Name That Shawl! (A Contest)

If I have one real creative weakness, it's naming things. This has always been the case. Way back in middle and high school when I did a lot of creative writing, titles were always my downfall. I could write something, revise it several times, and have it be completely to my liking, but it would take me forever to settle on a title -- and I'd rarely be satisfied with it.

The same can be said for the shawl pattern I'm nearly finished writing. The sample is nearly complete, as you can see, except for the last of the border, and the pattern is mostly written -- mainly there are just a few holes to fill in, and I need to finish the shawl to do that (final dimensions, how much yarn I used, etc.).

The only thing that's really escaping me at this point is a good name for it. I had a working name in my head for a while, but as it turns out, the word I was thinking of using doesn't mean what I thought it meant, so that name is out. I've done some Googling for words that seem to describe the characteristics of this shawl but have come up empty. I guess at this point I'm just waiting for inspiration to strike -- but given how soon this shawl and the pattern will be ready to go, I'm not confident that that's going to happen in time.

Here is where you come in. I need some ideas or a name -- or at least some ideas that get me thinking enough to get me to a name. So I thought I'd make a little contest out of it. Here's how it'll work: You suggest a name (or multiple names, if you like, but I'll only count one entry per person). If I pick your name, or if your suggestion proves to be the inspiration that gets me to the final name, you win a copy of the pattern (or, if you prefer, a copy of any of my other patterns). I'll also do a random draw of all entries to win a copy of the pattern. Sound good?

Here's what you need to know: The shawl is worked from the top down with two colors, and the stripes are asymmetrical but balanced so that the shawl itself is symmetrical (i.e., it's an isosceles triangle). It's in garter stitch, and there are short rows involved.

Let's set an end date for 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, June 30. I'll announce the winners as soon as possible after that (it might take me a day or two to think through names).

Ready? Set? NAME THAT SHAWL!

Do Some Good and Win!

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it seems to fly by, as it has since Rainbow was born 10 1/2 months ago. And sometimes it seems to creep. It seem like much longer than five years ago, for instance, since I published the first post of this blog. Many things have changed since then, both in terms of knitting and life, but I can remember sitting at my old computer in my old apartment and typing that first post like it was yesterday. It brings up lots of warm and fuzzy feelings, because through my knitting and blogging, I've made some great friends and learned a lot about myself and my craft.

So, in honor of my five-year blogiversary and because those warm-and-fuzzies make me feel like giving others the warm-and-fuzzies, I've decided to do a little giveaway. Now there is a catch, because I'd really like to do some good with this giveaway. So here's how it's going to work: This will be a raffle. For every $5 you give to any one of the following charities, you earn one entry into the raffle.

The American Red Cross: You can choose where you want your donation to go, but I'd like to suggest selecting either where the need is greatest or disaster relief.

The March of Dimes: Ever since Rainbow was born, the health of babies and children has been near and dear to my heart. This organization does a lot to support healthy pregnancies, prevent premature birth, and fund research into preventing birth defects.

Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest): Food bank usage has increased dramatically with the economic downturn, and this organization works to ensure that food banks across the country are well stocked so that no one needs to go hungry if they fall on hard times.

If you're able to give even $5 to one of these charities, it can do a lot of good; if you can give more, please do. Then, send me an e-mail (paknitwit[at]gmail[dot]com) and let me know how much you've given so I'll know how many entries you'll get. I will do the drawing at random from all the entries, so the more entries you have, the better your chance of winning.

And what might you win? I know, you've been waiting patiently to find out. Because I'm asking a lot of you, I have some pretty special prizes: some skeins of my handspun.

Prize #1: Crown Mountain Farms Wensleydale

This skein of laceweight singles is approximately 770 yards and is plenty for a good-sized shawl.

Prize #2: Crown Mountain Farms Shetland

This skein is two-ply heavy laceweight/light fingering and approximately 595 yards. Also plenty for a good-sized shawl or other lacy item.

Prize #3: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Wool

This Aran-weight skein is approximately 235 yards, perfect for a hat, cowl, or pair of mittens.

