DE-STASHING CONTEST – Craft Gossip

I’ve found another batch of books from my stash that I want to GIVE AWAY. Hot Diggity! Another contest is born.

annies-pattern-club-number-43 This is Annie’s Pattern Club #43. In this batch, there are 5 other Annie’s Pattern Club books and a digest sized Red Heart ‘Super Simple Fashions to Knit and Crochet’. These are all in great condition and in need of a good home. Could that home be yours??

To win this stash batch, you gotta jump through a hoop or two. Here’s the contest:

Planning ahead to Christmas. We have to start now if we want to crochet some great Christmas gifts. What I want you to do is find a special Christmas themed doily that’s a free pattern somewhere on the internet. Post a LINK and the NAME of the doily (if it has a name) in the comment section of this blog article. In addition, send an email to me ([email protected]) containing your name, snail mail address, and the link to the doily pattern.

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON please! Any skill level, size, or shape doily is fine so long as it’s Christmas themed. That would include things like angels and snowmen in addition to Christmas trees, stars, Santa, reindeer, elves, etc. So, while the category is flexible, it needs to be clearly linked in some manner to Christmas.

Further, I’d LOVE for you to find a doily that is special to YOU and some tradition or heritage shared in your home. Please include that information – say, you’re of Swedish heritage and you find a doily that contains a traditional Swedish Christmas theme. Briefly explain the reason the design is special to you so that we’ll all understand. No need to write a book, here. Just a brief explanation should suffice.

REMEMBER THAT THE WINNING ENTRY WILL BE DETERMINED BY ME ALONE. I have my prejudices. That’s just the way it is. DO NOT SEND THE LINK OR PHOTO IN AN ATTACHMENT. BE SURE TO PUT ‘CROCHET CONTEST’ IN THE SUBJECT LINE, PLEASE!

Hope I’m not making this too complicated. It should be FUN rather than work. I’m looking forward to seeing what you send me. BTW – a link to an original design of your own is fine. Does not have to have been previously published on the web.

PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR EMAIL TO ME!

PLEASE honor design copyright guidelines (laws) and do not link a pattern from a page depicting a published work appearing in a book or magazine – the kind that one can find easily on Russian sites (and others too). These will be deleted, rendering your entry ineligible. Entries linked from other free pattern sites are fine as are entries from blogs, other websites, and other online sources offering free crochet patterns.

The contest will run from today through Saturday, August 15, 2009. Winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

Read These Next

I’ve always wanted to knit a mohair sweater. It just seems to me like the ultimate in comfort and a bit of luxury, and I would probably live in such a sweater all winter long if I had one.

Now might be the time to finally make my mohair sweater dreams a reality, thanks to the Summer Lotus Blouse, a free knitting pattern from Hobbii.

Don’t take the “summer” in the title too literally, because it’s worked with two strands of mohair held together, so while it will be super light weight it will also be plenty cozy to wear throughout the year.

The sweater is worked from the top down in stockinette stitch with I-cord edgings for a super clean look. It uses a larger than expected needle to keep it airy and light, which also speeds up the process.

One thing that’s cool about holding two strands of yarn together is that they don’t have to be the same color. These sweaters end up looking like they use a solid color but they’re actually worked with two different colors, which gives you so many more options. Pick two harmonious colors or shades of the same color, or go wild and pick two colors that are quite different and see what happens. You could also, of course, hold two strands of the same color if you like, but part of the fun of knitting with mohair is seeing how the colors play with each other.

This pattern is available in six sizes, ranging from an actual chest measurement of 30.3 to 44.1 inches, or 77 to 112 cm. It’s meant to be worn with about 2 inches/5 cm of negative ease, but you can choose a different size if you don’t want such a snug fit.

You can grab the pattern for free and check out all the yarn options at Hobbii.

[Photo: Hobbii]

Read These Next

Have you read?