Time for a CONTEST!!....and some actual knitting content!

Don't fall over, but yes, this post will contain actual knitting content. But first, let's commence with my first ever, official blog contest!! I'm not saying it's going to be scintillating or anything....no creative geniuses live in the knottykitty domain, we are simple creatures here. It does, however, have an official name---In honor of my first blogiversary and upcoming birthday, it's time for....

The Belated Blogiversary and Birthday

Big Basket of Balls

Contest

Because here at Knottykitty Knits, we love us some balls!! (Don't be a dirty girl, you know I mean yarn balls, of course!) I'll give a minute to clear that image from your mind.....now, I'll continue.

Since I've been known to knit a dishcloth or two around here, I have managed to acquire quite the stash of kitchen cotton through the years. And, oh! I just so happen to have a picture of it right here, arranged in a lovely basket...

I'm not sure why I thought it was necessary, but just in case, here's a closer view...

All of the balls in the basket are whole (no partially-used) skeins. They are mostly standard Sugar 'n Cream balls, both variegated and solid, with a few of the larger-sized balls in there as well. I believe there are one or two Peaches & Creme balls in there as well.

Here's the contest part---

Leave me a comment on my blog by midnight (PST) on Wednesday, October 3rd (the birthday part--mine), that includes the following:

1. Your guess as to how many balls are in the basket.
2. Your favorite small project to knit, with link to the pattern if available, so we can all have some new patterns to look at, because we love that!
3. Your blog address, if you have one, because we love to look at those, too!
4. Optional: Any kind of birthday/belated blogiversary greeting you'd like to throw in, be it normal, funny, poetry, strangeness or whatever.

[The reason for #3? Because I'll be home all day by myself on my birthday (sniffle) and I'm old (hmph) and I love a good laugh (ha!).]

I'll be giving out yarny and knitting-related prizes for the following:

1. Closest guess on how many balls are in the basket, without going over the quantity.
2. My favorite comment that makes me laugh, or feel better about getting so old, or both.
3. Random drawing.

I will try to announce the winners by the end of the weekend, following the end of the contest.

So what are you waiting for? Get on in here and leave a comment with your guess, your favorite small project pattern and your sense of humor!!

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Real knitting content:

Yes, it's true! I've actually managed to finish a couple of projects this past week. First, I finally finished this basket that I was done knitting a couple of months ago, and then let it sit by the washer waiting to be felted. Here's the before picture...

and here's the finished basket....

Knit with Paton's SWS soy/wool yarn---I have to say it again, I love making felted projects with this yarn. The color choices are great and it felts up as soft or as stiff as you want. I didn't have a pattern for this basket. Just sort of made it up as I went along. I wanted a squarish-shaped, low-walled basket, and I think this one came out pretty good for a first attempt at making a basket without a pattern. I also included increases as I knit up the walls of the basket, hoping it would keep the walls from flopping outward after it was felted---and it worked! Finished size is about 7-1/2"L x 5"W x 2-1/2" deep.

This second FO, the Moss Grid Handtowel from Mason-Dixon Knitting, turned out nicer than I expected. It took me absolutely forever to finish, done on size 4 needles, and I was a little worried about how it looked when it was done...

It seemed like the "moss grid" squares really didn't show next to the strips of stockinette between the boxes. I thought it might have been my tension when switching back and forth between the moss stitch and stockinette sections.

So I put it in a nice woolwash soak for about an hour and hoped for the best. Hard to capture in these pictures, but I'm still amazed at what a little soak, a trip through the dryer and some light blocking when almost dry did for my cute little towel!

Those stockinette strips between the squares smoothed right out to reveal the nice little moss stitch boxes! I couldn't seem to get a great picture, but the color is much deeper and it has a lovely sheen to it! Needless to say, I was excited that it came out this well compared to the before pictures!

The fabric also got incredibly soft, with a great drape to it. It was made with Euroflax sportweight. I have some beautiful moss green in the same yarn to make it a set. About 3/4ths of the way into knitting this hand towel, I was thinking I might not be making another one because it was getting a little monotonous. But seeing how this one turned out has returned some of my desire to make a second one to complete the set...later.