My final count

My final count
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

Umm... ta da? In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I have to admit now that I got four done. That's practically it. I wanted to say four and a *half*, however, now that I look at it, that's neither visually, nor mathematically, nor in any way half a washcloth. It's not even a handkerchief. It's the intention of a wascloth. Does that count? If not, I'm going for a straight FOUR washcloths towards the Hilltop Grand Total. Who's next?
(PS-- My vest for the fashion show is done, so I have been knitting something, if not washcloths!)

Decidedly Hilltop Pattern #53

Hellot to all. I just finished Daphne's Springtime Trellis Scarf in winter colors. It's taken me about 6 months to complete. It wasn't particularly difficult, just very attention getting, and I tend to knit when other things are going on. This will also be a gift for friends at Christmas. Thank you Daphne for the design, and thank you HTY for making the pattern free with the yarn.

RoseAnn 

The Time Has Come The Walrus Said

Happy Halloween!!!

And you know what that means. . . .

October is over and so is the Hilltop Ball Band Pep Rally.

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SOOOOOOO

We are counting up how many we have knit. We will present photographs in the next week or so (after the fashion show!)

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Let us know how many you were able to crank out this month along with photographs- WE WANT PROOF! (plus we need photos for the blog :)

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Also send beautiful photography of your dishcloth, we will take a vote among us to decide who's is prettiest.

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And last but not least, we will announce how many the HT staff was able to produce and who's guess came the closest. . . .

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AHHH the anticipation-

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See you at the fashion show!

Christmas Projects

Hey there! This is my 2nd Fair Isle project. It's a KnitWhits kit, using Cascade 220, with a Classic Cotton 2" band on the inside to keep the itching down. It's for one of the grandkids! The directions are excllent, the yardate was sufficient, with a little left over. The instructions indicate this is an Intermediate pattern. It is, but not at the high end -- it's really a beginning intermediate pattern. Excellent choice for using color, and most important it does not take long to complete! I think this is about a 2 week project for me.
RoseAnn 

Project Hilltop Runway

What's that you say? The Hilltop Gals have been a little quiet as of late, oh well, do let me explain.






Thursday, Nov. 2 at 6:30 pm

will be our annual Hilltop fashion show, this year's theme:

Vests, V-necks, and Vino

Sooooo, we are busily knitting for a deadline, and are limited in our blogging time. Don't worry, you'll hear more from us after the show.
Oh and, Please do join us, it really is Seattle's knitting event of the year (if we do say so ourselves!) You can read more about it here.

Agent Orange

So, it took me awhile to warm up to blogging and knitting conformity. but like i said, i am finally on the ballband wagon! here are my 1st, and maybe last, 2 ball band wash cloths. and with the left overs i started a pot holder. I think the 3 will make a nice x-mas present for my crafty cousin. what do you think?
cheers!

Another Ball Band Washcloth

This is my first ballband washcloth. There will be more where that came from. I like the concept, and working with the color potential is really fun. I think the next will be a baby blanket, so I can use all the stuff I have! 

Washcloths So Far

Washcloths So Far
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

I'm at three! I made only one this week, which is one less than last week. At this rate, I'll be at -2 cloths by the end of the month! Two piles of yarn? Sadly for the washcloth endeavor, I've been bumping up my work on something for the fashion show lately.
The pastel washcloth on the right is machine washed and dried, which shows how they shrink a little in the process. They all have 13 repeats so that the first row and last row of "bricks" are the same.

I've started number five with a drastic departure from my previous color choices. I love it.
A few answers to some questions.
Yes, Moirae, you can change your guess (it was before the 5th, it's fair game) so Moirae's guess is 176
Also, someone wanted to know what the pink ombre color was, it is color Rosewood.

KNIT KNIT KNIT HAPPY

Ballband Takeover

One down, one in progress, more in the queue! My Ariann sweater is just going to have to wait until Ballband mania has subsided a bit!


PS - do weaving in the ends count in the contest? 'Cause ugh!

Pink Pink my dogs stink!

OK, I know, too much information. At least you can't smell through the computer.

