesn't have to be just with the finished items. So ask questions, encourage others, and have fun!
5) No Meanies allowed! No bashing any one for any reason. Be nice or Be Gone.

Prizes:
I plan to have a drawing for each month and a big Grand Prize drawing at the end, around Feb 2nd. The monthly draws will be sometime during the week following the end of each month, and if you have earned your letter during that month, your names goes in the hat. The monthly draws will be smaller prizes, but they should be nice. The Grand Prize will be be bigger, and you get your name in the hat one time for each letter your have earned during the whole KAL - six times if you have earned all your letters. I might have bonus prize at the end, too. I will post more details about the prizes as time goes on.

Obviously, I won't be putting my own name in the prize hat, but I am going to be putting the letters I earn by my name, 'cuz I think it's fun to participate! The reason I came up with this KAL is that I have a bunch of things I'm dying to do, and I can't wait to get started!