Winners!

It's time to draw some winners! I'm doing this very early today, as we're having some people over for swimming and barbecue around lunch. Thank you all so much for commenting on my last post! It's been so much fun reading through all of them and getting some nice recommendations for new things to read and watch. But out of the 20 commenters, only seven of you get to win. I first lined up all the participants, with extra posts for those who follow my blog and for those who told other people about the give-away. All in all I got 30 posts, and then I used random.org to generate seven winners. And they are as follows:

1) Number 22, which is Crouchingcheese. She recommended any book by Orson Scott Card,  and I have to admit that I actually listened to my very first OSC book this spring (The Lost Boys). It was amazing, and I'm definitely going to read more from him! Crouchingcheese wished for the Jitterbug yarn, so that's what he/she'll get!.

2) Number 7, which is Victoria. She recommended the TV show Hannibal, which I haven't seen, so I'll check that one out. Victoria wished for the Nancy Bush book, so that will be coming her way.

3) Number 3, which is Sarah (The Student Knitter). She recommended the Game of Thrones books and TV-show, which I've of course read and seen, but it's a fabulous recommendation. She wished for any of the prizes, so she'll get the Cascade 220 superwash yarn.

4) Number 11, which is Chelsea W. She recommended Burn Notice, which I've seen some of and always thought I would continue with some day. She wished for the Rowan Silk Wool, so that will be going to her.

5) Number 19, which is Lakchi. She also recommends Game of Thrones (a lot of people did, and I completely understand why. It's a great book and a great TV show). She wished for the Jitterbug, but as that's already taken she will get a random prize, which will be the Addi needles.

6) Number 16, which is Sarah. She recommends Arrested Development, which we are actually currently watching through. She wished for the Jitterbug yarn or the ChiaoGoo Needles, so she'll get one pair of needles (as the Jitterbug yarn is already taken).

7) Number 13, which is Ashleah. She recommended the books Mists of Avalon, which I love too, the podcast Yarnivore, which I've yet to listen to, and the TV-series Defiance, which I've only seen one episode from and kind of like so far. She wished for the Rowan yarn first, which is already gone, so she'll get her second choice which was a pair of ChiaoGoo needles.

Ok, I would like all of the winners to contact me, either on Ravelry (I'm jench24 there) or via email (jenny(dot)m(dot)clifford(@)gmail(dot)com), with your names and adresses, and I'll get the prizes sent out as soon as I can. I'll try to get them all out this coming week. 

Well this was a lot of fun! I'll probably host another contest once I reach 500 posts, and definitely another one when I get to celebrate my fifth anniversary next year. I don't see myself quitting the blog any time soon!

I'll be back some time this week with a post with actual knitting contents too (I've finished a pair of socks!), but right now I need to get some stuff done before our guests arrive. See  you soon!

/ Jenny

Birthday Give-Aways!

Today it's been four years since I wrote my very first post! It doesn't feel like it's been that long, and I still enjoy this blog very much. It really helps me keep track of all the stuff I make, and I've met some lovely people this way too. I'm not very good at replying to comments, which I'm trying to get better at, but I still read all of them and enjoy them.

Anyway, on with the celebrations! I have seven prizes to give away, which I hope you are all excited about. I've been racking my brain to find something fun for you all to do to compete for the prizes, but I have to admit that my mind has sort of drawn a blank. So I think we'll just do "the usual", in that you'll have to leave a comment here to be legible for the drawing. This is what you'll have to do:

1) Leave me a comment on this post, first telling me about your favourite book, podcast or TV show. I'm kind of in search of new stuff to read/listen to/watch. Keep in mind though, that I'm a HUGE nerd, and mostly enjoy sci-fi, fantasy and horror. And knitting blogs :)

2) Don't forget to tell me which of the prizes you want the most! Feel free to list all of them, in descending order, which will make it easier for me during the drawing.

3) If you are a follower of this blog, tell me so and you'll get one more spot in the drawing.

