New Year, New Theme, New Yarn

https://www.instagram.com/p/-4D0kUny6V/?taken-by=jac_attacking

Okay, so I wasn’t exactly subtle about the new yarn for Geek-A-Long 2016 when I shared that picture on Instagram last week or when I accidentally kept trying to spill the bean in my blog post on Thursday. But, I WILL BE HELD SILENT NO MORE. Louet North America is the official yarn sponsor of the 2016 Geek-A-Long!

Now, I could stop right there. Or maybe tell you about how the Louet GEMS yarn we’ll be using has a fun color palette with a tight twist that’ll make sure your blanket looks beautiful every time it comes out of the wash. (Woooo, no pilling!) But, those are just silly little details compared to the real news. No, the real kicker is the thing that nearly brought me to tears when Louet came to us with the idea:

In 2016, Louet North American will donate 50 cents to Child’s Play Charity for every skein sold to knit/crochet a Geek-A-Long blanket!

Yeah. You read that right. Every time a skein of GEMS worsted yarn is sold to a Geek-A-Long knitter or crocheter, Child’s Play gets 50 cents.

Here’s some sweet math for you. If you knit 24 GAL squares with GEMS worsted yarn to create the official sized blanket, you will need 24 skeins. That means you get two squares out of two contrasting colored skeins while Child’s Play Charity receives 12 dollars just for you knitting the blanket.

HOW IT WORKS:

Mention the Geek-A-Long when you place your yarn order. The best and easiest way is to purchase the yarn through your local yarn store. This process also supports your LYS, so everyone wins. If your store currently stocks Louet’s GEMS worsted, they just have to mention that their customers are making GAL blankets when they place their next order. If your store doesn’t carry Louet, they can still get it for the whole store or just for you. Let your LYS know you want Louet GEMS yarn. Have the shop owner contact us and we’ll send them a media kit with all the Louet and GAL info they’ll need, including direct contact information for Pam Van Stralen of Louet, who will be handling the per-skein donations. I swear, it’s a majorly easy process.

Let your LYS know you want Louet GEMS yarn.

Funny story. We almost didn’t go with Louet this year. We LOVE the yarn itself, but their color palette wasn’t quite right for what we had planned. But Louet was passionate about being part of the Geek-A-Long and helping Child’s Play Charity, even though they themselves are rebuilding from a tragedy. Their mill burned to the ground and they’ve been rebuilding from the ashes. Their story touched us and we were floored when they offered to custom dye new colors just for the GAL. We worked with them to design four new colors for their line that perfectly compliments this years theme. Those new colors will be available for purchase in early March.

This year we’re using ten colors, each square with a black background to make it pop. It looks super cool. And I can’t wait to start share the first one with you January 3rd! If you’re itching to get started and want to place your GAL yarn order so you can start knitting on day one, the six standard colors we’re using (that you can buy now) are:

  • Black (square background)
  • Florescent Green
  • Peacock
  • Lavender
  • Mint
  • Cloud Grey (the joins)

Someone cue a drum roll, because I think it’s time to announce the theme.

https://youtu.be/3R5gHF0vzew

The theme for 2016 is Video Games!

Normally, Megan-Anne and I make a long list and then fight for our favorite fandoms, but this year we decided to get you guys involved. We picked out our top 40. They’re already designed and being knitted, but that means there are EIGHT slots left. You’ll have the chance to fight for your favorite video game to make sure it’s on the blanket this year. Just go to the Geek-A-Long Ravelry group Wednesday to cast your vote, and check back here next Sunday for the Leaderboards to see which fandoms are in winning.

~ Jac
Bathe in the blood of your enemies! Wait, no. Sorry. Megan-Anne says that at the most you’re allowed to salt your food with their tears. #fightforyourfandom2016

10 thoughts on “New Year, New Theme, New Yarn

    • Megan-Anne Llama says:

      Yes. It is our policy that you can complete the squares in whatever way makes you happy. Knit, crochet, cross stitch, quilt, whatever floats your boat :D

  1. Nicole says:

    This is awesome! I’m a little sad that it’s the worsted weight GEMS only, though, as I had planned to do the 2016 squares in fingering weight. I guess I’ll just put in my own donation instead of domating through Louet!

    Also – any idea yet whether the 2016 squares will be the same size as either the 2014 or 2015 squares?

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  3. Amanda Sue says:

    Dumb question… are there actually patterns for the crocheters, or are we supposed to come up with how to do this?

    • Jacquline Cappuccino says:

      The 2015 patterns included directions for both double-sided knitting and tapestry crochet. The 2016 patterns will as well.

    • Jacquline Cappuccino says:

      Any worsted weight yarn is fine, of course. Just make sure you pick colors with a heavy contrast.

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