Elisabeth's Afghan

Elisabeth's Afghan
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

One of our customers, Elisabeth, brought in this incredible afghan yesterday, crocheted in Homespun. Each of those chained strips was made with interlocking crocheted rounds that she said weren't as complicated as they look! It was in absolutely beautiful fall shades. Yay for Elisabeth and yay for crochet!

Fashion Show

In case you missed the fashion show on Nov. 2 here are some of the vests and v necks featured:


Here's Karen in the "Penelope Vest" from Classic Woman in Soft Lux:



Shannon working her vest from "Study" in various shades of Julia:




Daphne and me (kat) in Cyd from Jaeger:



Kathryn in a Silky Wool Vest she designed herself:



Jenny and her adorable twin vests, knit affordably in Sugar N'Cream:



Thanks to all of you for coming!

Felting for Christmas?

These are my second and third felting projects. The fourth one has yet to hit the washer. But, I'm learning.

The yarn is WOOL from Lion Brand, and the pattern is one of their free ones. These are hot pads. I did not put the little hanger on the end (I-cord), as I felt they'd end up being used as heat pads, not pot holders.

They are all single crochet on K hook. I think each one took about 3-4 hours to do.

The Wool really felts nicely! I tossed them into my small, european front loader on color fast darks, with a load of wash, at 140 degrees, and they came out perfectly felted. They needed little stretching. And what I really like is they are soft.

What a fun and easy gift making concept!
Roseann

Winner and Pictures!

Deb (sadly blogless as far as I know) is the peppiest ball band dishcloth pep rallier. She knit a total of 11 dishcloths- ELEVEN! That is more than even any of the HT girls managed.
Here they are all lovely in her very clean kitchen. Deb, did you clean your kitchen with a ball band dishcloth? I hope so! A useful dishcloth is a happy dishcloth.
















Fay is the winner of our "guess how ball band crazy
the HT gals are" contest. She guessed the lowest number, 70. I don't even know for sure how many we knit, but it was no where near 70. I guess we aren't as crazy as you all thought we were. (Plus, you didn't have the advantage of knowing that we were all knitting for the fashion show at the same time- ah ha I am sooooo sneaky!)
Here is the count so far
Jen - 7 Karen- 4 Megan - 9 Daphne - 3 Shannon - 2
I know Wendee and Roseanne also knit a few, but I haven't heard a final number yet. Seeing as we are only at 25, and I'm sure the two ladies didn't knit 45 dishclothes together (I would have heard about THAT,) I am declaring Fay the winner.

I also just love Fay's "natural habitat" picture. Here is what she said about it.

Here are the dishcloths in their natural habitat. One by one they come out of hiding, ready to pounce on their unsuspecting prey, the dirty pot.

And here are a few of her dishclothes (she gave a few away) all sitting pretty for their picture. Isn't the little baby one so cute!







And last but not least
Moirae's finished dishcloth. Very pool party cool!
I am making the executive decision to give the third prize to Moirae. Seeing as these three knitters were the only ones to submit pictures to me, and the other two all ready won prizes, I thought that Moirae deserved the last prize.

You see, hand knit dish clothes bring you good luck!














And now for the drawing out of names, drumroll please. . . .
Moirae wins prize #1
Deb wins prize #2
Fay wins prize #3


Fay and Deb, if I am correct you both live in the Seattle area? You can pick up your prizes at the Queen Anne shop after tomorrow about noonish. Moirae, please send me an email (hilltopblog@gmail.com) and give me your address. I will ship yours to you.

and

CONGRATULATIONS!

To thank you...

yarn
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

for your generous participation in our Warm Up, some of the staff at Hilltop are donating prizes, to be given away in a drawing at the end of the month. We will post photos as they are taken.

These are two skeins of chunky handspun wool yarn, approximately 140 yards total-- enough for a grown-up hat!

markers

markers
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

Another prize will be two sets of stitch markers, with glass beads and pearls.

Think Globally, Knit Locally

As Megan is busy tallying up the results of our Ballband Rally, we would like to announce a new Hilltop knitalong:

Hilltop's Winter Warm Up!

From now until Monday, December 18, we are calling upon the amazing knitters and crocheters among our staff and customers to share some of their holiday knitting time, to create warm winter necessities for children in our community and around the world.
At our Queen Anne shop, we will be collecting knitted and crocheted items for two charities: The Baby Boutique and Caps to the Capital.

The Baby Boutique is a part of King County Family Services, serving families in transitional housing and working with the agency's social workers. It provides clothing and toys free of charge to these families as they need them. Children's hats, scarves, blankets, mittens and even handmade toys would all be helpful items to donate. This is a great way to use up project leftovers, or those gifts that weren't quite ready in time for the baby shower, or to try out some of those adorable baby patterns you've seen around!

We will be also be sending newborn hats (sorry, newborn hats only!) to Caps to the Capital, a project of Save the Children introduced to us by one of our customers. The hats are first being sent to Washington DC, to show support for health care programs for mothers, babies and children in developing countries, and then will be sent on to families in countries where Save the Children works. The organization has specific patterns available for making these hats, as well as more information about the project, at their website.

To show participants our gratitude, for each item you bring or send into the shop, we will have you fill out a raffle ticket, and, at the end of our drive, we will draw names for some soon-to-be announced prizes. We will also try to post pictures over the course of the month of things we're making and items received, to pass on the inspiration!

We know so many thoughtful and active knitters and crocheters that come in to Hilltop! All your efforts will be truly appreciated by their recipients, and you will be helping to make the world a warmer place this winter!

A Gee-orgeous Washcloth

washcloth1
Originally uploaded by dinahsaurus.

For those of you that love lace... This beautiful washcloth was knit by Mark, one of our Hilltop customers, for Coe School teachers. He kindly gave us permission to show off his talents! I'm sure the recipient will be thrilled!