don't forget about us!! 2009 KAL #1-UFO

Hi folks,
well i'm bad. jumping the gun here.
i want you to be ready new year's eve to start in on our 2009 UFO kal.

more details will be coming.
at present
1. we are planning to start 1/1/2009 at 12:01 am.

this will mean showing pic of start/progress for each item [perhaps with an estimate of what's not done] and of course the final pic

2. the UFO-KAL will run until the vernal equinox, which is 11:47 on March20/2009 [still checking if that's am or pm]

3. there will be mini-prize contests along the way.

4. bonus prizes for using Crystal Palace Yarn for >90-95% of item

5. maybe categories - like sweaters/socks/hats so we can assess fairly as it obviously takes more yarn for an adult sweater than a pr of socks

6. a charity prize - for the most and at least one runner up of items to be donated to non-family/friend.

7. a "chosen by members' votes" prize

................. i am VERY tempted to have a prize for early signups - all those who comment here and sign up for the UFO-KAL [i'll ask if i may give you debi's email] can be kept in list by Debi and entered in a "ready to roll" drawing

hope your holiday is going well. we have more of the white stuff coming down!
blessings, :L

8. ps what UFO contest would be complete without a prize for UFO - that is- a prize for knitting an alien, alien-space ship, something UFO-related, will be in a special category to win a special gift!!

My last pair of socks for 2008

The last pair of socks that I finished is a pair in Regia Galaxy Jupiter, for Alexa. I still have to create four pairs of socks for her... but that has to be carried over to 2009. What we hope that gets finished too is starting to get visible on the second photo... the new swimming pool that is being built. The old one has been closed and demolished with the coming of the High Speed Line (train track for very fast trains)

Ah well... the year 2008 has almost disappeared and 2009 is coming. I hope for all that you'll have a happy and healthy start of the New Year! See you back in 2009.

You guys are GREAT!

I'm so glad you are keeping the momentum going with the KAL! Maybe I can work on finishing the Panda Monkey socks I started waaaay back! And maybe finally dig into my CP stash I have waiting for a sweater! Possibilities! (And Adrienne, you know I always need a kick in the butt for the focus!)

52 week KAL

I am just posting to say I will be joining the 52 week KAL.

Shye in Atlanta, GA

edited to remove email addy.

52 Week KAL

I would like to join the 52 Week KAL for 2009, and look forward to all the wonderful items we will see during 2009.

I would also once again like to thank Dr. Laura for so generously providing the prize "Charmed Knits" Book which I received in the mail yesterday, and was a prize I won early on in the Carefree KAL. It is a great book with lots of wonderfully fun patterns to knit this year.

The best of knitting experiences to all for 2009.

Regards,
Brenda in Alberta (Owlsrook)
www.owlsrook.blogspot.com

UFO KAL

Is the UFO KAL going to be on this blog - or do we have to sign up on a new blog?

Wait, wait

Are you sure that is not March of 2010?

But I forgot and started another UFO.

This is the begining of a thrum mitten. I have never knit a mitten so it just maybe 1.

favorite kal project winners!

i don't know about you but i personally had a hard time picking my favorites as each of you made something that i really liked.

the first place winner for favorite project of the carefree kal is......

RADKA
for her norwegian gloves
(oh so lovely)

second place goes to....

DEBI
for her critter clogs
(these are MY favorite of all the critters)

and third place goes to...

KALA
for her 7 holiday trees
(so creative and cute!)

congratulations, ladies!

here is the list of prizes which have been generously donated by laura. thank you, laura!

• "knitting america" by susan strawn
• "folk hats" by vicki square
• "the elegant knitter" by gina macris
• "hand knitting new directions" by alison ellen (library discard)
  

winners, please email laura (proflauraATfirststepinternetDOTcom) with your choice of book(s) and DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. radka gets first pick. debi, please send TWO choices. kala, please send THREE choices.

we will be starting a "ufo" kal in january; so start looking through your project bags for things that need finishing (not that i have very many **cough, cough**). details to be posted next week.

...and all you winners from the final drawing, please post your prize yarn when you receive it so the rest of us can drool over it. thank you ever so much.

