Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Post #200! Fun Challenges! Exciting Prizes!

This is my 200th post, if Blogger's calculations are correct. Which...it's Blogger, after all, so who knows? And I am a desperate knitter in need of a project I actually have the time to do, and in possession of more yarn than I have time to knit with, and with no time to look for the perfect project. And I'm still on the ravelry wait list. That's where you come in! I am going to list some yarns in my stash, and if someone comes up with a project that tickles my fancy, that person will win a lovely prize from my stash! Am I keeping the prize secret to increase suspense, or because I have not had time to dig through the stash to decide what I want to send? Who knows? More than one project=more than one winner! There might even be baked goods in your prize package. Pass this on to anyone you know who could use a little yarn and has great ideas. The rules (which I'm making up as I go along):

The Great 200th Post Yarn Competition

1. It needs to be a more do-able project than my Irish Diamond Shawl, which should be just about any project out there.
2. No cables. I don't have time to learn them.
3. No cat sweaters. I don't have the body armor I'd need to put them on the cats.
4. Patterns from my books or patterns I list, free internet patterns, or low-cost downloadable internet patterns are okay. I can't have to buy a new book. Unless it's a REALLY good book I should have anyway. And probably the library has it. So, no restrictions there, I guess. What a waste of a rule! I won't bother listing my patterns and books, then.
5. No outside yarn, but combining yarns I already have is fair, and doubling is fine.
6. No limit on the number of entries!

General guidelines: I'd sort of like to make something for myself or Lilah. It can be a sweater, a felted bag, a pillow or blanket, a tea cozy, whatever. I'd like it to be a medium project (not something tiny like a washcloth). Or a bunch of small projects I can give away at Christmas. What I really would like to do is a sweater for me, but I can't see that I have a yarn that works with a pattern I know about. Maybe the 4-ply doubled? Obviously, anything goes here, just about.

Okay, here are the yarns:
1. Blue Skies Alpaca Silk (sport weight, 292 yards, color blush)
2. Cascade 220 (worsted, 880 yards, color blue-green)
3. Cascade 220 (worsted, 880 yards, color light grey)
4. Euroflax Linen (fingering, 270 yards, color light green)
5. Rowanspun 4-ply (fingering, 972 yards, color Turkish (purply-blue))
6. Rowanspun 4-ply (fingering, 1320 yards, color Siren (red))
7. Pakucho Organic Cotton (worsted, 400 yards, color Chocolate)
8. Knitpicks Shine (sport, 440 yards, color Sky)
9. Knitpicks Shine (sport, 160 yards, color Cream)
10. Rowanspun DK (DK, 876 yards, color Mist (mottled blue-grey))
11. Peruvian Collection Baby Silk (fingering, 700 yards, color lavender)
12. Peruvian Collection Baby Silk (fingering, 1800 yards, color purple)
13. Blackwater Abbey (worsted wool, 440 yards, color Haw (red))
14. Brooks Farm Four Play (worsted silk/wool, 540 yards, color Poppies (like neopolitan ice cream))
15. I have assorted scraps of feltable stuff in a bag under the bed.

Submit your entries before the deadline of "whenever I feel I have enough and decide to choose a project"! Good luck!

Edited to add: When you comment with an entry, mention your favorite kinds of yarn (color, weight, fiber content) just in case. Don't worry...I won't send anyone Fun Fur!

6 comments:

mle said...

You could make a Not-So-Shrunken-Cardigan (from Knit & Tonic) with the Rowanspun DK....that would be really cute and you probably have enough yarn to make it full length if you don't like cropped.

This is a tough assignment...I'm still thinking for you! :)

String Bean said...

For Lilah:
Well, since I'm knitting one myself and I love it I'll say the Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter. Since she's growing by the second you can make a larger size by using some of your Cascade 220 (it'd be nice with an added hood). Plus you can add length to the sleeves by just pickeg up and knitting when they start to look a little short.

And if you don't have the book you should get it. Every knitter should have this on their shelf. Not having it is like saying you're a health food junkie and only having chips and dip.

The Blue Skies Alpaca/Silk would make a nice pair of my Super Simple Mitts. That'd be nice for you or for a gift.

Hmm..

The Euroflax Linen: A curtain! Everyone needs a hand knit curtain. There's a pretty and simple one in Mason-Dixon.

You could use the Blackwater Abbey or the Brooks Farm Four Play to knit yourself an Entwined from the new Knitty.

The Rowanspun 4-ply would make a nice Tussie-Mussie from Knitty. Plus, it's red. Already halfway there. :D You could ix-nay the nosegay pattern and do some knit-purl embossing.

Either Cascade 220 would make a nice vest. There's a good pattern in Knitty called More Stripes.

I'm sure Lilah would love if you knit her a little ensemble out of the baby silk. Is she big enough for Reid from Knitty?

You could make Matt a scarf from the Rowanspun DK (blue-grey) It'd be a nice mind retreat. Something simple like moss stitch or plain ol' garter...

That's it - time for my mind retreat. Did I cover everything?

Almost forgot: You know I love green, but I also love purple, blue, pink, orange, brown, and red. Nothing too dark. I prefer fingering to DK weight. Fiber content? Anything!

YarnThrower said...

Hmmmm..... Two patterns which sprang immediately to mind were by Amy Anderson (remember her from the days when you lived in the same city as Lakeside Fibers?)..... I've tried to find them online, but no luck...but anyway, one is called "Canned Goods", and they are cute little covers for empty canned goods cans, in five different sizes. They are felted, have contrast trim along the top edge, and have cute (optional)needle felting on them, and I bought the pattern a couple of months ago because I thought they could make nice Christmas or Fathers' Day gifts as pencil holders, or with a small jar and some fresh flowers in them, etc. The other pattern is her "mini-bag" pattern, also felted, and would be handy when I'm out with my boys to keep my cell phone and a couple of dollars in -- hangs around the neck, so hands are free. Again, can't find it anywhere online, but I know it's at Lakeside. Checking with Fiber Trends, I notice they have a couple of little bag patterns, and one in particular, called "Gelato Bags", would be adorable for Lilah - a little felted bag to carry her treasures in (I don't have girls, so it's fun to try to dress up other people's girls). Good luck! I hope you are able to find your perfect project! Speaking of "perfect", if you combined your two Cascade colors, you'd have enough yardage for "The Perfect Sweater" from Mason-Dixon knitting -- a great basic sweater pattern!

Anonymous said...

Wow. Those are some serious suggestions. I was going to suggest that you make Sheldon (from Knitty) with your Shine, because I think it's a really fun pattern and a great baby toy. That's all I've got!

KnitPastis said...

This one is adorable! The "Accordion" sweater from Knitty for mom and Lilah using Cascade 220 yarn. You can leave out the zipper if you want to.

I love this sweater and you both will get alot of use out of this classic look.

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to interject and tell everyone that Allison knits a mean stocking cap. In fact, believe it or not, I wore it just the other day. In early October. %#*&%

Also, I'm fully aware that I'm woefully late in my comments.