This post officially marks the launch of Knitting And Crochet Blog Week 2015, the 6th outing of this annual celebration of fibre arts and the blogs that share the love of and promote them. Today is a brief but (hopefully) comprehensive overview of what Knitting And Crochet Blog Week is all about, and over the coming weeks the blogging topics will be announced.
What is Knitting and Crochet Blog Week?
Once a year knitters and crocheters that blog are invited from all over the world to take part in a community blog week in which they are presented with a number of topics to blog about over the period of seven days. The topics are very flexible and can be interpreted in many ways, so there is a good deal of variety in the posts that this inspires, which then provide wonderful reading for anyone who enjoys reading the blogs that it inspires.
What Do Bloggers Get Out Of It?
The blog week was originally intended as a week in which inspiration for new and interesting blog posts and ways of blogging could be shared by the fibre arts and blogging community to find new ideas and ways of keeping blogging fresh and interesting. The other benefits that participants soon saw were an increase in the number of visitors and comments that they received over the course of blog week and also the many new blogs that they discovered by taking part. It is also great fun and a good way of shaking of any writers’ cobwebs by inspiring a fresh approach to blogging.
How Do I Sign Up?
In order to keep blog week as simple as possible there are no official sign-ups – you simply take part. There are ways that you can help spread the word about blog week to help increase interest in the event in general as well as your own posts, but this is by no means compulsory. If possible it would be nice if bloggers could make a short post to say that they are taking part (for which a few graphics are provided at the end of this post) with a link back to this page so any other bloggers reading your blog can find out all about what is happening (the more people who take part in this event the better, both in terms of attracting readers to your posts and all the wonderful blogs you’ll likely visit and discover during the week), so if you have the time please do spread the word on your blog/Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest and any other social media sites you enjoy.
There is an associated Facebook Event that has been created to help you stay up to date and connected with those taking part.
I’m On Holiday/Busy/Otherwise Engaged During Those Dates.
Oh darn. That’s always a shame, but unfortunately inevitable with the number of people who usually take part. On a positive note the rules here are pretty relaxed, so as the topics are posted a few weeks in advance you can still take part if you would like to. Simply write your posts ahead of time and schedule them to post on the specific days for each topic. And if you happen to miss a day or two, or even all seven, you can always post them a few days, weeks or month later. One of the main aims of this blog week is to provide inspiration for new posts, and if that is helpful at some point in the future, then please post away.
Can I Help In Some Way?
Mostly by promoting the event. As always, it gets better and better the more people that take part. Also, if you blog in another language or dual/multiple languages, then translations of this and the Blogging Topics are always very much appreciated.
So What Are We All Blogging About This Year?
You’re keen, and that’s great! Blogging topics will be announced four weeks before the start of Blog Week, on Monday 13th April. Also announced this day will be the ever-popular post tags, so that you can read all of the associated posts rom other bloggers and also tag your posts so that readers can easily find your content.
Is There A Twitter/Instagram/Facebook Social Media Hashtag I Can Use?
Why not? #KCBW6 is available for all your general hashtagging needs on Social Media and you can begin using it right away.
Keep up to date with all of the news and details of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2015 by joining the Eskimimi Makes Facebook Group and by following on Twitter!
Eskimimi Makes on Facebook
Eskimimi on Twitter
Talking Of Tags, Will Those Amazing Post Tags Be Back Again This Year?
Absolutely. These will be announced along with the blogging topics four weeks before the launch of the event.
OK, Where Are Those Graphics?
You may have noticed at the very start of this post the official graphic for this year’s Blog Week. There are a few other graphics to choose from, in large and small formats, so hopefully you will find one to fit your post header, blog post or sidebar. All of these images can be used freely, and re-sized as needed.
I Like This Event, Thanks For Organising It. Can I Buy You A Coffee?
If you live locally, yeah, why not. Otherwise, you know what costs about the same as a cheap coffee? A wonderful knitting or crochet pattern. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful shawl, pair of socks, hat, mittens or a knitted Narwhal? And if my patterns don’t particularly appeal to you, why not treat someone else and gift one via Ravelry, or buy from another independent designer and support the wonderful talent in the knitting and crochet communities for less than a single drink at Starbucks.
Wait – Is That It? But I Have So Many Questions!
It is indeed likely that I have forgotten something or not foreseen a query/area of confusion. If it is something relating to the topics or post tags, those will both be explained in the next #KCBW6 post, but if it is something else please leave a comment below as well as a way of contacting you (an email address or link to your Ravelry profile if you have one is a very handy way to get in touch, but otherwise a blog link or some other way of getting a reply to you…) Or keep checking back and join the Eskimimi Makes group on Facebook for all of the updates and the associated Blog Week Event.