Jacquie's Journal

First Competition!

But before that, I made  a few things as Christmas presents and for a swap that I can now reveal:
First, a couple of ambigram cushion covers for my nieces Eden and Maya.

Then there was a pair of wristwarmers for their Mum.

I designed them myself, and I can't remember exactly what yarn it is but it is definitely from Knitpicks and definitely has a lot of alpaca in its ingredients - it's lovely and soft anyway!  The ruffled edging was the Ruffle Rib Scallop from Knitting On The Edge (Nicky Epstein)  then the other end was finished off with a couple of mock tucks and a picot edge that all just happened to fit in with the basic 1x1 rib used on the main part.

Then for a swap I made these:

It was the Crafty Threads'n' Yarns Stitchmarker swap and mine went to Franney .  This is the Competition part!  Franney guessed the answer straight away from the clue I gave her but she has been sworn to secrecy  :D

The question is "What are these beads made of?"

Here are a couple of clues

1. I bought the beads in Moab, UT and I am not sure if they actually originated from there but they could have.
2. They appealed to my inner 10 year old boy's sense of humour!

The prize will be a similar set of stitchmarkers made from the same beads.
The winner will be chosen at random from all the correct answers submitted.
Please send your answer in an email to [email protected]
The closing date is Saturday Jan 19th and I will announce the winner and the answer on Sunday 20th.

Good Luck!!!

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

I think I mentioned it before that one of my ambigram cushion covers was going to be featured in a calendar - well it is available now.  It is the Brainteasers, Mind Benders, Puzzlers, Mazes, and More Page A Day 2008 Calendar by Scott Kim and it really is in there.  I will have to wait til I get home to see it for myself, but I am really excited about it!

Smartie Pants

I don't deserve a cell phone!  Over the years I have had several accounts set up for me but the first one it turned out Sam needed it more, the second one it turned out Edward needed it more.  Now I have Lucy's old one, but I am useless.  Half the time I forget to switch it on, and then I forget to charge it up anyway.  Yesterday I was waiting for Gary at Starbucks and I kept hearing this phone ring and I couldn't understand why no one was answering it.  When he arrived he said "Did you by any chance hear this sound at all in the last few minutes?" and sure enough the ring tone I had heard started up - of course it had been my phone ringing, but I haven't heard it for so long I had no idea what tone it is set to.  Today I was dropping off Edward for his scout camping trip and left the phone in the car.  One of the leaders was held up so it was about an hour later when they were finally loaded up and left.  During that hour Sam and Gary had both tried to call me because they were worried about how long I was being and Sam managed to lock himself out of the house (Note to self: Buy battery for garage door keypad).

At last, proof of something I always knew but no one believed me to the extent that I started to doubt myself - The orange Smarties really do taste orangey!!!  British Smarties are completely different to American Smarties - they are more like M&Ms

A week or so ago - or maybe two - I wrote about Wenlan Chia's "Twinkle's Big City Knits" book because it had crazy sizes.  I went back to have another look at it because I was sure I must have made a mistake about the sizes, or at least there would be an explanation somewhere - but there wasn't.  There is however an explanation on her website - click on the Twinkle's Big City Knits link and then on the almost invisible "Notes from the Author" link at the bottom.  She has also posted some corrections there.  It sounds like even if you make the right size the result will be pretty much stretched out and I still don't think they would suit me - the words "sausage" and "overstuffed" spring to mind!

Nagfa who run their Ambigram Challenge each month have asked their participants and visitors to judge this month's competition so please take a look at all the entries and vote for your favourite.  This month's phrase was "Thank You" - you don't have to vote for me - there are lots of very clever solutions!

Not much on the knitting front to report I am afraid.  I am still working on my Crafty Threads n Yarns Key ring swap and quite pleased with what I have come up with - hope my swappee likes it.  I will show you just as soon as I know it has been received.