are the winners of the shawl kits!

Thanks everyone for playing!!!

PS - Click for big on that bee picture up there. It really is fantastic, if I don't say so myself. I love all the pollen on the bee's head!

Posted by Cara at 08:44 AM | Comments (10)

July 27, 2007

Ah Honey Honey!

Move over Monkeys! Bah Bye Babette! THE BEES ARE IN TOWN!

You know, there's a reason my knitting generally turns out so well - my particular talent is putting genius together! Great yarn + great patterns = FABULOUS knits! It's really quite easy. I'm QUITE proud of my latest trick! The other day I was talking to my genius friend Tina (the one responsible for my favorite sock yarn) about my genius friend Anne (knit designer extraordinaire!) We were talking about my finished Moth Shawl and I was asking Tina if she had seen the new Bee Fields Shawl and oh my god isn't it FANTASTIC?!? Then I subtly dropped some hints like "Wouldn't it be amazing if you were to dye up a colorway that was ACTUALLY honey?! Hmmm. Could you do that?" Tina, never one to shy away from a challenge, said OF COURSE she could!

I am so, so pleased to introduce Oregon Red Clover Honey!

I took it out of the box yesterday and for about fifteen seconds I wondered if it was too dark, but then I went to the cabinet and took out some honey. It's UNBELIEVABLY PERFECT!

By sheer genius, Tina has managed to capture all the subtleties of honey - the bronzes, the reds, the blonds, the golds! I snapped a few pictures and immediately started winding it up! Imagine how pleased I was to find that it completely resembled a honeycomb in the yarn cake!

It took forever to wind! There is A LOT of yarn in this baby. It's Blue Moon's Laci yarn (100% Extra Fine 80's Merino), and it comes with a whopping 1750 yards. I've been assured that while the Oregon Red Clover Honey colorway isn't up there this second, it will be up on their website sometime today. ETA: IT's UP! (You'll be able to find it in the shaded solids section.)

It was all I could do NOT to cast on immediately, but I had some errands to run. As soon as I was home that baby hit the needles. I'm using size 5 needles (Addi Lace Turbos) and for the provisional cast on, I used Eunny's directions found here - the second crochet cast on.

This is not a lace pattern for the faint of heart. I've never used a life line in my lace knitting before (and yes, I've had to rip plenty) but with this one - this one I'm getting out the dental floss! I'm about 16 rows into it and it's quite enjoyable - I can already see the border and pattern emerging - but it takes a lot of concentration. Actually, now that I think about it, Monkeys and Babette might be the perfect partners for The Bees.

Because I'm very impatient, I also ordered yarn from Anne over at Wooly Wonka Fibers. This is the Buckwheat Honey colorway of the yarn Anne and Anne used for The Bee Fields Kit.

Since I jumped the gun, I'd love to share this kit with you. Leave me your favorite bee story - whether it's a bee sting, a honey recipe, anything goes, and I'll choose a winner at random on Tuesday. Please, one entry per person. You will receive the Buckwheat Honey yarn and the Bee Fields Pattern. Entries will be accepted through 11:59 PM Monday, July 30.

ETA: This just in!! Tina has generously donated a skein of Oregon Red Clover Honey, and I'll supply another copy of Anne's pattern! So we'll have TWO winners! YAY!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Posted by Cara at 11:27 AM | Comments (504)

July 23, 2007

SPIN OUT 2007: CONTEST!

Are you a graphic artist that LOVES fiber? Are you a fiber artist that dabbles in graphics? Live with a graphic artist, but all you think about is fiber? I NEED YOU! Announcing a LOGO contest for SPIN OUT 2007!

I need a logo for this year's SPIN OUT. Get out your WACOS pad and draw away - I want it to be FUN! COLORFUL! SPINNING related!

The logo needs to include the following items:

- SPIN OUT
- September 29, 2007
- Central Park
- New York

The graphic should also include something related to spinning - either a spindle or spinning wheel.

Here are the logos I used last year:

So as you can see, anything goes. I need a digital file - anything that can be read by Photoshop. If you win, you give me permission to basically do whatever I want with your file - t-shirts, posters, pins, magnets, bumper stickers, etc. Your logo will appear on januaryone.com and spin-out.org for an indefinite period of time.

Enter as many logos as you like. BE CREATIVE!!!

There will be ONE winner. Said winner will receive $100 Gift Certificate courtesy of WEBS! That's a lot of fiber and yarn!

The winner will be chosen by me. All entries must be received by WEDNESDAY AUGUST 8, 2007. All entries must be sent to logo@spin-out.org as an attachment. All questions should go to the same email.

THANK YOU!!!

Cross Posted at spin-out.org.

Posted by Cara at 04:32 PM | Comments (12)

June 17, 2007

244

That's the winning number. And Alison hit it RIGHT ON! Congratulations Alison! I also happened to pick up two prizes while I was out west, so there's a random winner as well. Congratulations Rachel! I know you're dying to know what you win, so without further ado...

That's two skeins each, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the, what else, TAHOE colorway, a very cute Lantern Moon cake tape measure, and a box of The Color Collection notecards by me. Hope you like your prizes as much as I LOVED my vacation. Thanks everyone for playing!

244 photographs isn't really that much for me, but the truth is is that I'm not much of a landscape photographer and Tahoe screams landscapes. I'm also not one to carry my camera with me wherever I go. I love what I photograph - children, yarn, flowers (occasionally these days) but that's it. And I've been working a lot lately with many jobs lined up in the next months so I wanted to relax. Photography is serious business for me - it's not relaxing. Anyway, that's the story behind the number. On a job it would be WAY more. WAY WAY more.

The vacation was wonderful and while I'm always happy to come home and sleep in my own bed with my own pillow, I'm already missing Georgie. Monday is going to be very hard when we both go back to work and aren't together all day. Yeah yeah. We're gross and in love. Deal with it.

There's lots to talk about - I worked hard on my Moth shawl while I was away and I'm loving EVERYTHING about it. I'm just about through the first chart - I've either got half a repeat or one and a half repeats - I've got to count the stitches. I came home lots of yarn to start a new project, which will have me doing my best James Bond impression. Any guesses? And, well, it's always nice to get back to the blog after a break. I missed you guys.

Here are a few pictures of the lake. The first two were taken at our hotel and the third was taken here. I miss Lake Tahoe. And we really miss SF. We'll be back again for sure.

It was incredibly fantastic to knit my moth shawl (the fir cone section) surrounded by pine trees while lounging at the banks of the crystal clear lake with snow covered mountains in the distance. My photographs hardly do it justice.

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Cara at 04:27 PM | Comments (28)

June 13, 2007

By The Numbers

Number of days on vacation: 3
Number of yarn stores visited: 3 - so far here, here and here.
Number of bloggers I had an impromptu meet-up with at Artfibers: three - Cookie, Hannah and Jeni - LOVE you guys! Thanks for coming out! (And hi Matt! Great to meet you!)
Number of yards of yarn purchased: 3064
Number of rows I've knit since I've been on vacation: about five
Number of gorgeous Offhand Designs knitting bags purchased: one - it was on sale AND it's fucking fantastic!
Number of wines we tasted: four
Number of boxes of pockies we bought in Japan Town: one - green tea
Number of times we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge: one
Number of times we drove over the Bay Bridge: two
Temperature in Sacramento: 99 degrees
Temperature in Lake Tahoe: 65 degrees
Amount lost at craps table: $85
Amount won at craps table, all while I was the shooter: $100
Amount I'm ahead at craps: $15. Yeah money!
Number of pounds of camera equipment I lugged across the country: 25
Number of photographs I've taken since I got here: 0.00

Guess the number of pictures I will take by the end of my vacation and win some kind of fabulous prize. I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm sure it will be FANTASTIC. Leave the number of pictures in a comment on this post and the person who gets closest without going over will win. One entry per customer. Contest ends 11:59 PM EDT Saturday, June 16.

Number of Curious George Riding a Bike T-Shirts that say "Divine Love" purchased on the street in Berkeley, CA: one and it's priceless.

See you Sunday! We're having a blast!

Posted by Cara at 01:25 AM | Comments (348)

April 30, 2007

The Final Four + One

First, send out a hearty congratulations to Margaret! She won the contest with a guess of April 29, 2007 at 12:53 PM. She was ONE MINUTE OFF! Way to go Margaret! Just a leetle scary how close you came. (By the way, check out Margaret's GORGEOUS new sweater while you're over there.)

It turned out that by Friday, both jobs I had this weekend had rescheduled (that's what happens when you work with kids - something always comes up and I've made it my policy to be very flexible.) So I had plenty of knitting time. And Georgie took me to a FANTASTIC dinner to celebrate - screw the sushi - hands down - best steak in the city. Seriously.

Without further ado, since you've all waited so patiently, I give you the last five squares:

Square #26

This square was based on this picture:

Kay called this next square my ode to Lilly Pulitzer. I really love this one.

Square #27

My kindergarten square:

Square #28

And the blue square:

Square #29

Last, but certainly not least, is the square based on the picture of my finger:

Square #30 - THE LAST SQUARE

I'm thinking this square is my signature square. It's got the one red row to symbolize the blood spilled (so DRAMATIC) and also, I want this square to anchor the piece. The border will probably be dark-ish - I'm hoping this square will blend with the border - just like a signature.

So. I finished knitting the squares. I haven't cast on for anything new, but I do have a bridal shower coming up this weekend and a planned project for a gift that I haven't started yet. If I can get yarn today, I'll start on that. The squares are all laid out on the floor and I'm moving them around all the time and hopefully I'll have pictures of what will be the final layout tomorrow. I don't plan on spending too much time on laying things out. I want to take a picture and get it off the floor so I can start on the seaming. I have no idea how long it will take to seam this baby. I'm sure it will go a lot slower than the knitting. That's all right with me. And I'm undecided what to do about the border, but I hope that will reveal itself as I sew the thing together.

This has been a marathon and to say I'm sad to be finished the knitting is an understatement. This project really has taken over my mind and my heart. I'm so glad to know you've enjoyed it too. Thank you!

Posted by Cara at 09:02 AM | Comments (71)

April 24, 2007

Leftovers

I don't have a new miter to show you today (maybe I'm dragging things out because I don't want the knitting to end!) so I thought I'd answer some questions about the project, and maybe, just maybe, if you're patient, they'll be a little contest at the end of this post. Firstly, I'd like to say - what the hell did I blog about before I started this project? Everyday I think about what I'm going to blog and the only thing I can think about are the damn mitres. And what's with the spelling of mitres/miters? Does it matter? When I spell it miters, do I look like a bumbling American? I mean, I AM a bumbling American, but do I really want to put that out there in the world?

Alright. The miters. I currently have 28 unused colors. I have FOUR SQUARES - actually 17 MITERS - left to knit. That's potentially 20 different colors. I'm not going to use all 28 because I know I'm going to repeat some - but still - I started out with 95 different colors - I think I did pretty good.

One of the questions I've been getting nonstop since I started this project is about my leftovers. What am I going to do with my leftovers? I've been offered money for them. One beautiful knitter offered to take my leftovers and knit me something from them. Others have been so kind as to take them off my hands - FOR FREE! As if I didn't want them. PEOPLE. I'm KEEPING the leftovers. I'll do something with them eventually and if I don't, they're still mine. It's like when you read a book - you don't give it away when your finished. You put it on your shelf and there it sits forever collecting dust because it's now a part of your soul and you can't ever part with it. Yarn is just like that. At least the yarn for this project is like that. So give up on the leftovers. They ain't goin' nowhere, no how.

