WIPs, KAL Qs and don't forget the sale!

How are you? I feel like I've been a bit quiet recently between a shoulder injury, which made knitting rather painful (I'm on the mend, I just have to take things slowly), and commission WIPs that I haven't been able to share, but I am still here! Even though knitting is my job, it's also my hobby, and I've been knitting lots of gift socks recently, which has been a lot of fun - my sock drawer is overflowing, so I've decided that this is the year of gift-socks! Here's the latest pair, knitted in Felici and destined to be dropped off with my friend very soon.

While I can't share my work WIPs yet, I can give you a little hint: there are a lot of ends! The final piece will be in Knit Now later this year, and I'm really pleased with how it's working up.

I am planning a KAL for later in the year, and would love your input: I've put together a few questions so that I can create a KAL that works for as many people as possible, so would be grateful if you could fill out this survey. I'll leave it open until the end of the month a should only take you a few minutes to complete.

While I'm here, don't forget that I have put together a selection of 8 sock patterns that are perfect for Spring for you to check out. As an extra incentive, they have 15% off until the end of the month with the code SPRING. You have until 11.59pm BST, May 31st 2022. You can find the patterns here.

 

Marathon Sock KAL 2019: We have crossed the finish line!

A huge thank you to everyone who got involved with the Marathon sock KAL this year. I am delighted to announce that we have crossed the finish line!

The KAL took 91 days (we finished at the end of September), 41,897 m of yarn were knitted, and there were 157 entries. The KAL was completed much faster than last year, so a huge round of applause is deserved! I have drawn the winners from Instagram, the chatter thread and the finished objects thread, and the winners prizes are on their way to them as I type.

If you still have socks on your needles that you cast on for (or before) the KAL, if they're finished by the end of October, you can add them to the warm down thread in my Ravelry group to be in with a chance of winning the final prize package.

If you missed all the excitement of the KAL, don't worry, I'll be running it again next year.

Happy knitting.

Marathon Sock KAL 2019: Last call for entries...

We are almost three months into the Marathon Sock KAL 2019, and, drumroll please, we have completed 41,407 m of the marathon! That's 98.1% of the target!

We really are nearly there - I reckon 3 or 4 more pairs and we'll have done it! Hopefully by the end of September. If your socks aren't quite ready to be posted, don't worry: the chatter thread will stay open for a few weeks after the end of the KAL, and, as soon as I close the FO thread, I will open a warm-down thread for all the socks finished after the final pair has been knitted. These don't have to be Marathon socks - they only have to have been cast on before the KAL ends. This is your chance to finish off all those odd socks you abandoned to join in the KAL! I'll be drawing one prize winner from the warm-down FO thread at the start of November 2019.

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Want to know more about the Marathon Sock KAL? Keep reading...

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks must be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group and/or following vikkibirddesigns on Instagram
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019
• Double-dipping is permitted
• Socks must be knitted as pairs (no single sock entries)
• If you are entering via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account/do not use Ravelry, you can enter by posting a photo of your socks on Instagram (on your grid, not in your stories), and filling in this form (you can also use this form if, for whatever reason, you are struggling to create an FO thread entry); I will create an FO thread entry based on the information you provide

Prizes (kindly sponsored by LoveCrafts***)

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

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*Ravelry link. This link will not work if you are not a member of Ravelry. If you have found out about this KAL via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account, but still wish to enter, please post a photo of your finished socks to your Instagram grid (remember to use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019 and tag me, @vikkibirddesigns), then fill in this form and I will create an entry in the FO thread for you

**26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

***Affiliate link

Marathon Sock KAL 2019: Update: 27th August 2019

We are almost two months into the Marathon Sock KAL 2019, and, drumroll please, we have completed 21,757 m of the marathon! That's 51.6% of the target!

There's still plenty of time to join in, so keep knitting!

And I finally finished a pair. This is my first 254 m of knitting towards the KAL (and I have several more pairs that are almost there).

