Crochet Along :: Sign up, and away we go!

Today is the first day of the first ever Maybe Matilda Crochet Along! Yippeeeeee! (Go ahead, grab a button, slap it on your blog, and spread the joy! I know, it's not a very pretty button . . . but that's why this is a crochet along and not a make awesome blog buttons along.)

<a border="0" href="http://maybematilda.com" target="_blank"><img src=http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n628/rfield3890/Crochetalongbutton.jpg></a>

 

Let's do a quick rundown of some important items before we begin:

This is all online . . . someone asked in a comment recently if you have to live near me to participate. No ma'am! I'll show you what you need to know right here on my blog and we'll all learn together in the comfort of our own pajamas homes. 

Whether you don't know a single thing about crochet (or think it's pronounced crotch-it, as my husband likes to say), or you already know the basics, or you're a seasoned pro, you can still participate! I'll teach you all the stitches, and if you already know what we're talking about on any given day, you can, I don't know, head over to youtube or something to waste some time (by the way, my suggested channels on youtube right now are Best of Liz Lemon and Sesame Street . . . how does it know me so well?).

Lastly, please be patient with yourself as you learn! Like any new skill, crochet takes practice--your first couple of rows probably won't be ready to enter in the county fair, and that's okay. Give yourself a break and have a good time! You'll improve if you stick with it, I promise, but don't give up and drop out after two ugly rows, and don't let fear of a less-than-perfect project stop you from playing along!

With all that out of the way, the pattern with the most reader votes and the item we'll be working on together is the Time Out Cowl!

 On Friday, we'll talk about choosing yarn for your project and gathering your supplies so you can go shopping over the weekend and be prepared to start practicing our stitches next week. And while we're talking schedules, how about we set one?

Thurs, 9/8: Sign up! (The linky sign up list at the bottom of this post will be open through the end of the month, so if you're coming upon this post days or weeks from now, you can still jump in!)

Fri, 9/9: Yarn selection tips--gather your supplies this weekend

Mon, 9/12: Learn chain, single crochet, and turning (and practice on your own!)

Wed, 9/14: Learn half double crochet, double crochet, increasing, and decreasing (and practice on your own!)

Fri, 9/16: Learn to decipher a pattern

Mon, 9/19: Start your cowl! Explanation of rows 1 and 2

Wed, 9/21: Q&A, if needed

Fri, 9/23: Have 12 inches of your cowl completed

Mon, 9/26: Learn to join a new ball of yarn/change colors, and gauge

Wed, 9/28: Have 30 inches of your cowl completed

Fri, 9/30: Q&A, if needed

Mon, 10/3: Fastening off, weaving in ends, sewing ends together

Wed, 10/5: Finish your cowl! Link up your finished work and start voting on favorites

Mon, 10/10: Winners announced!

Winners, eh? Let's talk prizes. Here's the scoop: I want you to be motivated to finish your project if you decide to participate. If you slog through and decide crocheting just isn't your thing, that's totally fine . . . but I want you to finish it! I really, really think that if you finish your cowl, you'll have a good grasp on crochet and be eager to learn more and start another project!

When you're finished, you can either blog about your project and link your post up here, or just submit a photo, and we'll vote for our favorite projects. The 4 people with the highest number of votes will get prizes! I am so psyched about the prizes, and so grateful to our crochet along sponsors for donating them! Let's meet our sponsors and ogle over the prizes:

Prize 1:

Fresh Stitches is a shop with some of the cutest amigurumi (that means cutesy-pootsy little crochet animals and such!) patterns I have ever seen! Stacey was so sweet to offer her Rainbow Amigurumi ebook to one of our winners--it includes patterns and instructions to make 7 adorable and colorful critters!

 How cute are these little guys?! I especially love the yellow chick and the little lobster.

Visit the Fresh Stitches shop here, blog here, and facebook page here, and tell her thanks for giving such an awesome prize!

Prizes 2 and 3:

I'll give you a moment to recover from the extreme cuteness overdose you just experienced from that picture alone . . . if you think you can handle any more, pop into Crochet Baby Boutique, a shop filled with the sweetest little crochet shoe patterns! I can't get enough of Shenaaz's beautiful designs--I can't decide which I love most . . . these little ballet flats:

or these little button striders:

And if you don't want to make baby shoes, she also has patterns for cute headbands and accessories:

Shehnaaz is generously offering 2 patterns of your choice to 2 winners! I'm hoping someone I know gets pregnant soon so I have an excuse to stitch up some of those little baby shoes. Visit the Crochet Baby Boutique shop here and blog here!

Prize 4:

And last but certainly not least is the prize that my husband is already requesting as his Christmas present. Have you ever visited Bees Knees Knitting?

It's a new obsession of mine, and I'm not at all exaggerating when I tell you that I called Jeff over to the computer to check out this amazing shop and his reaction was, "Are you kidding me?! MAKE ME THAT SCARF FOR CHRISTMAS."

Jenny's crochet animal scarf patterns are some of the most unique and, let's be honest, dang-freaking-awesome that I've ever seen! Her raccoon scarf is on Jeff's wishlist, and I think I need this fox scarf for myself:

Jenny is giving one winner her most popular pattern, the fox scarf, as well as another pattern of your choice!

Jenny also offers beautiful handspun yarns in her etsy shop, ready made knit and crochet accessories, as well as other crochet scarf patterns that'll knock your socks off. Check out her etsy shop here and ravelry store here!

So how about those prizes? Do you love them?! I do, and I am so thrilled that these ladies are sharing their talents and offering patterns to our winners! Thank you so much, sponsors! (And did you notice that all the prizes are patterns and not finished items? That's on purpose . . . because I'm that sure that if you stick with the crochet along, you'll be excited to get your hands on more patterns and keep hooking!)

Oh, and one last prize. I'll admit, it isn't as cool as the previous ones, but I hope you'll like it anyway.

Everyone who completes their cowl as part of this crochet along and submits it for voting will get to pick one pattern free from my etsy shop. 

 That's right. Submit your finished project, pick a pattern. Bam. Done. If it turns out butt ugly? No problem. You still get a pattern. If it turns out museum-worthy . . . well, good for you, but you still just get the one pattern from me (unless you also get loads of votes and win one of the other great prizes, too!). 

So whatever you do, don't give up! Keep going, finish your project, and link it up here when our crochet along ends on October 5, and you'll get to choose a pattern from my shop!

So sign up below if you want to participate, and I'll see you here tomorrow for a little lesson on crocheting supplies!

(To sign up: click "Add Your Link" button below; fill in the blanks [if you have a blog, put a link to your main blog page in URL space; if you don't blog, just leave that section blank] and click Submit Link!)