4) If you promote the drawing somewhere else (like your own blog, on facebook or anywhere else), please tell me (preferably with a link), and you'll get another spot in the drawing. 

Ok, I think that's it! Easy-Peasy, right? I really hope as many of you as possible will participate, so I can actually make a drawing. It would be kind of droll if I get fewer than seven replies, so get going you! And here are the prizes you can win (I know I told you last time, but it bears repeating, right?):

1) One skein of Colinette Jitterbug yarn (100 % merino, 291 m/110 g), in the colourway Jay. I've knit socks from Colinette before, one of my very first pair about four years or so ago, and they still look awesome! The colours have faded a little bit, but the yarn has held up structurally very well.

2) Five skeins of Rowan Silk Wool DK (50 % Merino/50 % Silk, 100 m/50 g), in the colourway Greenwood. I made a sweater from this yarn (The Silken Scabbard), and I really love it. I'll throw in my 0.6 skeins of leftovers too, so you'll get all of 564 m of it!

3) One skein of Cascade 220 Superwash (100 % superwash wool, 201 m/100 g), in the colourway Dark Aqua. I made a baby cocoon with this yarn, and it really is very soft and nice to work with. I used just under one skein, so one single skein should be more than enough for something like a hat or possibly some mittens.

4 and 5) Two sets of ChiaoGoo Red Lace fixed circular 3.5 mm, 24 inch needles in metal. I got these needles when someone sent me the wrong package, and I have never used them as I don't enjoy metal needles. I have thrown the packages away though, but I'll package them with some cardboard to protect them. These will go to two different winners.

6) One set of Addi Click Bamboo 3.5 mm interchangeable needles, with three lengths of cable to go with them (24, 32 and 40 inches. I bought these to try out some Addi's, but found them way too blunt for my taste, so I'll give them away. Once again I've thrown away the packaging, so you'll get them in a cardboard sandwich instead :)

7) The book Folk Socks: The History and Techniques of Handknitted Footwear, by Nancy Bush. This book has some awesome socks in it, but I haven't gotten around to knitting any of them yet. I got a duplicate of this book, and I would never part with my own copy as I really love it!

Ok, get going! I hope you enjoy the prizes, and go comment immediately. I'll leave the competition open for one week, I'll draw the winner on Sunday July 7th. Be sure to check back for that!

I don't really have a lot more to tell you this time. My mother has been to visit this weekend, and we've done A LOT of shopping, but nothing yarn related. It's been great fun though, I've got myself four pairs of new shoes. As if I needed more shoes...

See you soon!

/ Jenny

It's almost June 29th!

...Which is the official birthday of this blog! I have lots of fun contests and give-aways planned, so make sure you tune in this weekend! My mother is coming here to visit on Friday and Saturday though, so the celebrations will probably not start until on Sunday. Just so you know.

I've been going through my stash and picked out some very nice prizes for you all to compete for! I've come up with the following:

Prize no 1: 1 skein of Colinette Jitterbug (100 % merino), in the colourway Jay.

Prize no 2: 5 skeins of Rowan Silk Wool DK yarn (50 % merino/50 % silk).

Prize no 3: 1 skein of Cascade 220 Superwash (100 % superwash merino), in the Dark Aqua colourway.

Prizes no 4 and 5: 2 ChiaoGoo Red Lace metal circular 24 inches, 3.5 mm needles (these will be divided into two prizes).

Prize no 6: 1 set of Addi Click Bamboo 3.5 mm needles with three cables (24, 32 and 40 inches).

Prize no 7: The book Folk Socks: The History and Techniques of Handknitted Footwear, by Nancy Bush.

Kind of neat, right?! Let's have a party! Be sure to check back on Sunday to get the details on how you can win any of these prizes!