Another question I've been getting - did I have all this yarn in my stash? Well, sort of. Last January, I bought four grab bags of Tahki Cotton Classic from WEBS on the advice of the mitre master, and then stuck them in my closet. I had no idea what I was going to do with them. No project in mind at all. Then one afternoon I mitered and the rest is history. Pretty quickly I started buying up all the different colors I could find and I ended up with 95 different colors. I think. I have to go back and check, but I'm pretty sure that's the final color count.

More answers: I will be putting a border on it - I'm thinking a dark garter stitch. Single color. Simple. Maybe black. I haven't given any thought to a back. I don't think I'm going to back it, but you never know. Never say never. I have thought about mixing up all the squares and making it completely random, but that's a different blanket. The rules stay. I will not be placing the same color miters in a particular square at opposite corners ALL THE TIME. I will do this occassionally, whenever I see fit. Chuck Close has been mentioned before. I like Chuck Close. Have seen his work up close and personal. In fact, once, a long time ago I was looking at a Chuck Close at MOMA and Vincent Price was looking at the painting next to me. I have noticed - especially when finishing one miter and starting another - that the color of a yarn can look SO different depending upon which color it's up against. Very much like it's a different dyelot, but I can assure you, I've only used ONE SKEIN of each color I've used. I mentioned before that I'm getting five miters out of a skein - four dominant color mitres and one background color miter, but your mileage may vary. Everyone knits different and just because that's what I'm getting - you may knit loser or tighter or whatever and get a different result. Some of the squares have a color repeated twice in the background and some of them have four different backgrounds and I've made these decisions on a square by square basis. The rule that there is one constant MAIN color has remained constant. And will not change.

I think I answered a lot of the questions I've been getting, but if I missed yours, please ask again.

CONTEST!CONTEST!CONTEST!CONTEST!

It's been a while since I've given anything away and I've got a bunch of fairly new readers and I used to give stuff away all the time so I'm feeling guilty about not giving stuff away and you've all be SO SUPPORTIVE of this project and while you say you love it and I believe you, I know that some of you can't stand to look at another freaking miter, so I'm going to share the love.

GUESS WHAT DAY/TIME I WILL FINISH KNITTING THE LAST MITRE AND YOU WILL WIN:

Your own 10 skein/10 color grab bag of Tahki Cotton Classic and a copy of Mason Dixon Knitting.

I mean, really, what's the good of being MAD if you can't share it, right?

This is how to play - SEND AN EMAIL to

In the body of the email give me a date and a time - like this: 4/29/07, 11:53PM - (THAT's MONTH/DAY/YEAR because I'm a BUMBLING AMERICAN!) for when you think I will finish the LAST MITER! (Not the border, not sewing it all up - just knitting the miters.) And you can say hi if you want but it's not necessary. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON! The person who comes closest to the winning time WITHOUT GOING OVER will win. IN THE CASE OF A TIE - I will choose from the winners AT RANDOM.

THE CONTEST WILL CLOSE APRIL 28, 2007 at MIDNIGHT EDT. Any entries received after that will be discarded.

REMEMBER SEND EMAIL HERE: MITERMADNESS@JANUARYONE.COM

PLEASE - DO NOT LEAVE YOUR ENTRY IN THE COMMENTS. Entries left in the comments will not be counted.

A couple things to know - I will be working (photo shoots) both Saturday AND Sunday this weekend, but I will be sleeping at home. Have fun. Play safe. Peace out.

Posted by Cara at 05:00 PM | Comments (37)

February 15, 2007

Smile!

No cavities! YAY!

Anna won the Valentine's Day contest - but really we're all winners. Seriously. Those stories are all fantastic and I encourage you to read through the comments. Some great stuff there! Thanks for playing everyone!

Hopefully lots of CPH pictures coming soon. I'm going to bust ass on some work today so I can do the second button band tonight and tomorrow the sleeves will hopefully be ready for seaming! YAY! I can't wait to wear this sweater - it's really cold outside.

ETA: Sorry this wasn't clearer - but I chose the winner at RANDOM, as I usually do. Unless otherwise specified, all winners of my contests are chosen at random. I like to play fair. Again, thank you all for playing.

ETA AGAIN: Fuck it. I'm all about the LOVE.

Posted by Cara at 01:34 PM | Comments (45)

February 12, 2007

Home, Sweet Home

Vacations are great and all, but there's nothing like being home. The worst part, though, is that G had to go to work today and I miss him so much.

Some highlights from Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California (click for bigger pictures):

It was overcast and rainy the whole time we were there (the whole trip actually except for the day we left) but it was also broody and dramatic and oh so romantic. In honor of my romantic getaway, I'm going to give away a skein of January One and a skein of G-Rocks to one lucky winner. Plus some other stuff like notecards and chibis and stuff. All you have to do to win is leave me a comment and tell me about your best Valentine's Day, your worst Valentine's Day, your first love, your last love, anything goes - heartbreak, love connections - the heart's the limit. One entry per person please. I'll close the comments at 11:59 PM EST on February 14th and pick the winner right after.

And if you don't win, or are in the mood for some Valentine's Day shopping, don't forget to check out the Lovely Hearts exhibit. Some of the proceeds for each item in the show will go to fight Breast Cancer. I've got a picture in there for the taking.

I have so much to tell you about - knitters I met, yarn I bought, shrines I paid homage to - craziness! Re-entry is a bitch. So instead, I'll just spend the day missing my boy and looking at pictures.

Posted by Cara at 02:42 PM | Comments (339)

January 23, 2007

Say AHHHH!

It's visit your physician week at JO. Today I went to the GYN and tomorrow I go for my annual physical with my GP. Fun times. I'm fat, first of all. If I wanted to be the skinniest I think I could get to - I need to lose about 25 lbs. That's a bummer, no? I told you I've been running, and I have, but I need to incorporate the weights into the program and eventually I have to start eating better. Which actually means I should eat MORE not less. I'm one of those people who can't be bothered with food. That doesn't mean I don't like food, I love lots of things and enjoy eating. It's just a pain in the ass that you have to do it at least three times a day. I hate figuring out what I'm going to eat, I hate preparing it. I've often said if I could take a time release capsule that would give me all the nutrients and stuff I need, I'd be first in line. Now, if you want to cook for me.... Anyway, what I usually end up doing is NOT eating until I'm starving then reaching for the closest frozen food dinner which I scarf down in record time. I rarely snack. Not a big snacker - I eat when I'm starving and I eat bad stuff. And for the last couple of years I've sat on my ass and done nothing. (Well, I've knit a lot, but as much as it pains me, knitting cannot be considered an aerobic activity.) That's why I only have to lose 25 lbs - not a hundred. Bright side, you know?

The doctor today actually didn't say anything about my weight, but my GP tomorrow will. Getting old(er) has many many advantages, but the physical part of it kind of sucks. Oh and I learned today that some of the most valuable people in your life are the ones you can tell ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING too. Nothing is too gross, too gruesome, too shameful, too embarrassing. These are the people to keep close to you. I'm lucky. I've got at least two, possibly three or four people like this in my life. Thank you for listening to me and laughing along with me instead of hanging up the phone. At least I didn't offer to SHOW you what I was talking about. Right?

Lots of work to do, surprisingly. Lots of work. Not sure I'll be blogging tomorrow as I'm off to the Dr. again and I'm swamped. Besides, I've got nothing to show you except the same sweater I showed you the other day. No progress has been made unless you count backwards progress.

I AM LOOKING FOR THE FOLLOWING THREE STR VIRGINS:
Sandy who wrote:
I need STR (socks that rock) because my closet is full of STPACM (socks that prefer adult contemporary music).

Karen who wrote:
I need this yarn because I'm a STR virgin and I've read the Socks That Rock story on your blog and several others. I feel for the ladies but I don't want to commit to a sock club membership before I have a chance to test out their lovely yarn. What better chance than through you? Besides, I'm an avid hiker and it would be great to have some super cozy hiking socks that I knit myself!

Amy O'Dell who wrote:
Because this is how I feel without STR in my life:

Shirts in the closet, shoes in the hall
Mama's in the kitchen, baby and all
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing

Coffee cups on the counter, jackets on the chair
Papers on the doorstep, but you're not there
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing

O.K., perhaps that song is just too tragic and beautiful for this situation but I bet I got on your good side, didn't I?!?

YOU'VE WON YARN, BUT YOU HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO MY EMAIL ASKING FOR YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. I will send another one, but if you don't email me back by Friday, I will pick three new winners out of the hat. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDERS. THANK YOU!

Have a great day!

Posted by Cara at 01:52 PM | Comments (32)

January 12, 2007

Calling All Virgins!

I've been astonished to learn that there are actually people out there in the world that have never tried Socks That Rock! It has occured to me that the best way I can help Blue Moon, and the greater world at large, is to do my best to rectify this situation.

CALLING ALL STR VIRGINS!!! LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL ME WHY YOU NEED THIS YARN! ON SUNDAY JANUARY 14, I WILL CHOOSE, AT RANDOM, TEN LUCKY WINNERS AND THEY WILL RECEIVE A SKEIN OF SOCKS THAT ROCK. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. AND I'M GOING ON FAITH HERE THAT YOU'VE NEVER KNIT WITH STR!! But I have ways of finding out...mwahahahaha!

Go at it. Remember, you only pop that cherry once. Make it a good one!

ATTENTION VIRGINS!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!! I JUST HEARD FROM BLUE MOON AND YOU HAVE MADE THEM LAUGH SO HARD THAT THEY ARE MATCHING MY GIVEAWAY - WHICH MEANS TEN SKEINS FROM ME AND TEN SKEINS FROM BLUE MOON!!!! THAT'S TWENTY LUCKY VIRGINS! KEEP IT COMING!

MORE BREAKING NEWS!!!! BLUE MOON AND I HAVE DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT YOU'RE ALL ABSOLUTELY INSANE AND WE'VE UPPED THE PRIZES TO THIRTY SKEINS - 15 FROM ME, 15 FROM BLUE MOON. I'LL BE CLOSING THE COMMENTS AT AROUND 11AM EST - TODAY. AND LATER ON I'LL BE BACK TO ANNOUCE THE WINNERS! SERIOUSLY. YOU ALL NEED TO GET OUT MORE.

Posted by Cara at 07:50 AM | Comments (801)

December 31, 2006

Happy New Year!

We have winners!

I've emailed all the winners - so if your name is up there and you think you might be a winner, check your email (and your spam filters!) Email me your address and I'll get the prize out to you as soon I receive the yarn from Blue Moon.

There really were only six possible socks to choose from: the Trekking Walking on Sunshine Sock, the STR Hot Flash Jaywalker, STR Panzanite Jaywalker, the Koigu Embossed Leaves Sock and the Koigu Purple Knee High. And the last pair of socks knit in 2006 were...

My new shoes and my new socks!
Dansko Camilla in Black Oiled Leather

That's right - who knew I was so predictable? I started the year knitting jaywalkers and I ended the year knitting jaywalkers. Nothing like completing the circle.

Jaywalkers in STR Hot Flash, picot edge variation. I forgot how much I like to knit this sock - it goes SO quickly. This is my 10th finished pair of Jaywalkers. I still have a pair to finish - and maybe I'll make another pair, you know, to even things out. But not quite yet. I've started two new pairs of socks:

I hope you all have a happy, safe, wonderful New Year. Thank you so much for spending some of your time here. I really appreciate it and enjoy you and the blog and the larger knitting community so much. It's given great richness to my life. Here's to 2007! Bring it on!

Posted by Cara at 11:59 PM | Comments (40)

December 28, 2006

EXCLUSIVE! EXCLUSIVE! EXCLUSIVE!

That is until you see it somewhere else. Just remember where you saw it FIRST. (I joke! I'm joking my friends!)

Today is La's Birthday, so I thought I'd give some stuff away!!!

Introducing....drumroll please....

