The winner!

Well, the results are in, and the winner is clear:

It's the cabled zippered jacket by a landslide!
I'll admit, this wasn't the one that I had in mind, but your comments swayed me. Here's my progress so far:

A swatch and some ribbing... and that's where she'll rest for a while. At least until after the holiday knitting is done. (Speaking of which, I've joined the Holiday Knit-Along hosted by Alison and I'll be posting my updates there... no family peeking!)

And the winner - thanks to the random number generator - is Big Lug Jen! Congrats, Jen!!! I'll be e-mailing you your choice of fabulous prizes!

Fun in the sun

The Bahamas sure was fun. Seeing our two friends get married and hanging out with all of the other friends who came for the event was fun, too. Now I'm further south in the Caribbean at a work meeting for the rest of the week.

I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you, that I've knitted the heel and about 2.5" of the Ruby Slipper sock, and remind you (if you haven't already) to vote in the contest - voting ends Sunday.

Have a great week!

Eeeny, Meeny, Miney.... Contest!

First off, did anyone (besides me) see Arrested Development last night? I haven't laughed that hard at a television show in a long, long time. SO FUNNY. I'm glad I taped it because I missed at least half of the dialogue because I was laughing over it. Please, do yourself a favor and check this show out. And if you watched it, leave me a comment so I know I'm not the only one.

Tonight, I'm cozied up and watching my two hours (hooray!) of The Amazing Race. And trying to make an important decision.

See, recently I finished (well, almost) a big project - the bpt. In my most recent update on this project (here), I had everything done but one sleeve. I finally buckled down and forced myself to finish the last sleeve. It seriously felt like work, and made me reconsider my whole concept of knitting a cabled sweater in raw silk yarn. But now it's done - except for the weaving in of ends, of course. (that phrase makes me think of "the airing of grievances" every time...) I'm steeling myself for that.

In the meantime, I've been working on a few small projects - two critters for a baby shower gift; one Ruby Slipper sock, which was promptly deemed to be too small and ripped out, and then reincarnated with more stitches, a ribbing/cables pattern, and a funky striping pattern; and a stripy sock with everything done but the Kitchener (knitting's version of the singing fat lady, I'm sure); and a potato chip scarf pattern here) with a project cost of $2.50 (made from Target's $1 yarn) that I started at Rhinebeck - it will be either a craft fair scarf or a gift.

OK, so now I need a big project to take up. I've narrowed down the field, and I'd like to take a poll. Voting in this poll will also enter you in a contest to win something fabulous from my stash (to be determined). I think I've made my choice, but I might still be swayed...

Here goes:

A. Eeeny

Red sparkly No Smoking yarn to make this sexy tank.
Pros: Not too complicated, probably a fairly quick knit; pretty sparkly yarn; good to wear to a holiday party
Cons: Can't imagine that I'll wear it to anything but a holiday party

B. Meeny

Soft and stretchy brown Merino Stretch to make this sweater (free pattern from elann with yarn purchase)
Pros: Love the sweater, because I love cables; the brown is immensely practical and I would probably wear it to work at least once a week; the yarn is soft and squooshy
Cons: Will I get sick of the cables? Will the brown bore me to death?

C. Miney

Beautiful Foreplay yarn from Brooks Fiber Farm; purchased from Maryland Sheep & Wool 2004. To make a Ribby Cardi with blue body and colorful (coordinating) sleeves.
Pros: The yarn has been marinating in the stash for a while - it will be a relief to finally use it; I've loved the Ribby Cardi pattern since it came out but haven't committed to it yet
Cons: How often will I wear it? Not sure.

D. Moe

The gorgeous 100% alpaca I got at Rhinebeck just a few weeks ago to make a raglan cardigan similar to this one, but with stripes.
Pros: I love this yarn and can't wait to knit it
Cons: It might be unfair to the other yarns to knit this one right away (might hurt their feelings, you know); again, not sure how often I'd wear it.

Edited to add: Check out Maeve's sweater from the same yarn! Imagine it in a cardigan, and you've got my mental image of this sweater

OK, the polls are officially open. Declare your vote in the comments or in an e-mail.
There will be a mini-blog hiatus as I will be out of town for the next two weeks. You don't have to feel sorry for me, as I'll be in the Caribbean (first for fun, then for work).
Therefore, the polls will be open to accept your vote until 5 PM Nov. 20th. If you want to be a trendsetter and get your vote in early, or if you're a wait until the last moment to see how public opinion is going kinda person, makes no difference. Just vote!

Clapotis

Pattern: Clapotis from knitty, by the fabulous Kate Gilbert

Yarn: Andes, a 100% cotton yarn from Artfibers - so soft, and dyed a beautiful shade of blue with just a little bit of variation in the color

Needles: Denise 8's

Started: February 2005 - I found my first entry about it here. But I bought the yarn almost exactly a year ago here.

Finished: October 2005, just before Rhinebeck. In fact, it made its debut there.

Comments: I love this thing. I thought I would, but I really, really do. It's the softest cotton, so it feels great around my neck. I love that it's wide and long so it scrunches up nicely, and I can wrap it around my neck a couple of times. I love it, and I'll wear it all winter. Until I leave it somewhere (which I almost did yesterday - luckily, I came back to the same room today and it was there).
I knit this pattern almost exactly as written, which is quite odd for me. The only thing I changed was knitting the dropped stitches as purls, rather than using stitch markers to set them off. But I kept all of the other dimensions the same.
Love it!
(and although I look a little purple in that photo, I'm really not - it's just the one that shows off the Clapotis the best)