Recently in Contests/Giveaways Category

Before I annouonce the winner, I have to tell you this was hard! I only had one copy to give away and so many people *really* wanted this issue. I was shocked by the popularity of the giveaway, and the fact that so many of you seemed to really want the issue for this project or that. I thought a summer issue wouldn't be as popular, and since it was only 2 years ago that there wouldn't be as much of a desire for it. I was wrong!

A few people asked in the comments about shipping outside the US. Of course I'd ship outside the US! So, everyone was entered in the contest (yes, even a stragler who entered in just after midnight EDT). It's a magazine giveaway, not the lottery. It's supposed to be fun!

So, who got the issue? gleek! Congratulations! In addition to having the week off of work, she won my little giveaway. Congrats! And thanks to everyone who entered. It was fun to see all the new names.

Oh! For the 50+ of you who didn't win...I have it on good authority that another giveaway for this same issue will be announced soon.

Vicki has a spare copy of one of her IK issues and offered it up to her readers. I think it's a great idea, so here's mine. It's Summer 2004.

The front cover:

You can find pics of all the designs here.

Designers include Kathy Zimmerman, Shirley Paden, Norah Gaughan, Véronik Avery, Teva Durham, Annie Modesitt, Nancy Bush, and Beth Brown-Reinsel.

Articles include Knitting out of the Pantry which talks about nontraditional fibers such as hemp, bamboo, stainless steel, soy and paper; Beyond the Basics: Working with Two Yarns which details 3 ways to knit and purl with two colors.

Leave a comment by end of day Tuesday if you're interested and I'll randomly pick one!

beccamonstr and her suggestion of legwarmers.

There were several really good ideas, but in the end I went with this one because:

• I haven't ever made a pair of legwarmers
• I have a Jeep Wrangler (very little between you and the outside on the floor of the Jeep) and while my legs get cold my feet are just fine. I think legwarmers would do the trick--I hate hot feet so I usually wear knee highs or just deal with cold calves.
• I can already think of a few ideas for making up a pattern for them. In other words, it's a great excuse to do a little designing.
• They'll use at least 2 balls of the Koigu, which was a big requirement for me. I don't want to make 2 projects out of the same exact shade of Koigu. I just know I'll end up not finishing the second project, and that'd be such a waste of the yarn.
• I can see using some of the yarn I pictured to actually make the legwarmers.

The other ideas I was strongly considering:

• Pixie's bandana suggestion. VERY cute idea!
• Mary Beth's suggestion to do a turtleneck similar to Annie's. I like this idea A LOT but not for the colors I have right now. I will keep this one in mind though as I visit the LYSs. I see a T ranging from blacks at the bottom into greens and maybe a touch of pink. This will definitely mean I'll have to collect some yarn though.
• Dharma'a suggestion to do the Foxy Shawl. How pretty! I love the gradation going longways (similar to the pooling scarf without the anxiety of forcing handdyed to pool!). While you're looking at the Foxy Shawl be sure to visit the rest of Foxy's site. There are tons of Koigu patterns there!

So what does beccamonstr win? Well, I've emailed her* asking for a little direction in terms of the colors she likes. Koigu is too nice not to be used, so I want to make sure it's something that'll suit her. Once we chat and I do a little stashdiving/shopping I'll be sure to show you all too.

Thanks everyone for participating. I got some great ideas and inspiration, as well as the chance to meet some new commenters.

Koigu as Socks

I do still plan on making some of the double hanks into socks. One thing I've heard or read though is that Koigu socks tend to stretch out. Those of you who have made Koigu socks--do you find this to be true? Either way, I'd like to hear about it (including the gauge you used). I suspect some of it may be due to a looser gauge, but I'd like to know now so I can do this yarn right!

*I'm slightly concerned that my email might get filtered out as spam since it has the words "contest" and "winner" in it. If you didn't get my email please email me at savannahchik AT yahoo. Thanks!