Two BRAND NEW COLORWAYS from Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock. THEY ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE until sometime in the New Year so please don't bother the Blue Moon folks. As soon are they are available, I will let you know. And the best part? Part of the proceeds from the sale of G-Rocks will go to fight Skin Cancer!!! [Ed note: this was my error. $2.00 per skein will go to fight Skin Cancer.] THANK YOU BLUE MOON! You know I love you! Again, these colors are not available to the public yet - when they are I will certainly let you know.

BUT!!

You can win them here. (You knew that was coming....)

You didn't think I was going to let the birthday pass without a giveaway did you? Silly, silly! Winners will receive one skein each of G-Rocks and January One (Lightweight Socks That Rock), one of my beloved Orange Chibis (god I love these needles so much!), a box of my Yarn Cards and three Mini-Soaks. I'm a complete Soak convert, so I thought I'd pass on the love.

How do you win? Here we go.

I'm currently knitting what will most likely be the last sock I knit this year. I want you to guess which sock I'm knitting. Here are the clues:

1) It is a MATE to a single sock already knit.
2) I may or may not have knit the first sock sometime this year.
3) It may or may not be a pattern I have knit before.
4) It may or may not be knit out of Socks That Rock.
5) All of the first socks have been featured on the blog, on my foot.
6) There are SIX possible socks that it could be.

But only one is the right answer. TELL ME THE PATTERN, YARN & COLORWAY IF APPLICABLE. Leave your guess in the comments. Comments will close on December 31, 10 AM EST. One guess per person. There will be SIX winners - the first three people to get the correct answer will win. Then three winners will be chosen at random. Winners will be announced at (or close to) December 31, 11:59 PM EST.

Happy Birthday TO ME!

Posted by Cara at 12:47 PM | Comments (241)

October 10, 2006

Haiku You, You Haikuing Haiku!!!

Please accept my apologies for announcing the Haiku Contest winners so late. But really - YOU try reading four hundred haikus. And THEN choosing winners. I blame no one but myself. And maybe Ann because I like to blame her for stuff.

RANDOM WINNERS:

FAILLE

boyfriend sweater, one
fantastic idea (not)
knit him socks instead

JODIE

Yarn Pirate Plunder
January One treasure
Sock wool for peg leg

(Jodie writes that she really does have a peg leg! So all you wanna be pirates beware. Jodie's the REAL DEAL! ;-) )

CHRIS

January One
warms the worm with hand knit socks
how fantastic dude

PEGERELLA

A worm is lucky.
Knit but one fantastic sock,
Whole body yarn fest

THE CHOSEN ONES

KATHY

Dude buys me some yarn
Hopes to get me in the sack
I knit socks and laugh

Kathy's haiku is by far my favorite. I just love that it tells a complete story - there's a conflict - motivation - an arc to it - character development - resolution. In three little lines. It's a perfect story and I'm utterly jealous that I didn't write it. WELL DONE Kathy. Extremely well done.

LISA

Pirate needs warm spot
To put his worm in winter
Maybe sock, or sheep.

DUDE! Don't tell me NOT to pick it and then give me this! Because really I'm PERVERSE at heart and I freaking love it. NOW TELL ME WHO YOU ARE?!?! LISA (IF THAT'S YOUR REAL NAME) LEAVE ME A COMMENT OR SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR ADDRESS. YOUR ANON EMAIL BOUNCED BACK.

ELLENE

Glad I'm not a worm.
No feet, no socks, no fingers.
Couldn't even knit.

The idea that worms can't knit was a popular one, but I like this the best because it's very sad for the worm. I mean, can you imagine if we couldn't knit?! And not knit socks?! Thank you Ellene.

ADELLE

[Ode to her lawn boy, who was the first boy she ever kissed]

Oh lawn boy, you worm
First kiss, drool fall(s) down my face
I sock the poor dude

LOVE THIS! Adelle uses all the correct words and yet the haiku has NOTHING to do with knitting, socks, yarn, etc! Excellent!



THE WORST HAIKU EVER
There was some stiff competition for this designation, but I'm proud to say the winner is:

MARY

January sock
One sheep on linoleum
"What the hell, Frankie!"

Surely there were haikus that were worse, you say. Well there was one about a toenail that made the worst cut, and one about the offspring of worms and sheep which...is that SHIT of some sort? And there were others that just didn't make any sense to me whatsoever, but Mary's haiku was intriguing to me in it's incomprehensibility. Is that a sheep in the kitchen? What's a January sock? And last, but not least, WHO THE HELL IS FRANKIE?

Okay. That's it. Nine winners. Thank you all for playing. I've learned a very valuable lesson here - I will never, ever, NEVER ask you to write haikus, or any poem for that matter, in order to win yarn again. But be prepared. I may ask you to write a song.

All winners will receive enough sock yarn for a pair of socks and an orange chibi.

HAPPY SOCKTOBERFEST!! I've listed some HONORABLE MENTIONS in the jump. ENJOY!!
L, C

HONORABLE MENTIONS!

ALLISON

i knit one wool sock
for a january worm
thought he might catch cold

MORGAN

Yarn is for babies
Only Pirates knit with worms
Fantastic worm socks

DEEPA

Wool sock on one foot
Second skein lies in basket
January blues.

AMANDA

Watch my flying foot,
with sock on, jet up your ass
if you steal my wool!

LARA

Pirate wonders: how
to knit wool socks with hook hand.
Maybe try crochet?

KATHY

Rocks fall on my feet,
The feet have no socks on them.
Help me, I'm bleeding.

GINA

My feet are not bare
Walking around in wool socks
I don't get hook worm

MOLLY

Dude knits in a tree
Pirate sneaks up behind him
A sock slowly falls

SARAHJANET

If worms could knit socks
They would only need the one.
Lucky bastard worms.

JASMINE

I knit a worm sock
It was not better than yarn
It wriggled away

DEANNE

Pirate dude knits socks,
Rogue wave sends the ship over rocks.
Yarn falls overboard.

RACHEL

Knit socks, too narrow--
Fantastic sweater, perhaps
for some lucky worm.

MICHELLE

The first fall freeze
Even the Junkie seems to want
warm socks for feet

MARY BETH

January one daughter
won't wear socks
More wool for me!

KIM P

Wal-Mart nylon sock
on my foot like dead worm, eeewww
oh sheep, bring me wool

KARRIE

Dude, my gauge is off.
Do you know if worms wear socks?
I knit a wee one.

SAVIDA

To knit my socks takes
One hundred skeins of Koigu.
Dude, my feet are huge.

RED HEAD SKY DIVER

Jets fall from the sky
Changed not only ways we fly
Knit socks gets me by

JUDY

A worm wears a sock
But an easy one for there
Is no heel turning!

KAT

jet stream brings cold south
socks knit in summer sun help
feet worm their way warm

BECCA

my one sock attempt
a fantastic tangled fest
damn center pull skein

THORNY

science fiction sheep
travel by woolly jump jets
in shiny rocket socks

BERNI

Clutching one old sock,
Tears fall. Nana's hands, still young,
Knit on, in my mind.

AMANDA

My son hates his socks
I knit one sock with wool, dude,
And one sock with worms!

JEANNE

I knit and I breath
Socks fall warm from my needles
My world is at peace

CRANKYGRRRRRL
Crankygrrrrrl's haiku kind of sucked, but I LOVED her limerick:

there once was a worm without feet
he would dream about wool and of sheep
read january one,
and said, "hey, look how fun,
to blog and to knit can't be beat!"

AMY

In January
One knit sock is still useful
For a chic streaker

JAN

Poor January One!
Sock haiku challenge rocks, but
Opens can of worms.

Jan says it all. Thanks again for playing. I'll be back on Friday. If you need me, check here.
SEE YA! WOULDN'T WANT TO BE YA!

Posted by Cara at 11:33 AM | Comments (27)

September 24, 2006

It's Not Over Until the Phat Haiku Sings.

And DAYUM she done sung. The Haiku contest is now closed. Thanks for playing - and for giving me something to do on my vacation next week. Winners will be announced at some point - maybe during the week, maybe not. We'll see. I have to figure out how many more prizes I can come up with. Seriously though - thanks for all the comments. I was worried for a minute that my blog might actually explode, but all seems okay (except, of course, for the ONGOING style sheet problems that just freaking KILL me.)

PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION IF YOU CAN:

If you have flown UNITED AIRLINES domestically within the United States (I'm flying NY to LA), since the whole liquid adventure in London, have you been able to take knitting needles - be specific if you can - on the plane without incident? I have flown American Airlines numerous times (as recently as two weeks ago) and have never had any trouble with my metal Addi Turbos - all sizes - but I've never flown United and I'm worried they will have a different policy. THANK YOU!

ETA: I'm fully aware that the TSA has a list of what can and cannot go on the plane - according to the TSA, knitting needles are allowed. I always print out the list from the website just in case. AIRLINES may decide indescrimately what can and cannot go on their planes, just as an overzealous TSA agent can tell you that you can't take on ABC. I'm looking for information on UNITED only. I've flown a million times with my knitting - as recently as two weeks ago - I just haven't flown United. Also, lately, I've had my bags checked at security and AGAIN at the gate. Primarily I think they're looking for liquids, but you never know. THANKS!

PS - I have 13 rows to go on Seraphim - three more for chart 3 and then the edging. I alternate between enough/not enough yarn about half way through each row. Fun times.

Posted by Cara at 12:24 AM | Comments (36)

September 23, 2006

Hara-kiri Haiku!

And here I thought I was being so damn smart to actually make you people work for the free stuff. Turns out I'm an ass because guess who has to read through all these haikus and pick the best? Thank god it's all subjective!!

THIS IS A REMINDER: for the three people left on the Internet who have NOT entered this contest, your Haikus are due in the comments of the previous entry by 11:59 PM EDT, September 23rd. I will be closing the comments at that time! ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. (If you left more than one, the first will be counted.) FOUR RANDOM WINNERS. Two more winners: one will win because I think it's the best and most creative and one will win because it makes me laugh my ass off - and I may add yet another winner - the one that is just beyond bad. I'm sorry - I praise you all for your creative talents - but some of you should stick with knitting. ;-)

For all of you coming by for the first time - WELCOME! And why thank you, yes, I took all the photographs in the header (and 99.9% of the photographs on the site in general.) And yes, I set up the site and banner myself. Thank you for coming by. Feel free to refresh as much as you'd like. I'm glad to have you!

Our plans have changed. I'm coming home tonight - Saturday - and instead of leaving Sunday for The Hamptons or Cape Cod we're going to California on Monday! HUGE trip change. Very last minute. I will hopefully announce the Haiku winner sometime next week. I won't be back until Sunday and then I'm off to Philly again to atone for my sins. I don't know about you, but I'm tired just thinking about it. (The traveling - not the sins.)

I've got 22 rows left in Seraphim and I'm desperate to finish it - I'm so worried I'm going to run out of yarn. But I don't think I'm going to be able to get it done before we leave. I might just take it with me and block it while I'm away. Maybe a special vacation photoshoot if all works out. No promises though.

I'm closing the comments on this post because I don't want anyone to leave any Haikus here - I'd like to keep them all in one place. I'm glad you're all having so much fun with it! THANK YOU!

Posted by Cara at 12:05 AM

September 19, 2006

Haiku! Bless you.

Feet get cold in Fall.
January One rocks socks.
Play to win YOUR pair!

Heh heh heh. I think I've out done myself with this one. Here it goes:

l to r: Lisa Souza SOCK! Merino in Peacock, Interlacements Toasty Toes color 409, Ellen's Half Pint Farm Merino/Nylon Sock Yarn, Three Waters Farm Superwash Merino in Aunt Maude's Mauve, Spirit Trail Fiberworks Sock Yarn Merino/Nylon, and Lisa Souza SOCK! Merino in Jonquil.

