Done!

Since my last post, Sprite chose her prizes:  a $20 gift card to Amazon and a skein of purple sock yarn.  I have a few skeins of purple, so I sent her a 'collectible' skein - the October 2009 Mean Girls Yarn Club color, Shellfish Bitch.  I of course never took a picture of it, but Turtlegirl has a good picture of it here on Ravelry.

A month or so ago, I mentioned that I was working on Peaks Island Hood for my co-worker, Kelly.  I finished it, Ravelry says, on January 16.  I have to say that this was a somewhat frustrating knit.  I am a great pattern-follower -- I suspect that's because I'm not original enough to come up with patterns of my own -- but this one really was unclear in places.  "Work in pattern" only means something once the pattern is established, and this is especially true when there's more than one pattern going on.  I generally love Ysolda's patterns, so I'm not sure why this one is problematic.  However, once I figured out what was going on, it moved quickly - I always forget that bulky yarn and big needles do that!

Anyway -- it's done.  I didn't get a picture of Kelly wearing it yet, and the close-up pictures I have don't do it justice.  They all make it look like the colorway has a lot of blue in it, but it doesn't really.  It's much more browns/black/golds.  Nevertheless, if you embiggen this picture, you can see the shell detail right there above the stitch marker.

Details:
Pattern:  Peaks Island Hood by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Maxima in M8881 (Beehive)
Needles:  giant US 9s!
Mods:  As written, this scarf is designed to have one end much longer than the other. The long end wraps around the neck and has buttons on it, while the short end has button holes to hold it all in place.  Kelly and I both thought that two long ends, and no buttons, would work better.  Although I bought extra yarn, I really could have used another skein.  After splicing together every little piece I could find, the second end is about three inches shorter than the first.  However, I'm not sure anyone will notice it while she's wearing it!

In the nine days since I finished Kelly's hood, I also finished my Pea Vines small shawl, which I love, love, love, and started a coordinating pair of Sidecar Mittens.  More on them next time!

We have a winner!

Thanks for all the comments.  Our winner, based on a number chosen by the random number generator at random.org (because Harley refused to help!) is Sprite from SpriteWrites!  Once I hear from her, I'll let y'all know what she chose.

Blogiversary (and a Random Drawing)

Happy Blogiversary to me!  Actually it was two days ago, on Saturday, but this was a busy weekend and I'm a lazy blogger.

Five years ago last Saturday, I wrote my first post.  In fact, I posted daily for four days!  That first year, 2006, was by far my busiest, blog-wise, with 152 posts.  Last year, I only managed 34.  I'm going to try to do a little better this year - at least once a week.

One of the things that makes me sad is that I lost a lot of comments from the first couple years, due to changing comment platforms.  However, I do thank those of you have been reading all along, and, while I'm at it, you newer readers, too - it's nice that you continue to come around even if I don't post very often!

So, to celebrate, I'm giving stuff away!  Actually, because I'm lazy, there will be one randomly-drawn winner.  Maybe Harley will draw the winner's name....  So, leave a comment before midnight Friday, and a name will be chosen next Saturday.  The lucky winner will have a say in their prize:  they'll get something from the yarn stash (but be aware that there's lots of sock yarn in there!) and a $20 gift certificate to either Amazon or iTunes -- winner's choice!

I know it not MegaMillions, but who doesn't love a little free yarn and twenty bucks??  All you have to do is enter by midnight (make that midnight central time) Friday!

Pink and Me

I think pink has always been my favorite color.  I remember having a pair of pink and yellow sneakers  when I was about 7 years old.  Unfortunately - as far as colors go - my teenage years were spent entirely in the earth-tone 1970s, where pink was pretty rare.  I got married in 1980 (boy, am I old!) and really wanted my bridesmaids to wear pink dresses, but there were none to be found.  Of course, just a couple of years later, pink was back and hasn't really gone away since.

I like all shades of pink, but my favorites are very pale, icy pink and darker, not-pastel pink.  That's why, when I opened the latest shipment from Scout's yarn club, I squealed out loud.  Yes, I stood in my kitchen, squealing and squeezing a skein of sock yarn.  See why?

This color is call Izvar, and I absolutely love it.  A quick tour of my Ravelry project page will show why -- here are some highlights:

Anne Hanson's Whispering Pines

Stonewall (scarf) and Bougainvillea (socks) - also Anne Hanson

Nereid Fingerless Gloves

Bird in Hand Mittens

And there are more!