Update... sock yarn blanket

It is slowly growing, my sock yarn blanket. I like it, and even my husband likes the idea. I will be working on it a bit in the coming days, when time permits of course.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the hospital with Jouke. His glasses broke, and he can't do without them. But for a perscription under 18, a specialist has to take a look at his eyes, using eye drops. Three hours later the glasses were ordered and paid for - so the only thing Jouke has to do is pick them up after New Year.

But... that is not all... yesterday evening Alexa told me that she had a tooth ache. A visual hole in her left upper molar - and that was going to be a problem. I called the dentist and she could come almost directly to fill the hole.
But her work... that caused a problem. For bakery's it is the most busy day in the entire year...at first she was allowed to go, but later they refused her... in the end the pain won. Johan took her to the dentist and he had to go directly to work afterwards.... speaking of messy days :-)

But... to end this tale, I'd like to wish you all a blessed Christmas!

your favorite kal project?

come on, peoples!!!! deadline is approaching!!! leave a comment with your favorite projects. we have some prizes to give away!!!

we want to know which projects from the entire kal were your favorite ones.

so, pick 2 or 3 of your favorite projects and leave a comment in this post with the names of the project and the knitter. we will tally the votes and announce the winners.

in the spirit of "sharing the wealth," previous prize winners will receive the "honor" of favorite project and all the accolades; but the actual prize will be given to the next person in line who has not yet won anything.

prizes are being donated by laura. "top" place winner will get first choice. thank you, laura.

TWO more winners...

deadline for voting is wedneday, december 17th. ***voting extended to monday december 22th!***

and please, keep sharing your projects here.
....................................................................................................................................
p.s from laura. i'm not intending to preach or to sound "high-horse" but only to share my pain. this world-wide economic crisis is affecting so many, including charities. i have been giving a lot of yarn to local charities - calico cat sells and donates to humane society, senior center uses to help feed others, etc.
"hidden poverty"... starving.. children who may not have Christmas ... appalling Zimbabwe.. my friend the Dean at KSU is giving charitable donations as gifts. so thoughtful!
frankly, some of our relatives don't even say packages arrived or thanks. we discussed not sending anything, but of course sent nice small special gifts anyway. GIGGLE- we found candy coal to send too! along with a plastic raindeer who poops chocolate!!

anyway - **** CONTEST ***** i have enough yarn to fill 3 priority boxes that i can mail
[1 to a non-us addy, 2 in us] - to those who will "knit for compassion" (charity). our local food bank wants kidz hats - try eap flaps! baby hats are fun and fast - with only 14-16 in around. ****
if more than 3 people email me proflauraATfirststepinternetDOTcom, i will pack all i have
and then ask Adrienne or Debi to draw names for me.

Socktopus

I finished another Christmas gift, so I thought I'd share even though I knit it in December. I knit a socktopus from the winter '08 Knitty.

More pics on my blog here. A fun project for using up yarn scraps!!

Sweater finished

The sweater came ready Saturday evening. It seems a comfortable wear to Wietse, as he was enjoying the attention that he received yesterday morning. It only took a ball in black, and one in white, as well as six buttons to make it. For the first time I used a circular needle to work the sweater, and the result is an almost seamless but comfortable wear. Just in time according to the weather people - they expect -5 right after Christmas. Now I need to find the time to work out my pattern notes, and translate them... wrote it all up in Dutch.

cold and hungry

**** drawing *****
i have enough yarn to fill 3 priority boxes that i can mail [1 to a non-us addy, 2 in us]

to those who will use it to "knit for compassion" (charity).

example: our local food bank wants kidz hats - try eap flaps! hospitals need baby hats - which are are fun and fast - with only 14-16 in around.
****
you'd get the box of yarn, and then knit it all up [is 3 mo deadline ok? negotiable possibly]
and take pictures and then donate. you ahve to be careful as some organizations want only machine washable yarn, like hospitals, others are open.

if more than 3 people email me proflauraATfirststepinternetDOTcom, i will pack all i have
and then ask Adrienne or Debi to draw names for me.

i finished something!!

am calling this the Kaya Peace -Love Hope Inauguration Bag. The yarn is CPY Kaya Kaya color card in two colorways that made it easy to contrast and play. I will write up the pattern shortly.

pair

And now there are two

Oh Why Not....I want to show somebody.

