Winning Crochet Project & Contest Winner

I want to thank everyone who voted on which crochet project I should do in 2010. It took the decision out of my hands and put it in yours! So, after 30+ votes, the winning pattern is:

The Big Bow Cardigan!

I am super excited that a sweater was chosen, but I am also pretty nervous about making my first piece of clothing. I am getting myself pumped up to start the sweater and already made my gauge swatch.

This was actually my very first gauge swatch, ever. I was a little nervous about this too, but to my surprise it came out perfect the first try! The yarn I chose is Caron’s Simply Soft Heather in Charcoal Heather. The above picture makes it look like purple, but it is actually a very dark grey. I figured anything light might show errors more and since this is my first sweater there will most likely be some errors. Maybe the dark color will hide them better. 🙂

The pattern also requires crocheting in the back loop only. I have never done that before but picked it up very quickly. I love the look of it. It has a sort of bumpy effect. It looks really cool!

In HPKCHC Ravelry news, I was sorted this semester into Gryffindor! I feel I am a much better fit with this house than Slytherin. Though I love the bad guys, I realized that I am really not a bad guy! So Gryffindor is who I’ll be representing this semester. And to my surprise (and delight) I was also made a teaching assistant. My job is to help approve the Transfiguration class projects. It is a little overwhelming, but is also a ton of fun.

Becoming a staff member also required me to come up with a new Ravatar. So, here is the one I made:

Hermoine has always been one of my favorite characters, so I chose a picture of her kicking butt!

To make my Ravatar, I used a combo of Flickr and Picknic. What great, free programs they are. What I did with this picture was turn it black and white and then colored Hermoine and the area around her wand. I then added a white bar to the bottom, placed the type, and then added a black border. I really like the way it turned out.
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And now for the winner of a set of crocheted bonbons. . .

#8 Mandapanda

Congrats Mandapanda! I’ll be sending you an email sometime today asking for your mailing address.

I wish I could send everyone a set of bonbons, but do not fear. I’ll be having another giveaway in early March that coincides with another fun craft-along. Who knows. Maybe the bonbons will be included in the prize?!!

And don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the start of the year long craft-along!