Purling Sprite

Quilt Giveaway by Pigtails and Snails

You see this beauty of a quilt? It is going to be given away to a lucky contest winner. Go and enter to win. You have until 7pm, Oct. 17th. It is lovely! If I knew how to sew and I had an ounce of sewing talent, I would get this pattern in a heart beat, but alas, I am a complete dufus when it comes to sewing.

Go, go and enter the contest and win this beautiful quilt. It so reminds me of a summer's day--it will definitely brighten someone's home in this upcoming winter.

(Picture property of Elizabeth Cranmer)

Getting to Know Me Contest

Getting to Know you Contest Questionnaire:

1.) How long have you been knitting?

With needles for about 3 years, but I learned when I was 8 but never really picked it up til 3 years ago.

2.) How long have you been knitting socks?

Socks...my favorite. I have been knitting them for about 3 years. When I took the class 3 years ago to refresh me on the ins and outs of knitting, the shop owner told me to wait to knit socks. I was stubborn and I had my mind set so I taught myself that very same weekend.

3.) What do you do with a problem like Maria?

Hmmm....let the kiddos have at it. 

4.) What is your all time favorite sock yarn?

Yarntini and Louet

5.) Toe Up or Cuff Down?

Cuff down...always ;)

6.) What's your favorite color (this week or for all time)? Do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

Man, this one is a tough one. My wonderboy asks me about my favorite color all the time but to tell you the truth I don't really have a favorite. I like blues and purples and pinks but I will only wear them if I feel in the mood. Most of the time, I wear blacks.

7.) Do you have a pet(s)?

I have my little Betta fish Jumpy--the kids named him Jumpy.

8.) Babies: Oven Roasted or Barbecued?

I love babies. I love to hold them and cuddle with them. I love to feed them (not nurse them, just bottle feed them). I love to be near them. I would have 100 of them if I could....but they grow up and start talking back LOL

9.) Besides socks what is your favorite type of thing to knit?
I like small projects, preferably for babies.

10.) What's your favorite scent?

Moonlight Path from Bed Bath and Beyond

11.) What music are you really loving right now? Like a song or a band?

Right now, I am digging Jesse McCartney--I'm Leaving

12.) How many pairs of socks have you hand knit?

About 25....and counting!

13.) What's your favorite treat? Salty or Sweet?

My favorite treat: rice pudding. I prefer salty stuff though.

14.) What was the most interesting thing you smelled yesterday. Not good or bad necessarily, just the thing that stuck out most so that you actually took notice of it.

The most interesting thing....hmmm, the chlorine from the pool. The smell stuck to all of us for the entire day.

15.) Needles - DPN's: Wooden, metal or plastic?

DPNS--loooooove the Crystal Palace 6" dpns. My ultimate favorite ones.

16.) What is your favorite sock pattern that you've knit? What do you recommend?

My favorite ones were the latest ones I made but I cannot show them to you. Cookie A will be releasing it soon though ;).

17.) The last Question: If you were stuck on a deserted island who would you want with you, what knitting would you want with you and would you ever want to leave?

I would take my family: my two little children and my husband. Knitting: I would take cotton yarn and needles that would work for it to make my family clothes. If we were happy with whatever was around: food and entertainment, I wouldn't leave. However if leaving would provide a better future I would leave so they could have a better life.

Contest winner!

The week went by like a flash! Zooom! I have been a bit preoccupied with a project...okay, more like 30 projects. My house is drowning in yarn and papers are flying around and my hubby is picking up my slack and helping me cook and clean. Sorry for being so late in announcing the winner. We had a gazillion entries and I have already picked up two books that were suggested: Bear Snores On and the Diary of a Worm.

But who is the winner of this great contest.....ready...Jessica. Jessica suggested 14 books. We have put a few in our list...a must that we are going to get from her list: Princess Bride.

Jessica, drop me a note whenever you get a chance.

Thank you everyone for helping me build a better library for my children.

Contest Winners

We've got some contest winners to announce. Let's see, the numbers were put in to the Random number generator (a very handy dandy little tool).

1st Contest: This one is easy: anyone who dropped a comment was put into the pool.

Prize:  1 skein of Plain and Fancy  by Sheep & Wool Co. in a blue shade. 400 yards (4.5 oz)

So who is the winner of this purty skein that I got at Estes Park last year....the winner is: Mandy:

2nd Contest: This one was a bit more difficult and if you remember, you had to come up with a mnemonic for the Kitchener Toe. Many of you had wonderful ideas but the one that I actually did was Jeannie's (she doesn't have a blog but she frequents my blog). She said: "I use an index card when I kitchener" and of course, I realized that this was the easiest fix to my problem. So an Index card will go into my accessories box--I will tape a little plastic to the inside of the box and insert the index card in there.

Jeannie wins: 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden #39.

