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Fiber Factor Contestants Named

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fiber factor design contestA while back I told you about the Fiber Factor, a knitting design competition that will pit 12 designers against each other and the clock for a chance at a trip to Germany for the big winner.

The contestants were announced over the weekend, and it looks like a fun, diverse bunch. There are two guys among the 12, and the contestants range in age from 21 to 55. There are three New Yorkers, but the rest come from all over the country, which should be good fun.

The first challenge was announced this week as well. I don’t know how much the viewing public will be kept up on what’s going on behind the scenes, but I’ll bet at least some of these designers have blogs and will be talking about the process as they are able. The winner of each of the six challenges will win $500, so there’s a lot riding on the competition throughout.

I’m excited to see how it all turns out and will keep you posted on events as they unfold.

Comments

  1. It would be great if they had one link and we could keep up with all the contestants. I will try to ‘watch’ out for this. Going to mark my calendar for their first completed challenge..May 1.

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]