The contest begins at 12 a.m. tomorrow (November 1) and will end at 11:59 p.m. on December 14. I will do the drawing for winners on Rainbow's first birthday, December 15!

The Kindness of Strangers

The universe sometimes has a way of working things out. For instance, this morning I woke up with great difficulty, dragging myself out of bed because I knew I had to get to work, where a huge pile of reading awaited me. When I stopped at the top of the driveway to put a bill in the mailbox, I noticed that the mailman had left two packages on the front stoop. I had to wait until I got to work to open them, and what pleasant surprises were inside!

First was the prize I'd won from Julie for coming up with a name she selected for her latest design, the Haymarket Bag. Have you ever known me to not be excited about a sock book?

The other package was a larger box, from Mari. I knew she'd sent me something because she'd e-mailed me about a week ago asking for my mailing address -- but she only said she had a little surprise for me. As it turns out, when I'd gushed over Dudley, the stuffed daschund she'd made from a Japanese pattern book, she decided that -- although we only "know" each other online -- she had to make me one.

Meet Dudley Junior, or DJ, as I like to call him:

He's made of a beautiful chocolatey linen and stuffed with organic cotton (he came with a hand-written tag telling me all this).

Tell me this is not the cutest doggie face you've ever seen!

Thank you so much, Mari! I've repacked and unpacked DJ several times today, just to get the thrill I got upon first opening the box, and I've squealed with delight each and every time. DJ is going to do a lot to fill the hole I have in my life by not having a real dog (but not forever, J!).

Knitting is coming along without much exciting progress, probably because the heat and the stress at work is wearing me down. Last night I made it into the third lace repeat in the Pea Pod Cardigan. DJ approves of my work thus far:

Tonight will be more of the same. I'll try to have some more interesting knitting pictures in time for my next posting. In the meantime, happy "tails" to you!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist! And I know you're not at all sorry to see the cutest little puppy tushie ever!)

Yarn In and Yarn Out

I survived the big Knit One sale, but I'll get to that in a bit. First, I have more prizes to give away for the contest! I was so blown away by the number of responses -- and so many by readers who hadn't before left comments here -- that I got to feeling like I really wanted to give away some yarn. So, after the grand prize was awarded by a correct guess, I used a highly scientific method* to pick three other random winners.

The first prize to be awarded is the Tofutsies I bought in Hilton Head. It doesn't have a colorway name, but it's in lovely shades of pinks and white. The winner of this yarn is ...

Jess!

Next, we have a skein of OnLine Supersocke Beach Color, in a summery multicolor colorway of blue, green, purple, red, yellow, and an orange-y brownish shade. I used this yarn to make these socks for J, and the knit fabric is very soft and comfy. This skein will soon be making its way to ...

~Kristie!

And finally, a skein of Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, the yarn the Yarn Harlot herself told me I could get at Knit One. This skein is colorway 717, with shades of blues, purples, and greens, and it is awarded to ...

Jamie!

All of you, please check your e-mail for a message from me about claiming your prizes!

Above you see my haul from the sale this morning, which is really quite reasonable if you ask me. The store was very full, and the staff were handing out small garbage bags as people walked in the door -- I saw plenty of people with full bags, let me tell you, but I restrained myself. Most of what you see above it destined to become garments for my baby cousin Aidan. At left are six skeins of Reynolds Sea Wool, which has a lovely sproing to it, much like Koigu. Next are two skeins of Cascade 220 Tweed in a boy-friendly green, and finally at the right are five skeins of Dale Baby Ull, a superwash wool that I just love.

I had planned to do an FO report on the latest socks, but we've been so busy enjoying our last day of vacation (sort of) that we didn't get around to taking any pictures. I'll try to get J to take a proper foot portrait before he heads out tomorrow.

On tap tonight is finishing up the Embossed Leaves socks for my future MIL and watching the very last episode of The Sopranos. Tomorrow it's back to the grind.


*I put everyone's name on a little piece of paper, folded all the pieces up, and then picked three at random. Primative, but it works.