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Want to know more about the Marathon Sock KAL? Keep reading...

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks must be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group and/or following vikkibirddesigns on Instagram
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019
• Double-dipping is permitted
• Socks must be knitted as pairs (no single sock entries)
• If you are entering via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account/do not use Ravelry, you can enter by posting a photo of your socks on Instagram (on your grid, not in your stories), and filling in this form (you can also use this form if, for whatever reason, you are struggling to create an FO thread entry); I will create an FO thread entry based on the information you provide

Prizes (kindly sponsored by LoveCrafts***)

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

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*Ravelry link. This link will not work if you are not a member of Ravelry. If you have found out about this KAL via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account, but still wish to enter, please post a photo of your finished socks to your Instagram grid (remember to use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019 and tag me, @vikkibirddesigns), then fill in this form and I will create an entry in the FO thread for you

**26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

***Affiliate link

Marathon Sock KAL 2019: Update: August 2nd 2019

We are one month into the Marathon Sock KAL 2019, and, drumroll please, we have completed 13,504 m of the marathon!

There's still plenty of time to join in. By the next update I might even have managed to finish a pair of socks!

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Want to know more about the Marathon Sock KAL? Keep reading...

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks must be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group and/or following vikkibirddesigns on Instagram
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019
• Double-dipping is permitted
• Socks must be knitted as pairs (no single sock entries)
• If you are entering via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account/do not use Ravelry, you can enter by posting a photo of your socks on Instagram (on your grid, not in your stories), and filling in this form (you can also use this form if, for whatever reason, you are struggling to create an FO thread entry); I will create an FO thread entry based on the information you provide

Prizes (kindly sponsored by LoveCrafts***)

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

********

*Ravelry link. This link will not work if you are not a member of Ravelry. If you have found out about this KAL via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account, but still wish to enter, please post a photo of your finished socks to your Instagram grid (remember to use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019 and tag me, @vikkibirddesigns), then fill in this form and I will create an entry in the FO thread for you

**26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

***Affiliate link

The Marathon Sock KAL 2019: FO thread is now OPEN!

The Marathon Sock KAL has been running for a little over a week, and the FO (finished object) thread is now officially open!* The KAL will run until we have knitted the full 26** miles of yarn.

Do I have to knit the full 26 miles by myself? No, of course not! All you have to do is knit a pair of adult-sized socks, and add a photo of them to the finished object thread (open now!)* when they're done, noting the amount of yarn used. I'll add up all the yarn lengths from each entry, and we should quite quickly have knitted a marathon's worth of yarn.

The chatter thread is also open in my Ravelry group,* so you can chat while you cast on and knit your socks.

Happy knitting!

********

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules (updated to clarify a few points)

• Socks must be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group and/or following vikkibirddesigns on Instagram
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019
• Double-dipping is permitted
• Socks must be knitted as pairs (no single sock entries)
• If you are entering via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account/do not use Ravelry, you can enter by posting a photo of your socks on Instagram (on your grid, not in your stories), and filling in this form (you can also use this form if, for whatever reason, you are struggling to create an FO thread entry); I will create an FO thread entry based on the information you provide

Prizes (kindly sponsored by LoveCrafts***)

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

********

*Ravelry link. This link will not work if you are not a member of Ravelry. If you have found out about this KAL via Instagram and do not have a Ravelry account, but still wish to enter, please post a photo of your finished socks to your Instagram grid (remember to use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019 and tag me, @vikkibirddesigns), then fill in this form and I will create an entry in the FO thread for you

**26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

***Affiliate link

The Marathon Sock KAL 2019: Cast on now!

It's here!

The Marathon Sock KAL - a KAL that involves a collective effort to knit a marathon's worth of yarn* - starts today!

The Marathon Sock KAL starts today and runs through the summer (prime sock-knitting season) or until we have knitted the full 26 miles of yarn.

