Just Stuff

First of all, a quick shot of the prize from Knitting Philistine, don't worry, I didn't win another prize, I already 'fessed up to this one.

There's some Gentle Lavender Natural Mineral Sea Salt Soak, Herbal Spa Treatments for Bath (also Lavender), Sweet Orange and Clove Soap, and Peppermint Wish Foot Balm. I have to admit to opening the foot balm right away, and I LOVE it, my post-summer feet ate it up, I've tried a lot of foot moisturizers in the past, and this has to be my favorite so far. Normally I feel that my feet are over-greasy. Forget walking on the hardwood floors afterwards! But this was much better than any other I've tried, I felt like it absorbed a lot better, and was much less greasy. I also felt a difference in softness. I've not tried the other things yet, I think we need some cooler weather before I'm taking a bath. But I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Melissa. If you want to get some of your own, you can always check out her store.

Speaking of stores, I wanted to say that I'm blown away at the response to my box bags, the first batch sold out in less than 3 days, I've managed to add more here and there. I hope to do a bigger update sometime over the weekend. Anyway, big THANKS to everyone that's stopped by the store to visit, and those that have bought bags. I'm so relieved that people actually like them.

Every time I start a new project, I have, in the back of my mind, the crazyidea, this time it may *the one*. You know, the one that has zero errors, the one without any fudged-up bits. Although I'm pretty sure this will never happen - there is still a part of me, hoping that just maybe....

So, a couple of (slightly) fudged up FO's for you. First of all Spiral Socks. I absolutely adore these socks. I really enjoyed the STR - which is a relief since I have 3 more skeins to use :) it's so... round. As for the socks, I thought I was doing so well with the matching of the socks, opposite swirls and all. However, the swirl came around a lot faster on the second sock than on the first. I could. not. figure it out for ages. Trying them on after finishing last night, I realized what the problem is, I think I actually had less stitches for sock #2!!! Oh well, they still fit (albeit tightly for #2), and I still love them, even though they're not perfectly matched.


Pattern: Swirl Socks by Sulafaye
Yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight - in January One (btw, how cool to have a colorway named after you?)
Needles: US #2 Pony Pearls
Mods and thoughts: Only the 'oops factor'. I highly recommend the pattern, perfect interest and not too 'fussy' for a variegated yarn.

The second FO began with even higher hopes. Orangina was supposed be knit faster than anyone else has done it (planning to practically finish on vacation - HA!), be perfect, AND make me slimmer. None of these things happened, of course. I'm had moments of losing my place in the pattern at times, creating 'unevenness', and being the lazy knitter that I am, I didn't rip back. Ripping back only happens when it's *really* noticeable, which is rare in my book, my standards are low :) Oh yeah, and I gave myself a face, for a change.


Pattern: Orangina by Glampyre Knits
Yarn: Rowan 4-ply in "Sage"
Needles: Addis Tubos US #3
Mods: again, only the "Schrodinger touch" to certain parts of the pattern, oh! and I made the back slightly longer than the front - not on purpose. I'm undecided about the pattern, like I said, I wanted it to make me thinner. Shockingly - it didn't. Oh well...

And the winners are...

Contest is over - woo hoo! What follows is a bunch of rambling, followed by the winners names, just scroll to the bottom if you just want to know if you have won a bag cube.

Choice A - autumn flowers
Thank you so much everyone for your overwhelming response. I was fortunate enough to have the week off work last week to have time to look over the comments - 247 all-in-all!! I'm not kidding about overwhelming, I can't believe how many of you knit bloggers out there came by to visit - it's exciting for me to see all these new blogs - even if I haven't had time to personally say hi. I really do appreciate your good wishes and support for the new shop (which is now open btw - check out the nifty little 'mini-shop' on the left).

Choice B - Purple Regal
Also during my week off I was been cutting, pinning and sewing like a woman possessed. I love my bags, I'm proud of them, I think they are excellent quality, and they look freaking adorable, but they take up a lot of time. So, if I haven't commented on your blog recently, please don't think I'm ignoring you, I'm still perusing blogs, but not commenting as much as I'd like.

Choice C - Greyscale Flowers
I have found a little bit of time to knit in the evening. The never-ending Orangina is now complete, just in time for the fall - my timing is perfect, as always. But I'm going to save all that knitting stuff for another post, because all you folks want to know right now (if you've not already skipped past to the names) is if you're a winner. First of all I want to let you know about my method of randomly picking - well I toyed with the idea of hats and scrap - for all of about 5 seconds!! Seriously, once you add all the extra entries for everyone, there would have been 364 pieces of paper to write/print and cut - no, I've got enough cutting going on here. Instead, excel became my friend, cut and paste my savior :) Then, after a bit of googling I found this formula:

=INDEX(A1:A364,ROUNDUP(RAND()*COUNTA(A1:A364),0))

Choice D - Amber Eternity
Apparently it works - well, I know it does, I tested it (on another list) a LOT, it's like magic! Now I'm writing this post before picking the names, so, right at this second, I have no idea who the winner will be (although there are a couple of bloggers out there who sent a huge amount of people over here - either by threatening physical violence, or just being known to post a LOT of contests).

