The world's Largest Yarn Ball, Trusting Math and a Contest

So I hope this makes you chuckle as much as it made me. I realize the picture really can't convey it as well as seeing it in person, but that is one hank of Brown Sheep Burly Spun balled by hand. (The pencil cup should give you some idea of scale, it is in the middle width wise and directly next to the ball) It reminds me of those big dice you win at a carnival. I've honestly never seen something so big. I kind of wish I had had the store wind it for me, because I'd like to see the ball winder that can hold that much! It was totally my amusement for the evening. . . even while knitting with it I kept looking at it and laughing.

The yarn was wound to start Jake's hat. . . finally. I've bought 3 skeins of yarn to find the 'right' color of charcoal he wanted. I cast on and have the hat knit up to the first color change. I actually did a gauge swatch and, surprisingly, got gauge with the suggested Sz 11. I didn't have 11 DPNs, so I used magic loop to start the hat. I really don't understand how some people are so obsessed with that method. I find it more annoying than it's worth to keep slipping stitches on and off the needle. I think you must have to have some serious patience to knit socks that way.

Jake's head is 22", so I'm making the large size hat. I knit all the increases and the hat seems small. I threaded it onto scrap yarn to see if it just looked small on the needles. I put it on Jake's head (as much as you can 'put on' a hat the size of a potholder) and had to laugh, as it looked like I knit him a Yamika and didn't look like there was any chance the hat would fit. But I got gauge. . . I was perplexed. I tried to measure around, but there really isn't a good way to curve your measuring tape accurately. Then I remembered I'm an engineer, and I know math. I can measure the diameter of the knitting and get the circumference with the handy 2*pi*r. Finally, my degree is coming in handy :) So I do the math and I get 23.5". But it SO doesn't look that big. . . . I'm torn, trust the math? Or frog and go up to Sz 13s? I really don't want to frog it when I'm *supposedly* the right size, but it's also hard to not trust your eyes. Decisions, decisions.

I booked a trip to Nashville yesterday and I am SO excited. I went to Nashville once with a girlfriend but we didn't get to do much because of tornadoes combined with Jenny not feeling so well. My company is sending me to the SWE conference. Since it runs until Saturday and plane tickets were pretty reasonable, we bought Jake a ticket to come out Friday night thru Sunday. It's not until the end of October, but I'm so excited I want it to be tomorrow!

And now, if you made it this far. . .. my long promised contest. What will we be playing for, you ask? The original thought was if Laura didn't like her bag I was going to take it back and give it away. But, it turned out, she liked it. I, however, did not like assembling it. . . and I have enough supplies for a 2nd bag. So, my web friends, the prize for this contest is everything you need to make your own best friends bag - 1/2 skein of ridiculously expensive pashmina, beads, satin for lining and the purse hardware (ok, technically not everything. . . you need your own needles and sewing thread!). It's a pretty good score, if you ask me! But, in the interest of full disclosure, I did use some pashmina to make two small ring bags for Laura & Michael, so there is slightly less than 1/2 skein, so your bag may come out slightly shorter than the pattern calls for.

What do you have to do to win it? This is all about gifts. Making, giving, receiving, loving, hating. . . .I love gifts. Particularly birthday gifts. I love my birthday. . . it's my favorite holiday of the year. It's the one day of the year people let you believe you are the center of the universe. (I may try to act like that every day, but I can't help it. . . I'm an only child.) My birthday is coming up, by the way (Don't worry, I'll give you lots of reminders, but it's Nov 1!) So, to enter, I want you to leave me a comment telling me about the absolute best and worst gift you've received. And I'm not talking the 'my child was the best gift my husband could give me' kind of gifts, I'm talking material goods here, people!! You can answer in your comment, or if you have pictures and want to make a post, leave me a link to your blog. You get an extra entry if you have pictures. My plan is to select a name out of a hat of all the entrants, but I reserve the right to pick my favorite if someone makes me laugh out loud with their response. You have until midnight on September 30 to post a response and I'll announce a winner when I get back from Kansas City on October 1.

I can answer this question without any hesitation! My 26th birthday gift from Jake. All in all, my 26th birthday wasn't going well. A few of my friends forgot to call me (nearly unforgivable in my book. .. remember, the world revolves around me today!), my mom sent me an Eiffel tower clock (that got returned. . . what was she thinking!) and, to top it off, I was actually out of town in Maryland on business travel. The weekend after my birthday when Jake came to visit he walked in with a BIG box. He handed it to me and it was HEAVY! What could be so big? Immediately, I knew it was tools and I was devastated. Jake thought I needed my own tools for when he wasn't there and had bought me what he thought were essential items in the past. I started to cry. I was so angry. How could my birthday get worse? I refused to open it. Jake protested and said 'I'm sorry I upset you, but just open it. We can go out tomorrow and return it if you don't want it.' After about 15 minutes of crying and arguing, I conceded and said I'd open it. I tore the first piece of wrapping off and I WISH I could have seen myself. It had to have been the fastest transition from despair to elation ever witnessed. In the box was not power tools. . . it was my KITCHEN AID STAND MIXER!!!

The one kitchen item I've wanted since I was seven and thought I would only get when I got engaged at my wedding shower! And now I had it! Yipee!! And I didn't even hold it against him that he played into my being upset about it being a tool before I opened it (his response, 'Well technically it IS a tool')

Worst: It's amazing this worst has stood the test of time. . .but for my 1oth birthday my dad & step mom sent me the most HIDEOUS parachute pants. No, they weren't hideous because they were parachute pants. . . . they were cool then. . . but they were red & black & lime green & electric blue. . . even by 1989 standards they were AWFUL. I still can picture them in my head. .. . I wish I had a picture to share, as there's really no way to convey the monstrosity that these pants were. And no, I never wore them!