Do I have to knit the full 26 miles by myself? No, of course not! All you have to do is knit a pair of adult-sized socks, and add a photo of them to the finished object thread (opening soon) when they're done, noting the amount of yarn used. I'll add up all the yarn lengths from each entry, and we should quite quickly have knitted a marathon's worth of yarn.

The chatter thread is open now in my Ravelry group, so you can chat while you cast on and knit your socks.

Happy knitting!

********

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019

Prizes

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

*26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

The Marathon Sock KAL 2019: 10 days to go...

It's almost here: the Marathon Sock KAL - a KAL that involves a collective effort to knit a marathon's worth of yarn.*

The KAL will start on July 1st 2019, and run through the summer (prime sock-knitting season) or until we have knitted the full 26 miles of yarn.

Do I have to knit the full 26 miles by myself? No, of course not! All you have to do is knit a pair of adult-sized socks, and add a photo of them to the finished object thread when they're done, noting the amount of yarn used. I'll add up all the yarn lengths from each entry, and we should quite quickly have knitted a marathon's worth of yarn.

The chatter thread is open now in my Ravelry group, so you can start chatting about your plans for the KAL.

Until then, happy knitting.

********

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019

Prizes

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

*26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

The Marathon Sock KAL 2019: coming soon...

You may remember that last year, I hosted the Marathon Sock KAL - a KAL that involved a collective effort to knit a marathon's worth of yarn.* Well, it will be back this year!

Rather than start the KAL alongside the London Marathon, which was the original inspiration for the KAL, the KAL will start on July 1st 2019, and run through the summer (prime sock-knitting season) or until we have knitted the full 26 miles of yarn.

Do I have to knit the full 26 miles by myself? No, of course not! All you have to do is knit a pair of adult-sized socks, and add a photo of them to the finished object thread when they're done, noting the amount of yarn used. I'll add up all the yarn lengths from each entry, and we should quite quickly have knitted a marathon's worth of yarn.

I've opened a chatter thread in my Ravelry group, where you can start chatting about your plans for the KAL.

Until then, happy knitting.

********

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019

Prizes

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

*26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

The Marathon sock KAL!

In April it was the London Marathon, which is televised in the UK. Over the morning of the marathon I had various friends texting me about things that were happening during the coverage. As ever, it did briefly cross my mind that one day I could run a marathon, but I haven't run in a very long time (not more than chasing children level running anyway, and before that I was never a serious runner), so it's not something I would naturally do. So instead my mind turned to things that could be done that relate to the length of a marathon. As I was knitting a pair of socks at the time, I idly wondered how many pairs of socks would need to be knitted to knit a whole 26(.219) miles of sock yarn. The answer is quite a lot – 141 pairs of UK size 10 socks to be precise.*

I quickly realised that knitting a Marathon's-worth of socks was going to take rather a long time. But what about if I had help? Which gave me the idea for a new knitalong: the Sock Marathon KAL.

The KAL will be running from May 7th in my Ravelry group, and will continue until a full Marathon's-worth of socks have been knitted! There are a few rules, which I've listed below, but anyone is welcome to join in – the more the merrier! To join the KAL, head over to the chatter thread in my Ravelry group,** introduce yourself, and tell me what you're planning on knitting.

How long do you think the KAL will take? Do you think we'll be done by the 2019 London Marathon?

Happy knitting everyone!

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Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Any yarn weight, any pattern
• Must be cast-on on or after May 7th 2018
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group

Prizes

• One prize for the person who knits the most metres
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

FO thread template

• Date cast on:
• Date cast off:
• Link to your Ravelry project page
• Number of metres of yarn used***

*26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

**You'll need to be a member of Ravelry to join in the KAL. Membership is free.

***You must use metres for this KAL – 1 yd = 0.91 m

The Vikki Bird Designs' Christmas KAL 2017

Today I'm launching my Christmas Knits KAL!

What's a KAL?

A KAL is a knitalong event, where everyone knits something on the same theme. The theme for this KAL is Christmas knitting. I'm not talking about gift knitting, rather knitting an item that is obviously festive, think Christmas stockings, socks in festive yarn, Christmas jumpers, Christmas decorations, etc.