I just finished up my mom's Christmas Socks. I was going to post them over on the socks blog, but I have no access. I can't blog them yet, as my mom MIGHT read my blog, and that'd make me sad. These beaded socks are made out of CP Panda Cotton in Lacquer Red. I used size 8 silver lined clear beads in the cables. I cannot wait for her to open these.

Thanks for letting me share and making a good sock yarn that my mom will wear!!! (she's a no wool person)

winners!!!!!!

we have winners! for real this time. susan, laura, debi, and i have so enjoyed seeing all your starts and finishes! and as i've mentioned before, you all have definitely added to my to-do list! please feel free to continue posting your holiday (or not) projects for us to see. i think i can still squeeze a couple of more projects on to my list!

now, the moment blogland has been waiting for:

the winner of the
fave cpy project is:

*
*
*
*
*
*
Cathy (project #3)
for the ttl mystery socks!
Saturdayknitlive

second place went to breien for her fingerless gloves (project #1) and third place to barbara for her monkey socks (project #7). cathy wins 4 skeins of her choice of crystal palace yarns.

we had susan generate 50 numbers for the drawing. there were 454 entries (100yds/entry) and we knitted/crocheted a combined total of 52,059 yards (and this does not even account for the projects that were started but not finished (it wasn't "ME"!). debi has graciously withdrawn her name from competition; but just to let you all know how generous she is being...she was the winner of the grand prize and her numbers came up at least another 10 times (i think she wins for most yards!). so smoochies to debi from all the people who had the numbers after hers!!!!

the winner of the
grand prize drawing is:

*
*
*
*
*
*
peacock mom!
who wins 4 skeins of her choice of crystal palace yarns

and the winners of 2 skeins each of crystal palace yarns are:

Rita
mtannie
Mrs AA
Maz
Barbara
Rachel
Kadezmom
Katie
Breien
tapmouse
sailorcross
knitting linguist

congratulations to all the winners. please email laura at proflauraATfirststepinternetDOTcom (*not clickable-you have to fix the AT & DOT*) with your address, your choice of yarn and colors. (if you don't, i will have susan send all left-over yarn to me ;D).

**cathy and peacock mom, please email laura with your choice of yarn and 3 different colorways.

***all other winners, please email laura with a choice of 2 yarns and 3 different colors.

sorry, no mini-mochi.

if we do not hear from the winners within a week, we will draw new names!

edited to add this note from susan re: availability of yarns and colors. now comes the hard part...deciding!

ALL colors of the new Panda Superwash in stock.
Most of Maizy in stock.
Most of Panda Soy in stock.
Most of Panda Silk in stock.
not a lot of Panda Cotton - since shipment of new colors due in a month.
and almost anything else on the crystal palace yarns website.

A little catching up...

Here is a spread of gift knitting I have completed, with another soon to be added. I have to say I wouldn't even have gotten this far if it weren't for this KAL! Thanks for helping me keep my focus! Still more to go, but a good deal-done!

Mystery Socks (Through the Loop), Cabled baby hat, simple ribbed men's hat, Easy Cabled hat, Capitan, Ivy Cowl, Seaweed Cowl...

Thank You!

Thank you in advance for my 2 skeins! I am thinking of trying them out on my sock-knitting machine (I could finish and wear them a LOT faster that way, lol). What a lot of inspiration I have seen here, and I have learned that I really can finish a pair of socks in a month if I really try and my left hand behaves. I have another pair of Charade socks on the needles, this time usng CPY Panda Basil Curry and Saffron. They will NOT be finished in under a month, lol.
Happy holidays to all, send warm knitterly thoughts my way, as it has been below zero here since Saturday. I think I am going to sleep in my stash tonight!

