Rules
Seasons of Lace - Rules and Guidelines
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What is it?
It’s a seasonal repeating Knit Along (KAL ) for Lace Knitting, starting with Summer of 2008. There are no pattern requirements, and no yarn requirements. Just knit some lace — knit what you want, how you want to, where you want to, as much as you want to! Enjoy your summer and your summer knitting, and stop in from time to time to tell us what you are up to and show us some yummy pictures.
Then, come back to see us for Winter of Lace 2008-2009.
When is it?
Seasons of Lace - Summer of Lace 2008 runs from June 21st to September 23rd. Details on specific deadlines (like sign ups etc.) are here .
Who can play?
All lace knitters are welcome - from complete newbies to long-practiced experts! If you want to play for prizes, the only absolute rule is that you *must * participate in the Season’s of Lace Blog and have your own Flick’r account (or other place to host your photos online).
How do I sign up?
Click on the register link and fill in the information. You’ll need to have your photo account (Flick’r or otherwise) in order to complete the form.
To participate all you need to do is post to tell us what you are up to. Winning prizes is a bit more involved.
How do I play?
There are several ways to play: choose to participate in whatever way you want to! Depending on how you approach your knitting we have some options that can help make the rewards more than finished objects.
How do I get prizes?
There are a bunch of ways you can win prizes: If competition knitting is your thing, you can compete to see who can knit the most yardage or the largest number of lace items. If you prefer judged competitions, there are several judged contests you can enter (but you don’t have to be an expert knitter to win them). And if you don’t like competing or being judged, there are raffle prizes for specific kinds of knitting and even a raffle prize just for participating!
- Quantity Competitions:
- Compete to knit the most yards of yarn between June 21 and September 23
- Compete to knit the largest number of small lace objects between June 21 and September 23
- Judged Contests - (these can be both reader and self nominated )
- Lace Partnerships - Best pairing of yarn and pattern
- Lace on Display - Best photograph of a finished lace object
- Lace Disasters - Best lace disaster photo
- Lace on Vacation - Best photo of your lace relaxing somewhere fun
- Lace Extravaganza - Most Impressive and/or Adventurous Lace Object
- Viewers Choice Award
- Raffled Prize Classes - Just knit lace and post about it. Just posting in the right category gets your name in the hat for the raffle.
- Newbie Lace Knitters - Your first, second, or third project ever will qualify!
- Handspun Lace - Knit from your own handspun
- I Designed it Myself! - For projects designed by the knitter (Professional Lace Designers are not eligible.)
- Lace Knitting by Size - using DK weight or lighter yarn
- Lace Socks, Gloves, or Mitts
- Beaded Lace
- Doilies- Knit on U.S. size 0 or smaller
- Bulky Lace - Non-garment lace knit with worsted weight or heavier
You can enter your projects in more than one class (for example, a new lace knitter starts their 2nd lace project -a beaded 900 yard lace scarf; it would qualify for the Lace Knitting by Size: Medium class, the Beaded Lace class, and the Newbie Lace class). All projects can be entered in one or more judged category in addition to their Raffle class(es). All projects started within this Season are eligible for the Quantity Competitions in addition to their Raffle class(es). Projects that are started before June 21 are still eligible to enter the Raffle Classes as long as they’re less than half finished on June 21, and they are worked on and finished before the end of the the Summer of Lace.
Other Prizes
- Random Joy Prizes: We will also be awarding some random prizes throughout the course of the Season. All you need to do to be eligible to win a Random Joy prize, is to have registered as an author for the blog and written a post. You can earn extra chances to win Random Joy prizes by donating prizes for this Season. (If you’ve already donated — you already have that extra chance for a Random Joy prize.)
- Blogger of the Season Award: Be the most consistent blogger this season! (While it’s true that the person who publishes the largest number of posts to the Seasons of Lace blog is likely to win this prize, consistency is key. If you post 37 posts between June 21 and July 17, and then one last post on September 23, but someone else consistently posts three times a week during the course of the entire season — that person will win.)
