Feb is for Finishing - Contest #3 Winner

So the Week 3 February is for Finishing Contest winner is.... JULIE Z!  She won with this fantastic River Run Scarf:

Love the stripey rainbow-y goodness!  And it's a sock yarn scarf which as a dyer of sock yarn I always find fun.

Anyways Julie I"ll be emailing you soon to get you your prize.  And even though it's March 1 there's still a bit of time left to enter the final February is for Finishing contest!

In other news I've been dying like a madwoman getting ready for the Destination Yarn Trunk Show at Yarn Cravin' next Saturday.  Should be a pretty fantastic show... a preview: 

Yeah instagramming yarn is about the funnest thing ever.

Hope to see you there!

Leap Day Wordless Wed

Things I've finished today in a frantic February is for Finishing wrap-up blitz.  Details on these projects coming but for now some quick 'n dirty instagram fun.  Also don't forget that while Feb may be over the last Feb is for Finishing contest runs until Friday!




 Happy Leap Day!!!

February is For Finishing Week 2 Winner

So you guys blew me away last week with your finished projects!  Quilts!  And Sweaters!  And so. much. pretty!  I was proud to finish a dress but... man you guys have stepped up your game.  One of my favorites was this beautiful shawl knit out of Destination Yarn Copenhagen:

Knit by the fabulous AndiRN

So pretty!  Although I might be a little bit biased... and of course now I want to knit one of these out of every. single. colorway which kindof defeats the purpose of this whole finishing thing.  D'oh.

Anways! drumroll please... this week's winner thanks to Random.org is....Stephanie over at Sometime She Knits!  Stephanie won with this lovely pair of mittens:

 

 Yay Stephanie!  I'll be contacting you soon to get your your prize.

And if you didn't win last week there's still plenty of time to enter this week's contest - it's the one with the yarn so you really don't want to miss out!

In other news my kid is completely mobile:

and therefore into everything.  His first action as a completely mobile kid?  Scoot on over to the dog bowl and have himself a snack.  Greeeeat.

February is for Finishing - Contest #3

Hey All!  So this contest post is a bit late in publishing... I've been fighting a migraine all week so I'm basically behind on everything...  But!  There are still fabulous prizes to be had!

February is for Finishing Prize Package #3: Collaborating is Cool.


So this week's Prize theme came about because all of these prizes were donated through collaborating on something unrelated to February is Finishing.  All of these lovely ladies wanted to play along with me on this, too.  Yay!  Also this is the package with the yarn.


First up, in honor of our new Warm Up Your Wellies Boot Liner pattern, is a sewing pattern from Clever Charlotte:

The Raven Hoodie and Pants is stylish on either a girl or a boy plus the Hoodie is reversible!  I can picture it in all sorts of adorable fabric combinations.

And since Destination Yarn and Clever Charlotte seem to go so well together I am adding a skein of Frozen Great Lake to this prize package:

This colorway has thus far only been available at trunk shows or through sock clubs so not many people have it.  Also seems fitting considering this is a February contest and all (even if there's no way the lake is going to freeze this year).  Stay tuned, though.  I will be adding some of this to the etsy site soon!

Next up is is this fantastic mug cozy from my blog buddy Kisha:
Her Etsy store Little Crafts and Other Things is filled with beautiful handknits like this. Really beautiful, high quality pieces - I especially like the lace scarves.

Finally is a $10 gift card from Kristan's shop Polished Design (and on Facebook Here):

Her printable digital artwork would look fantastic in any home.  Plus they can be printed as many times you want in whatever size you want!  She also she does custom announcements and invitations which are also completely adorable and modern.

Here's the linky to enter (full list of rules and additional ways to enter are at the bottom of the post):

Happy Finishing!!!


Full Entry info and Contest Rules:

Every project that you finish in the month of February can be a new entry into one of these contests!  It doesn't have to be knitting or sewing related.  Anything creative that you started before February will count.

To enter post a picture of something you finished in February to the linky in this post.    It doesn't have to be on a blog - flickr, facebook (hint you can find a link to share a gallery if you go to that gallery page), ravelry, will all work.  If you leave the url portion of the linky blank it will give you an option to upload an image from your own computer.  That's fine, too.  You must also include an email address so that I know where to contact you if you win.

