Random Thursday

1.  I won a contest!  It was very nice to win one after recently holding one myself.  I won a digital copy of the Winter 2010 Knitcircus magazine simply by commenting on a lovely cardigan design by Sarah Grieve on her blog.  I like this online magazine which offers articles, reviews, and interviews for free online viewing, while selling each issue's pattern collection as a whole for a very affordable price.   Thank you Sara and Knitcircus!

2.  After hosting one contest and winning another, I thought it might be nice to spread the word about some other blog contests:

• The wool durham blog is the home of the Charity Challenge 2010 which you can enter after donating a handknit item to charity.  Check out the nice prizes and other details here.
• One of the winners of my contest decided to host her own. . . Jessica over at the Jesse Knits blog is giving away some stitch markers and one of her own cute hat patterns, and is offering multiple ways to enter.  Details are here.
• Did you know that there is a group on Ravelry dedicated to sharing information about contests?  Check it out for more contest fun:  Contestants Enter Here.  

3.  In other news, I bought 2 dozen eggs today.  I realize this is not earth-shattering news, but as we are currently feeding and caring for 29 hens (and a rooster) it's just not right.  The holiday baking has begun and the 2 eggs we are getting each day are not enough for making our favorite Hungarian Shortbread.  I still love our chickens though.  I especially appreciate our fresh eggs after comparing them with the store bought eggs.  I bought 1 dozen from the organic section of the grocery store, and another dozen "local, free range" eggs from the health food store.  Here is a photo of one yolk from each of those cartons, and 1 yolk from one of our pet hens:

Which one of these is not like the others?

4.  I am excited about the weekend.  I am heading up to visit my old college roommate who taught me how to knit.  The drive to her house takes me right by Websters yarn store in Ashland.  I am trying to keep the stash down to a reasonable level, but I might have to buy yarn for Annabella's Cowl which I downloaded this week.

5.  I started another Turn A Square Hat but it is becoming very clear that there is no way I will finish all of the knit gifts in time.  I have an idea about how to solve that which I will tell you more about tomorrow.