Winners Winners Everwhere

So now that the contest is over and done with, I can announce the winners.

Package 1: So many fantastic entries! It was really cool to see what inspires people. And it was really hard to pick a winner. But pick one I did. Congratulations Bea of Baa Baa Blacksheep!

Wanna see the other blog entries?

• Breanna’s Knit Bits
• Karma Kitties (that’s the one and only B.)
• Radiant Twist
• The Viking Princess (how’s that for a cool blog name?)
• Knit One Blog Too
• Comfort Joy Designs
• Dianne Rambling On…
• Mariknits
• Arctic Knits (even cooler… yes, I make bad puns. A lot, actually.)
• Lovin’ Comfort Knits
• Knit/Pickin’
• A Tree Hugger’s Wife (Missy, who has just moved from Saipan to Alaska)
• Friends Knit Together (Adriana who is moving to Toronto soon)
• Four kids, Two dogs and a Marine Husband
• The Adventures of Elva Undine (better known round these parts as Jessica Marie of Folk & Fairy)
• and thanks to all the blogless entries as well!

Package 2: Names in a hat and the winner is… Erin Ferraguto. Congrats!

Package 3: Names in a hat of everyone entered into the contest. And the winner of this super secret prize (ok, not really. It’s yarn and tea.) is Kristen who emailed me pictures of her adorable dog Belle.

Right, winners, email me at pfeknitsAT gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone who took part.

Non-contest stuff:

I finished my no-name scarf. Super fast knit and I love, LOVE the result.

• Name: The Scarf
• Pattern: Valentine Sequin Scarf from kpixie
• Yarn: Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK in no. 64, 2 skeins (I had about a foot leftover)
• Needles: Denise’s US 8
• Mods: Used a provisional cast on, had cables of varying and completely random lengths and then grafted the whole thing into a loop.
• Notes : For some reason I had this mad hankering for one of those loop scarves that were so popular last year. And with good reason by the look of things, squishy, soft, cabley and loopy. No ends to get in the way and just sheer coziness. Also, this was FAST.

A few days ago I had a very Game of Death-esque dream only instead of ascending levels and beating enemies, I was descending levels and acquiring new parts of myself. I am mostly housebound and even more than that, a lot of times I am either in or on the bed. (Thank the gods for laptops, eh?) Deciding to photograph myself every day for a year has always been something I’ve wanted to do in the future. When I’m better (fibro and Sjogren’s are both chronic and incurable but I don’t like to admit that I might very well be sick for the rest of my life), when we’ve moved to a more picturesque place, just later.

The fifth level down in my dream was about blasting out of comfort zones. Ok then, I’ll try. You can see (if you really want to) what there is to be seen over on Flickr.

 

Sig Necklace For Charity

If you like my Signature Necklaces, you can find a double stranded version currently up for charity auction here. This is ‘Song’s Blogathon auction: she’s auctioning off the items in support of BARCC (Boston Area Rape Crisis Center) and then writing stories inspired by each piece. There’s tons of cool stuff for auction.

So get a shiny and go forth and support charity. Oh, and feel free to spread the link around. Remember, Sig Necklaces are not for sale at this point in time so this is about your only chance to get one.

Also, contest! There aren’t many entries so far, I take it no one likes pink.

I am knackered today. Dentist AND doctor. Send yarn and coffee. Or nominate me for one of these!

 

The Pink Contest - NOW CLOSED

Decided to post this a little early to give everyone (including me!) enough time to do it justice. Also, this is my 300th post and it seemed fitting.

Eight months after I began knit blogging I made the move to WordPress and now I’ve been here for two years. It is that anniversary which I am celebrating with a contest. And yes, it is pink.

First of all, the packages up for grabs.

Package 1:

• one skein of BMFA Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Mist (which is not on the Blue Moon site)
• a set of 5 Brittany Birch sock DPNS, size 3mm (US 2.5)
• two tubes of Crazy Rumors Vegan Lip Balm - Brew: Peppermint Lemongrass and Perk: Coffee Bean
• a Wonderland ‘Flamingo’ 20″ Neckvine from Wyrding Studios (the Wonderland line is discontinued)
• a 125g tin of Harrods Heritage English Breakfast Blend No. 14 Loose Leaf Tea
• all in a large reusable canvas shopping bag from French Connection

Package 2:

• one skein of Sundara Sock Yarn in Mushroom over Blush
• a set of 5 Brittany Birch sock DPNS, size 2.5mm (US 1.5)
• one tube of Crazy Rumors Vegan Lip Balm in Brew: Ginger Peach
• a small sample of Eucalan in Natural
• a 125g tin of Harrods Heritage Ceylon Afternoon No. 16 Loose Leaf Tea

To Win:

Package 2 is simple. Just send me an email with “Pink Contest Package 2″ in the subject line and your name will go into a hat to win.