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On Friday we had the day off, since it was Midsummer's Eve, and my mother-in-law, two brothers-in-law plus one girlfriend, and two of our friends came over for a traditional Midsummer's Party. We had pickled herring with new potatoes and clotted cream (which is a traditional Swedish Midsummer's dish), with schnapps of course, and we also had some barbecue and quiche, followed by strawberries and ice cream. We were very lucky with the weather, so we got to have a swim in the pool too. All of them stayed over, and we all had breakfast together on Saturday morning. It was really nice!

Then on Sunday I got to do lots and lots of knitting. First, I finished the Mind the Gap vanilla socks:

Even though I didn't really enjoy knitting with this yarn, I really like the finished socks. The colours are awesome, and they feel nice and durable on my feet. I haven't washed them yet, but I hope they soften a little bit. I used just over half of my skein, so I guess I might have enough to make something else small with it. I'm not sure I will though. Maybe I should offer it up as a prize this weekend too? Please, leave me a comment to let me know if I should!

As I was really in a sock zone, I actually picked up the Gördes socks again too, and I finished the first one!

These socks I really love, they are turning out very pretty and the yarn is great to work with (it's Shibui knits sock yarn). They are going to my mom, but I doubt I'll finish them for this weekend. She'll probably get them later this summer. They are a lot of fun though, and I'm really enjoying the cables now that I'm really into them.

And as I finished the vanilla socks, which were my work knitting, I had to cast on a new pair of mindless socks. I picked up the Mad Color Fiber Arts Trance yarn that was the May club yarn (the colourway They Church at Auvers, the Vincent van Gogh colours), and I started a pattern from the More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch which is called Spaced Checks.

It is really easy, and I really love how this crazy yarn is spiralling! I know that you can't really see the spiralling in that photo, but I'm almost at the heel after today's day at work, and I'm too lazy to take a new photo. You'll have to wait until next time! I chose to make these toe up, as I want to use up most of the yarn, and I think I'll make an afterthought heel. The colours are completely insane, and they really shouldn't go together, but somehow it works. I love the yarn, the base is really soft and nice to knit with. Especially after knitting with the Trailing Clouds stuff, which was really stiff. I think I'll probably finish these pretty fast.

Yesterday I got the final shipment in the Doctor Who club from Mad Color Fiber Arts, and once again I love the yarn. This time we got a skein of Fugue (100 % superwash wool, 375 m/100 g), and the colourway is called The Fall of the Eleventh:

I really like the colours, but I think the coolest thing this month was the JessaLu bag that came with the yarn:

It has the Doctor's Foes on it! Me and Thomas sat for a long while yesterday evening trying to identify all of them, but I have to admit that my geek-dom isn't deep enough. There are several that I don't know, but the main, coolest ones are on there. I love the bag, this is my fifth JessaLu bag, and in three months I'll get one with Firefly on it too. But there's no such thing as too many project bags, is there?

Ok, I think that's it for today. I haven't knit anything on the Parcel sweater since last time, I think I lost a little momentum on it when I had to frog half of it. But I'll finish it soon! I might try to finish the Gördes socks first though.

Be sure to come back this weekend for an update on all the prize drawings and contests!

/ Jenny

Back before the new year!

Wow, I'm a bit impressed with myself! I have to warn you though, that this post won't be very long either. I just don't have that much exciting to report!

Although, we have decided to buy the house! We move the last weekend in March, and it's going to be so much fun! Well, not the actual move, but you know. Owning our own house, doing the interior decorating, stuff like that. You are hereby all invited to come visit! I recommend coming during the summer, when Sweden usually shows its best side :)

Christmas has been really good, although it's been a bit hectic to find the time to see everyone. I think we managed most of our family, and a few friends too. We got to see our god son Alex, who got a stuffed Super Mario toy for Christmas from us (you have to teach them about the important stuff early....) . I got an awesome gift from my parents, the book "Julkulor" by Arne & Carlos (it's the book 55 Christmas Balls to knit, but in swedish). The book came with a small kit with yarn and stuffing to make two Christmas balls. Our Christmas tree next year is going to look awesome!

