THE DAILY CHUM

Entry 8: Hostess with the mostest finale! Knit-a-thon!!!
Well I’m back from my lovely vacation (did you know Disney has a Jack Sparrow walking around its cruise line?  I didn’t but I sure do now!) and although I’m running a bit late, I’m really excited for this week’s event.  First I want to make sure that everyone remembers that the Great American Knit Out is This Weekend, Saturday and Sunday February 16 and 17 at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  I will be there all day on Saturday covering it for y’all, so the column will be a bit later than usual (earlier than this week, though), but will be very up to date.  I will probably twitter throughout the day, so if you want to follow along that way, you are more than welcome to do so. 

This week I’m wrapping up my hostess with the mostess series by covering a knit-a-thon.  The Knit -a-thon is unique among knitting events in it’s complete flexibility.  Basically all you need for a knit-a-thon is:
1) A project in need of some progress.
Take for instance, an old school Weasley Sweater, seamed and all but finished, except that the knitter didn’t want to bother with intarsia and therefore must duplicate stitch her first initial on the sweater.  This process will require her to spend several hours re-learning duplicate stitch and then placing a large letter ‘E’, with seriphs on the front using this aforementioned skill.


2) A comforable place where the knitter can nest… er… sit for several hours.
You can see the blue futon providing the backdrop for the sweater?  That is placed in my dorm room so as to be near natural light, at a nice distance from my plugged in computer (see number 4), where no one can make me leave until my sweater is finished.

3) Several Hours.
I know I have a problem scraping any length of time together to knit, but if I really want a project finished (say in time to wear it to a large gathering of knitters in a public place on Saturday) I will block out a couple of hours to just sit and work on the project.  Finding the time can be difficult, but something like a large area of duplicate stitch can only go faster once you get into the groove, so making a block of time will actually make the work go faster.

4) Entertainment.
Way back at the beginning of December I talked about what kinds of music work with certain kinds of parties and projects, the same logic applies here, but you can add movies into the mix.  Now for me there is only one movie to watch during sweater finishing.  And it’s not so much a movie as a miniseries.

Ok, I’m a total Literature nerd, but this mini-series is not only the best and most complete adaptation of a Jane Austen novel ever, but it’s kept me company while I was finishing both of my previous sweaters, so I know who I will be turning to while I face down the final stretch of the Weasley.  And, well… wet Colin Firth.  Really, what more does a girl need?

5) One or more knitters.
The reason that the Knit-a-thon is one of my favorite kinds of events is that you can do it by yourself if you want to.  It’s still an event, you are going to place time aside to work on your project, it’s not just knitting, it’s an appointment.  That being said, a knit-a-thon is much more fun if you have a friend or ten come along for the ride, especially if you are all trying to finish prjects to wear to an upcoming event (like a fiber festival or a knit out).
Erin is…probably in Minnesota somewhere. She adorns the land of 10,000 lakes yarn stores with her glorious presence and profound geekiness. Erin knits, when she is not studying, singing herself hoarse, and reading whatever comes into her notice. Erin also enjoys speaking in the third person

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