February KFYS contest, some photos, and something for Brigid
February 2nd, 2007 by Wen
So when I said :
Tomorrow I announce February’s Yarn Fairy contest. Also, there will be some discussion about when to have the next Anti Social Knitter’s meetup.
By “tomorrow” I meant “Friday” I will announce… Life got in the way of blogging. As usual.
FEBRUARY KNIT FROM YOUR STASH YARN FAIRY CONTEST:
February is National Twit Award Month. And to that end I present this:
What is it you ask? Well, it is hands down one of the ugliest crimes against yarn that I’ve ever committed. I made it for one of the girls I was working with a few years ago, and I hated it so much I never gave it to her. I keep it around to remind myself never to do it again.
And that is the contest. The rules? Well, I need photographic evidence of your very own crime against yarn. So post it to your blog and comment here so I can find it. If you don’t have a blog then you need to put it up on flickr or photo bucket or some such place. Again, put the link in my comments (no photos in the comments or email, please). Descriptions with no photo link will not be counted.
What are you playing for?
This:
That is 1650 yards of Lacey Lamb. (It’s never been knitted, the ball band fell off and the yarn unwound itself before I caught it). Soft as cashmere, almost cobweb weight. It is gorgeous. As usual, there will be other little gifties included in the prize.
The contest ends next Friday 2/9/07 at Midnight PST and you must be a KFYS participant. If you don’t have a blog make sure you let me know in your comment.
How will I choose a winner? Well, I’m giving Mr. Random Number Generator the month off. I’m going to pick it myself. We all know taste is subjective, but truly ugly transcends all.
Also, that scarf above holds another secret as to why I hate it so much. There is an additional prize to the first person that can tell me what that secret is.
edited to add that you do NOT need to be a KFYS’er to win the guessing game. This part of the contest is open to everyone!Â
Here’s what you win:
More Lacey Lamb. This time in black.
Anti Social Knitters meetup:
February is not looking like a good month to meet. So how does the first or second Saturday in March sound? Let me know.
Actual knitting content? Where? Here?
I got some yarn in the mail yesterday:
So Purlsoho is in NYC, yet they ship all their yarn from Costa Mesa, CA. I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t live in Costa Mesa anymore, otherwise they’d be having a break-in every time I decided to start a new project…
What was in the package?
Jade Sapphire 8 ply. The color on the left is “Film Noir” and the color on the right is “Lupine” (yeah I do have a thing for that color right now).
What am I making with this delicious yarn?
Some more slippers. I really liked the way the yarn knit up for my mom’s so I decided to replace the tops for my slippers with the Lupine. The BF has actually worn holes in his slippers so he is getting new tops in a better color and weight. I knit the originals in Lorna’s laces Shepherd Sport which was just too light a weight for the heavier suede soles.
The BF was very cute when we discussed me “repairing” the slippers. He thought I could darn them. Awww. No honey, I don’t darn. Anyway, it makes me a little smooshy to know that he really has loved them.
I also started some socks for me:
These were going to be some Elfine’s. I say “were” because I’ve already ripped it back. The JKnits yarn I got in TX over Christmas? The softness? The beautiful color? The disappointment that the yarn splits like a mofo? The twisting up on itself like it’s getting paid? Not for me.
I’m still looking for a color similar to that in something more Fleece Artist or Koigu like. Suggestions and links welcomed.
And today, in honor of the Feast of St. Brigid, some (silent) poetry by ee cummings. I apologize in advance for the small text. The html has been tagged so as not to disturb the author’s pre-determined line breaks.
i love you much(most beautiful darling) more than anyone on the earth and i like you better than everything in the sky -sunlight and singing welcome your coming although winter may be everywhere with such a silence and such a darkness noone can quite begin to guess (except my life)the true time of year- and if what calls itself a world should have the luck to hear such singing(or glimpse such sunlight as will leap higher than high through gayer than gayest someone's heart at your each nearness)everyone certainly would(my most beautiful darling)believe in nothing but love
March works for me. The only day in March I’m not available is the 31st.
