MAY I HAVE THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE?

Before we open the envelope and find out who won the MAN-ALONG, here is my finished Skull Sweater...

Click image to enlarge | There's also a smiling shot

Ok, so it's not a skull sweater, and it fits me much better than it fits Dan. But, it's still a finished sweater. Here's the low down... When I got to the intarsia skull I was having some trouble, so I kept putting if off, telling myself I would do it over the Holidays when my mom had a chance to help me. She did help me, but I just had no interest. I wanted to fulfill my goal of introducing myself to intarsia, so I included the small, floating strip of white on the chest.

As for the sweater not fitting Dan- I have no idea why it doesn't. I used the yarn the pattern specified and I checked my gauge. I did like knitting this raglan sweater. I would make it again, and I think I will. I loved how easy it was to sew the pieces together- all straight lines!

Back to the MAN-ALONG... It was very difficult choosing a winner. The two I narrowed it down to both designed their sweaters. It came down to technical achievement. The winner of the MAN-ALONG is... April.

click image to enlarge | Here's another view of the sweater

I Just love this sweater. April is related to Elvis Presley; her inspiration for this pattern was a sweater Elvis wore in Jailhouse Rock. Maybe if we all ask really nicely, she will write down the pattern for all of us. 

click image to enlarge

April receives a copy of the book Men in Knits, #10 ebony needles and silk needle bag both from Lantern Moon.

And, the winner of the hottest model portion of the MAN-ALONG is... Debbie's husband.

click image to enlarge

Dan was very adamant about this one. I had a few favorites, but in the end, Dan's argument won (he claims he would try to buy this guy a drink if he saw him in a bar). The winner receives a manly gift certificate to Home Depot or Lowe's (his choice).

Thanks everybody for a great knit-along. I thought that it went very well. I think we should do this again next autumn. Of course, with some sort of twist. MUUUHHHHHAAAAAWWWWWWW.

And now back to our regularly scheduled knitting...

Comments

[Jay]

I love the Skull Sweater... at least it fits you! As for the Man-A-Long having a twist next time... how about that all sweaters have to be sleeveless summer wear? Or that they all have to feature a bit of intarsia? Or... and this is fun... that they all have to be modelled holding a dog (stuffed or otherwise, hot or not)?

[di]

Ok so I'm guessing I may be the latest here, but I've just finished my Manalong project!!! Yay!! and only just under a year since I joined up.

[Sarah]

Hi there.... Okay so it's a little late, but I wanted to send you a link to the pics so you could see that I did follow through and finish dear ol' Skully!

http://stitch.typepad.com/stitch/2005/02/skullsville_usa.html

Better late than never, right? Darn that Lamb's Pride Bulky in Deep Charcoal! If I had found that extra skein when I started looking, this would have been done sooo long ago! ;)

Thanks for running a super knit-along - this was way fun!

[Jenn]

I'm a little late posting this but wanted to say you made great choices for the winners. The manalong was a lot of fun...

[Stella]

Hi Drew, I'm delurking just to let you know I'm doing My Own Private Man-Along - cause I discovered yours too late. I just love the name, and my man needs a sweater bad. Beat the curse! It's true love that rules.

[D R E W]

Thanks everybody for all the nice comments! The MAN-ALONG was a blast, I am glad all my peeps dug it.

I will see if the original-pattern-superstars will share. I'll update y'all with a future post. As far as the other patterns, the navigation menu on the right will tell you what everybody else used.

[Gary]

Hey Drew--

Have been lurking since I picked knitting during the holidays. Since they were original patterns, would love to see the directions for each. What a great contest/project. Keep up the good work and not to piss off Dan, but my co-worker and I thought you would have been a front-runner in the hottie contest.

Gary

[Adrian]

Yay for all the cuties and their sweaters!

Thanks a million for organizing this, Drew. I had a blast.

[April]

Thanks, Drew. It was a total surprise and a real Monday-upper to get the nod for best sweater. These were all such great sweaters. There are several that I would like to knit now--starting with the Judy's Kirk and Maggie and Natalie's Calum. I will be happy to share all my charts for Presley. Thanks, again Drew for your inspired knitalong.

[max]

You are such a hottie!

[natalie]

Congrats to the winners - they are certainly well deserved. And how appropriate to crown "Presley" the winner the day after the anniversary of Elvis' 70th birthday. Kudos! Thanks so much to Drew for organizing this!

[Debbie]

Oh. My. God! Thank you so much! After turning several shades of red, Jon thanks you, too! I know it was tough making a choice with so many hotties in the running. We are both honored and I'm glad I could share my hottie with everyone. Let Dan know that Jon would accept that drink happily and would probably chat him up for the whole night.

I'm so glad you had the ManAlong, it lit a fire under my butt to get this sweater done. Thanks for organizing it and sharing all the pictures. And thanks to all the other contestants for their beautiful work. You've all inspired me to add a few more things to my To Do List! I have to say that I'm dying to give Judy's model a hug. He's just too adorable.

Thanks again!

Debbie

[Nicole]

Hey, thanks for organising. Great winners. I agree definitely with the hottest model award :) He's too cute and that's a great colour.