I'm a Winner

I used to complain about what crappy luck I had. For most of my life, I have never won any raffle, drawing or contest unless I entered it on behalf of someone else (like when I was 10, I entered my brother's name into a draw for a massive lego set at the local McDummies and he still pulled the heads off and scalped my dolls!)


For some reason, my luck has changed. Maybe it is because I joined a giving campaign for the next month (check it out - it is a really cool project) or because I bought a special booklet of blank postcards and religiously send them to my one of my favorite knitmags.....

This month, I have been the lucky winner of not one but two drawings from Knitting magazine! I can hardly believe it! Feast your eyes on what I've won:

Yes, I have won knitlit author Debbie Macomber's latest book, Twenty Wishes, and a Twilley's Knitting Fun Kit (those are sprites in case you are wondering). Now, I have never been so inclined as to actually purchase knitlit for myself nor have I been possessed by the urge to knit sprites. But I guess there is a first time for everything.

One thing I find very interesting about all of this is the strange coincidence (which in my eyes ceases to remain coincidence and becomes rather an instance of synchronicity) that Debbie Macomber was born in the same small town in the armpit of Washington State as I was. Knitting, writing, Yakima...there is a connection here. I feel it.

Knit well and knit often. And leave Yakima as soon as possible after birth.

Reader Giveaway at www.crochetandknitgiveaways.com on October 11, 2008

This is my second post on this fantastic site ! This time the ladies have developed a super clever scheme to create a monstrous portal to numerous crafty freebies. It is the perfect opportunity to win stuff and/or promote your blog or crafty business. To participate, you will need to do the following:

• Have a blog (Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, Moveable Type, Live Journal, or similar)
• Have goodies to giveaway
• Be willing to pay to send the said goodies to the winner
• Go to the Crochet and Knit Giveaways website and post a link to their blog entry announcing the giveaway.

Further details can be found here . Now, off to figure out what I can part with from the ol' stash.

Knit well and knit often.

Wasn't I Just Talking About Purging?

Wouldn't you know it. As soon as I get done reading and returning (or shelving) my stack of reading materials, I am suddenly flooded with more. I think there should be a 12-step program for this. I really do compulsively accumulate new reading materials. But hey, I guess it is an occupational and hobby hazard.

And this is the collateral damage:

• KnitKnit by Sabrina Geschwandter (for my experimental side and the art historian in me)
• Yarn Forward Summer 2008 Issue 6 (market research)
• Craft: 07 and 08 (lovingly sent by Mimi in Yakima)
• Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl McPhee (I need to laugh too sometimes)
• The Knitting Answer Book by Margaret Radcliffe (Knitting Tote-Sized for Emergency Reference)
• The Knitter's Handbook by Elenor Van Zandt (Yes, I am obsessed with reference materials. How did you know?)

The upside is that I now have a plethora of post fodder in reviews and such. In fact, there are only upsides: when I look at that stack next to my knitting bag, I know that I am home.

I frogged it...just like that

I really hate to admit that I have frogged something, especially online. But it is the truth and although it hurts my knitting ego to say it, it has to come out: I frogged my EZ bonnet and my BSJ. There it's out. I said it. I need something I can do quickly and easily as the baby was born ten days ago and I have to get this gift off to her mommy in Germany. I also realized that the yarn I was using was way too big for the needles I was using and the bonnet was so tightly-knit, the baby's head would have been boiling. Hot Baby=Crying Baby=Headache for Mom

Although I love and admire EZ designs, I can't really make sense of the patterns in the Opinionated Knitter, even with the help of the most experienced knitting mavens. I think I may just have to break down and shell out the big bucks to School House Press for the how-to DVDs on the BSJ and other beloved EZ patterns. I know they sell them at I Knit London, but I am not sure I want to give those boys my money yet (which is a subject for another post entirely).

Trolling my blog roll last night, I read a post from travelknitter on an adorable and *easy* design by Jacki Kelly Seamless Baby Kimonowhich I promptly cast on and made significant progress. I haven't given up on EZ, but I will have to postpone my puzzling for the sake of the gift.

Yeah! My Header is Fixed!

Thanks to rubbishknitter, who by the way has knitted some fabulous Highlander socks, has kindly helped figure out the HTML coding to fix my header image. Now it actually fits into the frame instead of spilling over on the right side. Thank you!!

I did some digging in our veggie patch and pinched something in the lower back. But I don't care because it was worth every minute in the rarity of Manchester sunshine. Off to do some Sunday evening couch sittin' and delicious knittin'.

Knit well and knit often. And find friends who can handle code.

It wasn't RSI

There is something about my damn bike lock. It gets stuck and is impossible to open at the most inconvenient times, like in front of the shop yesterday when I needed to pick up a few things for lunch or as I was on my way out to my Oxfam volunteering gig this morning.

Now, you are probably thinking, 'What does this have anything do with knitting?' We are astute people, but the connection is one I just made myself yesterday afternoon. When the bike lock doesn't open, I seem to think I can jiggle it a bit to get it to open. This is something I have only managed to do once...and it took me 15 minutes (I kid you not). Coincidentally, this happened to be the day that my assumed RSI started to act up....

Standing in front of the Coop grocery yesterday, I was faced with exactly the same situation. Rather than flick my right wrist in an unnatural and ungodly way, I used a four letter explative followed by 'it', and left my bike sans lock in front of the shop. For it was in that moment, I recognized that I didn't have RSI at all. What I do have is a piece of crap bike lock. And I shall let no bike lock get between me and my needles.

Knit well and knit often. And buy an easy-to-open bike lock.

Christmas Knitting Already?

Clearly the country I come from goes way off the Christmas deep end far too early in the year. My only consolation is that most of the countries I have expatriated to are guilty of the same heinous crime.

I am nowhere near putting on my Christmas music (an act strictly reserved for the month of December) nor can I bare the thought of all the red and silver foil packages and tinsel lining store shelves. I was just starting to ease into autumn mode and deciding where to plant my cabbage and Santa is already taunting me at every shop.

Yesterday, the web was a whirl with posts regarding the frenzy of holiday knitting which has begun. It got me to thinking and I realized something: I knit for Christmas nearly all year round. I usually start brainstorming early in the year about whom I've recently gifted and with what. I also take into consideration those folks who are not glad recepients of knitwear (ie my husband) and what I have got in the ol' stash that I can bare parting with.

Last year was not a year of knitted gifting. I got the hairbrained idea to start sewing reusable shopping bags out of calico about ten days before we found out that we would be moving internationally within six weeks. That was at the beginning of December and we still had to survive the holidays which included a visit from the German in-laws for their first American Christmas with my family (that was interesting), a last-minute New Year's trip to San Fran, and getting life in order to leave the grand country of Canada. My head spins just recalling it. Through our best efforts (Matthias is actually more skilled with the sewing machine than I), the bags were sewn, but unfortunately not embellished or gifted. They still await their fate, which is still a mystery to me, lying in a cupboard in the craft room. 

This year I was lucky and clever enough to pick up a bunch of really nice Sublime wools at a warehouse clearance sale in early Spring for half price. I had a few simple patterns andtheir respective recepients already in mind. So actually, I had started plotting out my gifting a little late this year. The good news is I am only doing small things for five or six people. The bad news is that I still have four babies to knit for and there still is all that regular gifting to be done. Time to stop blogging and start knitting I guess.

Knit well and knit often.

Sock Monkey Girlfriend Pic Courtesy of The Rainy Sisters