How to win: WRITE A HAIKU. But not just any haiku. YOU MUST USE AT LEAST THREE OF THE FOLLOWING WORDS IN YOUR HAIKU: january, one, rock(s), jet, fall, sheep, wool, feet (or foot), knit, yarn, pirate, fest, dude, fantastic, worm (that is WORM. With an O. My 5.5 yr old nephew gave me that one.) AND EVERY HAIKU MUST USE THE WORD SOCK. (So that means FOUR REQUIRED WORDS.)

Need to know HOW to write a Haiku? Check here and here.

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. LEAVE YOUR HAIKU IN THE COMMENTS. COMMENTS WILL CLOSE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th 23rd at 11:59 EDT. Winner will be announced sometime the following week.

There will be six winners. FOUR will be chosen at random from the entire group of entrants. TWO will be chosen by me - one because I think it's the best, most creative Haiku, and one because it makes Ann and I laugh for like a half an hour straight and we have to call each other a million times to laugh about it some more and then I tell my sister about it and we laugh our asses off and basically my day is made because you wrote a haiku. That one DEFINITELY wins. Each winner will receive one of the above sock yarns - enough yarn for a pair of socks - and an orange chibi. And maybe some candy for Halloween. If I'm feeling good that day.

Remember, you've got to be in it to win it! PLAY BALL!

PS - You guys are all nuts. I LOVE IT!!!!!

Posted by Cara at 05:38 PM | Comments (439)

September 03, 2006

Everyone is so untrue.

The kids and my sister are gone. HEJ's been home for a few days now. It's just G and me. It's GREAT having company, but it's also nice to be alone. ;-)

First of all, DAYUM that's a lot of lurker love!!! Where the hell are all you people on the boring days, like when I'm not giving away free stuff? Right here and right now I'm declaring that each and every one of you lurkers must choose a day of the week to DELURK. Pick Monday. Or WTF Wednesday. I don't care but ONCE a week you MUST make yourself known. Seriously. Don't be a stranger. I want to know everything there is to know about you. In a good way.

Okay. Here's the lowdown on the LIES. Honestly, I'm a terrible liar. I've got like Truth Disease or something because when I try to lie I get all fidgety and twitchy and start dancing around like a have to pee. It's the truth. I swear.

1) Once upon a time, we were invited to spend July 4th weekend in London, England. The trip included flying there and back on the Concorde (DUDE I saw SPACE!) and seeing The Three Tenors at Wembley Stadium. We had crappy seats at Wembley (although they ended up being good when it started to pour half way through the show and we were under the tin roof) and the sound was totally off so the Tenors sang and we heard it a week later. On the way back to the hotel from the Stadium, we were sort of car jacked. A man walked up to the car and opened the back door (I was in the middle between G and a woman who worked for British Airways) and the man tried to take her purse. I screamed at G to get out of the car get out of the car but he couldn't figure out how to open the door. Meanwhile the woman sitting next to me was totally fighting with the would be robber and managed to save her purse at the expense of her Rolex. Her husband, who was sitting in the front seat with the driver, ran after the theif. G ran after the husband. I stood in the middle of the road in a foreign country screaming, "Come back. Come back."

ALL TRUE. First and only time I've been to London. The Concorde was COOL as SHIT but loud. Very loud. You do get a five course meal though so it kind of makes up for it. And they give you swag. Lots of swag with like a certificate signed by the pilot that says YO! I flew the CONCORDE. Otherwise the trip kind of sucked in a not so funny I freak out anytime anyone walks up to my car even ten years later kind of way. Scary shit. It's always been my theory that the car service driver was totally in on the whole thing. He was a little too reluctant to take us to the bobby stand. (WHOA! First time I ever wanted a cop to have a gun. I so did NOT feel safe.)

2) G won an all expense paid trip to Maui, first class - super deluxe suite at the Four Seasons - by winning a tennis tournament for travel managers. I woke up the morning of our flight with a killer sore throat and ended up being sick pretty much the whole trip. Which was fine with me because hallucinating in paradise is kind of fun. The first two days I barely got out of bed, watching the birds chirp along the lanai trailing rainbows behind their feathered asses. The room, if you could call it that, had two separate entrances, two bathrooms, two kitchens and a wrap around balcony bigger than my apartment. When I finally ventured out of the hotel I ran into David Spade at the restaurant near the pool. It was all I could do to keep my breakfast down.

ALL TRUE. I was sick as a dog and the "room" was bigger than my own apartment, which is pretty big. And I didn't hang out with David Spade who I think is kind of gross and squirrley and not really funny at all, but he did sit at the table next to us at breakfast and we did see him around the resort while we were there.

3) One of the first trips G and I ever took was to the Balearic Islands in Spain. We hit Mallorca and then Ibiza - land of house music - and had a fabulous European vacation. That was until I decided to go topless and ended up with a hideous ITCHFEST all across my chest. The hostel we were staying in had no air conditioning and I was in agony, begging to cut the vacation short.

ALL TRUE. I was so totally in Ibiza - one of the most beautiful, crazy, fascinating places I've ever been and I would go back in a heartbeat. And I totally layed out topless (I was 21 and had the bod for it) and would do it again in a heartbeat (only this time with A TON of 45 sunscreen.) And I got an awful rash and begged to go home. And that's where the truth ends and the truthiness begins.

There was no well intentioned stranger in the pharmacy. We did head up to visit Hotel Hacienda and witness the GINORMOUS shrimp they had at the buffett, but alas we didn't stay there. Although we've always said we'd go back. There was actual talk of getting married there. We went with Vermont instead.

So, all you smarty pants that picked number 3, you were in the pot to win this:

I've got some extremely exciting stuff coming up for you this week. A new pair of KNEE HIGHS!!!! Now before you get all oh my god she's crazy with the freaking knee highs - I swear to you this is the prettiest pair of knee highs you've ever seen. One word: Koigu. AND!!!! I can barely contain my excitement. MY FIRST STASH SALE!!! Coming in a couple of days. I promise to give fair warning when it comes. I'm putting up some really beautiful stuff that sadly I just know I will never ever knit. Something for everyone.

Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.

Posted by Cara at 02:44 PM | Comments (35)

June 20, 2006

BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCE!

First things first. With friends like this, who needs enemies? AND she told me to take a hot shower which is like the kiss of freaking death when you've been exposed to poison ivy. She's trying to kill me and I think she's actually enjoying herself. Bottom line. If that patch in the picture was/is poison ivy, I'd say I'm fairly fucked. I didn't walk into it or anything, but I did try to place a square on top of it for a picture - didn't work out though so it was quickly off the leaves. Yeah. Now I'm knitting a small pox blanket. Terrific. Apparently this shit could erupt on my skin anytime between the next ten minutes and two weeks from now. It's like I've got bugs crawling on me. I itch EVERYWHERE. If you should happen to see me this weekend, oh say, at like an event in Central Park, and I'm covered in oozing pus filled sores, please note that I'm not contagious. And don't use Ann's wheel or anything. I'm just saying.

Let's move on to happier things, okay? Because today is BRUCE DAY!!!!! That's right baby! IT'S A REUNION! And in honor of the day I'm having a BRUCE CONTEST!

Here's a quiz! ETA: THE QUIZ IS FIXED. PLEASE DON'T TAKE IT AGAIN IF YOU'VE ALREADY TAKEN IT. THANK YOU. Take it and everyone who scores 50% or better will be put into a random drawing for the following prizes*:

The Essential Bruce Springsteen
Prove It All Night STR
My favorite bootleg recording of Prove It

Thank you for all your lovely comments about my (poisonous) green squares. Each square roughly measures about 10"x10/5". So I'm guessing the blanket will be somewhere around 30"x40". I haven't completely decided on the layout yet - and for sure I will tell you all about the seaming.

Oh yeah and WE BROKE THE $10K MARK! Gobsmacked. That's what I am. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

* Ann, my love, you are so totally NOT ELIGIBLE to win.

Posted by Cara at 10:44 AM | Comments (47)

June 01, 2006

Ombre, my Hombre!

Before I get down to today's business, a poetic interlude:

Uh oh Spaghetti-O!
Filled me with your orangey seed
and now meatballs in nine!

Never say I back down from a challenge.

I am FINALLY getting around to picking finalists for the Ombre Contest! FINALLY! You'd given up on me hadn't you? I'm so sorry it took me so long. It's not over yet because Ann and Kay still have to pick a winner, but these are the finalists:

Oops, [H]ombre! by Kathy
Shattered eggshell, yolk yellow, and gritty floor gray....

Junk Yard Ombre by Dave
Rusty brown, moldy green, seagull poo white (why do seagulls go to junk yards?) and a smoldering ashy grey.

Candle Ombre by Meghan
dancing dark brown, melted cream, tarnishing beige, and glimmering gold make for a lovely Candle Ombre.

New Baby Girl Ombre by Nichole
baby pink, soft, bright blue (the color of her eyes), pale yellow (like her soft little tufts of hair), and some white (for the spit-up). I love being a mom!

Cucombre by Liz in Nowhere PA
Dark green skin, light green flesh, studded with white seeds.

A Very Brady Ombre (or "Groovy Ombre") by PBnJ
Avocado Green, Burnt Orange, Harvest Gold, and "Paneling Brown."

The Drunken Ombre by Kristina
A little black, a little blue, some puke pinkish/brown, and some green to represent the giant lizard that was staring at me when I passed out the last night on my Cancun Spring Break.

MOMBRE! by Anne Margaret
A hit of dried spinach (green), a heavy streak of milk (white), a sprinkling of Cheeto crumbs (orange), completed with a Kool Aid (red) overtone rinse. This is either the floor under our kitchen table or a new yarn color (with a nod to all moms out there cleaning up after their kids.)

"Goin' My Way, Ombre?" by Heather
Is a seductive selections of scarlets, blushes, and bad-eyeshadow-blue.

And last but not least, in honor of today's date:

Hurricane Ombre by Carol
Imagine every color there is outside blowing by at 150 mph.

Thank you all for participating! It was great fun going through all of them - you guys are WAY creative. The winner will be announced as soon as those MDK girls get back to me. Thanks all for your kind words about the car as well. And yeah - I'm catching lots of shit on the automatic purchase. Sure the manual's faster, but DUDE! Faster is NOT what I need. Not to mention that I can't drive a stick and that with G's hip and knee problems it's just not practical. Especially since a lot of our driving is stop and go in the city.

Yesterday was family day - I spoke to every member of my immediate family - which is kind of rare - and most of them I spoke to multiple times. I think my sister and I talked like fifty-seven times. At one point the phone was ringing every five minutes. I folded clothes for like two hours yesterday in preparation for my baby sister - today is her first day on the new job! YAY! It's her first grown-up real world job and it's perfect for her and I hope she loves it. She's moving up near me so that will be nice but she hasn't moved yet - so she stayed here last night and tonight. I drove her to the train this morning all first day of school like. She's twelve years younger than I am so she's still a baby to me.

