First things first

Well, maybe not rich, but the prize money could buy a lot of yarn.

The people responsible for Knitter’s magazine, XRX books, and the Stitches events are having a sock-design contest called Think Outside the Sox. The grand prize is $6,000, and the contest runs until 1 January 2009.

I wonder if knitting an oversized washcloth, folding it around my foot, then stapling it into place would qualify as a sock design. That’s pretty much all I could manage in the sock department, I think…

Today’s mail brought not one but two delightful packages.

First, wrapped in even more packing tape than even I use (and I like to use enough to ensure that any package I send will survive a nuclear winter), was a small envelope from my friend Mary Ann, whom I’ve known since we went to college together. About a month ago, she sent me a birthday card in which she’d written a promise to send me another tacky magnet for my collection. When she and her family went on vacation to Great Smoky Mountain National Park a couple of weeks ago, she made doubly good on that promise by picking up two of the cheesiest magnets she could find. (Note the use of Smokey, a misspelling that ratchets up the tackiness quotient for this duo.) I’m putting these on the fridge right next to the Bass Pro goodies that another college friend, Frank, sent me in April.

The second box contained lots of yarny goodness. About two weeks ago I won a contest at Yarn Is My Metier. Karen asked people to compose haiku poems for her birthday (which was May 29), and the random number generator chose my entry as one of the winners.

Next thing I know, I get an e-mail from Karen asking my for my snail-mail info and all about my yarn preferences. Sending along my address was simple, but answering the other questions was tricker. I had a bad case of option paralysis. It was like standing in front of the counter at a Baskin Robbins. Fortunately, Karen was very patient and, after a few e-mails back and forth, announced that she would send me enough burgundy yarn for a shrug (a project I’m interested in trying) and enough taupe yarn to make something for Sylvia.

The taupe yarn? Four balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran. I received a Jo Sharp book as a gift from a friend in Australia two years ago, but have never tried any of her yarn before—or even handled it, for that matter. This stuff is so soft. It’s 85% wool, 10% slik, and 5% cashmere. (Interestingly, the care instructions say “Dry flat in shade.” That’s the first time I’ve seen that variation. What happens if you dry it in the sun? Does it get a sunburn?) I’m thinking I might turn this into a little vest for Sylvia, or perhaps some legwarmers for her. Ooooh…maybe cabled legwarmers!

Also in the box were a panda pencil sharpener (which was of course immediately appropriated by Sylvia) and three balls of Jaegar Shetland Aran in a beautiful burgundy color. This yarn is 80% wool and 20% alpaca and it, too, is very soft and totally new to me. I haven’t quite decided what to do with this yarn, but I’m eager to get it on the needles. Karen suggested I look at her Mia Shrug pattern (available in the sidebar on her blog, and also a popular knit on Ravelry). It’s awfully cute and may be just the sort of dive-in-head-first plunge I need to get over my reluctance fear sheer terror of lace knitting!

So thanks, Mary Ann and Karen, for making my day!

The winner of my birthday contest is Amy at Knit Think! She’ll be getting this box o’ knitting mathoms and other goodies.*

Thanks, everyone, who entered this contest. I really enjoyed reading about your favorite knitting!

(*Before I took this picture, I put everything in the box to make sure it would all fit, then spread it out on the table. How much do you want to bet that when I try to put it all back in the box again it won’t fit the second time?)

It’s time for the final installment of my contest series. The first contest prize was a set of cookbooks, won by Chappy’s Mom. The second contest prize was a trio of IKEA big blue bags, won by Uberstrickenfrau.

I mentioned my fondness for the Hobbit tradition of giving gifts on one’s own birthday. Typically, these gifts are mathoms, described by Tolkien as “anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away.” (Michael Quinion points out, quite correctly, that there’s plenty of use for such a word in our own society. Take a look in your basements, closets, and plastic storage totes, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.)

The cookbooks were mathoms. The IKEA bags—well, not so much (but maybe they’ll be employed as mathom storage). For my final contest, the prize consists mostly of mathoms of the knitting-related type.

