Completed socks!

I haven’t been posting; but, I have been knitting. I finished the resident non-knitter’s socks:

I used the Yarnissima “Firestarter” pattern as an inspiration. You can grab that pattern for free from The Loopy Ewe (see Favorite Yarn Stores to the left).

I also finished mom’s socks:

For this pair, I used the Evelyn Clark Twining Leaves pattern. It’s a lovely pattern to knit. You can purchase it here
.

I’m counting my blessings

It’s been eons since I last posted. Pesky old work keeps getting in the way. I guess it’s good. More work means more sock yarn. Although, I do have enough sock yarn to keep me busy for many a long winter’s night.

This week I got a message from one of the Random Acts of Kindness winners. She had been slow to contact me about the prize she won–but I’ll let her tell her story in her own words:
I am so sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier, but I just today saw this email. I was in a pretty horrific car accident on the 5th of January, and was in the hospital until about a week ago. Today was the first time I’ve been able to sit at the computer for any length of time. It was an incredible miracle that my son and I survived the crash, as the car flipped over a guardrail (and continued to do so for about 200 feet) after I swerved to avoid a truck that pulled out in front of us. My son had a scrape above his right eye and a bit of a shiner, but was otherwise unhurt. Our dear, beloved doggie, Lucy, a wonderful Beagle friend, did not survive the accident.

I am left-handed and both of the bones in my left arm came through my wrist in different places. One was miraculously unbroken and the other was essentially crushed. It seems that my arm flew out the window as the car was flipping (there was grass and dirt inside the bone). I have had one surgery so far (with pins and an external metal rod to hold everything in the right place) and I’ll need a bone graft in a few weeks’ time. We are hoping that one more surgery will do it, but it could be as many as 4. The doctor has said that it could be anywhere from 9 months to a year for me to regain use of the arm, but I am starting physical therapy in a week to get a head start on that.

As a knitter, I know what you’re wondering: “Yes, but can you KNIT?!!!” Well, I started brainstorming different ideas from day one. My dad has made a trip to Home Depot and bought some clamps and things for me to try. I actually have been able to knit a few stitches (very sloppy ones, but that hardly matters). I literally dream of being able to knit normally again. Knitting is like medicine for my soul, so I know I’ll find a way. Sooner rather than later, I hope. Of course, with the medical expenses, I guess I’ll be stash-diving for a long, long time.

Wow! Sometimes I forget to stop and count my blessings.

and the winners are . . .

To pick the winners, I used the Sequence Generator at www.random.org and the post numbers. All 78 posts were considered to be valid entries. So, without further ado, here are the prize winners.

Buffalo Gold yarn: Rachel
Bag from Diana Cooper: Allison
Alpaca yarn: Michelle
Gift Certificate: Lisa

I sent emails to the winners yesterday. Rachel and Michelle, your packages are on the way! I’m still waiting to hear back from Allison and Lisa–be sure to check your spam basket.

I didn’t post while the contest was running because I didn’t want people to have to search back through entires to find the contest. Meanwhile, some exciting things happened here. I won a wonderful gift package in the Spin Out contest Cara held via her blog.

Thanks Cara!

I also finished the winter hat for the resident non-knitter:

The resident non-knitter prefers luxury fibers. This hat is 50 percent alpaca (Whisper yarn-the same yarn as I gave away in the contest except that this is in the Sawyer colorway), about 25 percent cashmere and 25 percent merino wool. (Don’t tell him about the merino wool!) I added a navy blue 2/28 weight cashmerino from Colourmart to mute the colors of the handpainted yarn so it would look more manly based upon the RNK tastes.

I made significant progress on his socks too–but I’ll wait to post a picture of them when their done.

Contest Officially Ends

Thanks to everyone who posted their random acts of kindness. What a great way to start off the new year–getting to choose winners among all the great entries. I am going to do the random drawing for all four winners in just a few minutes:

Prize 1: A couple of skeins of Buffalo Gold laceweight yarn and a copy of “Stahman’s Shawls and Scarves: Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls from the Neck Down and Seamen’s Scarves offered by Ron of Buffalo
Gold.

Prize 2: Your choice of a large tote bag from Dianna Cooper’s Frogging or Legal Stash designs, donated by Dianna
Cooper!

Prize 3: Two skeins (400 yds total) of A.L.
de Sauveterre’s 100 percent Peruvian Alpaca yarn, Whisper, in the October Sunlight colorway donated by me.

Prize 4: A $25 Gift Certificate to The
Loopy Ewe donated by me in honor of Sheri, who started this whole thing! Yeah Sheri.

I will notify the winners after the drawing, and tomorrow I’ll post their names. Thanks everyone for participating. I hope that the RAK bug has hit you and that you keep up the good work! The kindness and generosity expressed in the comments to the contest will certainly inspire me over the next year.