A Low-Pressure Make-along to Support Designers of Color

I love the idea and the spirit behind the BIPOC Make Along, hosted by Desamour Designs.

One of the important things I’ve learned — and I think a lot of other people have learned, too — in the past year is that it’s not enough to say you’re not racist or that you support diversity in the fiber arts community, you need to really show it.

And one way to show it, of course, is through financial support, such as buying a designer’s pattern or a maker’s yarn.

To that end this make-along was designed to encourage people to support BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) designers while also making something great to give as a gift or to keep for yourself. And of course you can use a free pattern as well.

The make-along officially runs from Sept. 2 to Nov. 4 and is meant to be casual and stress-free as well as a supportive environment for making new friends in the fiber community around the world.

Of course there will be prizes, too, for people who share their progress online. Click the link above for all the details.

I’m thinking hard about a My Boy Lollipop, which has been on my mind all summer. If you join in, I’d love to know what you’re knitting!

[Photo via Desamour Designs.]

Next Pattern:

Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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Next Pattern:

Have you read?

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