Choice E - Golden Blue
Anyway, I think that it's time to put you, and myself, out of our misery and just do it already!!

So here goes - first name out of the hat is..... Jen W

Number 2....... Sally Villarreal

And the final name is .............. Cass (not surprising with over 30 entries in all), now we know, violence - or at least the threat of it, does pay ;)

Congratulations to you lovely winners. You get to choose one the the bags shown in this post. Just email me (schrodinger212 AT gmail DOT com) with your choice and mailing details. Again, thanks to everyone for your support and the amazing response. And don't forget, if you really, really (really) want a bag, you can find them at my store (sorry, couldn't resist one last push).

Next time .... some actual knitting - AND, shock, horror, at least one FO.

The one where I show you a bunch of half finished projects

There's some still time left to enter, so if you're looking for the contest ---> click here

Happy Labor Day everyone!

I don't have anything complete to show to you today, but I do have a bunch of WIPs. I'm going through a major amount of startitis - it happens sometimes, esp. when I have so much lovely yarn in my hands that I want to knit - now!! First of all, let me share with you a pic of the beautiful yarn I won from Scout.

It's 100% merino in the colorway "Harlot's Mums" - it's a beaut right?

Now for the WIPS - the clap is really coming along, not much else to tell ya on this one - except the Sea Silk continues to be a dream to knit with.


I started my first STR sock on Friday - it took 3 false starts, and much ripping back before the yarn (in "January One" colorway) was telling it *had* to be this pattern. I'm obsessed with this pattern, I LOVE the asymmetry of the swirls. And you all know I love my swirls/spirals in socks. Look at it! I don't know if you could share the same love I have for this sock, but I just can't stop knitting it.


Which means that my poor Esther sock will remain partnerless for some time yet - but at least one is done for now - a super pretty pattern this is (click here for more info on the pattern - or check it out on ravelry).


That's all for today, I will be drawing the winners of the bags later on this week, in the meantime - I have some more sewing to do...

Big thanks

If you're looking for the contest ---> click here

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but it was my birthday a little while back (maybe that's the reason for my run of luck?) and among all the other goodies, I got a gift from my fave . Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush - a book I'd had my eye on for ages, and a gift cert for Blue Moon fibers. So you can guess what I got....

STR - seriously, how have I never tried this before?


THANK YOU so much Spiders!! I love, love, love the book AND the yarn - you know me so well :) I chose the colours in preparation for fall/winter knitting, and I think I will forgo my other knitting and end up casting on for a basic sock tomorrow.

I'm a winner - now it's your turn!!

CONTEST IS NOW OVER - WINNERS WILL BE POSTED SOON

Some of you are already aware that I'm such a lucky ducky these days. Not satisfied with winning a contest over at Bockstark's and Oiyi's blog. My name was pulled at a contest with Knitting Philistine, I've been dying to show pics, but I think the mailman is holding out on me :( Last week I won at Cass's 222 contest, lookie here:

Book of Knitting Tips and Trade Secrets - sure to help me out next time I have aeautiful SeaSilk - which looked stunning in it's hank (go see on Cass's blog), I had to wind it and cast on right away. The cold weather earlier in the week inspired me to cast on for my first ever clapotis (yeah, I'm a bit late to that party). Scout then contacted me to let me know that, just for donating some money to ravelry (something I should have done a long time ago) I won her contest, now I have a hank of her beautiful yarn heading over to me. Now, please don't hate me. In case you're wondering, I don't go trawling around blogland looking for contests. The contest have either been on blogs I read already, or stumbled across them from a blog I read regularly.

It's more than time to give back, yup. I'm having my own contest, right here, right now. I've actually been thinking about how to run this contest, there's been so many imaginative ideas (let's face it folks, so many contests) out there. I'm really not that imaginative, so I just say, add a comment here - something silly, benign, hilarious, whatever, and you're entered. Bonus entries go to those who tell others about the contest (just email me your blog link at schrodinger212 AT gmail DOT com), or if someone tells me you've come from your blog, you'll get another entry.

But wait! What's the prize you ask? Well, I think that there is nothing more fitting than the thing that has kept from from my knitting, more and more.


It's the ultimate sock knitting bag. These box bags - let's call them 'cubes' are about 4" tall, and about 5" wide and deep. I've been using them regularly for months and months now, I found it to be a perfect size to throw in your sock project (even if it's 2 socks), with needles up to 7", and a few notions.



I love my bags and want to share the love, so I will be giving away, not one, not 2, but 3 bags to 3 lucky commenters - 3 winners will be randomly selected after the contest closes. The contest will be open for a week (closing Sept 4th at 11:59pm ET) - which is when I'm hoping to open my etsy store*, selling these very bags.

Good luck!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU FOR YOUR HUGE RESPONSE!!

