Finished Objects!

It's been a while since I had any of these, isn't it?

First up, I made another Charlotte. For this one, I used a different yarn and a smaller needle size for a slightly different fit. These photos were taken before blocking. Once it's dry, I'll get some nicer pics that I can add to the pattern page on Ravelry:

(FYI, the Charlotte pattern is on sale for 50% off on Ravelry right now. You can also download through the patterns tab above, but I'm not sure if that link will reflect the discount or not.)

Yesterday, I spent all day writing and knitting and sewing. Missouri requested a rice cozy, and I found the perfect fabric for it at Joann's. No pictures of that yet, but I also finished this, a replacement for my favorite flamingo tote bag that is sadly falling apart:

The inside of the bag, complete with interior pocket. The lining fabric comes
from a box of vintage skirts that I was given last year.

I also made a couple of other little goodies, which will be going off to my partner for a swap I'm doing, but I don't want to post photos just yet--I will once she gets her package, just in case she decides to pop by the blog.

Birthday Contest!

When I was a kid, I thought it kind of sucked having a summer birthday because it meant I couldn't bring cupcakes in to class to celebrate with all of my friends the way everyone else did (because somehow, out of 115 people in my graduating class, there were only a handful of us with birthdays from June through August). But as I've gotten older, I've liked my birthday better and better. For starters, it occurred to me around third or fourth grade that my birthday was exactly six months away from Christmas, making the distribution of presents through the year more equitable (unlike the poor kids with December or January birthdays, who often got their birthdays rolled into other holidays, or mostly left off in the post-holiday slump).

I don't know about you, but I love presents! Since today is my birthday, I thought I would give all of you lovely people on the internet a chance to get one.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by 11:59 PM June 30th (EST) telling me what your favorite birthday memory is. It can be your birthday, or someone else's that you helped make special. Don't forget to leave your name and a way for me to contact you, either through email, Twitter, or a blog.

On July first, I'll draw two winners using a random number generator. First place with get a free PDF download of my pattern, "Charlotte" and some lovely yarn to knit it out of:

Cascade Yarns Luna Paints in Color #9701
100% Peruvian Cotton, 100g

Second place will get the free pattern.

Winners will have until the end of July to redeem the coupon code on Ravelry (if you're not on Ravelry, just let me know and I can email you a copy).

(All of my photos of "Charlotte" are on the laptop, which I still don't have back yet. A preview shot can be found here, however.)