Goodwill Auction Site March 25, 2007
Now Goodwill has an auction site. Watch out on those shipping charges - ouch!
Now Goodwill has an auction site. Watch out on those shipping charges - ouch!
With so many crafters making adorable plushies, it is the perfect time for the Softie Awards to come on the scene. And the format for the contest is/was awesome. Crafters submitted photos of their work to a flickr group, and tagged them into one of 12 categories. Then a panel of crafty-minded judges chose the finalists. *Edit: I forgot to mention that I think the use of flickr is pure genius. That way anyone and everyone can browse all of the entries. Many competitions only let you see the finalists*
The finalists are now up, and voting is open (until march 30). I was so excited to see that I was familiar with two of the finalists!
I am a frequent reader over at Raspberry’s crafty blog, and I was happy to see one of her creations as a finalist in the “creepy but cute” category.

photo from raspberry’s flickr stream
And I am a long time fan of Ana Paula’s amigurumi creations (remember the cute little cactus?) and her Christmas ornament ami’s are up in the holiday category.

photo from anapaulaoli’s flickr stream
And if you like the little cactus, check out Ana’s Mr and Mrs Cactus Pattern.
So go vote!
Look who I found in downtown Berkeley today!
Carmen gave me a tip on where it was so I decided to stop by on my way back from the post office. The best part about the sighting was that I was by far not the most excited to see one. Right after I snapped a crappy cameraphone picture, the mail truck pulled up. I was feeling a little sheepish until I turned around and saw that the mailman was snapping a photo himself! Man was he excited. He explained that it was his first pickup at that mailbox, and asked if I would snap his photo. and i did. One for him, one for me.
Doesn’t he look excited?
This could be you. I can help you get the variety of granny squares you need to reach this high level of fashion.
I couldn’t wait. I have the bug. My first granny-square swap is still underway, but partners have been assigned so we can’t take new members. And even though there is more than a week to go, I have my squares completed and packaged up for mailing. So I started another swap. The Scraptastic Acrylic Granny Square swap to be exact (say it out loud. “scraptastic.” fun to say, huh?).
Much like the previous swap, this aims to use up acrylic yarn in granny squares, and swap them around the globe. Based on some of the ideas of the previous swap members the number of squares that you send is increased to 3 squares to two partners (for a total of 6 sent and received). Six squares does sound like a lot, but the deadline is almost 6 weeks away. And I know you must have a few squares lying around. You can find more details (and sign up) on the swap-bot page.
Additional info
If you are digging granny squares, join the Granny Along. Or just pop by for a visit. It is an inspirational hang out.
If you need some instructions for knitting a traditional granny square, check out these links:
Martha Stewart has an illustrated granny square tutorial (i think these are “reversible” granny squares).
Crochet Cabana has an excellent tutorial with photographs.
I also found two videos on youtube that would be a big help for beginners.
The first shows how to get started with a square, and the second shows a great way to do color changes.
I have been talking about my craftiness everywhere but here, so I’ll update you on what I have been up to. But first, a commercial for myself.
My Lunar Eclipse Merino Roving is currently featured on the front page of etsy, so hurry over there and look (This only lasts for about 24 hours, so it might be over by the time you take a look). Thanks to chucklescentral for adding me to his/her treasury list that eventually made the front page. I’ve been a member of etsy for a year and a half and this is the first time I have been on the front page and I’m pretty excited about it.
Oh and speaking of etsy, they have made a cool new little script that lets me show off the items in my shop. you may have noticed it in the sidebar on the right. I think it is pretty sharp. Etsy rocks.
So what have I been up to? This is what the Central park hoodie looks like at just over one ball in.

i blabbed about it over at the knitalong. long story short - love it, love the yarn. I’ve actually almost finished the entire back piece, but no updated photo yet.
also i joined the granny square knit along where I showed off some of my recent granny squares.
Man, these are fun. I still stand by my claim that they are the perfect use of acrylic yarn. And while we are on the topic of granny squares, partners for my granny-square swap-bot swap were assigned today. We ended up with over 20 participants, and I am already planning another swap. stay tuned.
Adorn magazine is having a contest. Make something clever using iron-on velcro.