Threadknitted

With a rush of last-minute entries — mine included — Threadknits reached the end of the skein at midnight Tuesday.

RED was my finale project. You can read about the process on my Threadknits submission page. This one is all mine.

So I wrote up, cast on, knit, cursed, frogged, knit some more, bound off, seamed, tweaked and embellished seven projects. You've heard all about most of them before either here, Facebook, Flickr or Threadless. A quick recap :

I finished the Sock Battle mittens the weekend before the deadline. I'm really happy with how I captured the characters created by Kasey Loman in her Threadless design. You can read more about them on the entry page. This one will head to the shop soon.

1. Horror in Romantic Comedies hat — Entry | Etsy
2. Yeah Attitude mittens — Entry | Etsy
3. RGB hat — Entry | Etsy
4. Hello in There toddler hat — Entry | Etsy
5. Woolly hat — Entry | Etsy

But enough about my stuff. I want to share some of my favorite entries in this contest. These knitters and crocheters just blew me away with their talent. (This is in no particular order.)

Disbelief by Vivian Wan


RED by Sara Gervey


Stop! Tea Time! by Ana Claasen


Everybody Loves A Yeti by Leslie Evans

Do-Re-Mi-Quack! by Jennifer Flynn


Blooming by Marti Fuerst


Untitled by Rachel Thompson


Use Your Brain by Morgan Manasa


The Monsterhill by Andrea Alice Williams


You've Got Some Splaining To Do by Denise Ferguson


We're on the same level by Malia Penhall

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on and on. Instead, I'm just going to tell you to head over to Threadknits gallery and check them out. Can you predict the winners?

I knit faster than I blog

Well, at least this week I do. Instead of uploading progress photos, I kept picking up my loom to *knit, purl, embellish, rep. from *.

I'm in crunch mode for the Threadknits contest. It's that newspaper journalist streak in me. I don't start cranking until I can really feel that deadline breathing down my neck. The adrenaline kicks in. I'll rest after March 1. All knits below will be in my Etsy shop.

RGB hat

I finished the RGB hat in one day. This was my easiest Threadknit. I did learn a key lesson about negative ease though. The 9-inch depth on the loom grew another 2 inches off the loom. But there's nothing wrong with that for people who want a big hat. I have plenty of yarn to make more in other sizes, too! If they do well, some CMYK versions will follow.

Yeah Attitude mittens

The hills are alive with the warmth of mittens! Take 2 of the Yeah Attitude mittens went quite well. I knit in winding roads and learned how to do duplicate stitch for the faces.

Romantic monster hat

This guy is going to need a little TLC before I submit him to the contest. I'm just not 100% happy with his horns or bucktooth. I followed the same pattern for both horns and they turn out different — how mean! As for the tooth, I just think it needs to instead hang down from the hat — easy fix!

Pink monster hat

This wacky children's hat has been in the shop for a lil bit but I haven't blogged about him yet. From the hair of his pompon to the points of his teeth, I love this monster. I'm hoping to borrow a toddler's head to take a model photo soon.

I have two more Threadknits to finish in the last week of February. And I think I'm keeping them to myself for now. Except for this one photo ...

Can you guess the Threadless tee design?

We interrupt this blog to bring you ...

... a shameless self promotion. A post about Threadknits FOs and Olympics WIPs will soon follow.

While this blog will continue to illustrate both my business (Etsy!) and personal (my bunny!) sides, I'm starting to draw a line between the two elsewhere.

I have whipped up a Facebook fan page for Made by Telaine. Now my shop news won't be flanked by Farmville updates. Please "fan me" if you haven't already. Or you can follow my new Twitter account for the same updates.

Exclusive deals will start appearing on both social networks in March.

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In the vein of promotion that isn't about me ... Check out a grotesquely awesome FAWM song by my husband (The Cow Exchange) and Debs! Let's Vomit Exclusively