Suggest-A-Contest!
I mentioned the other day that I cleaned out my yarn stash, and so now I have some yarn looking for a good home.
Naturally, the first person I thought of was you, my blog-reader. Except . . . how to fairly distribute the goods?? I mean, I could anonymously send stuff to RAOK people, but then how do I know that they’d be getting something they’d really like?
Contests are fun, but frankly, I’ve been so busy today with more cleaning (that scary book-overflow corner of the office) and cooking (potatoes for potato salad, pound cake, the berry topping for the pound cake) doing laundry (the regular, weekly load, but also bedding–and if you think reassembling a feather-bed and a duvet-cover is easy, think again!) . . . anyway, the point is that I’m too tired to think of a cool contest.
So . . . that IS the contest!
Suggest something that would be fun as a contest–either something practical or something so far out in left field that could never, really, be put into effect. Whoever comes up with the best, most fun idea (the judges will be me and Mom) wins first prize:
A pile of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in a nice, pale beige color (plus one almost-black skein of her Aran Tweed which got in there somehow . . . a good accent color, anyway!).
Second prize is a choice between:
Ten skeins of this pretty, wool/silk/microfiber yarn I found at the bottom of my pile. Small gauge, somewhere around sport weight. The name on the label is “Setana” which I believe was discontinued quite some time ago. It’s in good shape, though and pretty dust-free, considering it’s been in there for at least 10 years now!
Or a pile of Reynolds Lopi, which has also been in the closet for quite some time. My first two sweaters were Lopi and I had bought enough to make another and then got distracted to other things. I’ve tried to convince myself over the years that I would do something with it–I’ve heard that it felts beautifully–but finally decided I was just fooling myself! Again, even though these have been in my closet for years, they are in good shape (or, really, would I offer them as prizes??).
(Note: If the first-prize winner would prefer any of the other options, all she has to do is say so. These are very, very loose rules we’ve got here!)
Curious about some of the other stuff I want to get rid of? (This entry is turning more into a garage sale than a contest, but really . . . if you see anything you like, make me an offer . . . ! Anything!)
A cone of enough Denim yarn for a sweater, which I got from Elann a few months ago, fully aware of the fact that I don’t like knitting with cotton. Really, I have no idea what I was thinking. It’s nice yarn, though, great color, and still in the plastic wrapping it came in! If it weren’t, you know, cotton, I would definitely be keeping this.
Before I rolled these into three, very unequal-in-size balls, this was one huge skein of yarn from Uruguay which I bought thinking it would make a great shawl. I still think it would, but I’ve lost interest in in. The blue part is actually quite dark and actually photographed lighter than in looks in indoor lighting. It’s nice with a cool texture, just . . . I’m over it now.
This is just nifty, I thought–pencil roving to be made into woolen bootliners. (Another cool idea I just never got around to.) It involves knitting, felting, trimming and the idea is that you end up with cushy liners for your winter boots.
Three skeins of Red Heart acrylic, three skeins of Lion brand wool, in blue. Really, I have no idea what they’re doing here, but again–still in their shipping plastic!
Miscellaneous embroidery things–a scroll-like embroidery frame, a tiny, unopened kit, and a larger, opened kit that I just never started.
Miscellaneous quilting kits, for small, picture-sized things.
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Tannenbaum.
House Calls
Deb,
What a great contest-within-a-contest!!
How’s this: The Washington Post had a contest a while back where you were supposed to take a word, switch one or two letters and come up with a new word. Notable winners were “Branacles - the bits of cereal that get stuck to the bowl when you forget to rinse it before leaving for work” and “Algaebra - What the little mermaid wore when she needed a bit of support”…
How about something like that, but using knitting/fibery related words? So folks could submit entries like:
* “Frogly” - a sweater so ugly it MUST be frogged (from fugly)
* “Fiberose” - How you feel after the Wool fest is over and you realize you have to wait a whole ‘nother year for it to come back (from fiberous and morose)
* “Yarn Hover” - the act of placing your hands over the sale basket so no other knitter can see what’s in it (from Yarn Over)
* “Knitnapping” - The act of stealing a stressed out knitter away to her LYS for a little recuperative stash enhancement” (from Kidnapping)
You could choose winners based on creativity, hilarity, or just randomly!
I really like Deb’s contst suggestion, but that won’t help me win a prize.
If I had to make up a contest, I’d have people write in the most creative ways to sneak more stash into the house (around various obstacles like the ever-present hubby), and/or creative places to hide an ever-growing stash.
