By Desiree Jeans
If you’re looking for new inspiration, different designers to follow, and up-and-coming dyers to support, then maybe a creative social media challenge is what you need to refresh your social scrolling. Joining in or following a social media challenge (usually on Instagram) can be a great way of discovering new creatives and makers within the knitting, crochet, and yarn community.
Whether you hand-knit, machine-knit, or crochet, you can participate in these challenges by posting your own responses to the prompts, or by following the hashtag to see what everyone else has posted. You can join in at any time, on any day, post as little or as much as you like, or not at all.
#YarnStashRestash @ithoughtiknewhow
If you’re wondering how we’ve ended up in February already when it seems like the beginning of the year was a week or so ago, this gentle, guided process run by Anne from @ithoughtiknewhow will bring some calm to your materials and tools for the coming year.
Anne says ‘This is a two-week process to help you tidy up your yarn stash as we head into the new year. It’s a gentle exercise to put our eyes on everything and make sure everything is still in good shape, still brings us joy, and is properly stored so it’s useful to us in 2024.’
‘The Yarn Stash Restash is NOT a clear out, though you might decide to rehome some of your stash. The goal really is to finish the two weeks happier with what we have and prepared for a year of joyful crafting.’
This challenge is one for you to work through at home, posting on Instagram if you wish, and is run annually at the start of January (although you can do it at any time). Head over to @ithoughtiknewhow and scroll back to see the daily prompts for this year.
#fiberuarychallenge @FiberuaryChallenge
This challenge runs throughout February and is all about fibre.
The organisers say ‘As always, whether you post for all 29 days (yay leap year!) or pick a few prompts that inspire you, be creative and, more importantly, have fun!’ You’ll be in good company too, as knitwear designer Jeanette Sloan BEM is also taking part!
#MarchMeetTheMaker #MMTM #marchmeetthemaker2024 @JoanneHawker
Joanne Hawker, the founder of this challenge, explains all here: ‘MarchMeetTheMaker, also known as #MMTM for short, is a photo a day Instagram challenge that gives you an excuse to talk about different aspects of your small creative business that you wouldn’t usually think to talk about. I started this challenge in 2016 and the prompts are always set by me and are different every year. ’
‘But it’s more than just a challenge, it’s a creative community that comes together to show people what they can do. It’s about building each other up, making new connections, telling your small business story, growing your confidence and most importantly, it’s about putting yourself out there.’
The official prompts for #MarchMeetTheMaker will be released on 14 February to allow you plenty of time to plan your posts. If you’d like the prompts delivered straight to your inbox, then feel free to sign up to the challenge mailing list (link in bio on Joanne’s Instagram profile).
This is a great one to participate in if you’re a designer, dyer, or local yarn shop owner!
#GrannySquareDay
Each year on 15 August the crochet community celebrates this day by creating crochet squares and posting them on Instagram. The tradition started in 2014 and has gained popularity among crocheters from around the world. The idea is that if everyone posts one granny square, then the Instagram feed for the hashtag will look like one big granny square blanket!
#SeptTextileLove @seam_collective
This challenge is hosted by the seam textile collective and has been going strong since September 2017, with participants from all around the world and many who join in every year. This one is all about textile love during the month of September, so you’ll find embroiderers, weavers, knitters, crocheters, printers, spinners, dyers and more, all who work with textiles, joining in.
If you’d like to receive the prompts a week before they’re released on Instagram, you can subscribe to the seam collective newsletter (link in bio on their Instagram profile).
Prominent knitters who take part include Freddie Robins, Mary Henderson and Emma Vining.
#Wovember @ithoughtiknewhow@wovemberwool
‘Wovember is the month-long celebration of sheep’s wool that runs through the month of November. Each day of November, make a post to your Instagram feed using the prompt for that day. Make sure your post contains the hashtag for this year so others can find your posts!’
‘The goal of Wovember is to educate those around us about the positive aspects of sheep’s wool and to encourage folks to use more wool in their lives, so we encourage you to make your posts informative, eye-catching, and fun!’
The photo prompts are created and shared by Anne from @ithoughtiknewhow, and over at @wovemberwool there are usually daily chats with yarn producers, designers, magazine founders and more during the month of Wovember.
#Museum30
If you like heritage, then this is the challenge for you! During the month of November, museum and heritage professionals, volunteers and enthusiasts share their passions, let us behind-the-scenes and engage online. You might even spot a few items from the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.
Founder Gracie says ‘upload a photo or video to either Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, TikTok or wherever else you fancy with the hashtag #museum30 so others can view your posts’. It’s a great way to see some of the treasures of the past.
First published: 5 March 2024 9:15 am. Updated: 18 March 2024 9:14 am.
