KnitFreak

The doorbell rang, it was DHL. First I thought, 'since when does Amazon mail their stuff in plastic bags?' because I was expecting something from Amazon and the packet looked like this (click for zoom):

Then, I realized it was my sockapal2za-socks - all the way from SHANGHAI!!! I was thrilled.

Dear sockpal,

Alison told me today you emailed me some time ago. Unfortunately, that email didn't reach me, it must have got stuck in my spam filter :-( So, just in case you read this and want/need to get back to me some time, you might want to try and leave me a comment on my blog or use the email address on this blog. I check this one daily, too.

Most important, I now know that there's somebody out there knitting away on socks for me :-) Please do not feel pressured to hurry, I don't mind waiting at all. I'm happy to receive socks at any time ;-)

Cheers,
Dorothee

... I get a packet. (Actually, I have a postwoman, not a man, and she only rang once, but I don't mind) Amanda sent me some very beautiful Lorna's Laces (it's called Bittersweet... mmmh... Bittersweet *drool*) in exchange for the yarn she won on my contest. I absolutely lovelovelove the colors!!! It's just what I wanted (but never dared to buy).
Thanks Amanda!!! (Btw, your packet should arrive soon too. Or else I'd have to kick some mailmen's butts)

What will I make of it? It's sock yarn, but a very very beautiful one... maybe I can come up with something else than socks (or maybe one of you has an idea).

My sockapal2za socks have arrived (erm, a little while ago already) at my pal's Tine. Apparently they fit, and she likes them, so wo-hoo! I'll have to wait a bit longer for my socks to arrive, but I'll sure let you know!

As for more knitting, I'm pretty busy right now because I have a cold and am bound to the couch (and the weather here really sucks! cold and rainy). I finished half a pair of pants for my future nephew, and I'm about to finish the grey cardigan for myself (well, the knitting part). But some time I'll have to sew it all up... the part I like the least :-( Don't know why though. Sorry I don't have any photos for you right now, I'm not really in the mood for taking pictures right now... soon though!

Finally, the winner! First of all, I have to tell you that I would have loved to give each one of you a skein of this yarn. But, alas, there is only one spare skein, and therefore, only one can have it. And the Oscar, erm, the yarn goes to... Amanda with her sensational guess of 525 yards! The actual length of Cosmeea is 480m or 524,93 yards - you see, Amanda is as close as one can get. I was really surprised by such an accurate guess.

And another thing... I have decided to give the runner-up this yarn (click for zoom) - if she wants it, that is.
Carola, email me at knitfreak[at]web[dot]de to let me know if you want to swap this yarn (it's called Godetia, and it's also from Ewa's shop) with me. The yarn is made from several plies cotton/polyamide and one ply merino/polyamide. The skein weighs about 100 grams, the length is 390m/100g. Recommended needle size is European 2,0 - 2,5. So, email me!

Ladies, the contest is officially closed and I will announce the winner soon... but meet the contestants first! It was a pleasure receiving all your guesses and reading about the projects you could imagine with the Cosmeea-yarn. And here are the contestants, all 42 of them!

Lisa P. guessed it would be 300 yards (274,32m)
Susan Field said 365 yards (333,76m) and could picture herself making socks as a Christmas gift for a relative who's into pink
Mary thought it would be 375 yards (342,9m)
deb said 360m
Carla Hibbard guessed 411 yards (375,82m) and would make breast cancer ribbon socks
Christina said 420 yards (384,05m) and would make socks
Vickie thought it would be 400m and if she won, she'd make fingerless mittens
Gwen guessed 452 yards (413,41m)
K. Anne said 420m
Rachel Braho guessed 425m and she would make socks from this pattern
Sarah G. also guessed 425m
Leisel said 465 yards (425,2m); she could picture making socks and this
Judy guessed 470 yards (429,77m) and she would make socks for herself and her daughter
Amanda thought it would be 474 yards (433,43m); if she won the yarn, she'd make fingerless gloves and ankle socks
Julia said 476 yards (435,25m), she imagined herself making socks for her pink-obsessed daughter and footies for herself from Alison's footie pattern
Anja guessed 437m and would make socks
Siow Chin from Hong Kong said 438m and also would make socks
Donna S. guessed 480 yards (438,91m)
Jenn also said 480 yards; she would make fingerless gloves
Debi guessed 441m or 404 yards, and she pictured making socks
Kathy thought it would be 444m; she was torn between making socks or a small shawl
Dawn guessed 448m and she would make ankle socks for herself and her grandmother
Yvette said 452m and would make socks
Samantha guessed 495 yards (452,63m) and dreamed of making a lacy scarf, but realistically she would make socks
Gina said 496 yards (453,54m)
freecia guessed 454m and would make socks
Mandy's guess was also 454m, and she would make a hat from this pattern
Rachel, too, said 454m, and she would make socks, but she wasn't sure about the pattern
Also Tiffany guessed 454m
Emily's guess was 497 yards (454,46m), and she would make fingerless gloves and socks
Jennifer said 455m, and she pictured making socks and a little bear
Rae thought it would be 498 yards (455,37m), and she would make toe socks
Stephanie said 458m and she would make socks
Carola from Iceland guessed 462m, and she could picture making gloves
Amanda said 525 yards (480,06m) and she would make Lacy scallop socks
Sarah guessed 502m and would make socks, maybe Crusoe (the stranded pattern from knitty)
Michelle's guess was 550yards (502,92m)
Lisa said 523m
Vanessa, too, said 523m, and she would make a scarf and a pair of pulsewarmers
tara guessed 600 yards (548,64m) and she would make a light weight neckwarmer for fall
Carrie said 635 yards (580,64m)
Renee guessed 612m and she would make socks for herself and her daughter

