Here are the dates to save as Steotchalong 7 approaches:

July 27 – New FB Group Opens, and Team Registrations Begin
August 3 – Thread List announced
August 17 – Pattern 1
… then a new pattern every Saturday until
October 26 – Pattern 11

If you’re new to Steotchalong, be sure to check out the explainer.

For 2019: the pattern returns to the spirit of the first four Steotchalongs – instead of picking your own images and colors, we’re back to sharing the same central image. The pattern should work well for all skill levels – weeks 1-9 are all cross stitches or quarter stitches, and week 10 backstitching – before the final pattern presents a number of options for further customization.

As always, this event is focused on building community and having fun – and the pattern will be made available on a pay-what-you-want basis. There’s nothing you need buy (aside from the materials) and no where to sign up. Just join the FB group and stay tuned to our social media feeds for updates.

What to expect – what happens next?

Saturday at 9pm EDT, we will broadcast live on our official Facebook page (not in our private Facebook group). During that broadcast, Pattern 1 will be posted and the Steotchalong will begin.

The steotch.com servers will almost certainly not be capable of serving everyone who attempts to grab the pattern at that moment. Last year the servers appeared to be down for periods of 5-10 minutes each week for many users, until the traffic lightened up.  This year, the pattern will be simultaneously posted to the Steotchalongers Group, using their servers to stay online.

Pay What You Want

Since its inaugural season, the Steotchalong has been a strictly pay-what-you-want event.  Through the generous support of each year’s participants, we continue to be able to offer this arrangement. If you are unable to pay, you are welcome to participate fully in the event.  If you are able to offer a little more, your support will go a long way towards ensuring future Steotchalong events.

This year, payment links will be posted in the pattern PDFs, not separately on the website. This helps us feel more assured that payment information will be available to those who are seeing the patterns (in case the pattern links get shared outside our website, as they often do) – and it also allows us to post the pattern via Other People’s Servers.  Which will help everyone tremendously.

Because of the unique nature of the pay-what-you-want setup and mystery pattern, there are no refunds. Even if you’re unhappy with the final pattern, we hope the amusement and community elements make the experience worthwhile. Surely you can find someone who’d want the thing.

Things to Know About the Team Competition

Official Team Challenges will be posted to Steotch.com – and mirrored in the Group – some challenges may span multiple weeks – some may need to be completed within a week. Each one will have clear rules and deadlines posted.  Some challenges may benefit smaller teams, some larger teams, some may benefit teams located in the same region, some won’t. We will try to provide a variety of fun contests and associated prizes.

THIS IS JUST FOR FUN. Points will be awarded based on whim and sometimes you might not agree or understand why. All decisions made by Em and Matt will be final. The real Steotchalong is the friends you make along the way – so please join us in keeping this community harmonious and kind (even if crass).

Amnesty (Previous Years’ Patterns):

There will be an Amnesty Weekend during the Steotchalong when previous patterns will become available at the Steotch Etsy storefront. There should be plenty of notice beforehand via the FB page and Group.

and finally…

Things to Know About the Pattern

The orientation of the complete pattern will be clear on the first chart.  Each week’s patterns will build off of the previous week, graying out the squares that have already been completed.   It will be easy to follow, week after week. The chart will use four different symbols for the four colors you have chosen, which we will call “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.”  You are responsible for keeping your assigned colors straight between each pattern! We will identify which of those four colors (A,B,C,D) should be considered “dominant” in the design, and which would be used for the lighter accents, to help you decide how to assign your colors to the different symbols.

There are only cross stitches (“X”s) in the first 8 weeks of charts, but the options available at week 9 will include possibilities for fractional stitches and designs at various levels of difficulty.  You are always welcome to design your own ending, too, as many do. Bear in mind that most (not all) of the final week 9 options include colors not in the palette you have chosen. Consult the 2017 Steotchalong designs for examples of this, and remember this as you begin stitching with your current color and fabric selections.