Socks, yarn and a contest

I guess I will go through my topics in the order suggested in the title. First, I finished another pair of socks this week:

Pattern: Eleanor, (sorry this is a Ravelry link. Not sure where else the pattern is available) Yarn: Woolarina BFL Wool, Colorway: Forest Turquoise

This was one of my favorite knitting projects ever. I love the yarn and the pattern. Together they are even better.

I bought the yarn at Twisted in Portland. However, when I looked it up on Ravelry, I couldn't find this particular yarn. So, I sent a message to Woolarina asking her if it was listed on Ravelry. She said no, it was something she was trying out and had decided not to go with. The only place you can (or could) get it was Twisted. Too bad because it is fantastic. The BFL makes the turquoise glow. The pictures do not do it justice.

For those keeping track, this is pair #5 for Summer of Socks. I have 3 more pairs on the needles, so hopefully one of them will end up finished some time soon.

On the topic of yarn, today I went to a yard sale advertised on the local Stitch and Bitch message board. It was in SE Portland and had only yarn and knitting/crochet magazines. You never know how these things will be, so I did not have high hopes. I was pleasantly surprised. The owner had LOTS of yarn and not one bit of acrylic, as far as I saw anyway. Most of her prices were pretty good too.

I bought a couple of things. First, some Tiny Toes from Interlacements. I think the colorway is "Crocus", at least that's what it looks like it says on the label.

Second, something labeled "Fluffo". Not sure what it is...actually it might have some acrylic now that I look at it closer. It doesn't matter because I am absolutely in love with the color! I plan to make a special Christmas gift with it, if I get enough time after SOS.

Finally, I bought this gorgeous sock yarn. The label says the brand is Lydia's and it is wool. The woman selling it said it was from Australia, I think. I could not find it on Ravelry or Google.

Isn't the color crazy? I love it! It consists of 4 strands of very thin yarn that are not plied together. Here's what it looks like wound into a ball.

I haven't been too excited about trying Yarnia yarn because I did not like the "unplied" idea. Well, I guess I'm giving it a try anyway. I'm telling you, the colors are the motivation. Here's what it looks like when it is the beginning of a sock. Did I mentioned I bought this today? I'm predicting these are going to be done fairly soon...

So, if you have read this far, you must be looking for the contest. When looking through my archives, I noticed that not only is my blogiversary coming up next week (July 30), but I am also very near my 100th post! I cannot believe it has been a year already. Amazing!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I would like to have a little contest. For those who don't know, I am a bit obsessive when it comes to tracking my stash and my finished objects. I only post part of my completed objects here on the blog or on my Ravelry page. However, I do track every single one in an excel spreadsheet...because I'm obsessive like that.

The contest is to guess how many knitting projects I have completed since starting this blog. I will give you a hint in that I seem to like to knit lots of little, quick things and a pair of socks counts as one project. I will plan to announce the total, with a breakdown by type, at the end of the day July 31. Add your guess as a comment on this post before then to be entered. The winner will be the person whose guess is closest. Oh, and I'm still thinking about the prize, so more on that later.

ETA: I decided to add a second contest. As I was looking over my spreadsheet of completed objects, I thought it would be fun to have you also guess which type of project I knit the most of. For example, you might guess I knit more adult sweaters this past year than anything else. By the way, you will be wrong if you guess that!

So, there are two ways to win which means there will be two prizes.

Good luck!