No knitting. No spinning. No nothing. Hopefully tonight though.
Thanks so much!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 04:02 PM | Comments (8)

May 09, 2006

Vociferous Mammals Are Xenophobic Carnivores

Let's get the business out of the way first. I honestly doubt I'll be returning to Maryland Sheep & Wool. I'll tell you why. Last year was the first year I went, and it was the first fiber festival I'd ever attended and it was the biggest gathering of bloggers I'd ever seen. To say it was overwhelming would be putting it mildly, of course, and I managed to spend an exorbitant amount of money on yarn I've yet to use. NONE OF IT. I had a great time. A GREAT time. Such a great time I couldn't wait for Rhinebeck in the Fall. By October I had met and made some pretty significant relationships with other bloggers and Rhinebeck was going to be ALL about the people. And it was. That and sock yarn. ;-) It was one of the best weekends I've ever had. Then I bought a wheel and Maryland was coming and I thought how can I miss the most significant fiber festival around right after I bought my wheel? I couldn't get anybody to go with me, so G stepped up to the plate to take me and honestly? I was disappointed. NOT IN THE PEOPLE! THE PEOPLE WERE AMAZING as usual. (And not with my husband. He's always the best.) But everything else? Fell sort of flat for me. I really didn't buy any yarn - one skein of sock yarn and two skeins for a blog contest (it's coming, it's coming!) and the rest fiber. The two things I really wanted - a stool for my wheel and a niddy noddy - I couldn't really find. The hordes of people were overwhelming to say the least. You could barely make it through the barns during the thick of it and I don't know - it just wasn't all that fun. By around 12:30 I was hot and tired and hungry and had bought all I was going to buy. Maybe if I had stayed the weekend I would've paced myself better, but I had to leave Saturday at close, so I got it all done in a hurry. Once I ate I felt better (two words: PIT LAMB), but there's too much to do and too many people to see and you get all discomboobulated. If I was cranky or called you by the wrong name or seemed completely out of it, I'm sorry!

Seeing friends and meeting new people was a blast, as always. The blogger meet-up was a HUGE success - at one point I was standing sort of at the bottom of the hill looking up at all the crazy blogger madness and it was really very amazing. We've got a great community here and when we come together we can do amazing things (have you seen Claudia's new goal? Amaze me!) I was so glad to meet all the new faces and readers and there were many people I missed or didn't get to spend a lot of time with or was too shy to say hi too. Thanks so much to everyone who commented on the shawl! Especially all of you who went out of your way to say nice things while I was walking around the barns. Way to make a girl and her shawl feel special!

I did not bring my camera. Georgie brought it for me at the end of the day when he came to pick me up but I was tired and a bit headachy by then and a big ass sheep sneezed on us (G said he spit, but I'd like to think it was a sneeze) which was kind of gross so we had some funnel cake and went home. Taking pictures is a very serious endeavor for me and I can't really do it half assed and I wanted to have fun not work so I didn't bring a camera. I'm not good at snapshots. But there were cameras a flashing and I'm going to keep the sidebar up at least until the end of the week so I encourage you to visit the blogs on the list - I'm sure you'll find a picture on one of them!

Do I sound like I'm complaining? I'm not complaining. I'm really glad I went and I really think I would've regretted it had I not gone. But I'm nothing if not honest and the whole thing kind of tired me out. Maybe because I shopped a lot? You be the judge....

They don't call it a fiber fest for nothing!

Okay - I've saved the absolute BEST for last. My beyond favorite thing I got at Maryland I didn't buy. It's priceless though. I've got a super special place in my heart for Rock Chick - I mean that girl is about as obsessed with her band as I am with my boy. So it was only fitting that she gave me this:

I think it's only fitting that I give some stuff away, don't you? Are you ready for the contest? There will be TWO winners and here's what you'll get:

How do you win you ask? It's easy!

Posted by Cara at 07:05 AM | Comments (155)

April 07, 2006

B-19

BINGO! We have some winners!

First, the winner of the Ghost Story contest is:

And the winners of the Mason Dixon contest are:

Thanks everyone for playing! Tune in for next week's contest: Guess how much toilet paper is in my house RIGHT NOW?!

Posted by Cara at 06:33 PM | Comments (14)

April 05, 2006

Get Yer Own!

Since I've got the luxury of hanging with the MDK girls FOUR nights in a row, and I know some of you won't have that priviledge, I'm giving away a TWO SIGNED copy COPIES of their TOME!

Posted by Cara at 09:42 AM | Comments (199)

January 16, 2006

WHOA NELLY!

Did you see 24 last night?!?! HOLY CRAP! G and I are still talking about LAST season, which we thought was right up there with the first season. And maybe the second. The third was a little weak, but OHMYFUCK! This one is shaping up just fine, and we're only two hours in! As long as I still got my soul patch, I'm good. G, of course, has the man crush on Jack, but I'm all over Tony A. I'm thinking of getting G one of these t-shirts. What do you think?

In other news, are you a sky watcher? I am!

Thanks for all the offers of help with the Jaywalker KAL. I didn't mean to sound as if I was complaining about the updates, I'm really not, I was just saying that with the amount of people involved, it's not really feasible to do the funny epic updates I was doing. I really like going through all the blogs - I've made some new friends that way, really, and it's great seeing what everyone is up to. I honestly thought about doing a separate blog for jaywalkers - I've already got one set up for CIT, and I've been involved in KALs like that before, but I wanted to keep track of this one myself for the giveaway. There are rules I've asked participants to comply to in order to be entered in the drawing and I want to be able to keep on top of that. Maybe after Feb 14th I'll set up another blog, but for now, I'm good. Thanks again though for all the suggestions.

I've had a pretty productive weekend, including a nice outing with Jen yesterday, replete with KILLER BIRDS, but that's for tomorrow's post. (Jen, thank god you were there - I don't think ANYONE would believe me if you hadn't been there. It really happened right?) In the meantime, I can't stop giving stuff away.

Posted by Cara at 09:43 AM | Comments (56)

December 31, 2005

Showcase #5 - GRAND FINALE!!!

Are you ready?! I can't hear you...ARE YOU READY?! This is going to be so spectacular! I hope you LOVE it as much as I do. But first, head on over and CONGRATULATE

Okay Johnny! I think the people are ready! Show them SHOWCASE #5!

Now, these new colorways are really something special. Let me start with the one that REALLY, REALLY ROCKS!

PROVE IT ALL NIGHT

Next up two AMAZING colorways:

ROLLING STONE

PHILOSOPHER'S STONE

Gorgeous! All of them! BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! Turns out, Blue Moon, the fabu team behind STR, has like a bazillion other yarns in their arsenal. When I was ordering the yarn for the contest, I ordered a kit they had which I hope you like:

KID MO in LAPIS

BUT THERE'S MORE! (I swear - there are no ginzu steak knives in this prize package!)

Here it is all together:

Now. How do you win? Each week the questions have gotten harder and harder and I've made you search longer to find out all of these inane facts about me. This week will be no different. In fact, this week will be the hardest question of all. In order to win the fabulous prize package shown above you need to:

LEAVE ME A COMMENT WITH YOUR GUESS. Right or wrong, they all get entered! COMMENTS WILL CLOSE AT 11:59PM EST JANUARY TWO 2006. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED TUESDAY JANUARY THREE 2006. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. WINNER WILL BE SELECTED AT RANDOM.

I'll give you a couple of clues. The box is pretty dang heavy. When you shake it, something is kind of loose, but not loose enough, say, to be a case of Junior Caramels. AND BE VERY WARY OF MARGENE. Her evilness is documented. She WILL try to throw you off. I can guarantee it.

Thank you everyone for helping me end the year on such a high note. I've really enjoyed these contests, and I hope you have too. There's nothing like getting everyone in on the act of celebrating your birthday! And thank you all for reading my blog - it's nice to know you all enjoy it - and not just when I'm giving stuff away! ;-)

Now go out there and have a GREAT NEW YEAR'S EVE! Be CAREFUL! Be SAFE! Have FUN! See you on the flip side!

L, C

Posted by Cara at 11:58 AM | Comments (199)

December 24, 2005

Showcase #4

Here we are again! I especially like this week's give-a-way. I hope you do too. A little background first:

A few years ago I put on a solo photography show at my local library (where I am currently persona non grata - long story....) I called it Summer In Winter and it featured my botanical photography. You can see the set up here. It was a HUGE accomplishment - I put it all together my self - frames, postcards, picture hanging (well - G helped with that) - everything! It ran for a month through January and February. One of the pictures featured in the exhibit was this one:

Sunny Side Left

Did I forget to tell you what you'll win? I did, didn't I. Here goes:

It's SUMMER IN WINTER all over again! Flowers galore. In this prize package, you have enough Wool of the Andes yarn and the patterns to make the following flowers: Daffodil, Iris, Tulip and Calla Lily all from Pick-Up Sticks! The yarn included is as follows: Cherry Blossom (2), Violet (1), Tulip (1), Blue Bonnet (1), Daffodil (2), Cloud (1), and Grass (3). I'm also including a Lantern Moon project bag, and these super cute summery stitch markers:

Here's how to enter this week:
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE EMAILED TO s4 AT januaryone DOT com. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. ANY ANSWERS LEFT IN THE COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED AND DISQUALIFIED. CONTEST ENDS AT 8PM EST FRIDAY 12/30/05. ANY ANSWER RECEIVED AFTER THAT WILL BE DELETED. THE WINNER WILL BE PICKED AT RANDOM FROM CORRECT ENTRIES. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON SATURDAY, 12/31/05. GOOD LUCK!

Have a wonderful weekend whether you're celebrating something or not!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 10:30 AM | Comments (3)

December 17, 2005

Showcase #3

It's that time again, folks! TIME TO WIN! This week will definitely be tough, but I think it's worth it. Here's what we're playing for:

Also in the package are these amazing Japanese figures - PERFECT for stitch markers! I picked them up while I was out and about with the girls.

Okay. The moment you've all be waiting for - this week's question.

I have published FOUR SHORT STORIES (one has been published twice - so FIVE publications.)

Here's how to enter:
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE EMAILED TO s3 AT januaryone DOT com. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. ANY ANSWERS LEFT IN THE COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED AND DISQUALIFIED. CONTEST ENDS AT 8PM EST MONDAY 12/19/05. ANY ANSWER RECEIVED AFTER THAT WILL BE DELETED. THE WINNER WILL BE PICKED AT RANDOM FROM CORRECT ENTRIES. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY, 12/20/05. GOOD LUCK!

Things are going well here in Philly. My dad seems to be doing okay (thanks for all your good wishes) and it's been nice to spend time with the kids and my sisters, as always. I'm coming back home later on today - I'm in package mode now. All the processing has been done and it's time to send everything out. Fedex is my friend. That's my mantra from now until 12/26.

I've been knitting a little bit - I'm hoping for a finished sock by the end of the weekend. And maybe a finished mitten if I'm a good girl and make lots of progress with my work. Soon. I'll be able to relax soon.

Thanks for all the book ideas! WOW! What a great thread! I have to say, I was really suprised to see that I have read most of the books listed - well - okay - A LOT of the books listed. I'm not doing as bad as I thought. I used to be known among my writing friends (and most everyone else I know) as being extremely well read. I've been feeling not so well read, although I'm feeling a bit better. I'm thinking that The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and East of Eden are at the top of my list. Also, it's almost time for my birthday book, so that might be the top option. Thanks again!

Don't forget! You've got to be IN IT to WIN IT! Have fun!

Posted by Cara at 12:01 AM | Comments (8)

December 13, 2005

Hi. Nice to meet you!

WOW! Even with the hard(er) question and the email, you people really come out for a contest! Nice to meet all the newbies, hope you stick around! The answer, which almost all of you got, was PURLS OF WISDOM. Silly and pretentions and I changed it after a month or two. The funniest answer I received was from Mrs. Pilkington. She told me she thought it was Purls of Wisdom, but she wasn't sure. WASN'T SURE?! As of yesterday, she still HAD A LINK TO IT ON HER BLOG!! ;-) I think she's since taken it down. Love you Missus P!

Anyway, I know you're not all hanging around to hear me blab. You want to know if you won. I'd want to know too, and since I'm too tired and overworked and anxious today to make you wait, I'll just give you the winner. Right now. No. Now. Okay. NOW!

