Hat Challenge Information

Bet You Thought I Forgot

2007-03-18T20:10:00.001-07:00

More Hats!, originally uploaded by Rabbitch.

It's still cold and nasty here. I've been taking some hats to the shelters and there are still a few here. Thought I should wrap this thing up as I have at least four or five prizes still to give away and I don't want folks to think I swiped them for myself. *g*

I've found the data file for all of this. Unfortunately I don't seem to have Excel on this computer yet. Totals will be up in a couple of days, with prizes drawn by the end of the week.

And I'll actually meet my own deadline this time, k?

And It's Now Just A Total Frenzy

2006-12-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

44 is Lisa who is going to be getting some lovely sock yarn, 45 is Siercia who got some amazing roving from Farm Witch, and 37 is Sally, who is now one book up (Harlot #2).

I pulled a couple myself today, and Ann has won The Yarn Harlot's third book, autographed personally for her own shiny self.

The Blogless Cindy from my daughter's school will shortly be in possession of Steph's first book, Mary Anne who has now sent a total of 30 hats will be receiving an autographed copy of Wendy's book. Wendy will be receiving two balls of Wildfoote ...

Oh, it just goes on and on, and more hats and prizes are arriving also.

More numbers and prizes tomorrow. And maybe some links, too, when I'm not running frantically out the door to work.

More Wieners!

2006-12-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

I like this part. This is fun.

Actually I liked all of the parts, really, but this is sort of like being Santa, which means I can justify the belly that jiggles when I laugh ...

Erin has won:

Two balls of Regia donated, yet again, by the generous and blogless Elizabeth.

Daisy, who is also blogless (what is it with you people?) and who I love like a sister because she sent me peanut brittle (intended for the kid, but she didn't like it, and it's my fave) has won a set of stitch markers from the lovely Miss Mouse.

And Lise P, who is also sans blog, has won a set of stitch markers and two balls of Socka yarn from my friend Ann

Congratulations to everyone!

I'll get MissyMoo to draw a couple more numbers after school tomorrow. She's feeling very important about being the Official Prize Drawing Princess. There may be a photo.

And The Wieners Winners Are ...

2006-12-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

This was all done very scientifically. Everyone's name had been entered into an Excel spreadsheet so I could keep track of numbers, blog addresses, etc. So I wrote down all of the numbers on pieces of card, tossed them into a small box, shimmied about with them for a bit and then let Her Surreal Highness dip her dainty pinkies into the box and pull out three cards.

#17 is Nita, who wins some gorgeous yarn generously donated by The Lady Wyvern

#42 is Heather who has won:

two skeins of Kureyon, colour #92, courtesy of me

And #26 is Carol who has won:

a great big ball of Regia Jubilee Color, enough for a pair of socks, donated by the lovely but blogless Elizabeth

Congratulations to the three of you. I hope you enjoy these. Heather and Carol, I think I have your snailmail addresses but could you drop me a line to confirm?

Stay tuned for more exciting prizes tomorrow!

And Finally ...

2006-12-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

The last three pictures:

two more hats from Lisa who I believe is blogless

five hats and a scarf from Claudia who might be the Claudia that I know but I didn't link just in case, will fix when I hear from her

two hats that came in an envelope with no name and no note and no return address -- sing out if they're yours!

And so that's that. 188 hats (this total includes a couple of scarves and a couple of headbands also). 51 participants (including me, and an unidentified hat that was donated in the blanket box at Michael's).

You should all be proud of yourselves. Thank you so much!

There were a couple of hats that were knit for this project but that ended up being donated to an agency/charity closer to the knitter's home, which I applaud and completely understand. We need to keep our own neighbours warm.

I'm going to keep that PO box open for a few more months. I can't see any reason not to keep it year-round actually, so if you knit later on or have a sudden urge in April to turn out a hat or a scarf, please do so! There's (unfortunately) always a need.

And now, I'm off the soapbox. On to ... the prizes!

I shall go put numbers on pieces of paper and get the Mistress of Ceremonies to pull a few before she goes to bed and oh my sweet FSM it's 10:30. I'll do two or three tonight and then more over the coming days. There are at least fourteen or fifteen ... oh I do hope I made a list ...

Thanks again to everyone for making this a successful drive!

And Even More ...

2006-12-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

eleven hats from the blogless Laura who kindly provided her own photograph (and isn't her table a lot nicer than my worktable that i've been taking all the pix on?)

Anyone getting tired of this? I'm not. My table is almost covered in hats again!

two hats from Guernseygal, from whose blog I stole this picture because I'm getting very lazy

two beautiful hats from Cynthia who, despite being ill, still found the energy and time to make this much-appreciated contribution

and this gorgeous hat from Leanne, who claims that she hasn't done fair isle in 78 years or something (she's trying to make me think she's old)

Just two more photos and then the prizes start!

Getting There!

2006-12-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

You'd never think that taking a few photos was so hard, until you had to do it with a six-year-old "helping" (and we will not mention the amount of attitude she's spewing because if I got going someone would call the Ministry), and while trying to clean the entire house (um, why was it all my job again? anyone remember that one?) and cook and bla bla bla whine whine.