Now, before you dash off to the FAQ’s … there are more detailed explanations below. If, after you check out the details here, you still don’t understand something, check out the FAQ’s. If we still haven’t made it clear ASK US by posting a comment to the FAQ page! We promise to put the question and answer on the FAQ page. If you throw us a question that we failed to answer about the Summer of Lace, we’ll give you another chance in the raffle for Random Joy prizes.
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More Details - explaining the above stuff
Participation Dates: June 21 - September 23
- All participants need to register as authors for the blog by June 20th.
- All projects for the competition to knit the largest number of small lace objects must be started and finished between June 21st and September 23.
- For the most yards of yarn knit competition, start counting your yardage on June 21st and finish September 23rd. All yardage knit between the two dates counts. Even If you have an unfinished project on the needles September 23rd, the portion of it that you have completed counts.
- Knitting for the Judged Contests and the Raffle Entries can be started before June 21. But you only get credit for the knitting that you do during the event’s dates.
- To be eligible for competitions and/or prizes, projects need to be posted to the blog by September 23.
Quantity Competitions Quantity Competition knitting is all about the speed and dedication. Do you have a lot of free time? Does lace flow off your needles like water over a waterfall? Is sleep for the weak? Then this category is for you. See how you stack up against other speed demons! We’ll keep you apprised of where you rank on the leader board with periodic Competition Update posts. A single project can only contribute to your progress in one of the competitions. If you are an uber-stud and want to compete in both competitions, you MUST knit two completely separate sets of projects.
- Knit the most yards of yarn between June 21 and September 23rd. This is as simple as it sounds, start counting yards on June 21 and just keep going. Give us some updates along the way. And on September 23rd add it all up and submit your yardage total. The person who has knit up the most yarn, by yardage, between June 21 and September 23 walks away with the prize.
- Knit the largest number of small lace objects (350-700 yards) between June 21 and September 23rd. Cast on for the first one no earlier than June 21, and knit as many as you can until September 23rd. Only finished objects count! Post about each one as you finish it. On September 23rd add them all up and submit your entry. The knitter with the most finished projects wins.
How to qualify your project(s) for Quantity Competitions:
- Enter the Competition. (You must complete this step before August 1, 2008.)
- When you start your project (or start counting yards) post an entry to the Seasons of Lace Blog and create a new post.
- Describe your project and show or link to a picture.
- Assign the post to the Casting On (or Joining Up) category and the class category in which your item fits (for example: Doily, Beaded lace, etc.). If you don’t assign the post, your project will not qualify for any Raffle prizes.
- Complete a Competition Entry form for the first project only (this just tells us that you’re planning to participate in the quantity competition, and which competition you’re signing up for).
- Report your progress.
- Each time you complete a project (or knit up 500 yards), post an entry to the Seasons of Lace blog, describing your project and/or reporting that you’ve knit another 500 yards, and show or link to a picture.
- Assign the post to the appropriate class category, and, if you’ve finished a project, assign it to the Finished Object category (If you don’t assign the post, your project won’t qualify for more chances to win Raffle Prizes).
- Complete a Project Update form (this allows you to report a finished project or to add 500 yards to the tally we’re keeping for you). You’ll need the url of your post to complete the form.
- Every time you start a new project , post an entry on the Seasons of Lace blog describing your project, and show or link to a picture. Don’t forget to assign the post to the Casting On Category, and to the appropriate Raffle Category to qualify for raffle prizes.
- At the end of the season , create a post on the blog and then fill out a Final Tally form.
- In your post on the blog list all of the projects that you knit as part of the competition, and report either the total number of small lace projects you knit, or the total number of yards you knit (The readers want to know). Also include or link to a picture of your season’s achievements. (Keep track of the URL of this post; you’ll need it in a minute).
- Fill out a Competition Final Tally form in which you’ll report a summary of each project. For the Total Yardage competition, you’ll report how many yards you knit; for the Most Small Lace Projects competition, you’ll report the number of projects you finished.