First, there’s Crazy Aunt Purl’s book, Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair. The very excellent Blind Purls gave me this book, and now that I’ve fully digested it, it seems only right to spread the Crazy Aunt Purl love and send it to a new home.

I’ve been sorting through my yarn stash, and I’ve come across quite a bit of yarn that, frankly, I’ll never use. It’s all decent stuff—all sorts of different fibers in a variety of colors and totally unused. Some of these skeins are leftovers from past projects. Some were gifts that just don’t suit my knitting style. (With so little time and so many projects, I’ve resolved to knit only things I really want to knit with yarn I really want to spend a lot of time with.) And some of it is “where the hell did that come from?” yarn that must have snuck into my stash when I wasn’t looking because I honestly don’t remember how I got it. All of these balls and skeins of yarn are true mathoms. I know I will never use them, and I’m confident that they can find a good home with another fiber enthusiast. I won’t list all the yarns here, because I’m still in the process of selecting them from my stash. Suffice it to say there will be a lot.

I’m also including one of those IKEA big blue bags, ’cause I really love ‘em and thing everyone should have one. And something yummy—though not, alas, any chocolate or meltable items, now that spring is here and temperatures are rising.

If you’re interested in getting this box o’ stuff, leave a comment to this post and tell me about your favorite thing that you’ve knitted (or crocheted, if you’re more of a hooker than a needler). If you’d rather post about this in your own blog, that’s fine; either include a link there to this post or put a comment here telling me to go read it there. On May 7, the eve of my birthday, I’ll randomly select one winner from all entries.*

My favorite knitted item? Hands-down, it’s one of my first projects: a baby blanket I made for Sylvia. Yeah, the seaming is really bad. But she loves this blanket, and I love her, so there are happy feelings all over the place.

*Alas, once again I must restrict this contest to residents of the USA. The mere thought of filling out customs forms for this package and dealing with international postage rates makes my brain hurt.

In February I won a contest that Lucy held to see who could predict when she’d finish a quilt. Since it was intended to be a Valentine’s Day gift for her husband, I naturally guessed February 13 (’cause you know, these things always take as long to finish as the amount of time you give them)—and I won! The prize was a bundle of fabric pieces (leftovers from another quilt project—she does amazing quilts, as you can see here, here, and here).

Lucy and I happen to live only about ten minutes apart, so rather than get the USPS involved it made sense for us to meet in person. Sylvia and I stopped by her house last week, and while our two toddlers played together Lucy helped me choose (read: I asked her to figure out which things would go together well and just give me those, as I really had no clue) fabric squares to make into a patchwork tote. She showed me her crafting area, too, which was very inspiring—and very tidy, with stacks of folded fabric carefully arranged on shelves and a yarn stash to die organized into a wall of plastic totes.

I received gifts from an old friend, too, last week. In the post announcing the contest for the IKEA bags, I mentioned a friend of mine from college, Frank. He lives in southwestern Missouri, far far away from any IKEA, so I sent him some bags and in return asked for the tackiest fridge magnets he could find. A package from him arrived late last week, and he certainly did not disappoint. An enclosed note described his quest to find them. After looking in shops in downtown Springfield and not finding anything cheesy enough, he headed south. And then: “I saw the large rump of a huge bronze deer getting ready to leap over Campbell Avenue. I knew then that I had found the right place: classic Springfield and sure to deliver on tackiness.”

As soon as I read that, I knew exactly what he was talking about: Bass Pro Shops. And not just any Bass Pro. This is the queen mother store—the original one. The magnet on the left is the store’s logo. The one on the right was obviously made by someone who grew up in the Land of Hunchbacked Deer. They’re both just perfect for my collection.

Thanks to everyone who entered my contest to win the giant IKEA bags. Who knew so many people had a hankering to store/stow/schlep stuff (mostly yarn, it seems) in big blue bags? And for those of you who mentioned living far from any IKEA, my heart goes out to you.

The winner of the bags is Olga, who blogs at Uberstrickenfrau (which has a lovely Persian proverb in the banner: “You don’t have to be the garbanzo bean in every soup”—indeed!)!

Stay tuned for the next installment of my ongoing contest series!