Skull Scarf

The scarf I've been working on for my husband is finally done! The pattern is Jolly Roger from the book Picture Perfect Knits by Laura Birek and the yarn is Caron Simply Soft Eco in black and white. With this scarf, I'm 100% done with all of my planned Christmas crafting, yay!

urgent HELP needed!

lost addy for mrs.aa
and have to have all names and addies to send to susan for prizes

temporarily putting this on blog two places!

proflauraATfirststepinternetDOT com

eta: never mind. crisis over.

is done

Really is done.
I so love my tan;)

1 done

The start of wrist warmer w/thumb. love the color

I win yay

I am 8 years old and this is my first KAL and I win. Now I dont have to use moms yarn. I am going to have a hard time picking yarn. I promise to show you what I make from my yarn . Thank you all.


love,
katie h #18

Socks ready

The colour is Regia Galaxy Jupiter (1558) and the socks are for Alexa. I have to create a few pairs for her in the coming weeks...she loves to wear hand knit socks.

My Favorites are....

There are so many beautiful projects and it was so hard to just pick 2 or 3. But I love the
1-Pinwheel Blanket by KnittingLinquist and the
2-Cashmere Clapotis by Rachel is beautiful.
3-The last but least is the Baby Cardigan by Kala (vegancraftastic). I also love those 7 little trees by Kala too!

This was so fun! Thank you for selecting me to win. I sent you my request for yarn by email.
Happy Holidays to all! I hope to knit along with everyone in the group again.
Anna

Husband Socks Numero Dos

Yes, I'm not quite sane so I knit not one, but two pairs of socks for my husband. This pair is also knit with Panda Cotton, this time in the fern colorway. I'm almost done with my Christmas crafting now, I just have to finished the skull scarf for my husband that doesn't seem to be knitting itself for some reason. Lazy scarf!

I am in!

Thank you, ladies, for helping me to find my way back into the fold!!!

rita

we have a winner!

but first, i am going to share what i've been working on since nov 30th. i know all of you are really interested, right?!

it's a PAIR of socks knit with panda superwash "joyful". i finished up the toe of the second sock on dec 1st! but they are done. pattern will eventually be available on the crystal palace yarn website. i used the jojo heel and they are nice for a short row heel. i did add a mini 1" heel flap before knitting the heel; otherwise, the sock would not fit.


and i finished a "PAIR" of "turn-a-square" hats for my nephews. i have one more to knit.


oh. who won? i'm not telling yet. come back tomorrow when we will announce the winner of the "fave" cpy project; along with the winner of the grand prize of 4 balls of cpy and the 12 winners of 2 balls of cpy. i have taken my "enormous" amounts of yards out of the mix thereby increasing your chances of being a winner! LOL!

meanwhile, start looking through all the finished projects for some of your favorite ones. we will be having another contest for favorite project of the entire kal. some more winners coming up!

gotta go crank up the random generator machine. who wants to guess how many entries we have?!

see you tomorrow

16 votes so far

we have one item ahead with 2 tied for 2nd/3rd.... hope to see more votes.
poll ends noon monday!
do come vote!
we have emailed all group participants who are on the list of knit/crochet projects.


L

any guesses on how many yards/meters this group knit and/or crocheted in our KAL ??

clarification on the CPY yarn vote= WHAT TO DO

Hi
first look at the pictures below.

next pick your fave.

finally email me proflauraATfirststepinternetDOTcom

*not clickable-you have to fix the AT & DOT*

[i am keeping all votes tallied with name of member- not to be made public, but only to verify you are a KAL member]

i am sure that you will agree that all of them are wonderful. it will be hard to pick just one!! good luck to everyone!

1. fingerless gloves (panda soy, stained glass):

2. merletto mitts (panda wool, red lacquer):

3. through the loop mystery socks (panda cotton, fuchsia):

4. sweetie pie socks (panda soy, poppy red):

5. emily stitch socks (panda wool, violets & periwinkle):

6. basketweave socks (panda wool, basil curry):

7. monkey socks (panda wool, circus):

8. husband socks (panda soy, sable):

9. charade socks (panda wool, periwinkle & violets):

10. toe-up socks (panda soy, cocoa mint):

let the voting begin. voting will close on monday, december 8th at noon (pst).

these are rita's

Well. I still can't post. I'm using ritaknits@gmail.com but I can only get into my own blog.

So, if you can stand it, I'll send you my info.

Oh, it looks like my name has been removed from the web page. I'm rita, but not mlj1954.

First, a photo of me wearing what I'm now calling my Big @ss Wrap. I don't have an editing program on this computer, so I can't show a photo of me wearing it; I did earlier send my photo of it hanging over a chair. Claudia Hand Painted Worsted, 3 skeins of Roasted Chilies, total 504 yards.

