Noro Winner!

Congratulations to Sara B from New Hampshire! She's the winner of the four balls of Noro. Watch for a confirmation email from me, Sara, so I can get the yarn mailed to you.

If no one minds, I'll keep your emails for another contest, coming soon. My LYS is clearing out in preparation for winter and holiday knitting, and I've been invited to go through what they're clearing out. We can always use a little stash, can't we?

Happy Labor Day!

Fran

Promo and Prizes

As you may (or may not) know, I'm a publisher as well as an author. A small press publisher, true, but a publisher nonetheless. And this month Delphi Books has published a book I'm really proud of. It's called A Place in the Shower Schedule: 101 Favorite Columns by Roger H. Aylworth.

The book is a collection of humor columns written by a newspaperman for the Enterprise Recorder in Chico, CA. Roger is also the father of seven children - six sons and one daughter, and if I had to give you a quick description of his book, I'd say "think a male Erma Bombeck." The reviews that have come in to date are really good. For example, MormonTimes.com called it "A charming and easy read." And readers at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are praising it as well.

Anyway, if you or someone you know appreciates good, clean family oriented humor, please ask for the book at your favorite bookstore or public library.

Now on to the second half of this post. As some of you may recall, my LYS owner was saving sock yarn for me. The other day, I finally got down there and got the bag. Unfortunately, it's all the same yarn: Marks & Kattens Clown in a pretty blue and green on cream. I've pulled the winners' names - georg and Mary Campbell and Lana F. - and will be sending their yarn early next week.


LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST: Here's four balls of Noro that my LYS owner dropped in my bag before I left the store. She's not going to carry it anymore because it's so hard to get. But what do we care? It's FREE. And if you're interested in winning these four balls of Noro, send an email to FRAN at FRANBAKER dot COM with Noro in the subject line. Since the yarn is wool and more suited to fall and winter, I'll draw the winner's name on September 1 to sort of jumpstart the season.


Good luck!

Favorite Things . . . and winner #3

Congratulations to Carol, our third winner! Depending on circumstance, your prize will go out on Saturday or Monday morning. BTW if you have a website or blog, let me know and I'll share it right here.

I've been meaning to respond to Liz's wonderful Favorite Things post from a few days back. I'm so late now I might as well do it right here.

1. Favorite Project Ever: Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style. Totally satisfying on every level: the yarn (Touch Me) was scrumptious, the pattern (reverse cabling) was entertaining, the process of lightly felting/fulling was positively magical. The transformation was honestly breathtaking. Highly recommended.

2. Favorite Needles: Knit Picks Options (although I have an old nylon Susan Bates circular that I absolutely love)

3. Favorite all-around yarn: Noro Kureyon

Fresh Starts, Finished Objects, Noro Sock Yarn Giveaway

Knitting resolutions for 2008? Stop knitting when it starts hurting!

I've been absent for a week or so. Too much knitting, too much writing which resulted in a big fat spiny swelling on my left wrist. I didn't realize just how hard I'd been pushing it until I sat down and made a list of FOs between November 1 and December 24 and it was impressive. No wonder I turned into one big OUCH.

When it starts to hurt, stop. When you can no longer feel your fingers except as a memory, stop. When the pain shoots up to your shoulder, stop. You would think a grown woman of 57 would know these things, but I didn't. Or at least I needed a reminder.

Knitterly things that made me happy in 2007? I knitted my first lace shawl. Okay, it was the easy-peasey beginner's Charlotte but I did it and I'm insufferably proud of myself. I did a fair bit of cabling. I made two sweaters for Goldisox. I pulled myself away from my All Socks All The Time Obsession from 2006 and expanded my horizons.

Old habits die hard, however, and the Call of the Sock has sounded again and I can't resist. Just before my hands went down for the count I knocked out a pair of After Bertha Spirals for Goldisox in Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Wheat. I also made a toddler-size pair of After Bertha spirals in Sirdar Highlander in a cream color for CIC (Children in Common.) I have another pair of experimental socks in progress right now using leftover Wool-Ease from the Goldisox project. Judy's Magic Cast-On toe combined with the commercial short-row heel used in the Tulsa Skyline socks in SOCKS SOCKS SOCKS. It's okay but not great. Toe-ups go faster than cuff-down for me. Much faster But there's something vaguely creepy about the look of the heel. I told Dallas it was like looking at a face with two noses and that pretty much says it all for me. I've tried the wrap-and-turn short row heel on toe-ups, this commercial heel, and I'm still searching. Next on tap is to try THE Wendy's toe-up heel + gusset; I have good feelings about that one.

To celebrate my return to sock madness, I'm offering a gorgeous skein of NORO Kureyon sock yarn in the legendary #40 colourway. There's enough yarn in this skein to make a pair of adult socks . . . assuming you don't find yourself swooning from pure pleasure each time you pick up your needles. To enter, send me an email at wickedsplitty with NORO SOCK in the subject header and I'll do the rest. The winner will be announced Saturday January 5th right here.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Noro Kureyon Winner!

The winner is Cheryl Strange.

Congratulations, Cheryl. May I assume the address in your email entry is the one where you want the yarn sent? Let me know (just post a "yes" in the comments section if that's the one) and I'll get it in the mail.

Thanks, everyone, for participating. And good luck on the drawings the rest of July ... our one-year anniversary!

KURE-all Update

First, congrats to all the winners to date. Knit on, everyone! I'm still waiting for my Patches from Plymouth to start my one-piece cardigan but will update on that as it goes along.

Second, yesterday (July 9) was the two-year anniversary of my massive heart attack. I'm still here, for which I'm thankful. And I'm still working on my "Things To Do Before I Die" list.

Third, it's not too late to sign up for the three balls of Noro that I'm giving away tomorrow. Just send an email to Fran AT FranBaker DOT com, with Contest in the subject line. If you've already sent your email, I have it but couldn't figure out how to make an automatic response and didn't want to clutter up peoples' mailboxes with a multi-receiver response. I'll draw a name tomorrow afternoon. Good luck, all!

KURE-all

Oh, isn't that just the cleverest headline? LOL!

How about I draw for a winner on July 11 (7 come 11!) for these three balls of Noro Kureyon, color 92. One is missing its wrapper but they're all the same color. Send an email to Fran AT FranBaker DOT com, with Contest in the subject line.

Now while I'm yammering on ... do you want to hear something fun? I'm going to New York to try out for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire! This is on my list of "Things To Do Before I Die" list. Wish me luck! I leave for NY on July 19 and audition on July 20. I'll report back on the process when I return.

How about y'all? Any special thing you want to do while you're still around?