I'm working on #3

Be sure to get your guesses in and sign up if you're in the knitting. Tomorrow is the last day. Leave a comment on any post on this blog (they all come to my email.) Scroll down to previous post for details.

Ball Band Wagon Update

Tomorrow is the last day to guess. . . we've all ready started knintting, have you?

Leave your comment on any post on this blog with your guess as to how many dishcloths the staff will knit in Oct.

Scroll down for more details

UPDATE: Here are the guesses up to this point.

Katie S. - 87 - Katie is knitting for her Mom. What a sweet daughter! (What a SWEEEET gift.)

Fay S. - 72 - Fay is the poster girl for "Don't be intimidated, YOU CAN DO IT!" Way to go Fay.

Barrie - 113 - Who has a mischievous idea as to what we should do with all these wash cloths. . . Seattle look out, you might be getting the cleaning of your life.

Lynnm - 106 - With the cutest avatar I have ever seen. Good luck with that shopping spree, I think gifts of yarn would be great!

ikkinlala- 93 - our first internation guess, We LOVE Canada.

Mrs Fifi - 81- Our second international guess- Betsy's comin' to see you soon in INDIA, baby!

Amy - 142 - be sure to stop by her blog, it's supper cute- love those stitch markers, Amy!

Moraie- a staggering 270 (sets the bar high, that one!) - guessing all the way from the great state of Minnesota- good luck on the sock wars!

Sonya - and even 100- Sonya has the unfair advantage of knowing how poorly I focus on the task at hand.

Stariel- 80- All the way from Boston, ladies! Also a sock wars combatant, who evidently is engaging in hand-to-hand (or foot-to-foot) combat!

I am going to extend the deadline. You now have until the 5th of October to get your guesses in and start your washcloths! You still have until the 31st to finish your last stitch.

Categories are:
1. The person (not a HT employee) who knits the greatest number of washcloths in the month of October. Oh and I noticed before I said 12 repeats- that should be 10, or actually 5 because every other repeat the slip stitch placement changes, so 5 to be exactly correct.

2. The person (not a HT employee) who takes the most creative, aesthetically pleasing, etc. photograph of their washcloth (which may or may not have been knit in Oct.)

3. The person (not a HT employee) who guesses the correct number of washcloths that will be knit by HT employees in the month of October.

4. Special Jennifer Category: The person (who is Jen, the owner of Hilltop) who knits the washcloth that best matches Jen's kitchen. (It's good to be the boss!)

Knit-off challenges are to be set up between any two knitters. You may challenge a HT Employee or another knitter, you agree on the terms, (pattern, length of knitting time, reward for winner, etc.) and we will document it on the blog.

OK, so sign yourself up, leave a comment with
--First Name
--Last Initial
--OR Blogging Identity
--your URL if you have one
--Your Guess as to how many washcloths the HT staff will knit in Oct.
You may participate in all or just one way.

Now for the all important PRIZES!
To be randomly assigned to the winners in each of the first three categories (Jen gets what ever she wants as a prize, again, good to be the boss!)

- Four balls of Rowan's Cotton Rope, three pink, one lavender
-Rowan's Cotton Rope Collection Book



-Eleven (yes 11) darling patterns from one of our favorite companies, Blue Sky Alpacas. Most of them are sweaters, but there are some other REALLY cute ones in there
- 3 oz of hand spun merino

-6 Rebecca Patterns, all supper cute sweaters
- Four balls of Rowan's Cotton Braid in this heavenly colorway!

Happy Knitting

Ballband One

Ballband One
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

Honestly, I had fantasies about wheeling out one of these a day, but I don't think that will happen. Here's my Ballband Number One, in Sugar-N-Creme and Mission Falls Cotton, started at 1:00 am this morning. There is no artistic vision behind this, except maybe the knowledge that yesterday was October 1st and I had better get cracking. I tried out three different cast-ons-- the knitted, the cable and the long-tail-- and only the long tail didn't look weird, but that could have been due to the hour in the morning. As you can see, I have at least a couple more cloths in the queue, but I do plan on getting some sleep this month.