Then I knit a second Big @ss Wrap, same yarn, same yardage. (photo #1). This one has a blue button. Next one I'll knit without a buttonhole and use a shawl pin to close it.

I posted photos of both of them in progress earlier in the contest.

I knit a hat and scarf for my grandson who lives in Orlando. It gets awfully cold there in Florida; he won't leave the house without a coat and hat if it's below 70. (photo 2 shows progress; photo 3 shows finished, with my husband modeling.)

Hat made from Claudia Hand Painted Worsted Deep Blue and Claudia's fingering (unknown colorway), held together, approximately 100 yards; scarf is made from the Deep Blue only and took about 270 yards. These were finished just in time, on November 30 just before I went to bed.

I started some other things but didn't finish them in time. Actually, they haven't been finished yet! I did knit one sock, but since it's not a pair it doesn't count.

I don't think I knit anything else that can be counted. It was fun, it encouraged me to knit faster, and I thoroughly enjoyed the KAL!

Finished

My husband´s sweater has been finished in time and I owe you pics, but have no good ones, only blurred ones. 870g => 1392 meter

My daughter´s Notre Dame de Grace Sweater is finished as well but I have no picture as I have and had problems with my camera. However Barbara is enjoying her new sweater. She is moving to another city where she will be working at the University. The year may be ending yet there are many beginnings. A new sweater may add a little comfort.

Today I browsed this blog and would like to thank all participants for posting here. Isn´t it amazing how many beautiful things have been made during these weeks?
Wishing you all a wonderful time coming
Margret in Germany

my finished objects

till november 30 th:

the cable socks are finished.... they needed 402 yards


and the Mystery Garden Socks are finished with 368 Yards

Thanks for this funny KAL

EDIT:

Both socks in one pic:

How to Vote for CPY projects

OK, there's a blogpost below with pics of all the eligible items that were made "predominantly" with Crystal Palace Yarns.
anyone who actually knit or crocheted anything at all in this KAL [that includes me] is eligible for one vote.
so go to that blog post voting for prize 1 and select your fave.

then, email me proflaura@firststepinternet.com - i am not entered and i promise to be fair and unbiased. i will check your name off the list. There are 45 folks who contributed

Radka, Breien, VeganCraftastic, Pe, jhdforjc-Katie, jhdforjc-Jody, Maria, Mrs AA, Julie, Jane, Knittingchic, Lorraine, billnjeanm, Kadezmom, Aunt Kathy, Debi, peacockmom, mtannie, tapmouse, owlsrook, Molly, Cathy, Tangled, Adrienne, alma, Rachel, Laura, MLJ1954, maz, lovs2knit, Stephanie, ak, knitterbeader, barbarame, knitting linguist, morenna, Melissa, Grace, Lorraine, Sue, socklady, Sailorcross, rita, Stephanie, stilaholic Nartain

before i open the voting - check for your name. let me know if we forgot you or you are here
twice!
L

voting for Prize 1

"favorite project made with crystal palace yarns"

First- final details:
our official kal has ended. i cannot believe that the two months are already over.
you still have a week to post any projects which were finished as of november 30th, 11:59 pm (whatever time zone). debi has been tracking the number of projects started, finished, and how many yards we've used. you will be amazed!

Now: here we have the projects which qualify for the "favorite project made with cpy" contest. you will get to vote for your favorite project. in case of a tie, we will resort to the old-fashion "draw a name from a margarita glass".

i am sure that you will agree that all of them are wonderful. it will be hard to pick just one!! good luck to everyone!

1. fingerless gloves (panda soy, stained glass):

2. merletto mitts (panda wool, red lacquer):

3. through the loop mystery socks (panda cotton, fuchsia):

4. sweetie pie socks (panda soy, poppy red):

5. emily stitch socks (panda wool, violets & periwinkle):

6. basketweave socks (panda wool, basil curry):

7. monkey socks (panda wool, circus):

8. husband socks (panda soy, sable):

9. charade socks (panda wool, periwinkle & violets):

10. toe-up socks (panda soy, cocoa mint):

let the voting begin. voting will close on monday, december 8th at noon (pst).