We're Back!

It was a long day, but we made it. We left Hilton Head at 6 am and got back to the Pittsburgh area at about 6 pm. J and I went out for dinner on the way home, unpacked, and now we're ready to relax. It was a bit of a pain to do the trip in one day (my poor knees are still aching from not being able to stretch my legs in the back seat), but we're both glad to be back and still have a day of the weekend to catch up and run our errands before I have to go back to work and J has to go back to Virginia on Monday.

But you don't really care about that stuff, do you? I know, I know, you just want to know what the magic number of socks is after the whole trip, don't you? I won't keep you in suspense any longer -- here we are:


Left to right, we have the first Hedera I finished on the trip down; J's ankle socks; the mini Monkey socks for my Sockapalooza pal; the Autumn House Farm socks (you saw the first one yesterday; the second was finished in the car today); and finally a completed leg of the second Hedera, which is, unfortunately, all I was able to do today on account of not feeling well in the car.

The final count? According to the rules I originally laid out, that's a grand total of seven and one-third socks completed.

And we have a winner! Amanda correctly predicted that I would knit 7.33 socks over the course of vacation, apparently using a very advanced scientific technique. She will be receiving the skein of Colinette Jitterbug along with a souvenir I picked up on HHI, a measuring tape from the famous Salty Dog Cafe.

Tomorrow, the spoils of my trip to the Knit One sale, a full FO report on the socks I finished this morning, and more contest winners!

The Sixth Sock

Ladies and gents, we have a completed sock:

Finished last night during happy hour, its mate was started right away and is currently several inches into the foot. I fully expect to finish it tomorrow during our looooong day of driving home.

My favorite part about this sock, other than the colors? The Eye of Partridge heel. Look at how fetching it is:

An unfortunate incident occurred while knitting the leg of the second sock of this pair. I'd noticed that the tip of my left index finger had been getting dried out, what with all the handling of wool this past week, and in combination with directing the sharp points of my Knit Picks circs, I suffered a knitting-related injury -- a hole in my finger. The skin literally split open, much like a deep paper cut. You can all thank my poor abilities as a photographer for the fact that there isn't a picture of said injury posted here, because for the life of me I couldn't get the finger to get in focus. You'll be happy to hear, however, that I've quickly adjusted to having a bandaid on the finger and am now knitting as fast as ever.

Today being our last day in Hilton Head, I persuaded the group to let me stop at a yarn store in between stops this afternoon. I'd found two stores in my web searches, although one was a needlepoint store that also sold some yarn. We went to the other, a little place called the Courtyard that is also a used book store. J and I ducked in very briefly, and it did not take long to make some selections. There wasn't much in the way of yarn to choose from -- some Rowan, some Louisa Harding, some Plymouth, and only about two sparsely populated shelves of sock yarn -- but then I wouldn't have expected mass quantities of wool in a climate such as this. I, of course, went only for the sock yarn and was happy to add some that hasn't made it into my stash yet.

If you are a reader of Brooklyn Tweed, then you're probably familiar with his yarn portraits. I'm no photographer, by any stretch of the imagination, but I call this one "Yarn on Vacation":

Here's a close-up of what I picked up -- two skeins of Regia Bamboo in a blue/gray colorway and two skeins of Tofutsies (no, I haven't tried it yet, and I know I'm probably the last to the party), one in berry shades of pinks and magentas and one in a colorway very much likethat of the socks I'm currently knitting. And you know what? One of these skeins of Tofutsies could be yours! I'm offering up one of them as a prize for one of the participants in the contest, to be determined by random selection. And I'm still planning on going to the big sale at my LYS on Sunday, where I may pick up a few more fibery prizes.

As we are heading out bright and early (at 6 am!) tomorrow, this will be my last post from Hilton Head. Depending on what time we get home and how exhausted we are, I will post the final number of completed socks either tomorrow night or on Sunday. Either way, I'll be sure to lay them all out and take a picture once we get home so that you can be assured I haven't snuck in any extra knitting time; J will vouch for the final count's accuracy and honesty.

