Surprise:

Kitty Noggin!

Bet you thought I would never get around to it.

Fifty-Five Wee Tiny Swappers so far!

Sign-ups for the Wee Tiny Sock Swap 2009 are officially open!

A button for every blog!

Here is the scoop:

• You’ve got until Wednesday, April 22, 2009 to sign up!
• Friday, April 24, 2009, you will receive your Wee Tiny Pal’s name, email, blog address (if there is one) and mailing address in your email.
• Contact that person (via email or blog comment) to say “HI!” This is not a secret swap: write back when your upstream pal contacts you. Yay: two new friends!
• You have the whole weekend to knit a single Wee Tiny Sock (the official pattern is here or make one of your own).
• On Monday, April 27, 2009, you will place the Wee Tiny Sock that you made into an envelope* with a note to your Wee Tiny Pal that includes your name, email, blog address (if there is one) and name of the yarn you used to create the Wee Tiny Sock.
• Address the envelope to your Wee Tiny Pal.
• Apply a regular first class stamp to the envelope (or go to the post office and procure the appropriate postage if you are mailing out of the country) and drop it in the mail box. It’s still Monday, April 27, 2009.
• Wait a few days.
• Rejoice when your Wee Tiny Sock Arrives! Contact the Wee Tiny Pal that made it for you to let her/him know it arrived safe and sound! Be sure to say “thank you.”
• Reply when you receive a thank you email from your Wee Tiny Sock Pal!

There is probably a Ravelry Group. Here is the Flickr Group for 2009.

This is the easiest swap in the history of swaps. No one should have any trouble (barring hand injury or other legitimate catastrophe) completing a single tiny sock. Don’t sign up if you don’t intend to complete the swap. That kind of thing just makes me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. We will have Angel Support (the information will be announced after Monday), but I don’t expect to need it.

Spread the word!

Sign-ups for the Wee Tiny Sock Swap 2009 are officially open!

*Mailing Tips: People have found it handy to use a greeting card for added envelope stability. Wrapping the Wee Tiny Sock in tissue works well too. If you are very nervous about your sock (or it has a long way to travel), you might want to try a padded mailer.

Sign-ups for the Wee Tiny Sock Swap 2009 open tomorrow!

Correction:
They are open now! Michael fixed the thing and it was just easier to leave it fixed.

Between the eternity that it took the chicken yarn to get here and the Easter Bunny Making Frenzy*, I finished the rooster just last night.

He was worth the wait.

Now it’s time to type up the chicken pattern! This is the first time I have ever made a for-pay pattern, so I think it would be a good idea if some willing individuals give it a try before I demand money for it. Is anybody up for some test knitting?

I am especially happy with his tail feathers.

I will not lie to you, this pattern is fiddly. Knitting in the round, grafting and i-cord making are required. This is not a beginning knitter’s toy pattern. Test knitters need about 120 yards of some kind of worsted (that is being generous, I’ll be more exact on the next chicken), and then a small amount of two other colors. One is for the feet and beak and the other for the comb and wattle (and i-cord for the rooster tail). And some stuffing (I do not recommend breadcrumbs for this particular chicken). The only thing I can offer guinea pigs in return is a pretty, lazar printed, finished pattern in a nice plastic sleeve. I think I only need two or three people, so please let me know if you are interested.

In non-toy knitting (I swear it still happens), the V-neck has made zero progress although the last cold snap happened last night. I also need to get serious about my youngest cousin’s graduation socks. I’ve picked chocolate Lorna’s Laces and wound it. Now I just need to pick a pattern. I’ve got a little more than a month. I hope this doesn’t interfere with my Kitten Knitting and the half finished bear in my basket.

*Toy sales this month have netted $25 for BARC** and a pair of sandals for Ellie. My start-up expenses have been recouped (reCOOPed hahaha) so I think this counts as a venture worthy of reinvestment.
**I send $5 from each sale to our local Humane Society.

**UPDATE**
I’ve got my Test Knitters! Thank you so much!