STITCHES Live

What a contest!

The judging for all of the categories took place on Wednesday and Thursday at STITCHES West 2009. The winners were announced during the Student Banquet on Saturday evening.

Before we show you the winners, we’d like to thank the sponsors... Skacel, SWTC, Mt. Colors, Regia, Universal Yarn, Unique Kolours, Cherry Tree Hill Yarn, and addi Turbo by Skacel – (not to mention Knitter’s Magazine, KnitU, STITCHES Knitting Expos, and XRX Books) who donated over 21,000 in prizes in 27 categories.

Here are a few quick stats about the contest...

The contest received 292 entries from 7 countries (38 states in the USA, Japan, Finland, Canada, Australia, Ireland, & Russia).

Another cool thing that we saw was that almost 65% of the entries purchased their yarn from one of the sponsors’ SOX HOT SPOTS. That’s great. On behalf of all of the sponsors, we’d like to thank the contestants for supporting their LYS.

Now for the winners...

South West Trading Company Categories

SOX Forever - #224

Yamuna Weiner
Florissant, CO

Unleash the Creativity - #275

Charles D. Gandy
Clayton, GA

Mountain Colors Categories

Cuff Down - #109

Terri D Gogolin
Milan, MI

Not Cuff Down - #268

Nancy Hazen
Kirkland, WA

Skacel Categories

It's good to get Hosed - #57

Vanessa Malone
Raleigh, NC

Socks to Dye For - #47

Betty Salpekar
Woodstock, GA
Betty attended the Student Banquet and received her award on stage.

Step into the Future - #146

Arden Okazaki
Deep River, ON Canada

Teddy Bear Footware - #258

Tammie Pearce
From Johnstown, CO

Addi Turbo by Skacel Categories

The Pros - #29

Cindy Craig
Kansas City, MO
Cindy was chosen from 36 entries from the US, Canada, & Australia. She is a teacher at STITCHES. She was in the audience when the winner was announced during the Student Banqet and received her award onstage.

Regia Categories

Best Foot Forward - #270

Charles D. Gandy
Clayton, GA

Get into the Groove - #193

Terri D Gogolin
Milan, MI

Toe Tapping - #177

Janice Talkington
Lake, MI

Twist & Shout - #244

Natalia Vasilieva
Moscow, Russia

Cherry Tree Hill Yarn Categories

Lace Socks - #290

Amy C. Rutter
Marietta, GA

Most Colorful Socks - #240

Linda McGibbon
Beaverton, MI

Unique Kolours Categories

Adult Fair Isle - #22

Cathy Leffingwell
Eau Claire, WI

Toddlers' or Childrens' Lace or Cable Socks - #182

Diane Wells-Nowell
Pebble Beach, CA

Adult Lace Socks with Cuffs - #125

Anita C. Vonderheid
Sarasota, FL

Universal Yarn Categories

Knitting in Colors - #157

Sarah L. Yost
Berlin, MD

Most Avant-Garde - #251

Deborah Wien
Kings Mtn, KY

Most Masculine - #67

Wendy Gaal
Encinitas, CA
Wendy was in the audience at the Student Banquet when the announcment was made. She received her award onstage.

Most Technical - #26

Chery Legendre
Colorado Springs, CO

KnitU Category

Best in the Universe - #240

Linda McGibbon
Beaverton, MI
This entry also won in Cherry Tree Hill Yarns’ Most Colorful Socks category.

Knitter's Magazine Categories

Inspired by Knitter's Magazine - #194

Cathy Leffingwell
Eau Claire, WI
Inspiration was from K63 page 29. (There were 40 entries into this category.)

From Sheep to SOX - #254

Geraldine Claire McCulloch
Mirrabooka, NSW Australia

XRX Books Category

XMAS SOX - #238

Karin Kussman
West Milton, OH

STITCHES Knitting Expos Category

Under 18 - #122

Elizabeth Brook Shelor
Meadows of Dan, VA
Elizabeth is 10 years old.

The KniTalk Category

The voting was online only—here in the Market at the STITCHES Live Booth or at home if you couldn’t be here with us this weekend. 1200 + logged on to look at all of the socks and hundreds voted in the last two days (while the voting was open).

Knitters’ Choice Award #195

Tanya Thomann
Berkley, MI

The Three Grand Prizes...

Third Prize
$500

#200

Leslie Comstock
Cerrito, CA

Second Prize
$1500

#101

Kirsten Hall
Rockville, MD

Grand Prize
$6000
#47

Betty Salpekar
Woodstock, GA

Betty was in the audience at the Student Banquet. She received her $6000 check from XRX Publisher, Alexis Xenakis to a standing ovation.

This entry also won the Skacel sponsored category “Sock to Dye For.”

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If you want to see all of the Think Outside The SOX entries you can view them online at...

http://ThinkOutsideTheSOX.com/Entries/