Anyhow, we have some more pictures and we're getting close here:

one hat from Heather

and two from Norma

one hat from Lisa, for whom I don't have any blog information

and two from Siercia

I'm going to post this now as I don't trust Blogger not to eat the whole damned thing if I try to put up more than this.

Not that I'm getting cynical in my old age or anything.

More Wonderful Stuff

2006-12-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

can you believe it? crappy picture of 23 gorgeous items from The Lady Wyvern and "her" kids.

two hats from Elaine, for whom I have no further information -- if you have a blog let me know, k?

two hats from my buddy Big Alice

We're up to 156 hats now and I still have about ten packages to open, but I think it's time to have some sort of food (I think I haven't eaten for a long time, due to the dental thingie) and some coffee, so I don't kill people.

Watch for more pictures and prizes later today.

More Hats, and Some Prizes

2006-12-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

I slept 15 hours after my dental stuff yesterday so I woke up thinking it was yesterday and it's instead now, and I missed the drawing date for Prize #1.

I am now taking photos of ALL of the remaining hats (and believe me there are a lot) and then when Miss Muppetta gets out of bed we shall hold a prize drawing. This will be likely broken into several posts so that Blogger doesn't vomit on me or something.

First up:

three hats from My Favourite Martian

Next:

three hats from aCat

Then:

seven hats from the blogless Sally

And:

a hat from Christina

Off to open more boxes and envelopes -- this is sort of like Christmas!

Stay tuned.

The Hats and the Stats

2006-12-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

Six beautiful hats from The Blogless Rachel H.

Six equally beautiful hats from Noolie.

Two gorgeous warm hats from the blogless Daisy in Vermont.

Three fantastic hats, a scarf and a headband from Julie in Vancouver who I think is also blogless

And last but not least, two gorgeous hats from (another) Lise, who I believe is also sans blog.

This brings the total to 115 and there are more packages to open here, I just wanted to do a quick update.

Most of the hats donated to date have found homes. I've got about 20 sitting here right now and after I open the rest of the packages I'll make another run downtown.

Stay tuned for more hat pictures. Prize draw starts Friday the 8th! (Which means, I suppose, that after I get the kid into bed I should list all of the prizes ...)

Unidentified Hats

2006-12-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

So I got all paralyzed when I was asked if I was going to take pictures of all the hats. I have fourteen here for whom I have no identified sender. The people are entered on the spreadsheet and the hats are here, but I was in a rush and just opened the envelope, entered the information and flung the hats on the pile.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, are our fourteen orphans. All beautiful, all necessary, and all terribly, terribly embarrassing at this point.

There are actually seven in the last picture, but one is plain black and one is black with flecks and apparently my mad photography skillz include taking photographs of things that are almost the same colour sitting next to each other and then expecting you to be able to tell what's what from a blurry picture.

Clearly the fault is yours and not mine. You likely could use some glasses.

I have a ton of envelopes here and am about to feed the kid and then start the opening of the packages. And taking photographs and providing suitable links. For once.

Stay tuned for more excitement!

Tons More Hats!

2006-11-26T02:27:00.000-08:00

There are lots more, and I'm very embarrassed to admit that there are fourteen for which I haven't identified the senders.

At first I was just taking pictures of a few here and there, as my camera is total ass and takes forever to take a picture (and as the zoom and focus features are no longer featured, taking pictures involves me moving back and forth, taking several pictures and hoping that one will be in focus enough to post) and also takes forever to upload. I was happily opening the packages, entering the name and number into a spreadsheet and then putting the hats in the pile.

And then someone asked me if I was going to post a picture of theirs. And someone else asked if I was posting pictures of non-bloggers' hats too. And I thought "Oh shit. Here I am trying to do something good and I'm busy slapping people in the face while I'm doing it because it's a little inconvenient to take pictures of everything." And so I've identified most of the hats but um, there are fourteen, like I said, that I don't have so much of a clue about. I'll post them here and ask people to identify them for me while I eat my shoes, all right?

The flagellation will commence tomorrow, however I've learned my lesson and am now taking pictures of everything.

For your ooh-ing and aah-ing pleasure:

ten hats and two teddy bears, contributed by my stalker Lise with whom i spent a very pleasant evening on friday. i don't think she has a blog but as soon as i say that i'll discover she's been writing one for six years and has now taken a contract out on me

And also too as well:

four hats from Karen. she tells me that the green one has a band made from cannibalized Noro gauge swatches (now that's dedication!) and that the red and yellow one is based on a pattern from See Jayne Knit, another vancouver fibre artiste

And here we have:

another ten hats from Mary Anne. if her name doesn't come up in the prize draw, she is still so getting a box with wine gums and part of my stash

This brings us to a total of 94 hats, and I've got at least another 20-30 sitting in envelopes and boxes waiting to be opened and photographed. Tomorrow. I can't face that camera again today (the batteries are actually held in with a rubber band. Ask Ryan, she's seen (and laughed at) it.