Package 1 is slightly more involved. I want you to take three (or more) pictures of something that inspires you. Post the photos on your blog with a link to this entry and then email me the link. Please put “Pink Contest Package 1″ in the subject line. (Again, WP cannot be trusted to notify me of your posts so send an email to make sure.) I’ll pick my favorite and the package will go off to that person. Don’t worry, I’m not judging on photographic merit or anything, just picking a favorite.

The Rules:

Comments will not be counted as an entry. Sometimes WordPress eats comment notifications so I want to make sure I’m getting everyone’s entry.

Emails must have something in the subject line pertaining to the contest so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.

Please send emails to pfeknitsAT gmail.com. Thanks for reminding me Lori!

Deadlines:

Package 1: Emails must be received no later than August 4 so I have time to look at everyone’s entry.

Package 2: Names will be drawn on August 6 at 4pm GMT.

Either way, please think about taking part. And if you don’t want to, please spread the link around (I have a specific person in mind for this, you know who you are.) I’ve had a lot of fun over the past two years and it’s readers like you who have made it that way.

Now go forth and be inspired!

 

WIPs and Previews

Seraphim has made some progress (nearly done with chart 1) but it still looks like a huge purple triangle so no pictures. Likewise the Chevron Scarf has gotten more work done but it looks the same too. But! I do have stuff to show.

Zen Squishy Socks. Seriously fast and seriously squishy. I got the yarn in a swap with B.

Re-do Cardigan in Nature Wool. It’s the back of Lush and Lacy for which I must thank B. for sending me the pattern.

And now, contest package previews. I’ll do a proper entry with rules and deadlines and details but for now, you can just decide which package you’ll go for.

Package 1:

or Package 2:

Look for details the middle of this week. I’ll tell you that package 1 is a bit more involved to get your hands on but it will be fun to try.

Happy Sunday.

 

Not Shiny Or Happy

You are forewarned. If you really feel the need for shiny and/or happy, please go ogle the band or scroll down to the weekly list.

I am currently in what I am guessing is my first true Sjogren’s flare. It could be something else entirely (yes, I have a doctor’s appointment to sort that out and boy, do I hope it isn’t) but it seems about right. Usually whenever my body throws something new at me I tend to cry a lot. And then laugh. Because what else can you do? I think I’m feeling a little better because both today and yesterday I’ve been able to sit up and accomplish things, which is good. There’s baking in my future if I can get enough oomph going. There’s a Palladian bridge there too, dependent on even more oomph. Needing lotsa oomph.

But yes, thinking. My life has been something like a ride I once took on a bottom glass boat out at Catalina. Life and activity and brightness along the shallows and then whoosh! Deep trench down into blackness. See, I was a sickly child, but I wasn’t sick. I had allergies and asthma and I am a klutz in the extreme so I had a lot of breaks and strains. But I was mainly functional. I had really good grades, something akin to a social life, I was in orchestra, marching band, on the yearbook staff, I did Girl Scouts, went to catechism classes, took GATE summer school, went to summer camp and science camp… in short, I could function alright. True I had an asshat doctor who pulled me out of tennis lessons (his diagnosis: chronic bronchitis and I shouldn’t be out in the night air) and a visitation schedule from the sixth ring of hell that cut into being a normal kid. But mostly, functional.

In high school things just went batshit on more than one level. But I was still functional. First two years of university and I started out of the shallows. By the fourth year I was well on my way down that trench into illness. There’s a trend, a clear cut arc of where my body went no and I didn’t listen. And now I’m here. Mostly housebound and all around frustrated. It’s dark down here, damnit. And I remember not being here. And that is probably the hardest thing.

And now the weekly thing a day early:

Something Good: No Purl Monkeys knit up very fast. I have yarn on its way to me. I have kind friends who I appreciate, even if they do live halfway around the world.

Knitting: Same as last week. Knitting’s been slow going of late.

Reading: A Haunted House and Other Short Stories by Virginia Woolf and Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties by Laurie Edwards (which thus far I highly recommend)

Writing/Crafting: Not a bloomin’ thing. This creativity block is not helping things. Anyone have any tips on creative block issues?

This Week’s Plan: If there is oomph: baking, a trip to Wilton House. If there is no oomph, lots of reading.

And now a question for the Mac users: what word processor do you like best for Mac? I tried Pages and couldn’t get into it and TextEdit just doesn’t cut it. I have heard nothing good about the newest Office and I hate XML with a passion. At the moment I’m trying Open Office which is like early Word by the looks of it. Anything fantastic that I am missing because I’m a newbie? Ta.

Hope your weekend is full of oomph.