* Link to etsy store is schrodinger.etsy.com

Twisted Tweed Socks!!

Finally, I have battled the monster that is pdf creation. And the pattern is now freely available here. I have to say a big thank you to Harriet of Limedragon who gave me some pointers with little oopsies in the first draft of the pattern. Enjoy the pattern!

ETA: If you're a Ravelry user, you can queue the pattern here.

Click to Download
If that link doesn't work you can also try downloading from here.

Failling that, please try downloading from here.

Jan 2008 Update: I've changed one of the links for downloading the pattern. There are now 3 choices, all from free servers, that each have their own limitations - sometimes the bandwidth is exceeded for the day/week/month for one, which is why I have 3 choices. If none work, please try again later, or on a new day. Thanks.

Sunny Days

It's finally sunny outside - which is great news for me, I could actually bring the camera and goodies out, and take some shots to share with you.

First of all some yarn acquirement, from the little trip last week. It wasn't a huge amount, to be honest, but certainly plenty to keep me happy.

I'm actually thrilled by a purchase of Cotton-Ease (strange huh?), this stuff is hard to get in the city, and I've heard good stuff about it, so when I saw it at Pearl Paint (who knew?!), I couldn't resist.

Next up is a little purchase from ImagiKnits, - some Misti Alpaca Lace. I plan to do Auburn Mist from the latest issue of Knitters mag - sadly I can't do Mohair, so alpaca it is. Shopping at ImagiKnits was a pleasure, the shop was near empty and the staff were super-welcoming and friendly. Even when I came back after my cuppa tea across the street to change needles (yeah, I bought the wrong size) they were helpful. Anyway, I'm going on, here's the yarn, needles and cute little needle holder. * I forgot to take a picture of the needles, they are Brittany US #1 dpns.


Finally, and most gorgeously, the Art Fibers purchase. I really loved this store, great atmosphere, beautiful yarns - I went twice!! If my budget were bigger I would have been buying many (many, many) cones of the gorgeous stuff they had on the shelves.


Since the sun shone, I was also able to take picture of the prizes I received this week. First up, I won a little contest at Oiyi's blog a little while back, the prize was a beautiful little handmade stitchmarker as well as a couple of balls of Zitron Samoa yarn - cool huh?


Bockstark had a little contest going, which I was very thrilled to win - first of all, this sushi bag that she made - dontcha just love the print?


The inside fabric is just as cool - see?


The inside was made even cooler as it contained this beautiful yarn from Tausendshon in "Das Rot", it's a 70% Merino wool, 20% silk, 10% Ramie. I'm so in love with the colour. I think I'm going to be tempted to buy more German hand-dyed, get it sent to my folks in Austria, then have some really cool Christmas gifts to look forward to when I go and visit them :)


There may be more to come but I believe the postman hates me :)

In honor of all that, there will be a contest here, promise! I know I've been dangling that carrot here for a while here, but life can really get in the way sometimes :) In the meantime, let me tell you about another contest - one that Cass is having a #222 contest, simply name your 2 favorite knitting books, patterns and blogs, go and check it out.

I'm Back

Mr B and I had a phenomenal trip in San Fran. I'm amazed at how much we fit into a week (well 6 days). Highlights include: the Bridge (of course), having my fortune told by a mechanical wizard, the sea-lions on Pier 39, Muir woods, wine tasting, knitting on various modes of transportation (love public transport in SF), Uncle Vito's Pizza, Artfibers and ImagiKnits - both wonderful, friendly experiences, North Shore Jazz festival going up Coit Tower (what great views) among other things. Here's some random shots from the trip.

One downer was that when we got back our mailbox was empty, I called USPS to find out what happened, finally got a call back from the local office. After some 'discussion' it turns out that they don't know where my mail is, they think that the postman just took it all out when he thought the mailbox was too full and he may have kept it, or just returned to sender. We were away for a week, a WEEK people!! So now I have to go in on Monday to see if they have my mail. I don't know if they have my Netflix movies (LOST - Goddammit!), any cards and/or gifts for my birthday. I'm pissed! I've never had this happen before, I've never had my mail confiscated for going away on vacation for a week - WTF!?

The upper is that I had a nearly finished top to finish off waiting for me when I got home. I finished it this morning, and here it is, please excuse my San Fran t-shirt tan (yes, for me, this is tanned).


Yarn: Suss Cotton in Chamois
Needles: Denise's in US 9 and 10.5
Pattern: Lelah Top modified. By Knitting for Boozehags.
Mods/thoughts: The most obvious was the straps I added, I did them in a ribbing pattern. I did a single crochet edging. The top feels a tad too big, but I still love it!


I've had a test knitter (thanks Harriet!) give me excellent feedback on the twisted tweed socks and just have to tweak the pattern a little. Trouble is, I have to go out for dinner this evening, then Mr B has a gig tonight - technically tomorrow since it's at 1am! So I hope I get a chance to get it out in a few days. Thanks for your patience.