The big yarn sale starts at 7 am on Sunday. What time do you think I should get there? Do you think there will actually be people there at 7?

Now Entering the Black Hole

I know there has been some discussion that I've been cheating as far as the contest goes by knitting ankle socks. While I certainly hope that your comments have been at least partly in jest, you'll be happy to know that my sock knitting has slowed down considerably because of this:

Yes, it's a plain old stockinette sock, but it's full length (7" leg) and, probably in large part due to the yarn I'm using, it's taking forever. This is Autumn House Farm Herdwick Fine sock yarn that I purchased back in February at the Pittsburgh knitting festival. It's indeed a very fine yarn, such that my row gauge has gone from the usual 10 rows per inch to a whopping 13 rows per inch. I guess that would explain why I seem to be knitting for hours and not getting anywhere.

This sock was started the night before last, though I only got in about half an inch of ribbing while wasting some time in a Barnes & Noble between dinner and going to see a movie. Then yesterday I knit on them a bit in the morning, while the guys and I drove to get lunch at the Salty Dog Cafe, most of the afternoon while some sunbathed and some napped, and then most of the evening while watching the last hockey game of the season. And yet still I seem to have made little progress.

The good news is that I have a big honkin' skein of yarn from which to knit:

Perhaps I should have included something else for scale here, but trust me when I tell you this is one large skein. What I've used has only just started to make a dent, so I think there will be plenty for a pair of socks for me and probably even another pair of socks for Aidan (this colorway is very boy-friendly, right?).

The more astute among you might have noticed that for this sock I'm using a technique that's new to me -- magic loop. It's working well, although I'm still not convinced that I like it any better than two circs. I certainly don't think it's any faster, as there's still rearranging of the needle to be done when switching from one half of the stitches to the other half, but it's good to know that I can maximize my usage of the needles I have.

For those of you have been wondering how it is that I've accomplished so much knitting, I think a little clarification of my vacation activities is in order. For one thing, this was not meant to be an adventurous vacation. Yes, we've gone for walks and done a little sightseeing, but the main object of this vacation was to just relax and be away from work. Most everyone else is sitting and reading or sitting in the sun. I've already mentioned that I did bring a couple books with me, but I wasn't really planning on reading much since I read for a living (and reading would kind of defeat the purpose of getting away from work, wouldn't it?). I've mostly been sitting inside and not tanning with the others because, for one thing, the medications I've been using make me much more susceptible to a sunburn and, perhaps more significantly, I'm wearing a strapless wedding gown in a little less than three months and I don't want any funky tan lines.

So while everyone else is reading or tanning, I've been sitting inside by the window or in the shade outside knitting. While I'm not actually reading, I have been listening to back episodes of Craftlit -- specifically to the episodes with readings of Pride and Prejudice, my favorite book. I'm normally not one to listen to audio books since, for me, the pleasure of reading largely comes from the experience of holding the book and turning the pages, but I've enjoyed listening to a book I know so well and can visualize so easily.

There's been a final development related to our trip that might come as a happy surprise to some of you. We'd originally intended to drive home over two days, just as we drove down over two, but it now seems that we're going to try to make it in one day on Saturday. That means I'll be home on Sunday and will be able to make it to the big sale at my LYS that I thought I was going to miss. And you know what that means, right? MORE PRIZES FOR THE CONTEST! I'll still award the Jitterbug to the person who correctly guesses the total number of completed socks (if there indeed is anyone), but I'll pick up some other fibery surprises and do some random drawings to include all of you who participated. Sound good? Anyone care to say I'm cheating now? ;-)

Finished: Mini Monkeys

These were finished last night, but too late to do a proper photo shoot or post about them.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. (winter 2006 Knitty)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80% superwash wool, 20% nylon), colorway 104/Uptown, one skein (yes, one!)
Needles: two US 1 (2.5 mm) 12" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: June 3/June 5
Recipient: My Sockapalooza 4 pal
Mods: Shortened leg by only doing two repeats of lace pattern instead of six

Before anyone (ahem) suggests that I'm cheating by knitting another pair of ankle socks, I must tell you that my pal specifically requested crew-length socks. She also said she liked bright colors, but other than that she gave no specific requests or requirements. This yarn had been marinating in my stash for more than a year, as it was purchased along with the yarn for the Mother's Day socks of last year. It was definitely an impulse purchase on my part, as I had no particular pattern in mind for it at the time; clearly, in the time since, it hasn't called out to me to be knit. When my pal mentioned bright colors, I knew it would be perfect.