Mandy and Jeannie, I have dropped you a note asking you for your addys. Thank you all for participating!

k1f&b loop on a loom & bloggiversary contest

Rusted Root is on its way! Needles arrived and I am a couple of inches into the pattern--almost 2 lace repeats and so far, I am loving it! Have any of you knitted this beauty of a top? I have a row of purl stitches running by the beginning of the sleeves--is that correct? I am using Cotton Fleece and I had to bump up to a size 8 needle to get gauge. My goal is to have this top done by April 14th--it is our 6th year wedding anniversary and I really would like to wear it on that special day.

In loomy related news--hmmmm, I have a little mini-clip showing how to achieve the k1f&b loop increase on a knitting loom.  I worked a needle knit swatch and a loom knitted swatch to see how they differed from each other. Needle knit friends, I would love to know your opinion about the two swatches, especially the loom knitted one (of course).

Bloggiversary Contests--are you ready? I have been officially blogging for 2 years! I can't believe it that I have kept the writing coming for that long--I know I am long winded but I didn't think anyone else would be interested in my life and my knits. Anyways, to celebrate my 2 year bloggiversary, we will host two contests--yep 2. One for each year I have been blogging.

1st Contest: This one is easy: anyone who drops a comment on any of my posts from today til April 14th will be entered to win.

Prize:  1 skein of Plain and Fancy  by Sheep & Wool Co. in a blue shade. 400 yards (4.5 oz)

2nd Contest: This one is a little bit more difficult but the rewards are a lot more. I have always wanted to have a mnemonic for the Kitchener Toe--if you can come up with a cool mnemonic/saying/rhyme so I can remember it your prize will be:

3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden #39.

Deadline: April 14th. Winner will be announced April 15 (or 16th)

Poll for name the knitting loom!

Thank you for all the wonderful entries...I am amazed at your creativity and well, overwhelmed at the great response!

We took the names in a first come, first serve basis, for example, if the name FlyALoom was suggested first on April 9th by X person then again on April 12 by Y person, the entry goes to Person X as they were the first one to suggest it.

The winner will take the items pictured. A nice carry on bag for your new knitting loom, the knitting loom, and some yarn goodies!

It was a difficult task choosing only 10 for you to vote on. The choices for the poll are as follows.

• Kneat-O-Knitter by Eileen
• Wonderloom by Becky H.
• Glide-A-Peg by Marisol J.
• Junior AJAL by Laura
• DIAL (Do-it-All-Loom) by Debee
• SlideALoom by Azia
• 22 Scadoo by Michelle S.
• LuvALoom by Betsy
• Gotta Have It Loom by Deb B.
• Totally Tubular by Tina E.

Poll will end at midnight April 13th. If there is a tie-Sam and I will choose the winning name and the 2 participants will receive a knitting loom--but only the one we choose will receive the bag and the goodies. Does that sound fair?

*****EDIT*****

We have a winner!! Becky H wins the treasure. The name for which this knitting loom shall be known throughout the land is......drummm roollllll: WonderLoom.

I think it is an appropriate name, I mean, I call little N Wondergirl, and B Wonderboy, maybe it was meant to be :).

The knitting loom has a name!!! WonderLoom :).

Thank you all for participating and for making it so much fun. For an entire day there I came and clicked on the results just to see how everything was going.

The poll results ended as follows:

• Wonderloom with 99 votes
• DIAL Loom with 66 votes
• Junior AJAL with 65
• Slide A Loom with 56
• Glide A Peg with 39
• 22 Scadoo with 31
• Totally Tubular with 14
• Kneat-O-Knitter with 12
• Gotta Have It with 7
• LuvALoom with 5

Total votes 394!!!

We have a winner!!! 1000th Comment

Not even a year later, my blog has received the 1000th comment!! I must be a blabber mouth  (in this case blabber fingers) and blog quite a bit.

Thank you all for the great comments and for bringing me a great blogging experience.

Bring out the balloons and the confetti, our 1000th comment...drum rolll pleaseeeee.....cheeesseee...

The lovely and gorgeous.... Teri!

She will take home, Wallace and Gromit, the Curse of the Were Rabbit!

 

Thank you all for participating!

Next month is my blogiversary and my real anniversary: 1 year blogging, 5 years married! It is an exciting month...I have some news that I will leave for another couple of posts...stay tuned to the Purling Sprite Channel.

Contest winner & I am such a snob!

After using a very high tech system (closing your eyes and pointing at the screen with names on it) our contest winner for name the movie contest is.....drum rolll please...Lynne.

Thank you all for participating! Keep your eyes open for more de-stashing contests. I will be moving soon from my apartment and I am going to be reducing the stash.

I do not know when it happened, all I know is that it happened and now, I cannot change it. I am a yarn snob, loom snob, and the worst--a needles snob!

I decided to work the ribbing for the sweater on a smaller size needle, since I didn't have a size 6 anywhere around, I decided to go to Joanns and pick up a bamboo circular (both local yarn shops are closed on Monday--unbelievable). I came home, tried it, hate it! My stitches get caught in the cable and needle connection. I worked a few rows on the sweater, but I am not enjoying it. Now, my dilemma, should I get an addi and transfer the stitches to that addi? Would the stitches look different--ugh, I am just going to stick with it and finish it with those needles--uggh, the next 15 inches are going to take foreeeeeeever!