Interesting projects, and interesting guesses... and the winner will be announced here soon!

Last night I was so tired that I forgot to answer the question that was of interest for quite a few of you: Can you get the yarn at the shop where I bought it? The answer is - most likely no. The owner Ewa mixes all her yarns herself, and because I really had wanted to give a skein of Cosmeea to Alison, she managed to get hold of another cone of the bright pink ply. I'm not sure now if there's any leftover, so it's probably best to email Ewa and ask her. I'm also not sure how much she charges for shipping overseas, the German Mail isn't that cheap when it comes to that.
For those of you who speak German, you might try and email Ewa in German, as she told me her English wasn't great; in case any one of you speaks Polish, Ewa is a native speaker of Polish, and I guess she'd love to get some emails in Polish. Now, for those of you who do not speak any of those two languages, I'd suggest that you email her in English anyway, and I'll offer my help to Ewa to translate the emails.

But Ewa offers more than just the yarn I'm giving away ;-) she also makes yarn to your preferences. If you don't speak German and want to browse her site, I thought I'd give you a bit of a basic vocabulary - you'll find out, it's not that hard!
German -          English
Wolle -              wool
Cashmere -       cashmere
Seide -              silk
Angora -            angora
Leinen -             linnen
deutsch -           German
italienisch -        Italian
Socken -            socks
Strumpfnadeln - set of needles for sock knitting
Rosenholz -        rose wood
Ebenholz -         ebony
Baumwolle -      cotton
Microfaser -       microfiber
Sonderangebot - special offer
Merino -             merino
Acryl -               acrylic
PA -                   polyamide
Einzelnadeln -     single needle for sock knitting (she has them for sale as well)

I think this should help you for now ;-)

The contest is going great btw, so far I have 35 entries! Rock on till Friday midnight (That's 6p.m. U.S. east coast time)!

Hey guys,

this contest is fun! It's wonderful to see that so many people are taking part (thanks to Alison and Christine, for putting a link to the contest on their blogs!), to read your guesses and the projects you're thinking of making with this yarn. I'll try to post the winner on the weekend; I might not be able to mail the yarn straight away though, as I'm going on holiday next week and I still have a lot of work for Uni to do till then. But, hey, see the positive side of that: the winner might get a little souvenir from my holiday destination ;-)

I'm off to bed now, to get some sleep. My parents are visiting me tomorrow, and I'm sure they'll drag me (nicely!) through the city, so I better get some rest.

Looking forward to more guesses! 

I just decided to extend the guessing contest until Friday midnight, so that Christine can mention it on her blog, and maybe Alison, too. This way, other sockapal2zers get a chance to take part as well.
I hope this goes ok with you guys who already sent me a guess!

Ok guys, I figured a way out how to handle this yarn swap. If more than one person wants one skein of Cosmeea, the yarn I used for my sockpal's socks, I'll have a little guessing contest: What is the length of this yarn? Comment or email me your answer (either in meters or in yards), and if you want, tell me what you picture making with this yarn. The closest guess wins (why I ask what you picture making with Cosmeea? Pure curiosity ;-)), and if the winner even wants to swap some yarn with me, that would be gorgeous!

The rules: I'm afraid that Alison and Christine are out (sorry guys, but you received mail from me recently). All guesses that arrive before Monday 8.00 am German time (for example, if you live on the east coast of the U.S., add 6 hours to your time, then you get my time) will be accepted.

Is that ok for you guys? Happy guessing! Oh, and it's no use asking Ewa, the shop-owner where I got this yarn from, I warned her about this contest ;-)