At the end of the Season, you’ll have an opportunity to nominate projects and pictures for the Judged Competition Divisions. You can nominate your own projects and other knitters’ projects. All nominations must be submitted by midnight (CST) September 23, 2008.
We are inviting several lace-wise and camera-wise folks to help with the judging. The Lace Mavens (your friendly neighborhood moderators) will review all the entries, and send our favorites for each contest along to the Guest Judges. The Mavens and Guest Judges get one vote apiece and will vote on their favorite for each contest. The winners will be announced on the blog. The Mavens may not cast votes for, or nominate, their own projects or photos. All projects ARE eligible for more than one contest.
How do I qualify a project or photo for the Judged Contests?
Enter your project and show it off just like you would for the Raffle Classes. If you think that you have a Disaster that might qualify for the contest don’t forget to add that Category to a post telling us all about it.
How can I nominate a project or post for a Judged Contest?
Fill out the Judged Contest Nomination Form . To fill out the form you will need to know the web address (URL) of the post the project was shown in on the SOL blog, and the name of the contest you are nominating it for.
We anticipate having plenty of wonderful prizes to give away. Since we already have more wonderful prizes than we do competitions, we’ve decided to offer "Raffle Prizes" for the various "classes" of lace knitting that our participants are doing. These classes are open to everyone who participates, and assuming you start or finish a project that fits into one of our classes during the participation dates you are eligible. Projects can be eligible in more than one class, and you are welcome to enter them in as many as appropriate.
Each project can earn up to 2 raffle entries for you. One when you start it, and one when you finish it.
- When you start your project, post an entry to the Seasons of Lace Blog and show us your project.
- Log in to the Seasons of Lace Blog and create a new post.
- Describe your project and show or link to a picture.
- Assign the post to the Casting On category and the class category in which your item fits. (ex Doily, Beaded lace, etc.)
- When you are making your first post about a project that you started before Summer of Lace:
- Log in to the Seasons of Lace Blog and create a new post.
- Describe your project and show or link to a picture.
- Assign the post to the Joining Up category and the class category(s) in which your item fits. (ex Doily, Beaded lace, etc.)
- Do NOT assign your post to the Casting On category
- When you complete the project, create another post.
- Describe your project and show or link to a picture.
- Assign the post to the Finished Object category and the class category in which your item fits.
Random Drawings
How do I qualify for the random drawings?
- Register for the Blog. Make at least 1 post.
That’s all. You’re entered.
Prizes:
We will be issuing prizes in the following ways:
- For the Knitting Competitions, one prize will be issued to the winner of each competition at the end of the Season. Winners and Prizes will be announced October 1, 2008.
- For each Judged Contest, judging will start September 24th. Judging will be done by October 8, 2008. Winners and Prizes announced on or before October 10th.
- For the Raffle Classes, the prizes will be awarded by a random draw for each posted class. The winners for these prizes will be selected between September 23, 2008 and October 10, 2008 (depending on how fast we get all the data collated). Prizes will be announced on or before October 10, 2008.
- Random Joy prizes will be awarded as the quantity of prizes allows and will be announced on the blog.
- The prizes are currently in the works. Many are already listed (with pics!) on the Prize Page (see, over there…). We’ll be updating them as more information comes in.
More Ways to Win
Want more ways to add to the number of chances you get to win in the Random Joy draws? Try donating a prize! For every prize you donate to the Prize Pool, we’ll give you one more chance to win in the Random Joy draws. Similarly, if you can persuade your LYS to donate a prize, we’ll give you an extra chance to win (be sure your LYSO lets us know who inspired them to donate.) If you’re donating a prize, email us so that we can both give you proper credit and get your prize listed in the prizes page.
Sponsors
There are a bunch of nifty folks out there who have generously offered discounts to members of the Seasons of Lace – Summer of Lace 2008 season. You can see their buttons in the side bar, and the details of their offers on the Sponsors Page . If you would like to be a sponsor please contact us through the contact form on the site.
[...] this year by working on several lace projects. I’m hoping that I can avoid crossing the magic 50% line on at least some of them, so that they’ll qualify for the Summer of Lace 2008! My current [...]