Hey dudes. Notifications have been sent out to all of the 10 winners of the FOCStudiocontest, and all prints have been mailed out. I sandwiched the prints between two pieces of sturdy cardboard - it doesn't look pretty, but it works!

I will be offering the prints up for sale soon, as well as flat note cards that can be used as postcards. I hope to have these ready in a few weeks, or as soon as I get some of the logistics squared away.

Stay tuned!

Thank you so much for all your great questions on my new biz blog. I plan on answering every single one - eventually! The winners are those that posed the "top 10" questions. I've already started posting answers. I'll be in touch with the winners within the next several days.

Again thanks for visiting, thanks for participating, thanks for supporting. This blog - when I can devote time to it - will now officially go back to being about knitting, and knitting only.

With the occasional cat photos thrown in, of course.

I've gotten my hosting issues resolved and now FatOrangeCat Studio is officially rearing to go! The FOCStudio portfolio is up, the FOCStudio BLOG is up, and business cards have been distributed to neighbors. We had a fun neighborhood association get-to-know-each-other-better dinner the other night and I did bust out the cards. No one had ever seen Moo cards before, so to my delight it was a little like picking and trading Garbage Pail Kids cards as they tried to decide which card they'd like to keep, based on the image on the back. Love the Moo cards!

I'm still not 100% done with everything. There are some photos I need to add and tweak in the portfolio, some details I need to flesh out, and copy I need to write. The one area I'm having the most trouble with is the "About" section for my blog. I know I always go straight to the About section when I come across a new blog, so it's important I set the right tone. And since this is a business I must be more open and honest about what and who I am, without using any cutesy pseudonym. We're talking full names here.

But I have trouble talking about myself when not prompted. I have no idea what to say that would be interesting...and incredibly witty...and insightful...and serious. And yes it needs to be all those things at once.

So, it would be great if you could help. This is what I propose: Leave a message on any post on the biz blog and ask me a question, whether it be about photography, my favorite drink, how much VanBuren weighs, what Bunny's other nicknames are (he has a lot!), what the weather's like today, whatever. It will give me something to write about!

No matter if you don't have a specific question, just drop by and say hello!
OH and if you could make no mention of this knitting blog, I'd really appreciate it. Not that you WOULD. But in case. I'm trying to keep them separate. It's a slight neurosis of mine.

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ETA: OH MY GOD! So many FANTASTIC questions already! I'm going to be answering them all! Keep 'em coming! - Feb 13
*******

In return, I'll be giving away 5x7 prints of Sundara Yarn. As mentioned in an earlier post, these were taken back in the summer/early fall '08 when I had the privilege of being her product photographer.

1. Sundara Yarn Stock Pile, (2) 5x7 prints and (1) 5x7 print mounted on foam core.

What does a print mounted on foam look like? This:

The board is about a quarter of an inch thick, and is extremely sturdy. Totally unbendable. It can be framed as usual, depending on the depth of the frame you use, or hung unframed using plastic or metal formboard hangers. I haven't actually tried this myself. I'm testing this out to see if I'd offer it as a product.

2. Sundara Yarn Pretty in Pink, (2) 5x7 prints

3. Sundara Yarn Fresh Greens Trio, (2) 5x7 prints

4. Sundara Yarn Violet Trio, (1) 5x7 prints and (1) 5x7 mounted on foam core

5. Asiatic Lily, (1) 5x7 print mounted on foam core

OK so this isn't yarn, but it's a SNEAK PEAK of a series of florals that I'll be working on for the spring. Next to orange cats and knitting while watching baseball, I love flowers best. At one time in my life I even wanted to be a florist. Haha!

That's (10) prints total that I'm giving away. I'm not sure yet how I'll draw winners yet, but it probably won't be randomly. Maybe the 5 questions I decide to answer get the prize, plus 5 comments...Something like that.

So stop by the FOCStudio blog anytime between now and Tuesday Feb 17 (or so), and really, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your encouragement and support!

The sky is blue, the walls are orange, and the green chiles are hot hot HOT. We've been here 2 full days and so far the sun and the spicy cuisine have kicked our butts. Loving it here so far!

I just mailed the yarn to the contest winners, who were:
#1: Diane the blogless of the Seattle area
#2: Jen of JenLa
#3: Alexandra of artisokka.com
#4: Erika of redshirtknitting.com

Hooray! More updates to come. Lunch is a-callin'...

Pattern: Boston Red Socks aka Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Cashmerino Baby in red; brandless merino yarn in cream
Needles: US2 dpns

If I had waited to resume these socks once the Red Sox went on a winning streak, they would never have been completed. Despite the fact the team has fallen apart, we still have a winner in the Red Socks! I modified the pattern by casting on 48 instead of 60 stitches. The fit is perfect, the toes are pointy, and the horseshoe heel is cushiony.