Then, on Christmas Day, I actually got the very same book from Thomas' grandparents! So I've decided to give one of them away here on the blog, instead of exchanging it. If you want it, just leave me a comment here on the blog telling me you want to be in on the draw. If you follow the blog, you'll be eligible for one more entry. Bear in mind though, that the book is in swedish! Most of the patterns are charted, but the description on how to make the actual ball at the beginning of the book is in swedish. I'll draw the winner on the 6th of January.

On my own knitting front, nothing much has happened. I just haven't had the time to knit during the weekend, and this week I've been alone at the lab so there's been plenty of work to keep me occupied! This weekend we need to get out to the cabin to see if the recent storms have blown the roof off, and then on Saturday night we're celebrating New Years Eve with some friends. It's going to be awesome! But there won't be much knitting I think.

Have a nice New Year, and I'll see you some time next week!

/ Jenny

It's...

...Been WAY too long! Again! And this time I have no real excuse, other than that life has been feeling a bit hectic these past two weeks. Lots to do at work, and last weekend was just spent relaxing at home. I simply haven't had the energy to blog! But as we're spending this weekend at home, and in the cabin, relaxing as well, I figured today would be a good day to get this done. Not that this is a chore or anything, but I still need to find the time and energy to get it done! Today I'm doing laundry, vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms (and as I've now told you guys about it all, there's no escaping!), so I can find a little time in between :)

I haven't been knitting very much, but I've managed to finish a pair of socks at least. These are the Spring socks from my 10 patterns collection (I can't seem to find a direct link to the pattern, so you'll just have to look at the patterns collection site), and they are a bit wonky...

I think I told you that I'd managed to knit these from two different dye lots, and it really shows! The right sock in the photo is a lot darker, and greyer, than the left one. But that's not all. Somehow, even though they're knitted on the same set of DPN's, and the same number of pattern repeats, the right sock is a lot smaller than the left one too. Tell me that this shouldn't be a problem when you change dye lots? So I'm calling these ones a fair failure, but I guess I'll still wear them. If I wear them under jeans, the difference in length won't be noticable anyway. I'm thinking of trying to overdye them though, what do you guys think? I will add a gadget to the left side column where you guys can vote! If you leave me a comment on this post telling me you've voted, I'll even draw a random winner next weekend and have a small give-away (and no, you won't be getting the socks! I'll come up with a nicer price that involves yarn, I promise)!

I've also been working a lot on my Baby Cables and Big Ones Too sweater, and it's coming along nicely this time:

Since this photo I've actually finished both sleeves, so now it's mostly boring stockinette left. Because of that I'm making it into my work knitting, so it might take a while to actually get it done. I chose to make the sleeves before I finished the body, because I'm thinking of turning it into a dress instead. I just wanted to make sure that I had enough yarn to make both sleeves before I increased the lenght! But I think I'll be ok, as I've decreased the size considerably from the pattern instructions. I put the sleeves on hold much earlier than instructed, and I've added a lot more shaping to it as well as that suits my body better. I think I have about five whole skeins left! But now it's time to start the hip increases, so it will draw more yarn soon. We'll see what I decide, I'll have to try it on as I go.

Yesterday I also worked a little on my Brandywine shawl, although I have no new photo of it as it doesn't look very different from the last post. I've made 5 repeats (out of at least 15) on the main body chart. But I think I'll try to focus a bit on this one for now, before I start any new socks. Or gloves. Or something else... Startitis, anyone?

The last project that I have going is still the Panama shawl, and I do't really know why this one isn't really spekaing to me. I love the yarn (even though it is a bit fragile), and I like the pattern fine too. The projects on Ravelry are gorgeus, so the shawl will be lovely, and I'm actually in need of a purple shawl to match all of my purple clothes. But somehow I just don't feel like working on this one right now, so it's resting in the WIP bag for now. I'll get to it some day too.