I selected this pattern chiefly because I wanted to knit another pair, having loved the quickness of it the first time around. I thought that this particular colorway wouldn't compete too much with the pattern and, aside from a tiny bit of pooling around the ankles, it worked quite well and striped ever so subtly:

You can see in this photo how well the color changes worked with the lace pattern:

Amazingly, I managed to get both socks out of one skein of yarn, with only a tiny skeinette of yarn left over of the size that I normally include in sock swaps for future repairs. So, I have a skein left, and since my pal's feet are fortuitously exactly the same length as my feet, that means I can use the remaining skein to make a pair of similar socks for myself.

Finally, J requested I post this shot as a reminder to all of you who might be swimming this summer:

Vacation Sock Count: five socks completed

The Big Announcement

My goodness, that was certainly a fast response! I should try some intrigue in my posts more often. But I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Without any further ado, here is the big announcement:

The first-ever Knit/Wit blog contest!

For the past week or so, I've been alluding to the fact that J and I have a vacation coming up. Here are the details that "nebby minds" want to know: This Friday, we are leaving for a week in Hilton Head with the whole family (and by whole family I mean my parents, J's parents, and my kid brother -- you'll be happy to hear that we'll be in a big house with a bathroom for each bedroom). After considering my options, I decided that I would take only sock yarn with me, since socks are bound to be the most practical and most portable project I could take on the trip.

And therein lies the key question you must answer as your entry to the contest: How many socks do you think I will complete by the end of the trip?

Here are the rules:

1) One entry per person, and your entry must be in a comment to this post.

2) For the sake of being as accurate as possible, we'll call a sock with a completed leg 1/3 complete and a sock with a completed heel or heel and gusset as 2/3 complete.

3) Your guess is the number of completed individual socks, not completed pairs.

4) The contest closes at 12 pm (noon) EST this Friday, June 1, which is when I'll be leaving the office and getting ready to head out.

5) In the case of a tie, all entries with the correct number of completed socks will be entered into a random drawing. In the case that no one correctly guesses the number of socks completed, all entries will be placed in a random drawing.

I'm sure the big question on everyone mind is, What do I win? Will this do as a prize?

This is a skein of Colinette Jitterbug in colorway 87, Bright Charcoal. I decided to use the last of my Knit One birthday gift card to buy this and I'm hoping it'll have a good home to go to when I get back from vacation.

If you need some help in making your guess, here are some things you might want to know:

• The fastest I've ever knit a pair of socks was four days (these socks, specifically), and that was while working full time, so I certainly wasn't knitting all day long.
• We are driving down to Hilton Head, in two cars and over two days. I am not planning on doing any of the driving.
• The trip is approximately 700 miles, so we anticipate the whole trip will take roughly 10-12 hours, depending on traffic and whether or not we get lost along the way. We are also leaving in the early afternoon on Friday, so we'll have daylight for pretty much all of the trip.
• I am planning on taking a couple books with me, but I don't know if I'll actually spend that much time reading (after all, this is a vacation and I do read for a living!)
• I am NOT telling you how much yarn I am taking with me.

I am going to be taking my laptop with me and hope to be updating on the road, for all of you who like to keep score. Also, does anyone know of any good knitter-friendly attractions or even yarn stores in Hilton Head? If I find a yarn store, I just might decide to pick up some other prizes for a random drawing to be held later ...

Okay knitters, make your guess! (This should be a good opportunity for some of you to delurk!)

12 p.m. EST ETA: The contest is now closed. Thanks for your guesses! Please check back to see my progress!