Posts from — September 2005

I’ve been thinking about having a little blog contest for a while. After reading Drew’s blog, an idea struck (well, not so much “struck” as “I am totally borrowing this idea”). So here it is…the first Diva Knitting contest…

What can you win???

GRAND PRIZE: 13 skeins of Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool Heather in Scarlet. This is a lovely 100% wool yarn that sells for $6.95 at Herrschners.com A $90 value…yours totally free if you win the contest.

Diva Knitting Challenge Rules:

1. Post a comment here…I’d like to get an idea of how many people will be accepting the challenge. You can save the button above and link to the contest from your site, but it’s certainly not required.

2. Make an 8 inch by 8 inch square (that’s 20.3 cm by 20.3 cm for everyone outside the U.S… can’t believe we’ve never switched to metric). You can use any pattern, any yarn, crochet or knit. This would be a great time to try something you’ve always wanted to learn or to show off your favorite stitch.

3. There is no limit to the number of squares you can send. Each square will earn one entry into the drawing for the grand prize.

4. Use the contact form to let me know your square is coming. I’ll send you my address. Send your square with your name, mailing address, email address and web address.

5. Wait patiently until the end of the contest.

6. All entries must be received by Saturday, October 22, 2005. I will post a picture of each square in my gallery, along with a link to the entrant’s blog.

7. On Monday October 24th, I’ll draw one name from all of the entries to receive the grand prize. Depending on the number of entries, I may also draw some “runner up” names for other prizes.

By now you may be wondering what I will do with the squares. It would be a shame to offer this challenge and have the squares go to waste, so my intentions are twofold…one totally selfish, one not. Selfish: I’m going to make an afghan for myself to be used for warmth and inspiration as I knit this winter. Not selfish: All remaining squares will be made into afghan/afghans to be donated either directly to Katrina victims or Crafter’s United Katrina relief.

Obviously, I am hoping for a lot of squares, so please help spread the word! In the event I get LOTS of squares, I may need some help getting the donation afghans ready (it would be WONDERFUL to have that problem). Let me know if you would like to help.

I missed this for two weeks, but apparently, I am “bangable“.

:what:How to feel about this????? Disgusted I’m on there at all or pissed that I’m number five?

I just couldn’t keep my hands off the sparkly red yarn I got yesterday. I kept getting a “holiday” vibe from the yarn. With only two skeins at 40 yards each, my options were limited. As a result, I created the “One Size Fits Most, One Hour Hat“. Unbelievably simple, but with the gauge of this yarn (Trendsetter Eclipse) “the math” turned out very interesting. From the cast on to the decreases, all of the numbers are a multiple of six. No, I am not afraid of “the math.” (for discussions of “the math,” see Laurie and Stephanie) I really like the way this yarn looks once knitted. Unfortunately, the picture really doesn’t do it justice. The sparkly part of the yarn doesn’t show up very well in the pictures…very festive though in person! If I could find enough of it, I think it would make a great sweater to wear around the holidays.

Since I am on their email list, I knew ahead of time that Tuesday Morning would be getting some “Italian yarn” out today. Well, not only it is it Italian, but they have Gedifra and Trendsetter wool blends. Gedifra Donatella sold elsewhere for as much as $10.99, Tuesday Morning: $4.99. I think I have enough for a sweater…we’ll see. I also got 2 skeins of Eclipse in color 705 for a scarf and/or hat, and 4 skeins Shake…only $2.99 each! Again with the yarn buying:doh:. No, I don’t need it and I have enough yarn to keep me busy for a LONG time. But yeesh! How could I resist? (like you haven’t heard THAT before) I know, again with the excuses.

They also had some cute knitting toes too, but I showed restraint there. Give me SOME credit….k?

If all goes well, the SP6 matches should be out today.:jump: Just in case my secret pal stops by, my questionnaire is HERE. No need to bore everyone with my yarn/scent/food/etc. preferences.

I am really excited to start a package right away for my pal. I’m off to Hobby Lobby to see what I can find. They have a great sale beginning today…1/2 off all knitting needles and crochet hooks. I am sure to find something gift worthy!

I just realized this title may give the impression that I’m about to talk about the new Knitty but I’m not. Just regular knitting stuff. So without further delay, I give you knitting content. My third cloth for the Cloths for Katrina group, my socks (I finished the first one quite a while ago), and the Filatura di Crosa “Ruffled Jacket” from the fall/winter 2004 collection that was cast on Friday night. The jacket is from the same book that brought me the lovely cream tube top and shrug. I think I’m getting my money’s worth out of this one I really don’t understand why Tahki Stacy Charles would take all the 2004 pictures down. I am sure they could afford to keep those up for us bloggers that need to link to their lovely patterns. Oh well…I guess you’ll just have to see it when it’s finished.

In other knitting news, I finally attended a knitting group!:cheer: I have been trying to get a group together for the west side of Cincinnati for the last couple of months. Up to this point, the dates hadn’t worked out very well. This time however, we had FIVE women at the CLAWS (Crochet Lovers AND Westside Knitters….I know silly name, but I wanted an acronym and that was all I could think of at the time) meeting. I got to meet fellow Cincinnati blogger and knitter Julie along with four other great women (I’m not really sure how the rest of them feel about being the subject of blog dope so I’ll keep their names to myself). They were all very nice, interesting and talented knitters. One of the women told us about a pair of gloves she made for her mother using size 0 needles! I don’t think I have the patience for that…even if I REALLY, REALLY loved the recipient. Oh, and we’re going to be in the first issue of Cincinnati Knitting magazine. Since I forgot my camera and had to use my camera phone instead the quality of these pictures is seriously lacking. You’ll get the idea though. Maybe I can get a couple of the pics that were taken by the magazine…they will have to be better than these.
How cool is the tattoo??? She just got it about 3 weeks ago. I had a little fun with photoshop and used it to make a logo for the group.