Work continues apace. I fear if I slow down I'll never get back up to speed. There's still A LOT to get done. So much I haven't knit for TWO WHOLE DAYS! I know. I'm really feeling it too. I'm anxious. Disjointed. Out of sorts. All because I haven't been knitting. It's hell I tell you. Tonight. Tonight I knit if it kills me.

Since I've got nothing else to report, I'll be going now. I miss you all. I feel very unconnected to so many things these days: my blog. My husband. MY LIFE! Better days ahead! I can see the light!

Posted by Cara at 10:31 AM | Comments (12)

December 10, 2005

Showcase #2

Hello everybody! Welcome to today's show. Hope you're having a good day. Staying warm, or cool, depending where you are. Smile on your face. Spring in your step.

Johnny, why don't you tell the people what they're playing for!
Sounds good Bob. Heeeeeeereeeee's SHOWCASE #2:

First up, you've got

THREE SKEINS OF MANOS DEL URUGUAY
#114 - BRAMBLE

Next we have some wonderful Snowflake Bath Confetti in a vanilla bean and some Pine Tree Bath Confetti in a refreshing berry pine scent. Bob, throw some flakes in a warm bath, lay back with a nice hot toddy and Calgon! Take me away!

But wait! There's more!

And finally, we've got a Lantern Moon project bag and of course, sheepy or flower cards. Winner's Choice!

Thanks Johnny! Now here's how you play. Answer the following question:

That's right folks. This here blog had a DIFFERENT NAME when I first started it up. What was that name?

Now, here are the directions on how to answer:

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE EMAILED TO showcase2 AT januaryone DOT com. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. ANY ANSWERS LEFT IN THE COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED AND DISQUALIFIED. CONTEST ENDS AT 8PM EST MONDAY 12/12/05. ANY ANSWER RECEIVED AFTER THAT WILL BE DELETED. THE WINNER WILL BE PICKED AT RANDOM FROM CORRECT ENTRIES. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY, 12/13/05. GOOD LUCK!

Ready. Set. GO!

Posted by Cara at 12:22 AM | Comments (22)

December 06, 2005

You're ALL Winners in My Book!

Have you been sitting on the edge of your seat? I'm posting a bit later today - am I driving you crazy? First off, thanks everyone for coming out to play. This one was a gift (well they're all technically gifts, but I'm going to make you work a little harder next time.) First, Bob, let's review Showcase #1:

We've got two skeins (450yds total) of SOCKS THAT ROCK in the Pebbles colorway, a Lantern Moon project bag, a glow in the dark sheepy (ask Margene - she'll tell you - it REALLY glows in the dark) and some super cute sheepy earrings/stitch markers. (They will be real easy to make into stitch markers - just add a jump ring instead of a hook.) Oh and some sheep cards or flower cards, depending on what the winner wants. I had to order new stock, so no pictures right now.

And there you go Bob. Showcase #1. Thanks Johnny. We'll be back to annouce the winner after this short commercial break.

La la la la la. Hey - want to see something funny? While I was out with my peeps on Saturday, G tried to do some home repair. Thanks honey! When I came home he pulled me into the den/guest room/work out room and showed me this:

HA ha ha Johnny. And I said to the cat - don't worry, I've been spayed! Ha ha ha - oh we're back on the air? Let's review. That's two skeins STR. One Lantern Moon bag. Glow in the dark Sheep. And Sheepy earrings/stitch markers.

Congratulations Nathania! Send me your address and the prize will go out in a bit. Tune in next Saturday, for more fabulous games and prizes!

Thanks for all the kind comments about my appointment yesterday. It went okay - my doctor is a sympathetic person - she just can't wrap her head around why someone - who's gone through all that we've had - would stop things at the final stage. And I can't help her understand because I'm not sure I understand myself. It is what it is. I needed the pap and that's done. Everything else is good. Although I'm a little bit pissed that she now considers me high risk - meaning I pumped myself full of all those drugs and hormones and to quote her "we don't know what that stuff does to you" so she puts me in the high risk category. For cancer I guess or anything else that's out of the ordinary. I understand being proactive, but I think that's a little bit too much. Put together with my family history, I'm probably no more at risk than someone who took birth control pills for ten years or something - and I know plenty of people like that. Whatever. I may not go back to her. We'll see. I do need a baseline mammogram. Guess I'm really getting old, huh. Edited to clarify: I've been going to my doctor for years, and for years I LOVED her. She was very proactive with my infertility testing when other doctors would have poopooed me and pointed me back to the bedroom. I understand that she can't understand - and I feel for her. She wants to help me and she doesn't know how besides to say go and get pregnant. And to a certain extent she's right. A lot of my issues are MY issues. I may search out another doctor, but this is a complex situation and even the most compassionate of people can get very confused. I appreciate your good thoughts. Thank you.

I was up really late last night - no knitting involved. But I got A LOT of picture work done and I can barely see the light at the end of the tunnel - it's there - however dim. Back to the grind. Thanks everyone for playing!!!!

Posted by Cara at 11:00 AM | Comments (14)

December 03, 2005

Showcase #1

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES...C'MON!

It's time for our first SHOWCASE! As you know, every Saturday between now and my birthday I will be giving away some wonderful prizes, all in celebration of BIRTHDAY MONTH! Each week you will have to answer a question that relates to MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME (c'mon - it's all about ME!) and each correct answer in the comments will be eligible for the random drawing on Monday night. Contest winners will be announced on Tuesday morning.

Alright JOHNNY! Tell the people what they'll win!

But, BOB, that's not all!

Today I will be out galavanting with some mighty cool chicks. Rumor has it there will be shopping involved. I will be adding to the prize package - maybe I will update, maybe I will SURPRISE your ass. But however it goes, you got to be in it TO WIN IT! Here's this week's question:

All correct answers in the comments please will be eligible to win! The answer is buried deep in the blog. Look hard, little grasshopper! ;-)

And the retail value on this particular showcase is....PRICELESS! (It's YARN people - isn't all yarn priceless?)

Ready, set, go!

PS - When you're done guessing here - go on over to Larissa's and help a girl out. She wants you to take a survey and be eligible to WIN MORE PRIZES!

Posted by Cara at 08:47 AM | Comments (158)

October 11, 2005

Clean Feet

for Mim!

Fresh out of the shower! Happy Blogiversary Mim! Mim is asking for pictures of feet for a contest - go enter - you have until Midnight tonight. (But Katy, please refrain from showing your freaky bumpless feet yet again!)

Now yesterday, buried among the Junior Caramel accolades and AEC woes, was a contest of my own. Barbara was my 3000th comment! YAY! She will get an extra special something from Rhinebeck. My own blogiversary is this month - so expect another contest toward that day, which I think is somewhere around the last week.

I woke up yesterday morning - I don't know what time - to find that sometime in the night the power went off. My husband has a thing about time - not being early or anything - in fact he's frequently late - he just has a thing about clocks and time. All the clocks in our house (of which there are many) are set to atomic time or nuclear time or whatever kind of time is the most accurate BEST time. So when the power goes out and the clocks all over the house are blinking, G can go a little bit nutty. But of course this was discovered in the morning and things were already a bit hectic (read late for work) so he didn't fix any of the clocks. I'm a bit reluctant to fix them myself because god forbid I don't set them right, but I couldn't stand the blinking.

Last night I was in bed finishing up the buttonhole band on AEC when all of a sudden everything flashes off. I'm sitting in the dark. Georgie and I call to each other in the apartment - he's cursing up a storm because he had just spent an hour on the computer and lost everything - and he just finished FIXING ALL THE CLOCKS!!!!! It was about 11:30 I think. I finished up the button hole by flashlight and lemon verbena candlelight. It doesn't matter though - it needs to be ripped. The button holes are too big. I started with four stitches, went to six, ended up with five. They need to be four. They should be a bit tight right? Anyway, back to the clocks. We went to sleep eventually - isn't it funny how quiet things are with no electricity? - and when we woke up the power was back and the CLOCKS ARE ALL BLINKING AGAIN! So distracting.

As soon as I finish this, I'm going to put on my gas mask, spray every surface of my house with Tilex, and rip and finish my button hole band. Then sew on the sleeve. Question - what's the best thread to use to sew on buttons - regular sewing thread is too thin right? Do you need something like needlepoint thread? The yarn is too thick I think, unless I find one of those really thin pieces.

Before I forget!

Love,
Sistah C

Posted by Cara at 09:40 AM | Comments (10)

August 26, 2005

Laugh Riot!

Thanks everyone for leaving me so many awesome jokes. It was great fun reading all of them - I laughed out loud, I scratched my head, I had a couple ewww moments - but all and all I had fun!

Without further ado - we have a winner!

Tiffany's joke was:

The momma and daddy tomato were out for a nice walk with their baby. The farther they walked along the further the baby tomato would fall back. The momma tomato called out to her baby "Come along little one!", even so he kept falling behind. The father called back sternly "Hurry up, lets get going!!", and he fell back even further. Finally the momma tomato became fed up and walked all the way back to the baby tomato and stomped her foot down and yelled "KETCHUP!!!"

I love it! Tiffany will receive the Jamieson & Smith yarn and some sheepy or flower cards. And a little goofy something else.

The funniest joke prize goes to Jody. My sister kept track of the jokes with me and we both agreed that her joke was the funniest, smartest, and all around just a great joke. We laughed every time we told it to anyone that would listen. What's the joke you ask?

A chicken and an egg are laying in bed together. The chicken rolls over, lights a cigarette, turns to the egg and says "Well, I guess we answered that question."

LOL! Excellent! I haven't gotten tired of it yet! Jody - you will receive sheepy or flower cards and something else goofy.

Girls - email me your addresses!
Thanks again for playing and have a great, laugh riot weekend!

Posted by Cara at 10:12 PM | Comments (7)

August 23, 2005

Laugh-In

If you're American when you go in the bathroom, and you're American when you leave the bathroom, what are you when you're IN the bathroom?

European!

It's so good it's worth repeating. Lord knows I need some cheering up these days - and I know I'm not the only one - so tell me a joke!

This ain't no kids site, so make it bawdy, make it silly, make it stupid, make it witty, make it BAD, but whatever you do MAKE IT FUNNY!

Leave me a joke in the comments and I'll put your name in the hat for this:

That's 4oz. of Jamieson & Smith 2-ply jumper-weight in Cream - perfect for that End-of-Summer-of-Lace pattern! Oh yeah and you'll get some sheepy or flower cards, whichever you prefer. Or both if you want. And maybe some other goofy prize. We'll see how funny you are.

Feel free to leave as many comments as you want, but I'm only going to enter your name once. I'll close the contest Friday night.

ETA: I've also decided to give a runner-up prize (photocards and a little goofy something) to the commenter who tells me what I consider the BEST joke of the bunch. So GET FUNNY!

A guy walks into a bar and asks the bartender if he will give him a free drink if he would show him something truly amazing...

The guy replies, " Do you really think I wished for a 12 inch pianist?"´

Posted by Cara at 06:06 PM | Comments (64)

July 05, 2005

I'll LOVE You With All the Madness In My Soul!*

OH MY GOD! You guys are incredible. I'm LOVING all the LOVE SONGS! What fun I had this weekend. Seriously - some I haven't thought of in a while - some I just adore - some I need to try out. So great. But without further ado, the winner of The Summer of HATE LOVE LACE contest is:

I'd love to send a couple of other PhotoArtCard packages out too - first to Louise, who was the 1776th comment on my blog (she chose Blue Velvet as her lovesong)! It seems fitting that she should get a prize this Fourth of July weekend. Sheepy cards for you! And also for Anne, who chose Silhouettes On the Shade. (Click on the link to HEAR this great song!) Unbeknownst to Anne, that is one of my all time favorite songs. My daddy sang that to us when we were little - all the time! When I told my sister someone had put it on the blog, she said, well you have to send them something! My dad came to visit this weekend too and he got a good laugh out of it as well. Thanks Anne! Sheepy cards for you! (PS - Do you know your domain isn't working? Hope you get it fixed soon!)