Back in January, I wrote about my own little IKEA hack: using IKEA’s giant blue tote bags as laundry baskets. I still have them scattered throughout the house, and I still love them.

One of the people who commented on that post, Frank, is a friend of mine from college who lives at least 300 miles from an IKEA. (Poor guy!) So I mailed a couple of the Big Blue Bags to him. (In lieu of cash repayment, I’ve asked him to send me a fridge magnet for my collection. Don’t forget, Frank: it’s gotta be the tackiest one you can find!)

But I am so bizarrely thrilled with these bags that I’ve decided I really need to spread the IKEA love. So I have three of these bags that I’ll send to someone. (And because these suckers don’t weight much at all, this contest, unlike my last one, is open to readers anywhere.) Just leave a comment to this post. And if you have a makes-life-easier hack of your own (no, it doesn’t have to involve an IKEA product), sharing it will get you a second entry.

I’ll choose one lucky winner at random one week from today (April 16)!

—————

Happy with your current laundry-management system? No worries—these bags are useful for loads of other things, too. Grocery shopping! Yarn storage at home! Yarn shopping at the LYS! (Just think of how much yarn you could fit into one of these suckers…)

I really enjoyed reading the entries for the cookbook contest! And I especially loved the recurring theme of “here’s an awful meal I made for someone I love…who ate it without complaint.” So sweet!

The winner (determined by writing names on pieces of paper and randomly choosing one) is Deb at Chappy’s Mom! Congratulations, Deb! And thanks to everyone who posted their stories!
—————

I feel I ought to share my own tale of culinary tragedy. Well, I’ve made many mediocre meals, but there are two true disasters that come to mind. The first was when I was in high school or so and was instructed to roast the (then-thawed) whole chicken my mom had pulled out of the freezer that morning. This was in my pre-vegetarian days, but even then I think I knew less about meat preparation than I do now. I seasoned the chicken, put it in the pan, and put it in the over…all without removing the bag of stuff (giblets? guts?) from the interior. (I didn’t even know it was in there, much less that it had to be removed.) Yeah, we did not end up eating chicken that evening…

The other disaster involves literally burning the teflon off a non-stick pan while trying to stir-fry something. I’ve actually done this twice. (And I’ve since learned that teflon does not like being covered with oil that is then heated to a very high temperature.)

The Thrifty Knitter (and author of Naughty Needles has posted a free pattern for her Spring Forward Fall Back Raglan, perfect for the warm/cool days of spring and autumn.

Do you find yourself saving the “disposable” wooden chopsticks you get a restaurants, not wanting to add them to the local landfill but not sure what else to do with them? Try making your own knitting needles! (Tutorial here.)

The Worsted Witch points us toward a tutorial from Lion Brand Yarn on using edible items to dye yarn. I’ve heard before of using turmeric and onion skins and other things for this purpose, but it’s nice to have the information–with recipes!–in one place.

St. John Ambulance in London (UK) is asking knitters to help with its fundraising by knitting 5,000 (yes, five thousand) tea cozies (which will be sold throughout the UK) by the end of November. There’s a funky free pattern here, and knitters are invited to create their own patterns, too. (Via Crafty Crafty.)

Looking to participate in a knitting competition? Round two of the Walking Stick Cosy Competition is underway; submissions are due 1 May 2008.

Why throw down big bucks for a row counter bracelet when you can make your own?

Dogwood buds do indeed look like E.T. heads (and chickpeas). In just a few weeks the ghost trees in my neighborhood will be making their (fleeting) appearance.

Whenever the seasons turn, I love seeing other people’s blog posts—and photos—about these changes. Back in February a guy in Portland was talking about forsythia blooms, last month someone in South Carolina showed off the daffodils in her yard, and right now I’m telling you all about my dogwoods.

—————

Don’t forget to enter my cookbook contest. (Please! I need to find a good home for these books!)

Real-life/local friends are eligible to enter. And though the thought of rigging the draw so I don’t have to give any money to the USPS is tempting, rest assured that local friends have no more chance to win than far-off ones.

And if your own shelves are groaning under the weight of too many cookbooks and you don’t want to enter the contest, that’s fine. But please do feel free to share your tales of cooking woes and triumphs!