Out of the Running

Thank you, thank you to all of you who voted for my friend, Tracy.  Unfortunately, she had to withdraw her project due to a mix up.  As I understand it, once you posted your project there wasn't supposed to be any "chatting" until after the voting.  The time was based on Irish time.  Tracy updated her post to include more information and the moderator said it qualified as "chatting".  I don't get that, but here's the kicker, based on Irish time, she was still before the deadline!  Despite pointing it out, she still had to withdraw. In any event, both Tracy and I are grateful for those of you who tried to help her out!

On another subject, Knit Picks and I are on the outs.  They gave me a really hard time about an order I placed before Christmas.  I'll spare you the details, but it did take them six weeks to credit my account.  Then, of course, there was the fiasco with the stolen credit card information.  I didn't want to wait and see if I was one of the unfortunate ones, so I cancelled my credit card.  While I didn't have any suspicious activity, I did place an order during the time period.  Better to be safe than sorry.  If all this wasn't bad enough, I'm thoroughly disappointed with some socks I knit with their Stroll yarn.  There's a neat hat pattern on Ravelry called Dustland Hat .  I haven't knit the hat yet, but I thought it would also make nice socks.

See?  Nice huh.  I love green and had high hopes.  Well, while they might look nice from a distance, up close they're horrid.  The yarn pilled and fuzzed like crazy.

They look like they've been through the wash a few times and they were spanking new!

You can barely see the stitch detail.  Jack still liked them, but then again, he doesn't really care too much what he has on his feet!

I'm not anxious to use this yarn again anytime soon.  I have a ton of it too.  I guess it's true that you get what you pay for.  I know I won't be paying for this again any time soon!

Lucky Me!

I have been so fortunate to meet some really lovely people both through my blog and through Ravelry.  One of them is my pal, Christi, from Texas.  A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to get a package in the mail from her.  I just couldn't imagine what she could be sending me.

Look at this gorgeous set of handwarmers and matching cowl.  Christi knows how much I love green and so she knit this beautiful set for me.  Not only that, but she also spun the yarn herself!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I'm not used to anyone making things for me. She made this as a thank you for something I did for her awhile ago.  Something I didn't expect any thanks for, so needless to say, I was just overwhelmed.  I wish you could all slip your hands into the mitts and feel how soft and cozy they are.  I'm truly touched by Christi's generous gesture of friendship.  As I said, lucky me!

On another note, I'm going to shamelessly ask you to help me help out another friend.  Tracy lives in Arizona and has had some major health difficulties in the last few years.  She's entered a contest on Ravelry and I would love it if you would all vote for her project.  I think it's one of the nicest ones in the contest and it would be just so terrific if she could win.  All you have to do it go to Ravelry and vote.  Here's a link to the voting: St. Patrick's Day Celebrations  Click on "love" and that's it! You can read Tracy's touching story.  tracyvw is her Ravelry name and her project is post # 6.  A beautiful Irish scarf.

Isn't it lovely?  So I urge you, if you've ever knit one of my patterns, this is your chance to "pay" me back by helping Tracy out.  I sure hope she wins and I thank each and every one of you!!

A Cheep Set

I finally got around to writing up the pattern for the chicken that I used in Ruthie's Farm. Wow, I can't believe that it's been almost a year since I posted it!  In any event, I couldn't do a blanket without chickens since there are several that reside at her home (and one really mean rooster).  The boys have named all the chickens and they do tend to get annoyed with me when I forget their names! Fortunately, they're all different breeds, so I do have a little help in identifying them.

I'm not sure what breed this chicken is though.  It's definitely a new variety!

The patterns are both available in pdf formats and are listed in the side bar.  Or, you can click here for the bib or click here for the cloth.

You can name the chickens yourself, however, Gaffy, Cadbury, and Blackstar are already taken.