Winner #8

JEREMY!!!!!!

Check your email, okay? And congratulations!

More productive than I thought

If you'd asked me if I'd been a productive knitter so far this year, I would've said no.

And, as it turns out, I would have been wrong.

I've been busier than I realized, but the output has all been in the form of boring big-ass socks for Goldisox. Enough already with the socks. He only has two feet. How many socks does the man need? It's time for sweaters and scarves and -- okay, more socks. But this time for me.

Here's a sample of 2009 sockage. (I'll show you the rest tomorrow. I'm too lazy to go upstairs and poke around in search of the other renegades.) (Besides, you've seen one boring vanilla sock, you've seen them all, right?)


1. This is sock #1. Sock #2 is approaching heel flap status. It's Regia Crazy Colors Stretch. Size 2 (I think) Harmony circular. 64 stitches, K7 P1.

And I apologize for the crappy photo. You really shouldn't stuff your left hand into a sock then photograph it with your right.

Also I don't recommend standing in front of a screen door when you do so.




2. Two strands of Crazy Color non-stretch. Don't remember the needle size but I'd guess a US4. Definitely circular. Meant as cushiony boot socks.



3. I didn't realize how porny that poor sock looked until I saw it on screen. Good freakin' grief. There's a photography lesson to be learned there somewhere. It looks like a knit condom for Andre the Giant. Berroco Comfort Chunky, charcoal grey, US4 Options circular.



4. I've told you that this house takes hostages, haven't I? It will pluck certain objects at random, hide them somewhere within the structure, then just when you've finally given up on ever seeing said object again, it spits it out like an angry snake. No apologies. No explanations. Poof! It's gone. Poof! It's back again.

The pink Best Foot Forward reappeared about two weeks ago, to my relief and delight. I'm in the home stretch on sock #2 and loving every minute. It's Rowan Cash Soft in a lovely dusty pink on US4 Options circ.



This time the camera pointed out a wee gap at the gusset that I swear is invisible to the naked eye.

More plain old vanilla socks tomorrow. Bet you can't wait . . .

Blair Witch Jersey Tomatoes

I videotape tomato plants. How sad is that?

Winner #7

Goldisox and I are down the shore so I didn't get around to posting #7 last night. But that doesn't mean I forgot to conjure up the RNG and choose a winner.

Congratulations to StDebb!

Evian Roller Babies

I posted this to my other blog but you really need to see it.

Winner #6

Michele V. is tonight's winner!


Merino, alpaca and kydd -- oh my! Lots of wonderfulness to see us through the season.

Bad News, Good News Prize No. 2

Here's your next chance to win a prize from my LYS's "going out of business" sale. A book of patterns called Cool Knits for Kids: 25 stunning designs for babies to 7-year-olds by Kate Gunn and Robyn Macdonald.

I know nothing about its writers or patterns; I just liked the cute pictures on the cover. The photos inside are darling too so you can enjoy it without knitting a stitch.


You know the drill: email me at nancy@nancyherkness.com with "Kids" in the subject line. I'll draw a winner on July 10th.

Winner #5

Rusty M., you're Winner #5! Congratulations.

And did I mention that the giveaway yarns are lovelies like Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Cashmere and Elann Silken Kydd and Laceweight Baby Merino and laceweight alpaca just for starters?

Winner #4

And today's winner is Kat S. from San Antonio!

The next winner could be you . . .

When Knitting Mimics Writing --- Again

I'm still working on the Vortex shawl but it's gotten a bit big to carry around. Add that to my issues with project monogamy and I cast on a new shawl. Right now I have a fascination for lace so I cast on this project....



This is Girasole - a pattern by the talented Jared Flood. You can see it on his blog or on Ravelry It's not a free pattern but it's well worth the small charge.

Right now I'm making it in KnitPicks Gloss fingering weight yarn in a color called Serengeti. It's a discontinued color that's a sort of butterscotch.

Now here's where writing and knitting seem to mirror each other. I've started my Egyptian Steampunk story, Desert Alchemy, but find myself unhappy with the start - over and over. I think I've restarted this story about three times so far. It's being a problem-child.

The shawl I've restarted six, yes SIX, times. I kept making mistakes and was obsessed with perfection so rather than fudging something so I could keep going (it's only for ME), I ripped it ALL out and started again. As of today, I'm on chart D and it's looking nice. There now are a few fudges in it where I made a mistake and couldn't figure out how/where but I'm not ripping the damned thing out again. I swear.

Today I'm going to try that with Desert Alchemy. Just write, stop fussing over every word. I can go back and fix or massage them later.

We'll see if my resolve holds....

Endless Summer Giveaway Instructions

Is it a contest? A sweepstakes? A giveaway? A shameless bribe to keep you coming back to us here at RTY?

Your guess is as good as mine.

I just wanted to wish those of you who celebrate a star-spangled Fourth of July (Fireworks! I want fireworks!) and to remind everyone just how easy it is to enter my yes-I-just-might-have-gone-crazy destash summer yarn fling.

All you have to do is send me an email here or at barbarabretton AT gmail DOT com with ENDLESS SUMMER in the subject header.

That's it. No trick questions. No secret handshake. I'll pick a winner every day during July (and maybe August too) and announce the name right here each evening.

I mean, really. Could it be any easier? ENTER already!

To inspire your Fourth of July knitting

From: www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/a80p.shtm

May your fireworks never fizzle!

Winner #3

Kim H from Iowa! Happy knitting, Kim, and thanks for entering.

Good news for the winner...

In our 1001st post, the winner is.......Darleen G! Congratulations, Darleen! Now you have to figure out what to do with the ribbon yarn. ;-)

Happy Fourth of July to all you Yarnies out there!

Winner #2 (and our 1000th post!)

Congratulations to Kathy M. of Geneseo, IL, who is Winner #2 in our Endless Summer Giveaway.

And congratulations to Romancing the Yarn on three years and 1000 posts!!

Romeo, Romeo (new eBook)

What a fun time to come back! New books, new bloggers, new contests ... I want to play in the contest pool, too, so will be offering some things as well. Oh, and a new Barbara Bretton book! What a great summer this is turning out to be.

Now I have to tell you that I've got a new eBook out. It's a fun, sexy contemporary romance called ROMEO, ROMEO, and it's been compared to a Tracy-Hepburn movie by no less than New York Times bestselling author Deborah Smith. It's available as of today at http://belgravehouse.com/. And soon it will be available via Amazon Kindle as well.

That's all for now. But I'm going to sneak back in here real soon with some great giveaways. In the meantime, happy 4th to you all!

The Purlettes

I thought this was a really nice story about knitting:

http://www.saraholiverhandbags.com/knitters.htm

Check out the handbags; they're right up our alley. I like the finishing details (but not the prices!).

World's Easiest Contest

"How easy?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you. So easy that you didn't even have to enter to win.

I reached back into my pool of former entrants and let the RNG do its thing et voila!

Zaneta R., you're the Day 1 winner of combination Blogaversary/Book Release Endless Summer Giveaway. Email me your shipping address and I'll send something yarny and wonderful your way with happy knitting wishes.

Nancy got the party started and I'm going to follow her lead. Every day this month (and probably August too) I'll be giving away yarn. There's no telling what you might get: sock yarn, Lopi, lace weight, maybe even cashmere. Your guess is as good as mine but I promise you that you won't be disappointed.

Want to play? All you have to do is send me an email with ENDLESS SUMMER in the subject header and we're in business!