How can I join in?

The KAL will be taking place in my Ravelry group.* All you have to do is to knit something festive and post about it in the KAL thread. The KAL has two threads: the first is a chatter thread where you can chat about what you're knitting and how it's going; the second is a finished objects (FO) thread where you can post a photo of your knit once it's complete. Please only post finished objects in the FO thread, as that's where I'll be doing the prize drawing from.

Are there prizes?

Yes there are! I have yarn, knitting accessories, patterns and a project bag to give away as a minumum, but I'm sure the prize list will be added to over the course of the KAL.

I'd like to donate a prize. How do I do that?

If you have something you'd like to donate as a prize for this KAL, thank you! Just send me a message on Ravelry (or via my blog contact form) and we'll take it from there.

What do I have to do to be eligible for a prize?

To be in with a chance of winning a prize, you must:

1. Finish a festive item before the deadline of November 30th 2017.
2. Post a photo of the festive item in the FO thread on Ravelry (the thread will be closed on the evening of December 1st, GMT).
3. You will get an extra entry for any item knitted from a Vikki Bird Designs pattern.
4. While you may enter more than once, each participant will only be able to win one prize, regardless of how many times they enter.
5. Works in progress are allowed.
6. If you have test knitted a festive pattern for me this year, you can post the item in the FO thread, even if you finished the item before the launch of the KAL.
7. Be a member of the Vikki Bird Designs Ravelry group.
8. Take part in the chatter thread (at least one post over the course of the KAL).

I can't knit. Can I crochet instead?

Yes you can!

I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Happy knitting!

*You must be a member on Ravelry to take part. Joining is free and easy, and Ravelry is an excellent resource for knitting and crochet.

March, already!

The year has gone far too quickly, I've blinked and suddenly it's March. March has lots of exciting things in store, starting with the weather and the emergence of Spring: even in the past couple of days I have noticed more sunshine and lots of colour arriving with the early Spring flowers and the newly replanted flowers at the bus stop near my house. I also have several new patterns coming out this month, so look out for those, and I'm planing on hosting a KAL in my Ravelry group later in the month too. And I'm going to Edinburgh Yarn Festival next weekend, so lots to look forward to!

Today is Wednesday, so I thought I'd link up with Ginny for Yarn Along and show you what I am reading and what's on my needles. I have finally acquired the first few Lemony Snicket books. As there are thirteen in the series I decided that I would resurrect my Kindle (which I bought before my son was born, used a lot when he was small, and then stopped using as I wasn't reading fast enough to get through all the books I was given for birthdays and Christmas every year) rather than add more books to our over-full bookshelves. I did briefly consider buying the lot in one go, but it would have cost rather a lot of money, so I bought the first one, and am planning on buying the later ones as I want to start reading them, or picking them up in charity shops as I find them (I found books three and four this weekend). I'm two-thirds of the way through the first book and am enjoying its dry sarcastic dark humour immensely. The project that I am currently spending most of my time on is a pair of pink socks (in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply). The pattern is my own, and I'm really hoping to get it out by the end of the month. The pink isn't a colour I would usually use, but I bought the yarn in the depths of winter as it made me smile; the yarn still does and I am really enjoying knitting with it.

I also cast on a new pair of socks today. This morning I was listening to the latest edition of the Sockmatician podcast, in which he announced a sockalong (#SockmaticianSockalong) that is running for the whole of March. I know I said I wasn't going to join in any KALs this year, but I am certain I can get a pair of vanilla socks knitted by the end of the month! The yarn is an Arne and Carlos design for Regia and has been in my stash since last summer (I'd forgotten about it, and was delighted to find it in my stash this morning). Am I being overambitious to think that I might be able to finish these socks in time to wear them for Edinburgh Yarn Festival next weekend? Probably, but I shall try.

What are you looking forward to this month?

*This blog post contains affiliate links. For more information, see the Disclaimers and policies page.*