Costa Mesa huh? That’s not so very far in the scheme of things. My KFYS says I can’t BUY yarn…doesn’t say I can’t STEAL it tho. Hmmmmmmmm
It’d be almost worth it, that’s gorgeous stuff!
It’s crochet! That’s why you hate it.
ding! ding! ding!
Damn, Stacey beat me to it with the same thing I was thinking.
Oh well, I’ve got something choicely fugly, from Ye Olde L.B. Homespun days.
The J-Knits yarn looks great, what a pain that it twists up on itself and splits. I’d recommend some Socks That Rock in “beryl”, but I think the green’s probably too dark:
http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/colorway_detail.php?colorway_id=19&fiber_category=Animal&colorway_category_id=2
The STR is soft but also pretty highly twisted (a la Koigu). I find that occasionally it’ll twist back on itself, but not frequently enough to really annoy me. And definitely less splitty than Lorna’s Laces.
The first thing I thought when I saw that scarf was, “Man, it’s just wrong to put up a picture of a crocheted scarf on a knitblog.”
We’re all really lucky that my knitted atrocity never got photographed. It was a baby blanket that ended up being 12′ wide and 3′ long. FEET. Not inches. I really should have been clued in when all the stitches made the cable pop out of my needle, but nooooo. Oh, and it was acrylic. It was pink acrylic, the kind that’s nubbly and has a nylon thread running through it for sparkle. Pink, sparkly, nubbly, wider than my car was long (my Buick Park Avenue, that is) and only as tall as my knees.
I still rarely do gauge swatches, though. Go figure.
I was gonna say crochet too, but since THAT was already said, I’ll say the color pink in that because of some childhood drama involving pink colottes that forever left you scarred and pink brings on bad juju. Or something like that….
Oh, I love that Film Noir colorway… Alas, I am not a KFYS partcipant, because your prizes look great!
Alright, you chickens, I’ll go first. I have a monstrosity. It’s not the one I really want to enter, but here’s a whole Flickr set dedicated to the Sweater of Doom.
Details:
- Pattern from Grandma on the Mountain (beautiful aran sweater), and it was well-written enough for a n00b like me to jump right in (this was something like my 3rd actual project, not including a thousand square swatches). I read the pattern and got the impression that it was more fitted than I wanted (this was to be a Walking Sweater for my mom), so I compensated by casting on something like 200 sts, and for the arms…I have no idea what I did, but they sure are big, aren’t they?
- I was in a “phase” where I thought it was better to knit with two strands of yarn held together. Even though I’d done oodles of practice swatches, it didn’t occur to me that if I didn’t like the fabric I got with one strand, I could go down a couple of needle sizes. So this was knit with two strands of LB Wool-Ease (color GUAVA) held together throughout.
- In addition to the ones mentioned above, skills like picking up stitches, installing lifelines, and tinking (or un-knitting) stitches were apparently not in my repertoire. “Reading” stitches was also an undeveloped skill, evidenced by the places where I messed up moss stitch. Any mistakes that were knit into this garment were knit in permanently. Nothing was ripped, nothing was fixed.
- I still have never woven in the ends at the waistline.
OK, I’m half-jealous and half-grateful that I’m not a KFYS-er, cause I have a sweater? shrug? shwug? - don’t know what to call it but it surely is hideous. I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to share it, thankfully I don’t have to decide.
That sweater is something else Kristen. You could hide cats in those sleeves.
OK, I’m jumping into the water.
My lurvely Lion Brand Homespun shawl, in its orange/green/purple glory:
http://bigalice.blogspot.com/2007/02/fug.html
After hemming and hawing about whether I really want to put this piece of crap on the internet, let alone admit that I knit it, I’ve decided that pride goeth before a fall…or something like that. So, yeah, I guess I’m in. Witness my humiliation here: http://www.siliconashes.net/~imbrium/?p=336
Ugh! I missed out on this, methinks. In the meantime here’s a link I think you’ll find interesting: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0622011020070207?src=020707_1510_ARTICLE_PROMO_also_on_reuters
it ain’t so ugly !!!!!
I am available first 2 sundays in march