Thanks everyone for playing. I'm going to open the comments back up - so feel free to keep adding your love songs. I thought of a couple more I love: As by Stevie Wonder and Lovely Day by Bill Withers and Dancing in the Moonlight by Thin Lizzy. UGH! I could go on and on and on and on! I LOVE me a GOOD LOVE SONG!

The weekend was crazy - as expected. There was some of this:

The Carousel at Van Saun Park

And some of this:

Blankie/Pacie, Uncle Georgie's shades and my Dora bikini!
Ah! This is the life!

And A LOT of this:

Chunkilicious Laughing it UP!

Today we had this:

And let me tell you, them leaving me is a HELL of a lot harder than my leaving them! I was so sad I may have shed a tear or two. Sure my house has been turned upside down! Sure I've got a ton of laundry to do! Sure I didn't touch the knitting AT ALL since Thursday (I think I've been knitting in my sleep though!) But what's better than little Charlotte walking around saying "Cara's house! We're at Cara's house!" Or Max and Georgie swimming together and just hanging out. Or Baby Eli, so, so deliciously fat laughing and laughing and laughing! Nothing. There's nothing better. My house is suddenly very, very quiet. I will be happy when G comes home tonight - I have missed him. Not much quiet time with three kids wreaking delightful havoc!

I've got to get a job out - so I have to dash. And I still need to get through two repeats and the border on the FBS. I'm dying to start my SockaPal2Za socks as well. Thank you again for all your comments and especially all the compliments on FBS. Can't wait to show you a finished project!

Have a great back to real life day. I'm not sure I'm ready for it!
L, C

* Possibly my favorite Bruce lyric EVER. From Born to Run. Definitely a LOVE SONG!

Posted by Cara at 01:10 AM | Comments (11)

July 01, 2005

Summer of Hate Love Lace

In honor of the fact that I only have two more repeats and the edging on my Flower Basket Shawl (which unfortunately will have to wait until after the weekend - I doubt my niece and nephews will let me get in any knitting) I'm giving away some beautiful Zephyr Wool-Silk!

Jagger Spun Zephyr Wool Silk
50% Wool, 50% Tussah Silk
1260 Yards (enough for a large Flower Basket)
Color: Iris

Okay - here's what you need to do to win this yarn. Since I'm all about the love...

I'll start you off with some of my favorites:

The Very Thought of You
Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
Prove it All Night
Drive All Night
For You

You get the picture. And if you want, I'll throw in some cards - sheep or flowers. Or both. Have fun! Can't wait to see what you come up with - I'm a sucker for a love song.

Have a great weekend everyone - hope I come back with lots of fun pool pictures. If not, I've got plenty of work for everyone!

My New Toys. (Ann! I totally understand now!)

Posted by Cara at 08:47 AM | Comments (186)

June 16, 2005

Drumroll please....

And the winner is...

And Chelsea gets an honorable mention with her follow-up quote - Georgie loved that! Presumed Innocent (who knew it was that easy!) is one of our favorite movies. It's one of those we watch every time it's on. (Funny how Harrison Ford is in a lot of those movies. Go figure!) Georgie can be heard exclaiming "What a colossal blunder!" and "It was dem dat fucked up!" all the time. Seriously. It's right up there with "met-a-mor-PHO-sis" and "Immobiliare" (Extra, EXTRA special prize to anyone who can come up with the first one - you will never get it. The second one you might get - but the first - no way.)

Jackie - send me your snail mail and give me a week or two! Congratulations!

So I basically can identify every Flower Basket Shawl on the Internet - because I've seen them all - twice. I'm still unsure as to which yarn I want to use and after the great dress debacle yesterday (to be fair I wasn't wearing a baseball cap or sweat socks - but I did look like shit. I figured that was enough.)

My problem is I want it to be sturdy - not light and airy. And I want the color to be BRIGHT - not subdued. So I'm leaning towards a cotton - like maybe Cotton Fleece or Cotton Fine - weigh in on this people! Tell me what you know. Teresa used Cotton Fine and said it had - wait let me get the technical term - "loopy thingies" hanging off the twist. Was this an anomaly? Or a feature of the yarn?

[Okay - so I just mentioned cotton to Cassie, and while it was through email, I swear to god her head spun around like a top! Go see her CONTEST. There's still time to be wool-obsessed. Cassie - I love you!]

I'm also thinking about going naked and wrapping myself in an Alchemy Yarns Bamboo FBS. Since I can't find a dress and a shawl made from this stuff will cost as much as a dress. But will it block?

And there's still the Euroflax Linen. Although, honestly, I don't care how soft you people say it gets, it's kitchen string to start and I don't know if I can knit that. I'm a very tactile knitter. If I don't like the yarn - forget it!

I tried, I really tried to cast on with the Zephyr. In the end, I'm figuring I could probably get it to work for me, but that's not the end product I want. I'm not a light, airy kind of person.

Besides killing my self with Zephyr yesterday, I knit nothing. I may try to cast on again for the short row front, or I may just stick with sock knitting today.

I'm going to see The Fantasticks tonight. The way I'm feeling these days, it better be FUCKING fantastic. ;-)

Posted by Cara at 09:01 AM | Comments (22)

June 15, 2005

It was DEM dat fucked up!

Happy families are all alike; every
unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

For the most part, my family is excellent (I'm talking the family I grew up with, not George - although G-Love is excellent too.) My siblings and I get along better than siblings should be allowed, especially siblings who fought with bats when they were young; I would rather spend time with my sisters and brother than most people. They make me laugh uncontrollably and THEY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. It's been a tumultuous year for my family. I'm not going to go into it here, but it's been very, very hard. A lot of anger, frustration, tears. But my siblings and I have stuck together through it all and for that I am so grateful. Thank you for taking care of me last night. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Suffice it to say, I've got some puffy ass eyes this morning.

And because I had such a shitty night - I'm giving stuff away!

Yes, it's CONTEST TIME! CONTEST CLOSED! Thanks for playing!

You'll get sheepy cards and flower cards and some yarn to be determined later. And some beautiful handpainted knitting needles from Peace Fleece.

Here's what you have to do - in the comments identify the FILM that the following lines are spoken in - they're all from the same movie. I will pick a random winner from all the correct entries.

"My mommy hurt my head."

"It's going to be so good."

"What a colossal blunder."

"It was dem dat fucked up."

Some clues: The movie is fifteen years old. At least one of the leading actors is dead. Two of the actors in the film appear together on TV. The movie was based on a book.

I will close the contest at midnight tonight. Good luck!

I did manage to finish the sleeve to short-rows last night (I will spare you the photo - it's navy blue and curled up - you can wait for the real deal.) And I cast on for the front, did a couple rows, then ripped it. I'll cast on again today. Basically I was on the third row when I realized I messed up the moss stitch (by the way, what's the difference between moss and seed stitch - can anyone tell me? I think they're the same, but don't know if I'm right or not.) No biggie - I wasn't in the mood for knitting last night anyway. Yes, it's true. It was more like a fetal position, baby blanket under my nose kind of night. You've all had those, right? ;-)

I'm hoping to go shopping today. THE LA/SLO TRIP IS ON!!!! We're leaving for Los Angeles on July 11 - eventually we'll make our way up to San Simeon for the BLACK TIE DINNER AT HEARST CASTLE on Thursday. We may take our time and spend a night or two in Santa Barbara. At least one night. But I will be in LA for a day or two - so where should I go? I'm counting on you Hollyweird knitters to give me the scoop. I'm not sure where we'll be staying yet. Probably either Beverly Hills or Santa Monica. Details to come.

Anyway - so I need a dress. Preferably black, so I can wear my Iris Flower Basket that I'm going to crank out all weekend. It seems halter is the style this season - but I don't like to show my back, so we'll see what I find. Did you know the secret to successful dress shopping is to wear sweat socks and a baseball cap? There's some kind of inverse rule that the sloppier and shittier you look the more luck you have finding a dress. I swear by this. SWEAR. Bought every prom dress, my bat mitzvah dress, my wedding dress in this fashion. Watch out Jen - you've been warned!

Oh and I've been taken to task by some blogging pioneers that came before me. Apparently, when they weren't walking 20 miles in 10 feet of snow on their way to school, they were checking blogs on their own with out the aid of feeds. GASP! And, I'm told, sometimes people didn't read your posts for days. I'm not sure I believe them, but I'm not going to worry about bloglines anymore. ;-) Thanks for the reality check.

Don't forget the CONTEST!

Posted by Cara at 08:47 AM | Comments (33)

May 19, 2005

HELP! I need somebody! Got it!

I found the cable I want to add to my pattern - it's perfect and the EXACT number of stitches I'll need for the saddle sleeve. What's the problem you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

I found it in the Barbara Walker Treasury #3 - the one with no patterns just charts - and I can't for the life of me figure out the pattern! I've read the chapters on reading charts a million times, looked at all the little stitch icons and all I see now are squiggly lines in front of my face. I'm desperate.

So here's the deal. I will give yarn and sheep cards (or flower cards, your choice) to the FIRST person who successfully translates this cable pattern for me. I can give you a picture of the cable, and a picture of the chart, but I can't give you all of the stitch icons. What I'm looking for is the pattern written out.

It's the cable on the right - called the Long Swinging Cable.
(Long Swinging Cable my ass!)

Don't you think it will be perfect with the other cables (see entry below)? Oh - it's on p.90 - Third Treasury.

Oh and all you Aran experts out there: it's normal that my dk weight yarn - which should give me about 5 stitches to the inch is giving me about 7.5 over the cable pattern, right? I think this is good - it should take more stitches - especially because of the twists.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Sarah from One Stitch Short got it to me first! Yeah Sarah! Thanks everybody for your help! I love knitbloggers!

Posted by Cara at 08:44 PM | Comments (7)

April 29, 2005

The Harlot Takes Manhattan!

[I want to say that I have purposely NOT read any of the other accounts out there (of which I'm sure I'll spend the whole day reading) so as to give my own gospel. But make sure you read all the others! And they will have pictures. I didn't drag out the camera - sorry!]

I'll start with this: There was wine. There were traveling hors d'oeuovres. There was a GIFT BAG people!

It was, by all accounts, I'm sure, totally nuts.

Jen and I met in Hoboken to travel into the big city. Midtown was crazy - haven't been there at 5PM in ages (and I'm not going back anytime soon.) Although I have to admit that it was a sight seeing that group of Hasidic Jews outside the Empire State Building mingling with a befeathered and berobed group of indeterminate origin getting out of a van. Only in New York.

We got to Lord & Taylor - and you know - I never read the invite on Stephanie's blog - just sent in my plea to be included - so I had no idea where we were supposed to go. But we were early so we hit the bra floor (no such luck for either of us!) and then we headed up to the 11th Floor. Which isn't listed anywhere. It's like the magic floor.

When we got there - there was already a line and who do you think was at the head? Lovely Cassie, of course! I went over and said my hellos and chit chat as the line grew and grew and grew. Juno soon arrived as well and The Harlot sailed past the line with her handlers. "She's here, she's here," traveled down the pack in hushed whispers.

Soon after, a woman came out and told us they were going to let us in now. We should make ourselves comfortable and be sure to check our bags and stuff - it's pretty tight in there. I looked at her, a wry smile on my face, and said, "No one is checking their bags. That's where the knitting is." The poor non-knitter looked at me askance. "No one," I said, "is going in without their knitting." Poor girl. Just trying to do her job.

