NaKniSweMo KAL-Knit a Sweater in a Month with QCY
NaKniSweMo is a month long make-a-long that challenges you to knit a 50,000 stitch sweater in the month of November. Sounds like a daunting task, but if you do the math 50,000 stitches is covered by just about any full length sweater. But can you really knit a whole sweater in just a month? We think you can! Giving ourselves a deadline is excellent motivation to accomplish any task, especially for those of us that tend to procrastinate a little (or a lot). As a test knitter, I have had many occasions that I had to knit a whole sweater in 4 weeks, and I'm talking plus size sweaters, so if I can do it, I know you can too!! We have decided to jump on board the NaKniSweMo (Knit-a-sweater-in-a-month) make along (who's to say crochet doesn't count right!) and offer up a few prizes of our own!
The Rules:
To be eligible for our excellent prizes (more on that below) you must
-participate in the make along by making a sweater in the month of November. We won't tell if you may have started it a little early or finish a day or two late.
-Use EITHER QCY yarn in your project in some capacity (doesn't have to be the whole sweater or only yarn you use) OR you use any kind of yarn to make a QCY sweater pattern (found on our website)
-Tag us in your social media posts using both the #QCY and #nakniswemo hashtags so we can find your entries!
The Prizes:
-We will choose 2 winners for our Project Spotlight Giveaway at the end of November and this time they will get a $50 QCY instead of the usual $30.
-We will also be picking random winners throughout the month for some spur of the moment mystery prizes.
Follow us on Instagram to see our pattern and yarn suggestions and play along. What will you be making with us?
Packing for Rhinebeck!
It's 3 pm the day before we start our journey to the Hudson Valley for Rhinebeck weekend. The yarn van is packed, the Ipad is charging and QCY is ready. Me.... ya that's a different story!
Last on the to do list today is pack myself. That started yesterday with 120 loads of laundry. OK, really like five, but as I was dealing with laundry mountain last night at 10:30 it sure felt like 120!
Packing always starts with knitting. I've got a sweater WIP, and on my to do list is winding yarn for a hat as well as yarn to start Mark's Christmas socks.
Knitting ✅
I never really pick out an outfit for vending. I usually pack a pair of black pants, a black tank top and black tennis shoes. From there, I'll get dressed from the bag of samples. The tank top means I can do a wardrobe change based on the weather or, let you try on my sweater. I strip down to that tank top at least once a show. NEVER be afraid to try on our samples! HUGE shout out to our sample makers, ya'll keep me dressed in the booth!
The Rhinebeck Sweater. I didn't make one this year. We've been a little busy around here, so it just wasn't in the cards for me. But I do have my Sunday Funday. I started this last fall and got stuck on sleeve island. I finished it up this summer and I'm looking forward to showing it off Saturday. Mine is out of Pants with Pleats, Raindrops, Keep Pounding and Home Team Grey. I'll pair this with a simple tee and a pair of jeans. You never know what kind of weather the Hudson Valley has in store for you. Last year it was in the 60's and warm, 2015 it snowed! Come prepared for both! Thankfully Rhinebeck doesn't have the MUD like Maryland Sheep and Wool, but I'll still pack a pair of boots. They're stylish, warm and good for walking.
Clothes ✅
One last piece; Road snacks! See ya'll Friday!
-j
Rhinebeck Weekend
Rhinebeck is one of those events you HEAR about as a knitter! It was the talk of my knitting friends every fall. It’s an incredible weekend: the events, the friends, the knitwear, the vendors, the food, the scenery, and the cute Airbnb’s! Seriously every part of the experience is great! For those of you going, here are the details. For those of you not joining us, there are online shopping opportunities for you!
When talking about Rhinebeck, you need to remember folks are talking about a whole weekend of events in and around the Hudson Valley!
Festivities start on Friday with FOUR events.
Queen City Yarn will be at Indie Untangled with 24 other amazing vendors at HITS on the Hudson, 298 Mike Krout Road, Saugerties, NY. Tickets are priced from $10-$35 and include shopping from:
- 10-11:30 ($35) includes swag bag
- 11:30-1 ($20)
- 1-2:30 ($15)
- 2:30-4 ($10)
If you can’t join us in person, you can register for the online market place instead!
CAKEpalooza also has 25 fantastic vendors at CAKE Wool Co's studio parking lot at 8 North Street, Saugerties, NY. Tickets are priced from $10-$25 and include shopping from:
- 10-12 ($25)
- 12-2 ($20)
- 2-4 ($15)
- 4- 5:30 ($10)
Many of these vendors have online shops you can check out, too!
There will also be a shuttle running between the two shows, as well as the local yarn shop, The Perfect Blend, to help with traffic and parking.
About 20 minutes south of Saugerties, at the Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, is Wool and Folk. There you’ll find 60 vendors, plus food and music, from 12-7pm. Tickets are $45.
Many of these vendors have online shops you can check out too!
Wrapping up the events on Friday is Floxsie's 70’s themed Roller Skating Party at Wood'n Wheel Family Fun Center, 365 Route 9W, Ulster Park, NY. Tickets are priced from $15-$30. Skating is open from 5:30-8 pm. There will be raffle prizes, giveaways and winners for Best Dressed, Best Roller moves and Grooves as well as best Knitted/Crocheted items!
From there you should plan on finding some dinner (Reservations are HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended) and getting to bed! There is lots more to see on Saturday and Sunday.
New York Sheep and Wool, the reason we all started coming to the Hudson Valley in October, is at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, 6636 Spring Brook Ave, Rhinebeck, NY. Here you’ll find 100’s of vendors, food, drinks and animals. Gates open at 9 am both days. Tickets are $12-15.
Be a Great Test Knitter!
We often partner with talented knitwear designers, providing yarn support and marketing assistance on new designs that utilize our yarns. We like to include a QCY test knitter in the designers testing pool, so that we can have a sample of the design to add to our very large sample collection.
It’s been a while since I jumped into the test knitting pool. With my current work load, I typically end up utilizing our amazing sample makers for these, but they were all busy working on other things we aren’t ready to share yet. So, It was up to me! I was really excited to get to know Jill (of Knit Sisu) and knit her newest design the Olive & Oak Sweater.
My VERY first step was a schedule! Jill needed my feedback no later than Sept 4th. Once I had the pattern, I worked out a schedule. I took every day between the day I got the pattern and the deadline and broke the pattern into small daily deadlines. I also took into account days I knew I wouldn’t have time to knit as well as finishing up my Super Simple Summer Sweater in time for the Southern Comforts Market. I also gave myself days that had no deadline. I used these as days to catch up.
I could and should do a whole blog post on swatching, but I will leave that for another time. After swatching, I was ready to get started reviewing the actual pattern. For this I prefer paper and a red pen. (The architect is still in there!) I printed the very first version of the pattern and read the whole thing. I like to circle or highlight all of the instructions and numbers for my size. This is a good time to ask questions. There were a few minor errors, but I was behind the other testers and they has already found these typos, so I double checked they had been corrected in the second version I also had printed.
From there I dove into knitting, hitting my daily deadlines most days and catching up on others but never falling too far behind. As I had questions or comments I added them to the pattern. I used my Taco progress keeper to mark where I started each day!
Once I finished my sweater it was time to translate my chicken scratch hand written notes across three versions of the pattern into a cohesive set of notes for Jill.
Last and Final Step, Photo Shoot! I find it VERY helpful to see photos of the finished test on a body!