If you finish something made out of Destination Yarn you receive an additional entry per project.

To receive an additional entry per project:  Link back to this site wherever you post your picture.  (again blog, facebook, flickr, ravelry, wherever.)

To receive another entry per project:  Tweet the project and a link back to this page.  Include @Sourire11 so that I know that you tweeted it.

So for every project that you finish you can earn up to 4 entries into a contest! 

The linky will be live until next Thursday at midnight when I will close it out and pick a winner.  Then the next day I will post the contest for the next week with it's own linky.

Happy Finishing!!!

A Warhol Dress for Valentine's Day

So first of all the very first winner in the February is for Finishing contest is Emily!  She won for this lovely entry:

The pattern is called the Straightforward Mitts.  Love!  I may need to make a pair of these myself once Feb is over...

I will be contacting you soon to get you your prize package!  There is still plenty of time to enter this week's contest.  I was thrilled to come home from Florida and see all of your entries.  Can't wait to see what you guys finish next!

Anyways!  On to something that I finished... A Warhol Dress:


I actually started this dress for my daughter to wear for last Valentines Day.  It's up-cycled from two of my old stained t shirts.  Unfortunately last year the day before V-day she broke her leg.  And then so many other things flew off the rails.  And then I had a baby.  Needless to say I never finished this dress.  Never even wanted to look at it again, actually.  I even associated the dress with all of the bad juju of that time. 

That's silly, mommy.  You know what's not silly?  Wearing a Valentine's Day dress with a Halloween Neck-a-lace.

As part of this whole Feb is for Finishing deal I wanted to get rid of any of these bad vibes projects.  Even if that meant scrapping them. But this one seemed to still fit her so I finished it up and actually kindof love the result:

I told her to strike a pose and this is what she did.

 The pattern is the Warhol Dress from the Made Blog.  I seem to be going through a phase with the made projects.... huh.  Anyways from what I remember it was super simple.  I used the same ruffles from this skirt and think it's a super cute bottom for the dress:



I'd love to make one of these again in a slightly bigger size... i think I have a striped shirt that needs upcycled somewhere.  Hmmmm....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

I am one lucky girl, btw.

February is for Finishing - Contest #2

So this Feb is for Finishing is going great so far!  I"m loving seeing all of the projects you guys have been finishing!  Totally inspired by your work.  Now if only I could get it together to finish something more substantial than some paper flowers.... Anyways I"m actually in Florida right now so I'm going to announce last Friday's winner on Monday when I get back.

On to this week's Awesome:


February is for Finishing Fabulous Prize Package #2:  Cleveland Craft Coalition.

So this week's theme is the Cleveland Craft Coalition.  I was inadvertently a part of one of their events once and think that what they are doing is just fantastic.  So I reached out to a few of their members and they donated some truly fabulous prizes for this giveaway.  And if you want to check out their wares in person they will be in Lakewood tomorrow for their  Valentines Day Show.

First up is Enola's Enchanted Grove:

Liz donated a gift set of herbal soaps.  They are handmade with a gentle base, botanical and essential oils, no dyes, no artificial coloring no 'fragrance' oils. They sound like a great way to pamper yourself!

Next is from Jenbuza Bags:

Her tagline is fun. funky. fabulous.  And I think that about sums it up!  I'm not sure what specifically she's donating just yet  (will update after I pick up the prize) but I love both of her styles of bags... the up-cycled man's suit into bag is crazy cool. 

Finally is the Bonsai Tree from fOUR fISH iNK:

This is a hand-pulled linoleum print, meaning that every part of the process: drawing, carving, inking and printing were all done by hand!  I don't know much about that process but wow do I love the end result!

Here's the linky to enter (full list of rules and additional ways to enter are at the bottom of the post):

Happy Finishing!!!



Full Entry info and Contest Rules:

Every project that you finish in the month of February can be a new entry into one of these contests!  It doesn't have to be knitting or sewing related.  Anything creative that you started before February will count.

