Whole mess o’ stuff

Okay, this is gonna be kinda quick & dirty. My dad’s been diagnosed with kidney cancer and is having his left kidney removed next Wednesday. Needless to say it’s been crazy around here and will prolly continue to be so for a far bit. I wanted to get the contest started for Dulaan knitting though.

So, to that end, I’ve taken some quickie-not-so-great-lighting-you-get-the-idea picis of the prizes for this little knit-o-rama.

Third Prize

- two skeins of Regia Strat0 Colour. Each one is 100gms and is enough for your average pair o’ socks. 75% wool/25% nylon, 420 metres.

Second Prize

- five skeins of Classic Elite Maya. 50 grams each, 50/50 llama/wool, 99 yards. Kind of a dark sage. So soft! I always wanted to make an Irish Hiking scarf with it.

First Prize

- one skein of Fleece Artist hand dyed Mohair Locks. 94% mohair/6% wool, 250 grams = 125 metres. Calls for 12 mm needles. Soft, and the purples are amazing!

Tempted yet? Great, here’s what you have to do to get entered. Knit an item for Dulaan (1 hat, 1 scarf, 1 pair of mittens or socks, etc.). That’s it. For each item you knit you get your name in for the draw. Go crazy, knit 10 hats, you get 10 entries. Simple, no? You have from now until November 30, 2006. Simply send me a link showing me a pici of your completed item(s) and you’re in. You can email me at (sockpal at mail dot com). I’ll draw the names and inform the winners on December 1, 2006.

Cool, right? Okay, get knitting. I’m looking forward to seeing your creations. Oh, and seeing as this is my contest, my say is final in all decisions. No messing about, no debating, blah blah blah. This blog is my own tiny little dictatorship. That being said, how can knitters have any problem with free yarn?!?!!

A Dulaan Five and a Rabbitch One

Ta da! My Dulaan five is complete. I also made a hat for Rabbitch. The cardigan and the four hats in the top of the photo are for Dulaan, the bottom on is for Rabbitch. I’m not done my Dulaan knitting though. I love making hats. Or anything in the round really. I’m thinking mittens next.

The striped hat in the centre of the sweater is made with Patons Soy Wool Stripes and when I was over at Swatch This I saw that Marlena is also knitting with it. She’s right, it has really nice drape and the sheen is a lot like mohair. I’m going to use a slightly smaller needle next time to tighten up my gauge though. In a hat I was getting a bit too much drape. I have one more ball in a pinky colourway for another hat and 3 balls in an autumn colourway that I think might become a scarf or a hooded scarf. We’ll see.

Okay, I’m off. Dinner and Deadwood! I love Mondays. Oh. Did I really just say that?

Oh, wait! I also cast on for this last night for a friend who’s having a baby in November. So cute.

A Day

So I had one of those days. You know:

- you realize after you’ve stepped in it bare foot that one of the cats has an upset stomach.

- the dogs won’t stop fighting and one of them has peed on the floor when you weren’t watching.

- you almost get hit by a car when you’re in the crosswalk. Granted, that woman had a lot going on. What with driving, talking on her cell phone AND picking her nose! She couldn’t be expected to see you there in the middle of the road.

- you’re pretty sure you’ve made some incorrect career decisions since high school, ’cause work is just blowing goats this week!

- you come home and try to think up something new and interesting to do with turkey!

- your just pretty darned convinced that this is not the life you ordered and you’d like to call a recount.

Then, you check the mail. You notice that there’s and envelope from F.I.R.E. Inside is the nicest letter of thanks for having sent them hand knitted items for the 2006 Dulaan Project (.pdf). And then, just like the Grinch, you feel your tiny hard little heart grow two sizes too big and you remember what it is we’re here to do. We’re here to take care of each other.

I’m gonna go stir my turkey soup and knit on a Dulaan hat now. Y’all have a great night!

Happy Turkey Day!

Yes, that’s right, it’s Canadian Thanksgiving today and I’m heading to mom’s house! Whoot Whoot! Can you say turkey with all the trimmings! God I love stuffing and gravy.

Today I’m giving thanks that I have a Mom and Dad to go to for Thanksgiving and that I have a stash full of yarn to comfort me on cold days! He he. Oh, and Zara and Noro. The two most rockingest yarns in the world.

I’m also ironing out the details of a November contest to give away some free yarn to Dulaan knitters to help Ryan out with her numbers. More details as they develop.

Have a great day everyone, give some thanks.