There are several Vancouver agencies that have expressed ~~an interest~~ an urgent need for hats. They'll be going to ARA Mental Health, Lookout Society, Covenant House, Union Gospel Mission, and to Triage Emergency Services and Care Society, whose URL seems to be down at the moment. I have 8 or 10 baby blankets here from another project, and those plus some of the little kid hats you've sent will be going to SheWay.

The "deadline" is still December 1. That's a mailing deadline, not a receiving one, so I'll start drawing for prizes on the 8th. The day of my "very unpleasant and difficult" tooth extraction.

I'll get MissyMoo to do the drawing. It'll cheer me up.

and i will keep the PO box until at least april of next year, probably longer, so if you get the urge to knit and send a hat for some reason in january, please do

The Story So Far

2006-11-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of the yet-unphotographed hats from the previously-listed 69 (happy lala?):

the red one is from the blogless matt, the light one on the left is from marlene and the dark one is from tammy

four from ann. be nice about the blue one at the front, mmkay? it's warm!

four fleece hats from erin

one from Minnie

two from Jennie

two from Wendy

There are more, but each picture is taking me about 10 minutes to upload (the camera is faster now that I've cleaned off the memory card but really, it's ridiculous) and I don't trust Blogger not to have some sort of blogfart and lose this whole thing, so I'll post this now and keep on taking photos.

A Hurricane of Hats

2006-11-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

A torrent of toques?

I hadn't gone to the PO box for a couple of days, due to MissyMoo being sick and me being a great big slacker. I almost DIED when I got there. A dozen or more packages -- quite wonderful.

Here are a few more of the gorgeous hats that have been heading (pun intended) this way:

five from Jennifer

one from Sue

five from Blogless Lois

five from Nita

There are a ton more, all equally gorgeous, but Blogger is acting up today and is taking about 10 minutes to let me even post one picture. Unfortunately this is eating into my sleeping time, so I'll just list the others.

Apologies to anyone whose photos I didn't get up here.

There were also:

Two from Wendy, two from Cathy, two from Beth, one from Laura, two from Jennie, one from Isobel, one from someone in Omaha who didn't send a name, and four from Carol.

We're at 69 hats and counting. Thank you all so much!

I'll update links on the sidebar after I've gotten some sleep. If there's anyone I've missed, or if there are links I haven't put in, please drop me a line at hatwench at shaw dot ca and I'll fix it up.

Slacker!

2006-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well, it appears that I'm a great big slacker, and my good intentions to photograph and post all of these hats as they appear has gone by the wayside. Which, of course, means that I suck.

Without further self-flagellation, I present for your delight:

three gorgeous hats from Cedar

two very cute and very warm hats from Cindy, who is blogless, as far as I know.

four hats and a scarf (yes, they want scarves too) from Psychobunny

ten hats from Mary Anne -- and apparently she's still knitting!

There are more, and I have photos of prizes (four prizes of gorgeous sock yarn!) but Blogger hates me and won't let me upload any more photos today.

The Hats Come Marching, One by One

2006-10-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here we have, for your viewing pleasure, hat #3:

generously donated by Tammy.

I have received word that a fair number of others are complete but I won't list them on the sidebar until they're in my sweaty hands.

The splendid, but sadly blogless, Elizabeth has donated enough yarn for FOUR pairs of socks, so there are now officially nine prizes. I think. That's math -- stop it.

I guess there should be rules about this thingie, too, shouldn't there? I mean, the way to play is "knit, crochet or sew hats, send them" but I've had a few questions. I'll try to get the so-called rules up tonight and keep the post as the first thing on this blog so they're easy to find.

For now ... I think I have me some hats to knit. March on, everyone!

Oh Yes, There Will Be Hat

2006-10-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, I'm reaching here with the titles, but gimme a break; I'm tired.

Here's the hat I made last night at work.

Specs:
Yarn: Some sort of chunky bouclé (which will also be my stage name if I ever become a stripper) in an olive green; the colour in the picture isn't true.
Needles: Some crappy 6mm wooden needles for the ribbing, and then some 6.5mm Prym metal needles for the rest of it.
Pattern: Something I pulled out of my ass. Cast on 50, 2x2 rib for 2", add another stitch, switch to bigger needles, stst for 5" or so, then decrease by k2tog, k3, k2tog, p 1 round, k2 k2tog to end, p 1 round, bla bla bla until you have 10 stitches, draw up, secure, seam.
Size: For a kid, maybe 7-10 years old

I've been getting a fantastic response to this. Thank you everyone!

I'll try to take a blurry picture of the Kureyon prize later before I go to work. I hear rumours there may be some sock yarn happening also ...

Welcome!

2006-10-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to keeping track of prizes and participants in the hat challenge being held over at rabbitch.blogspot.com

I'll get some pictures of prizes and some more information up tomorrow. In the meantime, THANK YOU to everyone who is participating.

If you need to contact me, the address is hatwench@shaw.ca