So endeth the knitting content.

Anticipating the rest of the scoop on my little St. Petersburg vacation must be driving you nuts by now (NOT) :). Even though you will probably find it quite boring, I feel absolutely obligated to finish the story I begun. Let’s see…we left off with Swiss wine. It took me a while to find any information about it, but I persevered. The name is Charme and it is produced by the Delea Winery. It’s a nice dry sparkling wine and it was great as an aperitif.

After our Charme, it was off to dinner at Gratzzi at the Baywalk. Perfect walking distance and tasty Italian. A good time was had by all.

Saturday included much walking, eating, drinking and silliness. We started the day by checking out the pier. Along with normal pier type stuff (birds, fishing and surf) there is an small indoor “mall” housed at the end. No terribly exciting stores to report, but they did have a store where the wines from Florida Orange Groves and Winery could be tasted. No, they don’t grow grapes. No, they don’t import grapes. They make wine from, what else??? Oranges. And grapefruit. And tomatoes. Bizarre, right? Well…they taste surprisingly decent and are NOT all sweet.

I had scoped out a place for lunch the day before. During my trek up 4th Street, I saw Tijuana Flats Burrito Company. MMMMmmmm…burritos. Slap just about anything on a tortilla with some hot sauce and I’ll eat it. Oh, and while you’re at it, don’t give me just any old sauce, I’ll take the hottest you have! Well God bless this place, they REALLY have some hot sauce. Home of the Death Pack, Chet’s Gone Mad (which by the way is the HOTTEST sauce ever made, 1.5 million Scoville units. I asked for some at the restaurant but the waitress babbled something about liability, blindness and ambulances), Ass Reaper, Endorphin Rush, and Dave’s Gourmet Insanity, this place knows how to please a chili head. Not only that, I love their bright decor. Needless to say, I left this place with a tingly tongue, a runny nose, full stomach and a pleasant Corona buzz.

Next, a little shopping, a lot more walking, a shower and then off to eat again. We went back to the pier. Remember the indoor “mall” at the end of the pier? Well, it has restaurants too. We chose the Columbian Restaurant. They have a great view, fantastic Godiva chocolate cake and mediocre food. Maybe I was still full from lunch or maybe I just misordered. Should’ve had the paella??? Anyway, we still had a great time despite the main course and snotty waiter.

Whew, so there it is. Is anyone still reading???

I just received a nice note and these cute stitch markers from Allena in Germany! :thx:

Kitt and Salle have started a yahoo group for knitters to help with the Katrina relief effort. They are collecting hand knitted face cloths and soap and sending it to their contact in Louisiana at their own expense. All you have to do is mail the cloth/s and soap to them and they take care of the rest. If you go to the link there is a small intro but if you go ahead and join, they send you an email with all the details.

To some, this may seem kind of silly and insignificant. Maybe it is…but it is something even those who can’t afford to send money can probably do. It really is quick and inexpensive. Even if you can’t be in one of the gulf states to assist the relief workers, you can do something active instead of feeling helpless. Picture yourself tired, dirty and in the 90+ degree heat of the shelters. Maybe a nice cloth and some soap wouldn’t seem so insignificant to you then.

Sugar n Cream cotton is typically $.99 per skein. Plus, I know there is a LOT of cotton ease around out there. Both perfect for a nice face cloth. The group says they also accept small soft baby toys, crayons and coloring books. You don’t feel like making a face cloth? Maybe a teddy bear or stuffed lamb?

I almost finished my first one last night in front of the TV. I cast on at the beginning of a Rome documentary and by the end of the show I only had a couple of inches to go.
If you don’t want to think about a pattern, just do garter stitch or practice some new stitch you would like to learn. I found this pattern at Rhonda’s site. She has LOTS of patterns for dish cloths/face cloths. This one is an easy pattern that quickly becomes mindless. More patterns at the Dishcloth Boutique and Knitting Help. Please feel free to list your favorite pattern links for dish/face cloths in the comments section.

Target does. Yep, its true…just got back from shopping there and the yarn is in the dollar section.:knit: Along with some razor blades, kitchen towels, light bulbs, rawhide chews, toothbrushes, and a lip gloss I found on clearance (all “necessities”), I purchased 3 skeins of their $1.00 yarn (obviously not a “necessity”considering the amount of yarn I already own).

They only had the “funky fringe yarn” in a variety of colors and another soft fuzzy one that liked, but wasn’t as good a deal. The fuzzy was something like 56 yards and .13 grams for $1.00…somewhat comparable to “regularly” priced fuzzy yarn. I don’t know if fuzzy is quite right…kind of like fur…you’ll just have to check it out.
This one is called “funky fringe yarn” and has 29.4 grams/1 oz. 90 yards, 100% polyester and it suggests size 13 needles, which of course I already have but had to buy a pair since they were only $1.00 (it’s a disease). I’m sure it’s destined to become a scarf since I don’t think it would work well for anything else. Oooh…I might take that back. Carry it with another yarn maybe???