Knitting: The Card Game
Knitting: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- Yarn Cards x 116: 96 solid skeins, 12 each in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Grey and White; 20 Wild skeins in an array of different colors.
- Community Cards x 26: a mix of action cards, special pattern cards, and good deed cards.
- Cast-On Cards x 16: 4 for each player in Pink, Yellow, Green & Black.
- Pattern Cards x 40.
- Finished Object (FO) Blocking Mats x 4.
- Yarn Store Board x 1.
Pattern Card Anatomy
- Number of FO Points player will earn once completed.
- Yarn color/s & quantities needed to Cast-On.
- Pattern title & designer.
- Number of turns it will take to complete pattern.
On a Pattern Card, when you see the Matching Yarn icon, it requires a matching set of yarn in the color of your choice.
Yarn Cards with the Wild Yarn icon are Wild and can be used in place of any other Yarn Card. Some Pattern Cards have Wild Yarn as a project requirement.
Knitting Terms
- Stash – Yarn Cards that are in a player's hand. Denotes ownership.
- Cast-On – Place required Yarn Cards on the table fanned out so that each Yarn Icon is visible. Flip over the Cast-On Card and place both it and the Pattern Card on top of the Yarn Cards in such a way that only the words 'Cast-On' show. See A Player's Knitting Station.
- FO – Finished Object. Once the time requirement is fulfilled on a project, discard the Yarn Cards and place the Pattern Card on the Blocking Mat.
- Knitting – Each Pattern Card has a time requirement that varies between 1 and 7 weeks. On the turn following a cast-on and every turn thereafter, a player knits that pattern by advancing the time tracker ahead one week.
- WIP – Work In Progress. This refers to a project that has been cast-on but isn't finished yet.
- Blocking Mat – A place to keep track of your FO points. Make sure the FO points from each Pattern Card are visible to all players.
- Ravelry – Online community with patterns and resources for knitters and crocheters.
Game Setup
- Deal out 4 Cast-On Cards to each player along with the matching Blocking Mat. Place these 4 cards in a row face down in front of each player on the table.
- Shuffle the Yarn Store Deck and deal 5 cards to each player. Stock the Yarn Store with the remaining cards. See Stocking the Yarn Store.
- Shuffle the Pattern Deck and deal 3 Pattern Cards to each player. Place remaining deck on the Yarn Store Board.
- Shuffle the Community Deck and place it on the Yarn Store Board.
Stocking the Yarn Store
Place the Yarn Store Deck in the center cubby. From this deck, draw and stock 1 Yarn Card at a time. Place solid colored yarn in the cubbies adjacent to the flat sides of the draw deck. Continue to draw Yarn Cards until these 4 spots are filled. If the same color is drawn more than once, place it on top of its matching color. There should always be 4 solid colors available at the start of a player's turn.
If a Wild Yarn Card is drawn while stocking the store, place it in one of the 4 corner cubbies. Never stack Wild Yarn Cards – if all 4 corner cubbies are filled and a 5th Wild Yarn Card is drawn, all of the stocked Yarn Cards must be discarded and the store restocked with new cards.
Yarn Store Set-Up
- Place Community Deck on top shelf.
- Place Pattern Deck on second shelf.
- Discard Yarn Cards here (Yarn Discard).
- Stock Wild Yarn Cards in the 4 corner cubbies.
- Place Yarn Store Deck in center cubby.
- Stock solid colored Yarn Cards along the sides of the Yarn Store Deck.
A Player's Knitting Station
The rules folder shows four example states of a player's knitting station, labelled:
- 4 Turns In (without the use of a Community Card to expedite turns)
- Just Cast-On
- Not in Play Yet
- No Finished Projects Yet
Shopping at the Yarn Store
If a player picks a stocked (face up) Wild Yarn Card from the Yarn Store, that player may only take 1 card on that turn; otherwise, they can draw 2 from the draw deck OR 2 stacks of stocked solid colored yarn OR 1 from the draw deck and 1 stack of a stocked solid colored yarn.
Taking Your Turn
Each turn involves a number of actions, not all of them necessarily happening on every turn. Players must follow this order:
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KNIT – Advance any previously cast-on Pattern Cards ahead one week. If you complete a pattern, discard the Yarn Cards, place the Pattern Card (which has now become your FO) on the Blocking Mat and flip the Cast-On Card over so that the empty needles are face up.
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CHOOSE ONE:
SHOP AT THE YARN STORE – Pick 1 stocked (face up) Wild Yarn Card OR pick 2 stacks of stocked Yarn Cards OR draw 2 Yarn Cards from the deck OR draw 1 from the deck and pick 1 stack of stocked Yarn Cards.
-OR-
PICK OUT NEW PATTERNS – Draw 3 Pattern Cards from the Pattern Deck. Choose between keeping just 2 or all 3 Pattern Cards. Any discarded Pattern Cards should be returned to the bottom of the Pattern Deck.
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CAST-ON – Only 1 pattern can be cast-on per turn. To cast-on, flip over a Cast-On Card so that the time tracker is face up. Place required Yarn Cards behind the Cast-On Card so that all players can see each color and then place the Pattern Card on top so that just the words 'Cast-On' are showing. See A Player's Knitting Station.
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RESTOCK THE YARN STORE FOR THE NEXT PLAYER – This will signal that your turn is over and the next player can begin.
Community Cards
At any point during your turn (before restocking the store for the next player) you can trade for and/or play any number of Community Cards.
Trade 5 Stashed Yarn Cards (discard them) for 1 Community Card. Any cards drawn from this deck that earn a player points should be kept hidden in a player's hand until the end of the game.
Winning the Game
The final round begins when a player places 100 or more FO points on their Blocking Mat. All other players get one more turn. At the end of the final round players reveal what they have in their hands and all points are tallied.
Add up all FO points along with any secret points earned from collecting Community Cards. Points from Pattern Cards still in a player's hand are subtracted from the total and WIPs have no value.
If there is a tie, the player with the most stashed Yarn Cards wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the biggest stash in real life wins.
Bonus Points for Knitting in Real Life
If a player creates a FO in game while knitting on the same pattern in real life [while playing], that pattern's FO points count double.
If a player creates a FO using Yarn Cards that match skeins they are knitting with in real life [while playing], add the Yarn Card(s) to the Blocking Mat along with the Pattern Card after creating the FO. Each Yarn Card on the Blocking Mat counts as 10 points.