Wednesday, January 02, 2008

In the past year or so, I have had the good fortune to be on the winning end of a number of blog contests. There was Liz's sweater suggestion at Pocket Farm (a blog that's now sadly shut down), Persian Pen Name's 2000th page view at Panda Bonzai!, Caroline's 500th comment at Wool For Brains, Weebug's random blogiversary comment at Weebug Knits and most recently, the birthday contests over at The Knitting Wannabe.

Now I'm feeling like it's my turn to give back, so I'm going to have a little blog contest of my own- my very first! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me something you hope to accomplish in 2008. It can be lighthearted or super serious, fiber-oriented or not, as you like. Leave your comment before midnight PST on January 8, and I'll use a random number generator on the 9th to pick a winner, who will get their choice of one of these goodies (or we'll figure something else out if none of these appeal):


  • 3-oz ball of Jaggerspun 2/18 Superfine Merino (approx. 945 yards)
  • 2-oz bundle of 100% tussah silk top
  • 4.6-oz skein of my own handspun, from multicolor green Ashland Bay colonial top, 3-ply, approximately 260 yards
The merino yarn and tussah silk are white, but I would be happy to dye either, in your choice of color. I couldn't get a good picture of the color of the green yarn yesterday, because it's hard to photograph but there are a couple in my blog archives. It's a very deep forest green, with accent colors in red, yellow, medium green, purple, light blue, royal blue, and black. I used some of this yarn to make my fulled slippers and cabled mittens, and it was very nice.

Personally, this year, I hope to finish combing Herkel's fleece and spin it up into superfine laceweight yarn for my proposed square lace shawl. If I could get the shawl designed and started, even better, but let's not get overly ambitious, hmmm?

When I started this blog 3+ years ago, I never imagined that it would lead me to all the creative people I've "met" online, from all over the world, whose lives I get to see snapshots of through their blogs. I've met couple of you in person, but I expect that most of us will never meet face-to-face. Yet, I still feel like I know you, at least a bit. Technology is amazing.

THANK YOU for being who you are, doing what you do, and letting me share it with you. And thanks for sharing this blog with me!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's been a pleasure reading your blog! I'm inspired by your fibery crafts.

My goal for 2008 is to cook more at home. I used to do this more often, but I want to get back to making tasty dishes.

Jenni said...

No, Sue, thank you! I love getting a peek into your life. I stumbled across your blog via the Spinning Wheel web ring when the beginnings of your Urchin Shawl caught my eye. Since then, I've loved reading about the adventures of a fellow lace spinner/knitter.

One of my goals for 2008 is to make it through the dyeing, spinning, knitting, weaving and writing for my book with a minimum of stress and tears and as much grace as possible. We'll see how that goes!

Jennifer said...

I love reading your blog and viewing your gorgeous FOs!

One of my 2008 goals is to successfully try some fair isle knitting, preferably mittens from one of the books I own!

weebug said...

you are welcome, i love reading your blog and seeing what wonderful fiber and fish things are going on at your house. thank you for sharing on a regular basis, i look forward to your posts. i hope to make a decrease in my wips. i have way too many of them.

rustyconc said...

Hi Sue,

Christina here:
Love reading the blog, as always. In 2008 I hope to start AND finish sewing and beading the costume belt to match the beaded bra I started 2 years ago (and finished last year) so that I can actually wear the whole costume together, instead of 'making do' with a coin belt that sort of matches. (Oh yeah - and to defend my PhD dissertation....)

Laritza said...

I want to learn to learn more weaving techniques and teach knitting and spinning. I enjoy your blog lots! Thanks for hanging around. Defend my PhD dissertation is another must!

Anonymous said...

Write my masters thesis is the first big hurdle for me, the second is to process a raw fleece for the first time. Thanks for sharing with us!

PJ said...

no, THANK YOU! that is cool that you have been on such a wonderful winning end. you deserve it :) Happy New Year!

Leigh said...

Congratulations on all those contests! You're inspiring me to enter more.

I agree that blogging opens up a wonderful world of friendly folks. It's a great community.

Caroline M said...

I think I wandered in on a weaving search once and hung on for the spinning. Happy New Year!

Debra Dee said...

I came upon your blog while searching the WeaveRing. Your work is inspiring to say the least.

In 2008 my goal is to finish one of the two tubs of UFO's under my work table. In addition I would like to get a job so I can purchase a small used loom and get to weave.

Jackie said...

I just want to organize my spinning and weaving notes. And drink more water.

Cathy said...

Sue - it's been fantastic meeting you via your blog. You certainly deserve to win lots of contests!

bibliotecaria said...

Goals? Well, two goals:
1) I want to learn the basics of weaving, now that I have a loom.
2) I want to knit and/or weave something with my own handspun.

It's fun to share ideas and accomplishments. We're all in this together.

Joan said...

My goal for 2008 is super serious. I intend to whittle my stash down considerably. That includes things already started and small projects to use up two big hampers of leftovers. I finally got to the point where the size of my stash bothers me!

mali said...

Sue, I just found your blog today, and have really enjoyed reading through the past 3 months of posts. I, too, am caught up in the glory of combs, and have been busily combing up some CVM that has been in my stash for far too long.

My plan for 2008? Shopping the stash, and going from raw fiber to finished product several times this year. First up, a lace shawl in the CVM that is on the combs right now.