And the Winner Is...

Wow-eee...I got a whole bunch of requests for the free tote bag, 31 to be exact, from comments and email, which is a lot for a little ol' blog like this.
Here's how I picked the winner: I assigned each person a number and then used the random number generator to pick a random number.

And The Winner Is....

drumroll...

Deb from Montana

Congratulations & Enjoy!

(Deb wrote in her email that "a while back I was addressing the fact that (my husband) would get so chilled in the winter (laying block, ice fishing....) that a blanket around his shoulders and neck would warm him faster. He agreed, but said that he would never ask for a shawl. But, if I would knit him a 'shotgun', so that he could ask in a very manly way for someone to hand him his shotgun, that would be acceptable. Of course, it couldn't be lacy or pinned..."

I love that! I immediately told the big knitter he should be making shotguns.

I got so many nice comments and emails, I wish I had 30 more totes, I would send one to everybody. Thanks for entering. And Deb, I will get this mailed to you as soon as I round up a box.

Now, here's a little preview of Big Knitter's Big Swatch from his Big Ball O' Yarn:

In contrast, my offering, a little itty bitty hat that I made from this free pattern (thanks, I love it) from Hello Yarn. I didn't add the anime face, but I made it from a softer-than-soft Sublime yarn, merino/silk/cashmere blend that I picked up at Kiwi, my fave lys.

And now, last but not least. Isn't this one cute face?

I thought you'd say that!

Danger! Male knitter in the household!

OK, so the big knitter handed me this (the yarn, not the mug)

You know, I gotta tell you it's challenging enough to have a big knitter in the house (just think of the yarn storage, for one thing); then he walks into the room holding this HUGE ball of yarn.

After laughing hysterically,while simultaneously admiring the yarn, I said: "You know what they say about men and compensation!"

I had to take out the measuring tape and check it out! This big ball o' yarn is 6 inches!

As a little knitter, I was duly impressed. I told big knitter it's only fair to share this with the world, geesh, so it can be appreciated, for goodness sake!

Enjoy!

(And, oh, one thing I do respect about the big knitter is that he's secure in his place in the knitting world, so he's a pretty safe target. Another thing is he never reads this blog anyway so I pretty much have wide latitude.)

What we have here, is a beautiful, gorgeous skein of hand-dyed Fleece Artist wool/silk, worsted weight. Wow, I'm pretty sure I remember laying claim to the finished project when we first saw the yarn during our Canadian Yarn Tour for Stash Enhancement. The big knitter ordered enough yarn for a big blanket and we got the box today from Threads In Time, along with a nice letter from the owner, Lynn.

There's no yardage info listed on the skein. (but I estimate LOTS). There are EIGHT skeins! I'll try to post some progress photos when we see how fast big knitter can knit this up.

Speaking of big boys, er, I mean...
I found this today, stashed in the spare bedroom. (Well, not this exact one, but I was too lazy to take the actual one out of the box for a photograph).

I would love to gift this totebag to a new knitting home, ASAP. It's a very big bag and made from heavy canvas; too big for my projects and the big knitter doesn't like the thick canvas. Here' a link to the same bag being sold on QVC.

Oh, yeah, another thing, I'll throw in the postage to get it to you. (in the U.S., that is.)

If you want a chance at this humongo...yeah, I guess that's the theme for the night...bag, just do this:

Leave a comment here or send me an email at: mostlybears at liveline dot com and I'll include you in a random drawing as soon as I get enough responses to make it fair.

Good luck and happy knitting.

So much yarn...not enough lifetimes

I often wonder (now that we're finished with the stash-enhancing tour) just how long it would take me to knit up every skein of yarn in my stash...a year? two? More??? Arrgh! I simply cannot think about it in terms of hours or days, not even projects...surely I would never walk into a yarn shop again I would feel so defeated.

No, I think the best way to approach ones' yarn stash is to realize that a portion of this stash will most likely never be knitted up, at least not by me. Undoubtedly, I will lose interest in a some of these projects before they get near the needles.

Just like certain teddy bears in my store... they're filler on the shelves and help create an inviting atmosphere in the store. But the reality is, some may never find a home. Or they might be donated for charity events or given away as gifts.

Some of my yarn will be used similarly. I just got two very nice thank you notes from Wooly Wonders and the Knitting Ladies program for the yarn/needles I donated to them. Both are excellent causes. And an excellent way to de-stash without guilt.

My Stash Is Your Stash

I have listed the first of my destashing effort. I created a page on my bear store website, complete with secure shopping cart! (Click Here to check it out) There are a few sock yarns listed, some miscellaneous wool and some Encore worsted (ooh, also the Lorna's Laces vest kit). All at 50% or more off the original price.