Cloudy with a Chance of Fiber

Felting:

• Felting Article from Knitty

Music Featured this Episode:

• South American Way - Carmen Miranda
• Chica Chica Boom Chic - Xavier Cugat
• V.V. & O Processo  -  BNegão & Seletores de Freqüência

This is Natalie here. I'm very excited to host this upcoming #knitchat on Thursday November 18, 2010 (5 PM PST/ 8 PM EST). I have a feeling this first one might be modest, but that's good, it will be a great opportunity for everyone to get our feet wet with a Twitter chat on knitting. Ever since I first started tweeting, I've found that it's an excellent way to find others who are interested in the same things that I am. In  this case knitting, crochet, and fiberarts. 

If this goes well, I may start hosting this weekly. If I can't manage it, I may tag some very willing volunteers to help moderate the chat. Knitting is about community afterall. This new phenomenon of social networking online can be open to all willing folks.

If you're interested do come join us; love to see you there!

How do I participate in the upcoming #knitchat?

1. Get a Twitter account (http://twitter.com) if you don’t already have one.
2. On Thursday November 18, 2010 at 5:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time) log on to Twitter and start chatting away (including the #knitchat hashtag in the text of your tweet. The chat will last approx. 1 hour long.
3. The moderator of the chat, in this case me, will tweet the questions that will guide discussion. Don’t worry I’ll label the questions “Q1,” “Q2,” etc. and I’ll repeat them several times.
4. Chat and respond away. Have fun Please offer your own wisdom, wit, happy smileyness and lovely knit related comments.
5. The last five-ten minutes we can spend time introducing ourselves and plugging our sites, latest FO (finished object) that we’re proud of etc.
6. Also, if you’re shy, you don’t have to contribute to the discussion. Just type the “#knitchat” hashtag into the “Search” on Twitter and refresh every minute or so. Voila you will see the chat happening before you.

How do I follow along or contribute to discussion in a #knitchat?

How the conversation works. With every tweet you want to contribute to the discussion type in #knitchat at the beginning or end it doesn’t matter.

When you search for this #hashtag (#knitchat) in Twitter and refresh the search, voila… you will see a stream of tweets shared by your fellow knit tweeters.

Depending on the number of participants and how fast they tweet the stream make flow pretty quickly, but that’s okay. You can always look back at the stream after the chat is over to catch any valuable links, photos, or pithy humor your fellow knitters may be sharing

How does the numbered question thing work in a Twitter discussion?

During the chat one or two people may moderate the chat by sending out a discussion question out every ten minutes or as needed. They label these questions with a number. For example if I ask people Question #2…the following exchange might take place

@Cloudynatknit: QUESTION POST -  Q2) What is your favorite standby knitted holiday gift? #knitchat

@Afakeknitter: Q2 Washcloths accompanied with a lovely bar of soap #knitchat

@KnitterX: Q2 -Hats and mittens with personalized tags #knitchat

If you get lost in the case of our #knitchat discussion, always look for the text “QUESTION POST” when scrolling through the recent chat/tweet history.

What are the questions for #knitchat?

For those of you who like to prepare in advance… I’m posting them here.

Q1) Introductions? Who are you? Ravelry ID or handle?

Q2) What is your favorite standby knitted holiday gift?

Q3)  How do keep your holiday projects organized? Stay on task? Methods? Tools?

Q4) Do you have any holiday gift fails? What were they?

Q5)  Do you have any other  coping strategies?

Q6) Any cool quick knit patterns you want to share? Any cool gift ideas for knitters you want to share?