And the winner is. . . . .

With the help of random number generator (I can't believe there were 31 entries!), lucky entrant #12 is the winner.(click the image to see it better if you want to confirm!)

By my count, with #1 being the first entry, that makes #12 SALLY! Congrats, Sally. I will likely be able to pop the skein in the mail tomorrow!

I hope everyone is doing well gathering your packages. Make sure you're contacting your pal and posting to your blog weekly! Any issues, make sure to contact me! Happy Hunting!

Contest

I can think of a lot of knitting skills I could improve, but one I'd like to improve most is the ability to concentrate on complex lace patterns. I love the simple look of The Labyrinth Shawl, but 450 different rows. Wow!

I'm new at collecting blogs but 3 I've enjoyed since I've started reading them are Knitten'Mom, Fearless Fibers, and MimKnits Blog.

Contest Reminder!

Just a reminder that you have until the end day Monday to enter the contest for the Malabrigo! The details on entering are here.

Also, don't forget to let me know if you have any issues or if you need any help!

Contest Entry

If time, money and skill were no object, I would probably knit absolutely everything from White Lies Designs and probably a few of Alice Starmore's designs with the suggested yarn. I've knit Starmores before, so I know that they're not impossible, but I have always had to substitute the yarns. In particular, I love most of the sweaters in Tudor Roses... Sorry, I really couldn't pick just one.

As far as blog reading goes, I will admit to having many, many blogs in my bloglines, but one of my favourites these days is probably familiar to many of you - Shut Up I'm Counting. Cass posts at least once most days and gives us a real slice of her life complete with pitfalls and pratfalls.

Carly's Contest Entry

OK, for my 'wish to knit', the skill lacking isn't really my knitting. I agree with Sally a bit that there isn't a lot TECHNICALLY I am scared of doing (exception is steeking!). In this case, the skill is the ability to edit patterns. I adore Pohjan neito, which happens to be designed by my upstream SP11 Tuulia. The problem is the pattern is only written to one size, which is much too large for me. Maybe some day I'll gain enough confidence to attempt to modify it to me. In the meantime, it makes me happy to think just how cute it would look with a red tank under it and my faded jeans and my cowboy boots. What? Don't laugh, I love my cowboy boots and I think it works perfectly well with a traditional Scandinavian sweater :)

As far as the blogs I'm always eager to pop to when I see they have a new post, I'd have to say Claudia, Carrie and Becca are my favorites of the 'lesser knows'!

Sally's Contest Entry

Cross posted at Sally Comes Unraveled and Kntters Scavenger Hunt Swap.

The Knitters Scavenger Hunt is having a contest (swap participants only, sorry.) All I have to do is answer 2 questions. But they aren't easy questions to answer.

#1 - If your knitting skill and the money to purchase the necessary yarn were no issue, what one pattern would you knit? (link & photo if you have one, so we can all ogle!)

This is a hard one. I know this sounds conceited (or maybe delusional), but in my mind I have no limitations related to my knitting skills. There are just new skills I haven't learned yet. I don't think I have this type of confidence in any other area of my life, which is one of the reasons why I love knitting so much.

So that leaves limitations of resources and time. It's hard to pick one pattern. The closest I can get is Morrigan, which I will knit eventually. Buying $300 worth of Rowan Calmer will be difficult, and I'm still trying other candidates.

Rather than a specific pattern, most of my seemingly unattainable project ideas are centered around specific yarns. I wish I could afford an entire sweater out of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb, or entire sweater out of my own handspun. (The handspun is the part where my skills fail me.)

#2 - What is your favorite blog ?(doesn't need to be knitting related)

I'm not going to pick an all time favorite, but I will say at the moment I'm most interested in Yarn Pirate's blog, because she's due to go into labor at any moment. Also, I love seeing all her baby knits.

Contest! Whoo I love contests!!

Hey, she said contest! Let's all play! Yay! Ok wow I am way too excited about that... here we go.

1.) If money and knitting skills were no issue, what would I knit... I would have to go with the one thing I really want to make but am kind of scared to do, a sweater. The pattern would be Rogue, and the reason knitting skills would have to not matter is... well, that's a lot of stockinette stitch and I don't think I could handle it, but I LOVE that. I'd probably make it in something wonderfully soft, like a cashmere blend, as money is no issue! :)

2.) And number two, to satisfy dear Carly's obsession with stealing other people's favorite blogs... (Just kidding!) I'll say my favorite blog is... Katheryn Ivy. Those two turn out so many nice things, it's really an inspiration. I also love Crafty Andy but I thought I'd give a different answer than I did before. :)

Can't wait to see what you guys say!

Projects and blogs

1. Skill, money and time: It'd be a toss-up between Tipsy in cashmere and Lizard Ridge in Noro silk garden. They are both just fantastic!
2. Blogs I like: Again, it is a toss-up: this one is always good for a laugh; this is great for a challenge; and I spend a great deal of time reading and shopping here.

ps: I, too, am looking forward to seeing what others are going to list - great contest idea!

Did Someone Say Contest?

Ok, as promised, a contest! The winner will be randomly drawn from all entrants and the prize is one skein of Malabrigo in colorway 'Red Java' (sorry, no picture, I'm on the wrong computer).

So what is the contest? It has two questions.

#1 - If your knitting skill and the money to purchase the necessary yarn were no issue, what one pattern would you knit? (link & photo if you have one, so we can all ogle!)

#2 - What is your favorite blog ?(doesn't need to be knitting related)

Post your answer to the group blog here and be sure to tag it 'contest' so that I can easily find all the entrants when I go to get a winner.

You have one week to post your entries. I'll draw the winner on 2/12.

(And yes, #2 is totally selfish, but I love finding new blogs to read!)

To those of you spoiling someone with a WordPress blog

Just in case it's not intuitive, you CAN leave anonymous comments, even though it asks for name & email. They don't have to be real, you can make up a name and address. For example, I commented on their blogs as 'Hostess' with an email of 'nono@yahoo.com' when I was blog checking. So, don't despair if it looks like you couldn't comment without revealing yourself! Hope everyone is enjoying starting to get to know their partner!

I plan on putting a contest up on the blog in a week or so. The prize will be a very yummy skein of yarn :) If anyone has suggestions for creative contests they've done before (or just an idea) please email me. I haven't settled on what the contest will be yet, so I'm open to new ideas!