Can You Hear Me in the Back?

As July winds down, it's time for us here at Contest Headquarters to ramp up for Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick.  Only this year there is a BIG change in the offing, the announcement of which is why I've gathered you all here today.

I have spent a lot of time in the last year, for a lot of reasons, thinking about gender.  Like most everything in the world, the term and the definition of the term "gender" were created by humans.  Like everything created by humans, when humans think differently and look differently at the world around them, their creations can morph and change.  "Gender" as an "immutable" binary is being replaced.

And so, this year, the Knitters' Companion contests will not be divided.  There will not be one contest for people identified or identifying as "male" and another for people identified or identifying as "female."

THERE IS ONLY GOING TO BE ONE CONTEST, OPEN TO ALL NOMINEES.

You will still be allowed to nominate six people, but they do not have to be three males and three females.  You will nominate six people that you would like to knit with, for, or beside.  All of the names will go into one bowl (in news from HQ: the Fedora of Fate met a sad, canine-related end) and pulled at random. There are more guidelines to talk about, but we've got time.  For now, start thinking about who your Six are going to be!