Regular readers won't be the least bit surprised but newcomers are probably thinking "She's getting excited for Fall this late in the game?" *raised eyebrow emoji*
And no I'm not quite that forgetful.
Hint: You may notice a new-yet-not tab above this post.
The Fasten Off Yarn-A-Long (aka FOYAL) is being organized as I write! Designer signup is open now (like literally starting today) until November the 9th. I missed posting about the volunteer signup window because, well honestly, life was lifing. I also know that there may be some ways to help out once things are underway, and the best way to hear about those when they crop is via the FOYAL Discord server.
Ok, now I know some of you are probably wondering "What the heck is FOYAL? Designers of what are signing up for this? How does this relate to this strange individual who mashes knitting and Irish dance together to make knitting patterns?"
All extremely valid questions too! Especially that third one ;)
Ok, so first things first. The Fasten Off Yarn-A-Long got its start in 2020 because Ravelry got basically broken by some bad choices in its new look, commonly known as NuRav. This resulted in a lot of people getting headaches and worse from trying to use it. And a lot of those people were independent designers of knitting and crochet patterns. You can find out more about what was going on in some of my earliest posts on this blog; NuRav is a particularly good tag to select in the sidebar, also Ravelry Accessibility
But back to where FOYAL came into being: Every late fall through December, a group on Rav hosts the Indy Gift Along or GAL which is a big craft along featuring and promoting independent designers of knit and crochet patterns, and it's a lot of fun. But it's based on Rav and when approached by designers and past participants who couldn't use Rav any longer (at that point there were no workarounds), the organizers didn't really have the time or inclination to expand the event. Which was all good because quite frankly, it wasn't them that broke things, and they were gearing up for their own event and didn't have time to put something totally new together. Knowing and setting your boundaries is important, and being honest about them is *chef's kiss*
So up stepped a rag-tag group of people who said "There's got to be a way to have a similar in scope event but not tied to really any particular site so participants and designers can join in from a number of points on the web."
And that little band proceeded to create the Fasten Off Yarn-A-Long, which is an event promoting the patterns of independent knit and crochet pattern designers with, much like the GAL, a pattern sale followed by a big craft along. There is a central website🔗, and participants can join in on one or several social media platforms. There are games and giveaways, sharing of projects, lots of great chatter, and quite a community. Especially on the FOYAL Discord server🔗.
As you can imagine a lot of the event hinges on volunteers (many of whom are also participating designers) posting across the supported social media platforms in a variety of ways. We do our best to keep things fun and safe/comfortable for everyone. Some platforms have changed in how much is done there over the years. Some of the original busiest platforms aren't any longer. Others we never thought of using before have become where we're found more often. It's ever changing, depending on where the volunteers say they're comfortable running various things. Which is why there's the central website to find all the relevant info, including the pattern/designer database. The searchable database is the core. We've even come up with games that use the search features!
And just to own up to my position in all this: yes, I'm one of the organizers. And I have been all 6 years we've put this event together. So yeah, when I write we I'm literally meaning it as "me and the gang". And I'm a participating designer as well as doing my background work. Hence the special tab above
Hmm, I think I answered all three questions in one fell swoop. Will wonders ever cease: I kept that remarkably brief! Go, me lol
Onto the finer details of 2025's event. Every FOYAL starts with a pattern sale. Using a single code, you will get 25% off (before any relevant taxes) any patterns amongst a certain collection of the participating designers' patterns.
Now just to be clear: this doesn't mean all of the patterns by every designer. There are some designers who include all of their patterns in the sale (hi), while others select particular ones. In the past, the patterns that are included in the sale have been marked by a special sale tag in the FOYAL database. I believe that will be the same protocol this year; if this info changes I'll let you know!
This year the sale starts at 9pm North American Eastern Time on November 21st, and runs through end of day on December 4th.
Meanwhile, the craft along portion of the event also starts at 9pm North American Eastern Time on November 21st and runs through December 31st. There's also our New Year's Eve Boonanza (hosted strictly on the Discord server because quite honestly over-caffeinated SÃle can not possibly run allover the web while ringing in several , New Years' in all different time zones) which is a ton of fun and usually pushes well into January 1st. Admittedly it tends to end whenever I finally run out of caffeine and fizzle out lol. I think my record was in 2023 when I was awake and online for something like 28 hours. I get very amusing the longer I'm up apparently lol. The conversations always run for a few days into January but the event itself is over.
Ok, so those are the important dates but how do you participate? Take a look at the participating designers. If you have already acquired (not necessarily bought it yourself) one of their normally paid for patterns, cast-on/chain/start making it and share your progress on one of the supported platforms (don't forget the hashtag and/or tag the FOYAL account on that platform so our volunteers can see it; you just might be featured!), and start chatting with others who are doing the same. It's that easy!
Now, if you don't already have a pattern by one of the participating designers, that's where the database comes in. Use the search features to find a pattern, and then use the sale code to purchase it at 25% off, and you're on your way!
Why is the focus on the paid patterns? Because we want to support indy pattern designers. That's it. No gimmick.
But that doesn't mean you necessarily have to have bought a pattern either. Perhaps you were gifted a pattern; that totally counts. Maybe you were lucky and got in on a first day giveaway, and got a normally paid pattern for free. Maybe you test knit/crocheted for a designer, and got another of their patterns as compensation for your time. Maybe you won a pattern prize in a previous FOYAL, and the same designer is participating again. (Fun fact: there are a lot of designers who have participated in more than one year of FOYAL, and I believe around 40 who have participated every year!) These are all ways you may have acquired a normally-paid for pattern by a participating designer without having paid for it monetarily yourself.
Whew! This has gotten much longer than I intended, and the sky is getting very light. Despite the torrential rain outside. Eddie (the weather fella) said we were in for rain, and he wasn't kidding!
I'll be back with more FOYAL talk as things progress. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below, or in my feedback form in the sidebar, and I'll answer you as quickly as I can.
Yours in yarn, and way too little sleep (I started writing this at 4:30-something am; it's now 7:28am *facepalm*),
SÃle