So we started to move in and they crossed our names off the list one by one and no one checked anything from what I could tell and there were two seats left at a table WAY UP FRONT with Cassie and Juno and Tree (hope I'm spelling that right) and another woman who I'm so sorry I don't remember your name. It was a wonderful group. Immediately Cassie pulled out her shawl and her new cable wonder (which let me tell you - everyone should consider knitting a yarn on a much lower needle size than recommended - what she's doing with Peruvian Highland Chunky is just amazing - completely different yarn - so much better!) Juno had her cable masterpiece as well in Rowan Highland and I pulled out my measly Short-Rows sleeve which I cast on for just the occasion.

The room started filling up and there was much jumping up from seats and hugs and look at that's and what yarn is that and touching and just amazingness. I've never been to anything like it. The commaraderie was palpable in a room where most of us were strangers.

The wine was served and the hors d'oeuvres and then it was All Harlot! She was EXACTLY like you'd think she would be - funny and shy and self-deprecating and spot-on truthful and nervous and smart and it was like reading her blog in the flesh - if you know what I mean. We had a knitting demonstration by her (WOW - who knew you could knit with a needle stuck under your armpit! And how fast!) There was lots of picture taking. Questions about Hank and the Guernsey and shopping. I think she said arse twice, but Cassie's got the official number on that.

All the while Stephanie was doing her thing, pretty much everyone was knitting. I told Georgie this, and ever sensitive to rudeness, he was horrified. "While she was speaking?" he said. "Of course." "That's horrible." "Everyone was doing it. Even she was knitting." He didn't get it. It was fantastic! (Of course I ended up knitting then frogging six rows, but what the hell. I was there. I had knitting!)

If you told me six months ago that I would be sitting in a room atop Lord & Taylor surrounded by knitters, knitting, listening to knit blogger extraordinaire read from her book, I'd've laughed my ass off. I'm not laughing anymore. (Well I am, but for totally different reasons!)

One thing I was shocked at was the LACK of bloggers. Someone asked Stephanie a question about blogging and if there were lots of other bloggers and she told everyone with a blog to raise their hands. Now my back was to the room, but it only seemed like a quarter of us had blogs - maybe even less. I thought we'd all be bloggers. Go figure. (There are people out there that knit and DON'T have blogs? ;-) ) [ETA: Maybe I'm wrong on this. As I mentioned, Cassie snagged a table right up front so my back was to the room. Other accounts say half the room was filled with bloggers - they're probably more reliable.]

At the end they gave out gift bags from Lion Brand - yes, people - there was swag! Now before you start thinking that there was fun fur and stuff like that it was actually a GENIUS idea. There was, of course, a signed copy of the book - WAY COOL - and even better a big skein of Wool Chunky with patterns and a pamphlet for the Dulaan Project. Couldn't have been done better in my opinion. Just wonderful.

Highlights of the evening include - introducing myself to Stephanie and asking her to sign my book and SHE SEEMED TO KNOW WHO I WAS!!! Really. I mean, it may have been in that polite sure I read your blog kind of thing, but I don't think so. She really seemed to know me which made me feel like I had ARRIVED in blogland. I mean, if the celebrities know you - c'mon! That's something!

Every other highlight involves people: I finally met Enchanting Juno - whose blog name could NOT be more perfect - a stunning woman. Truly - it was great to meet you! And I finally met up with Cassie again. And I met Kay together with Phyllis - we talked family dynamics and religion - what could be more fun! I met Cari, who was so kind about my photographs, along with Valentina, who asked about the show thanks to Colleen talking me up and Mindy and so many others who I can't remember! Please forgive me. I can see all of your faces! Really I can. I hope we meet again! And it was so great to be out and about with Jen - my first real knitty friend! Hey Jen - I was knitting, even if you weren't! That counts right?

Thank you Lord & Taylor, thank you Lion Brand, thank you Craft Yarn Council - and of course! Thank you Stephanie for giving us an excuse to celebrate knitting and well, just celebrate.

If I screwed up your name or link - please let me know in the comments! I apologize!

Paying it forward.

Baby's Got Back!

There is some subtle shaping at the waist - so it's not as wonky as it looks. I am VERY happy with it. The front should be a breeze. I've calculated that I knit this sweater three times over already - since I've redone the short rows sections about three time each (I'm really not kidding here.) So assuming I can get through the front with a minimal of re-knits - should be cake.

Of course, I'm trying not to think too hard about this:

Cause that might make me cry. (I just flip it over and I'm happy again!) The duplicate stitch is working fabulously:

WRONG SIDE


RIGHT SIDE

As I said, I cast on for a sleeve last night. Should go pretty quick - well, not that quick so I can weave in the ends on the back before I start the front. I'm going to be diligent - weave in a few every day - I swear.

Have a great day!

Posted by Cara at 08:58 AM | Comments (30)

March 26, 2005

Baby, It's You....

Contest time at casa enero uno!


As many of you know, my sister's having a baby! So let's have a little contest, shall we? Leave the SEX (yes, my sister doesn't know), date and time (on the quarter hour please - completely stolen from La of JenLa- I can't do math either) in the comments.* One entry per person. I will close this contest on her due date, or whenever Jolie goes into labor - whichever comes first. Winner(s) will be announced after the baby is born (duh)! Prizes to be announced later, but suffice it to say there will be yarn and there will be PhotoArtCards.

Things you should know about my sister and her birthing habits:
-- Her due date is APRIL 2.
-- At her last doctor's appointment (last Wednesday) she was 1 CENTIMETER dilated and had been for at least a week.
-- This is her THIRD child. The other two were both born EXACTLY FIVE DAYS AFTER their due dates. She has a boy and a girl already.
-- Both of her other labors were relatively quick (I say that but remember, I didn't feel even a milisecond of pain). One baby was born at 4PM the other baby was born at about 1AM.

Think that covers it. Tell all your friends! There's a contest in blogland!

ETA: As of this morning, Friday, April 1, my sister is 2 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. She has an appointment on Wednesday - she has never made it to the next appointment after her due date. Also, we discovered that with both of her other babies she has gone into labor on a Wednesday. There's still time to enter! It's getting close. (For the record, we're both thinking Tuesday.)

*The person (or persons) who come closest to the time WITHOUT GOING OVER will win. For instance, assuming date and sex are correct, if you choose 6:45 AM and the baby is born at 6:59 AM, you will win. Thank you for playing.

Posted by Cara at 09:45 AM | Comments (37)

February 18, 2005

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations Lauren! She won, but not for other's lack of trying. Leisel wanted it so bad, her IP got banned for commenting because the machine thought she was SPAM! So she gets a consolation prize - a box of PhotoArtCards. Natalie was thisclose to being banned as well, so she gets PhotoArtCards too. My fault really - should've been more specific in the contest rules. But you gotta admire the moxie!

Have a great weekend everybody! This was fun - might have to do it again sometime. ;-) (Next one will be harder though.)

Posted by Cara at 05:55 PM | Comments (5)

How Bad Do You Want It?

Okay - we're down to the wire. Only 15 COMMENTS to go before SOMEBODY WINS! Who's it gonna be?
(Tally in sidebar ---------------> )

I'm sweetening the pot:

You get not one, not two, but THREE, that's right THREE skeins of Beautiful Supermerino from ArtYarns! In any color you want that WEBS carries (and they have A LOT). You want all three in a different color? You got it! All three the same? You got it! (If you'd like to see the yarn in action, I used it to make Picot-Boo.)

I'm also throwing in some fabulous PhotoArtCards with original photographs taken by moi:

How can you resist that?

I'm having a shitty, shitty week people. So help me cheer up by letting me give away stuff!

In other news, I was flipping through the Patternworks Catalog I received yesterday and I found lots of good stuff. I think I've decided on a pattern for my father's sweater. Of course, it'll be next year when he wears it, but he doesn't care. It's from the new Classic Elite Pattern book called Joy Ride, which apparently is in every magazine possible, but not available from Classic Elite or anyone else (Patternworks doesn't have it on their website, although it is in the catalog.) If you're interested, it's a cabled v-neck - just what I've been looking to make for him. (I actually ordered it directly from Classic Elite when I saw it on the back page of IK.)

I also found a pattern for a simple cardigan that would be great to use with my Jo Sharp DK Tweed stash. Of course, it's also from Classic Elite, so no, you can't see it. I don't feel like taking pictures from the catalog - they're shitty enough to begin with. If you want to see the cardigan is on p. 32 of the Patternworks catalog and the v-neck is on page 21. Why do you tease me people!?!

And in the ridiculous but necessary category, I was particularly taken with the electronic row counter. I may need to get me one of those babies. Because the yellow post it stickies are getting on my nerves and if I lose one more goddamn pen I'm going to .... PMS is getting the best of me these days. I apologize. (This they have a freaking picture of....)

Okay. Have you been reading Bookslut? It's beyond fantastic. It makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me laugh again and that's what life's all about. Start reading it NOW.

Found there today:
Corny Library Pickup Lines, and How Librarians Effectively Shoot Them Down
My favorites? How about these two:

You must have been burning books, because you're looking hot.
My apologizes—the new Harry Potter is coming out and I was in the back burning the Newbery winners to make room for it.

and the ever classic:

Can you tell me where I can find books on overcoming a deeply passionate love I have for a librarian?
636.45 MICH.

Remember this post? Well, Bill Maher has something to say about those High Schoolers and that pesky First Amendment! (Don't forget, Bill's back tonight on HBO! Be there or be a part of the NeoCon Fascist Say They Love Jesus But How Could They With The Hate And Killing They Propagate Money Loving Bush Ass Kissing Intolerant Majority That Is Ruining Our Beautiful Country.

Whew! I feel better already!

Oh and one last thing - go over and check out Sandy's intelligent post on yesterday's monstrosity. She said way better than I ever could. Fuck.

Coming next week: Ribby Cardi! (even if it freaking KILLS me!)

Posted by Cara at 12:26 PM | Comments (27)

February 06, 2005

Night-Blogging

I'm blogging tonight, before I go to bed, so I can concentrate on working tomorrow. Also, I don't have much to say, so it should be kind of quick (famous last words, I know.)

Progress has been made on The Pinwheel Blanket. Thanks again for all the support thrown out there - it was definitely worth the frustration. It's so cute right now - I'm thinking the pattern would make a great hat. get it to the width I want then start ribbing for the edge. It would be very, very cute. Maybe I'll do that since I'll probably have a TON of left over yarn. I think I found the yarn for the edging too - instead of going with a silky/satiny type edging, I think I'm going to go with a soft/chenille type. I was searching around to day and I found Wendy Velvet Touch. I'm thinking the Jewels color might be perfect. Anyone ever knit with it? Is it luxuriously soft? Would it go well with the All Season's Cotton?

I stayed up last night until around 2 finishing up the second sleeve on Picot-Boo. Then I couldn't fall asleep until 3:30. I was the walking dead all day. The sweater is blocking and I hope to start seaming maybe Wednesday. I've never knit a raglan sweater before so it should be interesting. Then I have to hem the sleeves, bottom, neckline etc. Never done a whipstitch either. Love learning new things.

Speaking of learning - tomorrow night's my Color class with Shirley Paden. I'm a little bit nervous. She can be tough - not like she'll yell at you or anything it's just that she is very exacting and straightforward and she jams like five weeks of lessons into a three hour class. This class actually meets two nights - this week and next week. But I'm excited to learn color knitting FINALLY. I've never even tried it on my own, so we'll see how it goes. I've heard she teaches two handed fair isle - I can't do anything with my left hand. I'll report back Tuesday.

Oh and congratulations to the New England Patriots and their fans. At least we didn't get our asses kicked. I'm still not over '81. That shit can scar an eleven-year-old for life.

Posted by Cara at 10:53 PM | Comments (10)