***

SO. Thank you all for participating in the contest! I enjoyed discovering new blogs, and seeing what cities you had to guess. Some of them I definitely considered, particularly Santa Barbara, CA, as well as Savannah and Charleston. We've been to both Savannah and Charleston on short visits, so perhaps someday we can make it a little longer.

I decided to have a grand prize winner and 2nd, 3rd, 4th place winners and send off all the yarn. Why be stingy? The sun is out, the air is clean, and tomorrow we're headed off to...(drum rooooolllllll)....

SANTA FE!

Capital of the state of New Mexico, and second oldest city in the United States (who knew! I didn't). Sunny 300 days out of the year, hot in summer, snow in winter, 7000 feet above sea level, for a capital city it has only a municipal airport, cluttered with lots of art galleries and best of all, GREAT FOOD. How many different ways can you have green or red chili? I'm about to find out!

I'm sorry if this contest was too United States-centric, but I did receive a few entries from out of town, like ESTONIA, who were able to guess correctly. I mean up here in what, the "liberal", "Ivy-League educated"Northeast we had friends and family who had no idea where Santa Fe was.

California? Texas? Mexico?

My favorite response was from a certain someone who said: "Oh wow Santa Fe, that sounds great! So you aren't worried about the hurricanes?"

Um. No?

This was how I picked the winners. Names of those who commented or emailed with the correct city was written on a small piece of paper. There were lots of paper, you guys are so smart. With Bunny Bunnitons presiding, all pieces were gathered in a small box, shaken, and then thrown into the air. Whichever Bunny swiped at first would be considered "picked."

The only flaw in this method was the assumption that the cat would give a shit about flying pieces of paper enough to participate. Alas he was not quite so hands-on as I hoped he would be.

Whatever, looking instead of swiping was good enough. I have the four winners!

I'll let you know who they are once I get a response from them. (Most of them happen to be blogless!)

We're just about packed and ready to go. One last thing to do will be to take the boys to their favorite aunt's house in the next town over. I will miss them, but there's no way we could take them. The ten minute drive to Auntie's house is just short enough not to kill them. They're going to be in good good hands.

Thanks again for participating, and see ya'll in Santa Fe!

I'm holding my first ever contest! It's to celebrate us temporarily relocating (full story in previous post), and my second year of knitting, hooray! 

So all you gotta do is correctly guess where Duck and I are moving to, I will randomly pick the winner from the group of correct answers and send the winner yarn!

Clues about the city:

1. It is in the United States
2. It is one of the oldest cities in the U.S.
3. It is sunny 300 days out of the year
4. But it has four seasons (so I'm told) 
5. It is a major small city
6. But it has no major airport
7. It has a large concentration of artists

Hopefully these hints are neither too obscure nor too obvious.

The winner will choose from the one of following array of yarns:

1) TEN (10) gleaming skeins of "Super Merino: Best Qualiting Knitting Yarn"!

Composition: merino wool
Color: cream
Yardage: 125 meters (136 yards)
Gauge: 22 sts = 4inches

These were purchased in Taipei and are still in their bag. It is brandless, but is Made in Italy and is 100% merino wool. The yarn is very soft and curiously spongy.

-OR-

2) Ten (10) shimmering skeins of Peruvian Quecha!

Composition: 65% alpaca 35% tencel
Color: #546 Periwinkle-ish
Yardage: 112 meters (122 yards)

Purchased from elann.com with Angelina in mind. Still intact in the bag. There were 9 skeins when I took the picture, but there are 10 in total.

-OR-

3) Seven (7) plump skeins of Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky!

Composition: merino wool
Color: 1401013 Grey
Yardage: 50 meters (54 yards)
Gauge: 14 st/4 inches on 6.5 mm

Make a chunky vest, like I was going to do!

-OR-

4) Five (5) skeins Filatura di Crosa 501 Tweed!

Composition: 97% wool 3% silk
Color: 0003 Olive with light blue flecks
Yardage: 126 m (138 yards)
Gauge: 22 sts = 4 inches

Make a preppy vest instead!

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Submit your answers - by comment or email - by 8 p.m. EST Monday, September 4. 

Email is: domesticat ---(at)--- c-a-t-d-u-c-k---dotcom.

Oh and if you email, please include a link to your website if you have one.

I hope to have a winner and their choice of yarn secured and mailed before we leave on Wednesday. But I probably won't announce the correct city until we get there, which won't be til Saturday or Sunday. We're driving from Boston...

Those of you who already know where we're going of course cannot play. Besides, you have your prize already, which is that you get to be my friend/daughter/cousin/in-law, heh heh.