cosmicpluto knits!

map collection winners!

Thanks for entering my little contest! The random number generator came up with these for winners of the Map Collection:

381, 156, 113, 256, 324, 26, 394, 180, 36

The grand prize winner of the Malabrigo Twist is Kate, comment number 11. Here’s her entry:

“Crocuses are up in the garden around the corner. All but one are creamy butter yellow. The odd guy is almost white.”

I’ve emailed all the winners. Thanks for playing!

P.S. Yesterday I went up to visit my parents and use my mum’s sewing machine – whipped up a (very poorly sewn) new laptop case with a Canada Goose on the back. This pleases me greatly!

random thursday

Despite all the other knitting I’ve got to finish, I cast on for some plain socks. I really needed something I could just knit and not think about! Socks That Rock Lightweight in a “Steph Dyes” colourway – the product of steph in the dye studio.

I’ve been doing piles of editing, with my favourite red pen.

I made blueberry cup-pies (you know, like cupcakes) on Monday for Pi Approximation Day. I decided to make them when I had only 2 hours in which to do it, but I managed to pull it off! They’re quite ugly and my crust sealing could use some work, but they were delicious. I really must get a proper rolling pin, though. (Recipe? I used a standard all-butter crust recipe, and frozen blueberries tossed with a little sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Bake at 425F for 15 min, then turn down to 350F until they’re done – about 15-20 minutes.)

Aaaaaand on this Random Thursday, I have a contest for you all!

Leave a comment on this post with something that makes you happy – anything! Signs of spring, your favourite yarn, food, book…

I’ll pick 10 winners at random to win a copy of The Map Collection, and one of those people will win 2 skeins of Malabrigo Twist in Damask Rose – perfect for the smaller Signal Hill Scarf!

Comments will close on Sunday, March 20 at 11.59 EDT, and I’ll announce the winners next week before my trip to NYC!

winner!

Wow, the comments on that Vogue giveaway post were awesome. I loved reading about all the types of lace you guys love. A few non-scientific popular trends from the comments, off the top of my head:

- Estonian lace (nupps!)
- large scale lace (I love this too)
- shawlettes (is anyone surprised?)
- floral/organic/leafy shapes

The Random Number Generator has spoken and the winner is comment number 404, from Eliza: “I actually had to read the comments to determine what different types of lace there are! I like to knit lace shawls, but I’m also working on a large format lace cardigan.”

To cap off this post, a little bit of fingering weight lace I was working on this week (man this colour is hard to photograph – it’s the Sliver Moon Farm stuff from a couple posts ago):

Thanks for playing everyone!

vogue stitchionary giveaway!

I have a copy of the new Vogue Stitchionary to give away! Volume Five is lace knitting, and it’s super – over 150 stitches patterns, each with a chart as well as written instructions and a good photo. I’m a huge fan of stitch dictionaries and this one will be getting lots of use!

If you’d like a copy too, leave a comment below and share what your favourite type of lace to knit is (or just if you’re looking to branch out into it!). One winner will be picked at random and sent a copy of Vogue Stitchionary 5 courtesy of Sixth&Spring Books. Make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you! Email addresses are not shown publicly.

This contest will close Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 11:59PM.

giveaway time!

Apologies for the lack of blog posting! I’ve been working and otherwise a little busy this week:

Yesterday I (with some help) canned two bushel boxes of roma tomatoes from the grocery store – getting to the last of the season, they were only $10 each! I’m so tempted to go back and get another one to make sauce. The tomatoes that didn’t make the canning cut went into a vat of sauce to be frozen, and the good ones became 29 L jars of halved or diced tomatoes plus 18 500-ml jars of diced tomatoes.

I can’t wait to crack some open a little further along in the winter! Mmmm.

Another random food-related little note – I’ve been working on following a hypoallergenic and anti-candida diet these days (except for at my launch party, that was a special occasion!) and today I made the most awesome snacky food!

I found brown rice tortillas in the frozen section of the grocery store where I bought the tomatoes – they have quite an extensive health food-type selection. I had ripe avocados today, so it was time for the guacamole and chips! I cut a couple tortillas into wedges, sprayed them with a little olive oil (I’ve got a little pump bottle that you can fill with whatever you want), sprinkled them with a little salt and garlic powder, and then baked them in the toaster oven for a couple minutes at 400 F. They were super crispy and tasty, just what I wanted. I’ll definitely be making these again. I think they’re go great with all the soups I’ve been making.

In other news, I had my book launch party at lettuce knit last Wednesday and it was great! Unfortunately I suffered a bout of camnesia and didn’t take photos at all. People dropped by, yummy food was had (thanks megan!), I signed books and even managed to knit a little bit.

And now to celebrate, how about I send some more books out into the world?

I’ve got THREE (3) copies of my book, Teach Yourself Visually Sock Knitting, to send away to three blog readers! All you need to do is leave me a comment to this post pointing me to something that you think is cool, interesting, funny, delicious (and vegetarian), or otherwise entertaining!

Comments will close Friday, October 3 at 11:59 PM EDT (can you believe it’s almost October already?). Winners will be chosen at random.

take it off my hands, part III – Classic Knits at Home

I’ve got one copy of Erika Knight’s Classic Knits at Home to give away! (Also see my give away of Twinkle’s Weekend Knits, one post down!)

This is a gorgeous book that makes me wish I lived in that particular house! There are 15 patterns total for various around-the-house knits, using simple textures and gorgeous yarns to produce luxurious pieces that really would “keep forever”. I’m quite inspired by a few projects in particular – a circular rug worked in hemp with short rows; a big chunky floor cushion knit from bulky yarn, and the patchwork hexagon blanket on the cover. Even the knitted plant pot covers, as improbable as they might be, are rather cute!

Somehow, though, I don’t see myself getting to any of these patterns anytime soon (not the least of which is because I don’t have a house to decorate), so I want to give it to someone who’ll appreciate it!

To enter, just leave a comment. I’ll use a random number generator to pick a winner on Friday.

Comments will close Thursday, April 17, at 11:59 PM EDT.