Knitalongs are a staple of the online knitting community. They tend to crop up around patterns that are particularly difficult, or particularly popular, or both. Sometimes knitalongs are time-sensitive, like the Ravellenic Games and the Tour de Fleece (which I guess is technically a spinalong, but kind of the same thing). Other knitalongs may be specific to a particular designer's work, or a particular type of garment (like mittens or sweaters).
Knitalongs are great for people who need motivation to keep focused on a project. Knowing that you are being held to a deadline, even if it is an imaginary deadline, can be incredibly helpful for some people. And seeing how everyone else's projects are coming along helps spur that competitive spirit.
Knitalongs are also excellent for patterns where you feel like you might have a tough time working through them on your own. Barbara Walker's Baby Surprise Jacket is a great example of this: it's tricky to figure out how it works your first time through. On a knitalong, everyone is facing the same challenge, and you can hash out your confusions together. (Ideally with an experienced moderator to help guide people to the answers.)
On the down side, knitalongs can bring a form of pressure to the game that you may find turns a fun hobby into a drag. When knitting something starts to feel like a chore, it loses that sparkle. It can feel like you're marching to your doom, and where is the fun in that?
I personally have a weird problem where every time I sign up for a knitalong, I almost immediately lose interest in whatever it is we're supposed to be knitting. I don't know why this happens, but I have given up signing up for knitalongs because of this mysterious issue. That's just me, though!
Image courtesy Flickr/mararie
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