Ok, time to get going on the cleaning. Maybe I'll have breakfast first?

/ Jenny

Join the birthday celebrations!

I completely forgot to tell you last time, but my very good friend Sarah over at The Student Knitter, is celebrating her 2-year blogiversity! She's doing this by offering five days of give-aways, and you can win some awesome stuff! Please go over there and say hi, and have a look around!

/ Jenny

First bag up for sale, and other stuff

I will start with one thing I forgot to tell you about yesterday. Mia over at En kreativ liten blog (the blog is in swedish, but you could read it with google translate or similar) is having a wonderful amigurumi-themed give-away! Mia is the fabulous author of the amigurumi book "Virka amigurumi - Söta små Glädjespridare" (which translates as "Crochet Amigurumis - Cute little joy-spreaders" or something), and to celebrate the publication of her second amigurumi book "Virka roliga amigurumis - lätta att göra, svåra att släppa" ("Crochet funny Amigurumis - easy to make, hard to let go of") she's having a give-away where you can get a very well-filled package with stuff to make amigurumis from. All you have to do is go there and leave her a comment, and you can also post about it on your blog like I'm doing now. Good luck!


Ok, on with my own stuff. Let me first say that I was probably still a bit mellowed out yesterday when I wrote that post, as I forgot to post about lots of stuff. I also learned that you shouldn't go to the food store while pumped up on tranquilizers and you haven't eaten for more than twelve hours. I have never bought that much candy in my whole life! Can you say munchies, anyone?! 


Anyhow, here's what I forgot yesterday. Me and my sister have finally gotten some stuff that will be good enough to sell! She's finished a cube bag and a small tote that are looking very good. Here's the small tote, I'm calling it the Face bag:

It is 24 cm wide and 26 cm high, excluding the handles. It's lined with a very pretty red fabric that totally matches the outside. I think this one will be somewhere around $12. Anyone interested?


The second bag is the cube, which is 13 cm high, 18 cm wide and 18 cm long. It is lined with white fabric, and is very pretty (if I can say so myself). This one will probably be about $20, but I'm telling you that the prices aren't set in stone yet. Maybe no-one is interested!

I've also kept myself busy with things to sell, although my stuff is a bit on the smaller side. I've made lots and lots of stitch markers, and I'm thinking I could sell these for $1 with purchase of a bag. I could very well sell them separately as well, but the shipping will be almost as much as the markers will cost, so I think the customers (well, eventual customers) will loose on that. Anyhow, this is the markers I've made so far:

(Stupid blogger turns my photos around!) All of them are sets of five, and they are displayed on a set of 7 mm needles, so they fit on pretty large needle sizes. They are very light-weight, and shouldn't snag.


If any of you should be interested in buying any of this stuff, just leave me a comment here or send me and e-mail at jenny(dot)m(dot)clifford(at)gmail(dot)com. 


I've actually got some knitting to show you too, although it isn't much. I know I said I would work on my Haruni, but this poor shawl is still sadly neglected. I chose to work on the Eunice SOcks I'm making for my friend Christine instead, I really wish I could finish these in time for next weekend, when she's having her 30th birhtday party! But as I'm starting my new job on Tuesday, I'm not sure if I'll have time. This is what I've got so far anyway:

I've turned the heel and almost finished the gusset decreases, and if I work really hard I might be able to finish the first sock today or tomorrow. I love the design, and although you can't see it in the somewhat crappy flash photo, it contains both cables and lace. I think I'll just keep plugging on and make all of the patterns in this book, I just love Cookie A's patterns!


/ Jenny

Another yarn give-away!

Kate of Lazy Kate Creates celebrates her 100th post this week (A huge congratulations Kate!), and to celebrate she is giving away some of her own hand-spun yarn. It is really gorgeous yarn, and Kate is such a nice and fun gal, so be sure to check out her blog if you haven't already.

