It’s been a while since the 4 oz. Challenge, but I finally finished my contribution, which reminded me that I needed to post a wrap-up of the contest. We had some seriously wonderful entries, but our super duper favorite was Stacey Simpson Duke’s Sweetgum (free Ravelry download). It’s a beautiful use of just 4 oz. of handspun yarn! Seriously, how cute is she?

Sweetgum

Our other winners were:
Valeria by Jacie Falkowski
Shelburne Falls by Rachel Brown
Albina Armwarmers by Vera Brosgol

Here’s a link to a Ravelry page with all of the submissions. There are so many fantastic ways to use just 4 oz. of handspun yarn, and many of the patterns are free!

My entry, so late to the game, is Tip Down Mittens (free Ravelry download)

Tip Down Mittens

Spun from Southern Cross Fibre’s Polwarth wool in the Boys of Summer colorway. Yarn measures 804 ypp and 11 wpi. Mittens used 3.1 oz./ 156 yards. 9” in circumference and 9.5” long. Gauge is 5.25 sts per ”. Happy happy soft soft.

Tip Down Mittens

Spun from Spunky Eclectic Corriepaca in the Orchard colorway. Yarn measures 614 ypp and 10 wpi. Mittens used 3.3 oz/ 127 yards. Mitten measures 8.5” in circumference and 10” long. Gauge is 4.75 sts. per ”. Happy happy color color!

You might remember the tragedy of two left mittens. Thankfully, I had 8 oz. of fiber and now have 2 pairs of mittens. :)

Oddments:

– Much sitting and knitting was done leading up to the holidays, which is always prime TV time here. We have become obsessed with Black Books, which is available for viewing on Hulu. It’s so funny that we’ve watched it two and a half times through in the last month. “Which… one of you bitches… wants to dance?” < — quote for those who’ve already watched and want a giggle.

– FOOD. I made some glorious foodstuffs over my holiday break. Salted lavender caramels, milk liqueur (trust me on this), cordials, pebernødder, salted chocolate dulce de leche tart, TV cookies (I need to make these again), dark chocolate honey lavender tart, and Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon recipe (twice). All recipes are perfection. PERFECTION. Half of the reason I’ve just listed them is to remind myself of how delicious they all were.

Salted Lavender Caramels

Trust me. Make them.

– HOLY COW, it’s nearly potholder time again. We are going to host the potholder swap again this year. I’ll be back with more info once we hammer out the details.