To enter post a picture of something you finished in February to the linky in this post.    It doesn't have to be on a blog - flickr, facebook (hint you can find a link to share a gallery if you go to that gallery page), ravelry, will all work.  If you leave the url portion of the linky blank it will give you an option to upload an image from your own computer.  That's fine, too.  You must also include an email address so that I know where to contact you if you win.

If you finish something made out of Destination Yarn you receive an additional entry per project.

To receive an additional entry per project:  Link back to this site wherever you post your picture.  (again blog, facebook, flickr, ravelry, wherever.)

To receive another entry per project:  Tweet the project and a link back to this page.  Include @Sourire11 so that I know that you tweeted it.

So for every project that you finish you can earn up to 4 entries into a contest! 

The linky will be live until next Thursday at midnight when I will close it out and pick a winner.  Then the next day I will post the contest for the next week with it's own linky.

Happy Finishing!!!

Valentine Flowers

First of all let me say that I am loving your February is for Finishing submissions!  I'm super excited that everyone is as into this as I am.  And just a reminder - this week's contest closes tomorrow so get your projects in if you want to win those fabulous prizes!

So waaaay back in December the Girl and I made these awesome flowers from the Made Tutorial:


I loooved them.  They were simple and cute and she had so much fun helping me make them:


she loves a good craft project:



So we hung them up as Christmas decorations.


or for the full perspective including a sleeping dog and a humidifier in the background b/c when I took these everyone in our house had a cold:

I especially liked the side view:



But!  I didn't really like them as Christmas decor so much.  Yeah they were the right colors... but... they seemed more like Valentines Day to me.  I pictured them as a bunch of carnations.  Perfect for V-day.  So way back when I made a few plain red and white ones and bought a bunch of random napkins with the intention of filling our house with paper flowers:

And then Life happened.  And I never got any further than that.  But!  It's February is for Finishing!  So the other day my girl and I did this:



We didn't quite get a house full of flowers but oh do I love the finished bouquet:



Again the full shot - no dog this time b/c she was napping with the Girl in her room.



I especially like the polka dot and stripey flowers:



And the view from my spot on the couch makes me happy:



Yay for finishing something I started!  And double yay for decorating that is seasonally appropriate and crazy cheap!

February is for Finishing - Contest #1

Ok!  So!  Yay!  We're doing this!  February is for Finishing is just shaping up to be way more amazing than I ever planned it to be.   Check out this week's Fabulous Prizes:

February is for Finishing Fabulous Prize Package Week #1:  Knitting Notions.

First up is this adorable project bag:

Seriously cute.  I can't even handle how much I love the colors.

From the fantabulous Lisa of the Etsy Site Sunshine Walks.  Her store is full of notions bags and box bags every bit as cute as this one.  She has a great sense of color and style and I'm thrilled she wanted to donate a prize!

The second part of this prize package is "something special" from Pam of Pretty Knitty Jewelry:

Just a small sample of the awesome that is Pretty Knitty Jewelry. 

Her 100 row knitting counters are straight up genius.  I've never seen another counter like this out there - you can keep track of 100 rows of knitting!  Crazy that.  And the charms at the end are hand sculpted -no paint, no molds.  She's working to create something specific for this contest and I'm sure whatever it is will be fantastic.

Here's the linky to enter (full list of rules and additional ways to enter are at the bottom of the post):

Happy Finishing!!!



Full Entry info and Contest Rules:

Every project that you finish in the month of February can be a new entry into one of these contests!  It doesn't have to be knitting or sewing related.  Anything creative that you started before February will count.

To enter post a picture of something you finished in February to the linky in this post.    It doesn't have to be on a blog - flickr, facebook (hint you can find a link to share a gallery if you go to that gallery page), ravelry, will all work.  If you leave the url portion of the linky blank it will give you an option to upload an image from your own computer.  That's fine, too.  You must also include an email address so that I know where to contact you if you win.

If you finish something made out of Destination Yarn you receive an additional entry per project.

To receive an additional entry per project:  Link back to this site wherever you post your picture.  (again blog, facebook, flickr, ravelry, wherever.)