My favorite contests (for me, that is) are those that elicit suggestions for something … I just did an oddball pattern contest, in which people suggested patterns for oddballs, and I randomly picked the winner. I’ve seen “name your favorite sock pattern” contests (somewhere here on RAOK?), etc. So, figure out what you want to knit, and then create a “name-your-favorite-***-pattern” contest. That’s my two cent’s worth! (The plus of this, for me, is that I can always refer back to the list for future reference.
Here is a good one….
How long will it take for KnitWit Momma to go insane in a house with a 3 year old, a cranky-tired 2year old, and a teething 4 month old……
Ok not the best contest but I could give you a correct answer……NOT LONG!
Sorry, the teeting boy has fallen asleep and I am at the computer trying to calm down after a 2 hour crying session!
How about a match the fiber to the blogger contest….
like I mean, Mason Dixon Knitting would be DROOOOOLING over that Denim…and who do we know that is the SilkRoad Aran Queen, that kind of thing…
what FUN!
what about a contest about de-stashing? says the lady with too much yarn.
the contestants need to post which yarn from their stash they will give up if they win your yarn. then they can have a contest on their blog about the yarn they are giving up and the balls keep rolling ……
This isn’t very creative but I’d say that a contest suggesting what to do with the various yarns??
Or better yet, how to hide(er,store) the new stash so Dh doesn’t get the chance to say~~”when are you going to use what you already have?”
i think a neat contest would be knitting with Saran-Wrap. Crazy I know but it could be kind of fun. Sarn Wrap has many different colors, and lets say you can use as much as you want. who can come up with the best garment or accessories. The pictures sure would be fun to see and some people are super creative!
ok, a couple of these aren’t terribly knitterly, but very apropo to your blog. suggest a book that you might like to read. the one with the book you’d like to read the most wins. a per yarn contest, the best suggested use wins. and i forgot my third one, sigh. btw, i’ll take the redheart and lion brand, i’d use them for charity, lol!
Hmm, maybe the true definition of Chartruese, Cerise, Puce, etc…You know, the colors that people get into arguments about because they really don’t know what the color is but have an opinion about it. To make sure the person knows you’d have to have them send The RGB coordinates or hex code for it.
Ok, I’m a bibliophile too and I see that you have 2500+ books in your library. How about a contest to see who can be the first person to guess 20 books that are in your library??
Ooo! I like that last one.
How about a contest to see who can come up with the most creative/unusual knitalog. Of course, the winner would then have to host said knitalong. (I’m thinking along the lines of the fry it up KAL).
I’m so brain-dead at the moment, I can’t think of anything contest related other than the fact that pound cake with berry topping would be my ideal first place prize right now!
How about a contest to see who can compose the best doggerel/poem with knitting as the topic?
How about the winner chosen randomly by pulling names out of a hat. Put down the name of each person who responded and have your mom pull the names, the first name out get’s first choice, etc.
I see mucho I would love. I would also pay for the shipping too!
Here’s a contest idea.
Take close up pics of yarn. Like, reeeeeeaaalllly close up. Have people guess which yarn it is! Even better if they can guess the shade number!
lol- some of those were really funny- but here’s my best-
A contest based on Fear Factor- but knitting related… we could call it “Knit This” or something equally cheesy…
For the first stunt, the contestants would have to perform acts of knitting while suspended from helicopters going 150 mph over the ocean- double points to the knitter using dpn’s on the mitten while she grips the rope she’s hanging on with her toes or teeth, as the helicopter travels, the knitter will be lowered to the water, where buoys will have bits of fleece for the knitter to include in the thrummed mitten. Knitter with the most thrums wins the round.
The second stunt would be the gross one- here the ladies would have to pick the moths out of a contaminated stash and blend them together into a moth slushie, and drink it (blech!) Fastest time wins this round.
The third stunt would be the toughest… a combination of speed knitting and physical strength. Racing against the clock, each contestant would have to make an I-cord and then it will be strung in between two buildings, and the ladies will have to cross the I-cord commando style with their trusty scissors between their teeth. The first one to make it across gets to cut the other’s I-cord, sending her home with nothing but her needles!
I have no great contest ideas but if the cone of denim is not going into the contest I’ll gladly swap you for it.
Love from a Denim Addict Who Did Not Buy Nearly Enough When Elann Had It
(aka Kay)
Really really late to the party. But if you still have that cone of denim yarn, I’d be glad to provide a good home for it.
I’m liking the randomly-chosen winner idea, too…but after 10-hour workdays this week…and learning to ride a unicycle while on vacation last week, I guess you could say I am brain-dead…as well as totally black and blue, sickly green and bruisy-yellow!
I’m loving that shawl yarn. Email me a price, woman!