I decided to frog the Twinkle Twinkle shawl, and I have now started over with my light green Chili Gredelin Geisha yarn. It is 100 % silk, and it looks so much better in this yarn! I think I'll use the Pälsull yarn for a Laminaria, a shawl that doesn't have so many stockinette parts. I'll see when I get to that one! But the Twinkle Twinkle shawl is coming along nicely, I've already made about 80 rows. It looks really pretty too! Here is a progress shot before I made the first star pattern, modelled by a very patient Hobbe :)

I haven't worked a lot on the Percy shawl though, I guess I should get going on that one too. I have high hopes of finishing at least one of these in February, and I would really like to finish both. I think it depends on how much I have to do at work. I have a lot of stuff to finish up before I leave at the end of March, but most of it is writing stuff. I need to leave readable instructions for anyone presumably filling my post one day :)

We're having a huge party this weekend, as I think I told you. As I have 7 vacation days that I need to use up before I leave work, I decided to use two of them today and tomorrow, so I've spent today tidying up the apartment. There are a few dirty dishes in the sink still, but otherwise I think I'm done. I'm also doing laundry today, so that it can dry until Saturday and I can put it away. And tomorrow I'll go grocery shopping, so we have some food to offer to our guests. But other than that I think the apartment looks better than it has done in weeks! Maybe that is because my yarn stash is organized and put away?

I'll wear my Echo Flower shawl to the party on Saturday, so I'll try to get some photos of it on me then!

/ Jenny

A valentine's give-away

Heather over at Implausible Yarn is hosting a Valentine's give-away of a gorgeous project bag! You all need to go over there and enter, it's just so cute. Plus, it's one of my favourite blogs too, Heather writes really funny and captivating about knitting, yarn, food and lots of other stuff.

In other news, I cast on for the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star shawl yesterday. Before I tell you about it, I just have to tell you one more reason why I love Ravelry. I found this pattern a while ago, it's published free on Elann.com. Unfortunately, once I found it, it was no longer available on their website. I then contacted the designer directly, as she was also on Ravelry, and she kindly sent me the pattern file. I'm thrilled with this, as it is a very original design, and so far it's very easy and fun to knit.

However: I'm not sure if I like the yarn I'm using for the pattern. I'm using Pälsblend from the Swedish spinner Östergötlands Ullspinneri, and the yarn is gorgeous and very comfortable to work with. The problem I'm having is that it is such thin lace yarn that there is almost no stitch definition, so the knitting is very "hole-y" even in the stockinette sections. I can hardly see the difference between the regular stitches and the YO's, so I'm thinking I might switch yarn. I'm definitely going to use the yarn for something else, as I really love it, but I think I'll frog it for this one and start over. I'm thinking of using the Chili Gredelin Geisha yarn instead. I'll make a little swatch later tonight, and tell you what I think in my next post.

Now I'm going to make some dinner, and hope my stomach will behave!

/ Jenny

Yarn give-away!

I went through my stash today, and with all the new yarn I've required this week, I decided to get rid of some of my old left-overs. So I'm giving away the following partial skeins:

All of them except the one on the bottom are Drops Karisma 100 % wool, and I think that all of them are superwash (I'm not sure about this though, so you might want to try and wash a little piece of it before you use it for something important). The white skein on the bottom is 100 % Mohair, I think it's Falk yarn but I'm not completely sure about this either. I'm really glad that I've started to add my yarns to my Ravelry stash, as I'm hopeless at keeping the labels...

I would prefer to send them out to somewhere in Europe, as shipping is rather expensive, but I guess I could send them further if neccessary. I just want them to find a new, loving home :)

So if you want any (or all) of these yarn, just leave a message for me after this post with your e-mail adress, and then we can exchange e-mails with adresses and such. I will aslo post these yarns on my Ravelry RAK forum, and if more than one person wants them I guess I will split them up. So if there is one particular yarn you want, please tell me so!

/Jenny

Edit: All of the yarns are gone!