To receive another entry per project:  Tweet the project and a link back to this page.  Include @Sourire11 so that I know that you tweeted it.

So for every project that you finish you can earn up to 4 entries into a contest! 

The linky will be live until next Thursday at midnight when I will close it out and pick a winner.  Then the next day I will post the contest for the next week with it's own linky.

Happy Finishing!!!

February is for Finishing Kickoff

It seems that quite a few of you actually want to play along with this February is for Finishing idea. Yay!!!  So I decided to make a whole party out of it and have contests and prizes and linkys and all sorts of fun stuff.  Yay for playing along!  And check it out - we even have a button:

and a mascot:

Feel free to post wherever!

Here's how this is going to work:

Every Friday in February I'm going to have a linky party on this blog. You can enter once for each creative project you finish in February.  It doesn't need to be knitting or sewing related - anything creative will do.  As long as it's something that you started and worked on before Feb.  All you will need to enter is a photograph of your finished project - you should be able to directly upload it here (for those of you without blogs/ravelry/flickr/facebook/whatever).  I'm working with a few Etsy sites to get the prizes together and so far they are looking pretty awesome.

Btw - If anyone is interested in donating anything to the prizes please let me know!  I'd love to have this be super filled with swag.

If you want to play along on twitter use the #FebisforFinishing hashtag and I'll be sure to find you.  

I also might have a prize for the project finished that's been kicking around the longest.  Stay tuned for details on that one.

This picture has nothing to do with anything but it cracks me up every time I look at it.  Ears and hair match!

Yay for Finishing things in February!  Ok... off to get something accomplished.

February is for Finishing

So lately my knitting situation has looked like this:

Yeah I have alot of unfinished projects.  Or UFO's as they are known in the knitting world.  I'm pretty much buried in them.  Check it out:


This would be 4 unfinished knitting projects that I was able to assemble for this photograph without getting up off of my spot on the couch.  SHAME.

I'm surrounded by ziploc baggies filled with good intentions. I'm in this awful cycle where I start something super excited about it.  Find time to work on it a few times.  And then get derailed and am too tired/distracted/overwhelmed to even think about it.  By the time I have a chance to go back to whatever it was I'm over it and on to the next shiny.

Pintrest does not help this problem.

And the worst part is that because I have so many unfinished things I just feel guilty about all of it.  I feel guilty for starting something new b/c I really should finish something I already have going.  Then I feel guilty for working on something I'm not enjoying because I have so little free time why am I spending it on something that's not completely awesome.  And what ends up happening is that I just don't knit at all anymore.  And that's just fucking awful.

So!  I've declared February as Finishing month.  I am going to get a handle on this.  I am not going to start anything new.  The month is only 29 days long so I should be able to handle it.  Right?

February is for Finishing Rules:

1.)  I will not start any new knitting or sewing projects for the entire month of February.


2.)  I will only work on unfinished projects that I have already started.  No cheating - it has to be something I've actually worked on.  Not just thought about working on.

3.)  There is no shame in frogging.  If I don't like something I'm working on I can just frog it.  I'm not sure why I feel bad about that.  But I always do.  So this month I won't.  If I'm not interested I will rip with abandon and put the yarn back in my stash where it can find a new and happier purpose.

4.)  There is no guilt in February.  I will not feel bad about myself when I uncover projects that have been abandoned for embarassing amounts of time.  Or ones that I forgot about completely.  Or ones that only have one stupid little thing to do on them before they are done.  I will only feel happy that I am finishing them not guilty that it took so long.

And I"m throwing in two very specific to me rules:

5.)  I will not let the child distract me.  She's as a bad as I am with the crafting ADD.  I will not listen to her siren song when she says things like "I think maybe we could make this into a dress."



6.)  Dye doesn't count.  I have tons of really cool things coming up with Destination Yarn so I"m going to be dying like a madwoman for most of Feb.  I'm allowed to be as ADD with that as I want to because usually my random let's see what happens colorways are the most fun:

That's it.  If anyone out there wants to play along with me shout out in the comments.  I may try to do some sortof contest or something depending on how ambitious I am.  There might be yarn involved.

Yay February!