 

More Portsmouth

Random pictures taken in Portsmouth on Saturday.

A cool old building (1885).

An anchor from the Battle of Trafalgar. Complete with seagull.

The hovercraft terminal.

The Atlantic.

A ferry to France.

The Royal Navy’s fire fighting building.

And look, there’s knitting content too!

One red sock done.

Today’s Blogs:

Duran Duran: Yeah, so I’m fangirling again. It’s interesting. Also, the band members occasionally post. Which I love.

Yvestown: Whimsy rules. So too does the Yvestown store.

Audience Participation: What’s the general view of Twitter? I am alternately tempted and thinking it is completely pointless. Thoughts? Anyone on it?

 

TGIF

This week has been rotten, which is rather bad because it was Mr F’s birthday yesterday. I blame the fibro, I’m in a flare and I just feel like CRAP. Anyway, on with life, right?

Ask the Audience: What’s the verdict on Tempest, is the yarn fingering weight as Ravelry says or lace weight as the designer says? I have enough lace weight in the stash to do it but only *just* enough fingering. Inquiring knitters want to know.

And now the weekly thing.

Things:

• see this post regarding new legislation on copyright in the US
• from Desire To Inspire: Abi Boura, Ryan Benyi, Noah Webb
• something from The House of Turquoise
• a good idea from The Plucky Knitter
• The Puppini Sisters
• Top Gear (Richard Hammond in particular.)
• this song
• through my local library’s online catalogue I came across this book published in 1867 called The Knights Of the Frozen Sea : A Narrative Of Arctic Discovery. It has no branch information but you can bet I am tracking it down.
• and on a similarly icy note, a new story by Catherynne M. Valente is up here.

Something Good:

This week is nearly over. (No, that picture has nothing to do with anything. It’s just pretty.)

Knitting: Kat’s shawl, Phyllo sleeve 2.

Reading: Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

Writing/Crafting: Been thinking more than actually writing. But that’s ok, it’s all part of the process. I have a new Wyrding Studios pendant that needs a necklace.

This Week’s Plan: My studying all comes down to this week. Test on Thursday. Ugh.

How about you?

 

Pretending Summer

When the sky outside the window looks like this:

Who can be blamed for pretending a bit of summer with this,

And this?

I am so ready for spring.

Also, I would like to draw your attention to a new page on ye olde blog: Barter System Boogie. It’s like FKS only everything’s up for swap (and I’m a fair swapper: sock yarn, music, books and beads are rarely turned down) or trade. Right now there’s a very summery necklace up, which would be perfect for days like today when there’s just a bit of longing for summer in the air. And be sure to keep checking the FKS page too, there’s a lot to be going up on that over the next few months.

This coming week is great in that there’s nothing scheduled and bad because with nothing scheduled, I’ve got no excuse for not busting my butt to get caught up on a lot of stuff. Hopefully I can make more progress on the knitting too.

And now, a new weekly thing:

• Something Good: For the past three days I have been dreaming about being 30 and having a few of my childhood dreams come true. There was a trip around the world with Santa Claus, finding out that I was really a duchess complete with country house, title and fortune, and a day of being Mrs Simon Le Bon (I had the biggest crush on him when I was a kid). These dreams are silly, of course, but I’ve been waking up every morning in a great mood, so I don’t care how silly they are. Plus, Simon Le Bon!
• Knitting: Sqcirc Prototype Hat 2, Phyllo Yoked Pullover (still), Ruby Socks
• Reading: Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
• Writing: Big Writing Project Book 3
• This Week’s Plan: Attack to-do list, study like mad.

What about you?

 

Desk, Hat, Clouds and A Little Spring Giveaway

That about covers it except to say that for some reason WordPress is eating comment notifications again.

Also, since it’s tax season back home and it’s got me stressed out and I don’t even have to worry about it, how about a little giveaway?

That’s a skein of Spritely Goods Fey Sock Yarn in Spring is Here. Fitting, no?

Email pfeknitsAT gmail.com by April 15th and a winner will be picked at random.

And now more studying needs doing. After that I’m going to reward myself by playing Sims 2.

Happy Thursday!

 

Other Things In Life

Still no knitting. If you’re here for that, you will be disappointed. Blame the wonky left arm.

Still here? Have a list.

1) I am currently rather blocked writing wise. I have a scene I want to write but I can’t figure out where it goes. My muse is telling me it fits in with a certain story but I don’t see it. This is frustrating.

2) Another contest winner has posted pictures!

Karen won the purple package with green yarn in it.

Thanks Karen!

3) Tell me something nice. It can be about me, about you, about your cat or the world at large. But it has to be nice.

My something nice: I swapped a whole heap o’ Sundara Sport in a color I cannot abide by for STR and Koigu in colors I love. Yay swapping!