Selfish Knitting Season

Hi, Lauren here! This is my first post on the Amy Herzog Designs blog, and I’m so excited! Now that Christmas has come and gone, I’m here to talk about the approach of selfish knitting season.

If you’re anything like me, you don’t decide to knit holiday gifts until far too late in the season. Somehow you find yourself scrambling to get everything done in time, and on December 26th, you swear to never, ever do handmade gifts again.

When November comes back around, I conveniently forget this promise. When it comes down to the wire, I’m once again knitting like the wind to finish a mitten thumb or a button band (those who follow us on Twitter have seen me whine about – no, discuss! – both of those in the past week).

That’s what I love about the new year, though. It’s time to knit for me again. Every year I cast on a sweater on January 1st – it’s a fun way to start fresh. If you’re doing the same, join me in our CustomFit KAL thread, where we’re swatching away in preparation for the new year. Selfish knitting season is almost here!

To celebrate the exciting year we’ve had at Amy Herzog Designs, we’re throwing an online party the last five days of the year. We’re just getting started on a few forms of social media, but I’ve already had great conversations with folks over Twitter and seen some gorgeous knitwear photos on Instagram. We’d like you to join the party!

Each day from December 27th through 30th, we’ll be giving away one CustomFit or Amy Herzog Designs pattern (your choice!), and each contest will take place on one of our social media platforms. On December 31st, we’ll gather everything we learned here on the AHD blog. Each day, come back to this post for details on how to enter to win your free pattern! (I can’t give away all the details ahead of time, can I?) We’ll post information on how to enter the evening before a contest begins.

Here’s an outline of our schedule:

December 27
Instagram
Make, Wear, Love
Post a photo of yourself or someone you love wearing a handknit on Instagram.

• Tell us what you or the subject loves about this piece.
• Important: Use hashtag #makewearlove or mention @makewearlove so we can see your entry!
• See @makewearlove’s photo for an example.

December 28
Pinterest
Style Your Sweater

• Create a Pinterest board with an outfit you’d wear a handknit sweater with.
• Imagine your sweater out in the wild — what do you wear with it? How does it make you feel? Pick accessories, hair, quotes that inspire you, a color palette … whatever you like!
• No need to keep it to a sweater you’ve already knit — it can be a sweater you’re planning to knit, or maybe a pattern you’ve seen recently that you might like to CustomFit.
• Important: Use #makewearlove or tag Amy Herzog Designs so we can find you and see your board!
• See Lauren’s board for an example.

December 29
Facebook
Knitting Friends

• Knitting is so often social. We gather in groups, get feedback from friends, learn the basics from our circles.
• Comment on our Facebook post, which will go up the morning of the 29th, and tell us:
• Who’s a friend that inspires your knitting? Does she make to-die-for lace? Is she a colorwork fiend? Did her sweaters make you excited to start knitting your own clothing? Tell us about your knitting friends: mention one here and win a CF or AHD pattern for each of you!

December 30
Twitter

• Tell us: what’s first on your needles now that selfish knitting season is almost here? Retweet us & answer to win the CustomFit or AHD pattern of your choice!
• Use @makewearlove so we can find your tweet!

December 31
Right here on the blog!

• Amy, Jackie, and I will be spending some time thinking about our knitting intentions for 2014. I’ve learned from Amy and CustomFit how to put thought into a sweater rather than fumbling around for the next set of free needles – so I’ll be thinking over what knitting choices I’ll be making in the coming year.
• We’d like to round up your knitting intentions for 2014 here on the AHD blog. If you’d like, send us a link to your blog post, tweet, Pinterest board – however you’re posting your goals and intents. On December 31st, we’ll post links here along with our thoughts going into 2014.

Thanks for playing along with us! I’m excited to meet even more of you and continue to have these great conversations about making clothes we love.

Lauren