Dear Everyone, thank you so much for your patience with me as I’ve been out tending to my post-operative husband, thereby delaying the hotly anticipated prize announcements! And thank you, also, for making it so difficult. When I first had the thought of doing a Log Cabin Make-along, I honestly wasn’t sure how many people would come along for it. It was a broad and abstract concept, a technique a lot of people might see as obscure or outmoded or something, and had the potential to involve some very large projects and a lot of time — although my point from the beginning was you could make anything from a washcloth to a bus wrap, up to you. So I’m thrilled that not only did so many people get on board, but it’s been really inspiring to see what everyone came up with, from the beautifully traditional to the wildly innovative and everything in between.
When it came to picking winners, I started by boiling my saves and faves down to a shortlist of what I felt were the strongest contenders, which wound up still being a whopping 31 projects … competing for 5 prizes. So to say this was a daunting task is to put it mildly. The scale of the projects has been diverse — from a little cross-body bag to sock cuffs and slippers, pillow covers, teapot cozies, even a circle skirt! However, there were definitely many more blankets than anything else, and it’s good that I thought to say at the outset that things needn’t necessarily be finished by now in order to win. I’ll be continuing to keep an eye on the hashtag to see how everything turns out!
I wish I could give an individual shout-out to everyone on the shortlist, and a prize to everyone who participated, but alas. So with all of that said, here are the category winners, who’ve each won a $100 gift certificate to Fringe Supply Co.—
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BEST LAID PLANS — for the most inspired or creative concept
Pictured up top. When @breiwerken first started describing her plans, I absolutely loved the concept — the notion that she was going to use this traditional knitting technique, modeled on a traditional quilting technique, to emulate a distinctive textile tradition from a completely different culture, namely “the strip weaving cloths of the Ewe people from Togo/Ghana.” Such a unique idea. But honestly, I had a hard time imagining the end results. I watched it grow as she shared it all along the way, and found her enthusiasm for what she was doing utterly infectious. The photo above of it wrapped around her like a shawl melted my heart. But it wasn’t until she posted the most recent photo, of it draped out across a bench, that my jaw hit the floor. I am awestruck by it.
Click through to her feed (as with all of the following) to see all of her posts about it along the way — and follow her to see how it turns out!
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HOUSE PROUD — for best photos/documentation
@elsbethsteiner created an Instagram feed just for the documentation of her project, the concept for which rivaled @breiwerken in its originality, and has documented it so thoroughly and lovingly throughout the last two months. She calls it her Rare Sheep Corral Blanket, and I implore you to go visit her dedicated feed to read all about it, as I couldn’t possibly do it justice. (I mean, there are undyed rare-breed yarns, knitted sheep, mountains and fences, creative construction …) Start at the beginning. Or if you only read a single post, make it this one. On top of all that, it’s just so beautiful.
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SQUARE AND TRUE — for best traditional use of log cabin
If you skipped by too quickly, you’d swear @clairesounes‘ blanket was a quilt. She’s not only kept it super traditional in terms of the log cabin blocks themselves (right down to the pinkish-red centers) but she’s truly thinking like a quilter. The light/dark distribution of the blocks makes them combinable in countless different ways for different effects, as you’ll see if you click through the frames in this post. And I love how she’s made it seem that much more scrappy and patchworky with the (so controlled!) mix of her palette, occasional instances of stripes, and so on. Really masterful.
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THINKING OUTSIDE THE BLOCK — for best non-traditional use of log cabin
Ok, I can’t do it so I’m declaring a 3-way tie on this one.
TOP: @lakesaltknit did her own rendition of a Josef Albers-inspired cowl (meaning, different from Ann Weaver’s Albers Cowl pattern). Her version is two large, striking, Albers-inspired blocks joined together into a tube for a generous cowl. I would love and want it even if it weren’t for the fact that she works at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, which owns this particular piece, and was able to photograph it with the original (modeled by a colleague). Amazing.
MIDDLE: @autumngeisha used elongated long cabin to create a fantastic and uncontrived pair of footie socks. If there were a pattern for these, it might lure me away from my endless Log Cabin Mitts making. Just sayin.
BOTTOM: @oystersandpurls had the sweet idea to build a log cabin washcloth, basically, into a bib-front baby romper. The result is so charming, but the really inspired touch is the little bit of color-blocking on the bum and straps, which makes the whole thing feel cohesive, rather than tacked together, and just that much more adorable.
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LIKE CABIN (aka MOCK CABIN) — for best adaptation/variation on modular knitting
I’m honestly no longer 100% sure what I was imagining when I came up with this category at the outset. But of all the people winging it, free-forming, improvising things in variously modular ways, the most fascinating to me has been this pullover WIP from @i_knit_wool. The way she’s going about it is almost more Lego than log cabin, and yet the end result has a completely log-cabin feel about it. I’ve been riveted as it’s grown, and will be continuing to watch with bated breath until its completion.
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And then there are the random drawing winners, who’ve each won a Field Bag in the color of their choice:
• @honeyfolkclothing
• @seniah.hm
• @ellendavisions
• @lady_olivia57
• @stricken_ohne_naht
. . .
WINNERS: Please email <contact@fringesupplyco.com> to collect your prizes!
And of course, it’s not over yet! Our illustrious panelists are wrapping up their projects and I’ll have those FO interviews starting very very soon!
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PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: Log Cabin Mitts (free pattern)
WOW! So beautiful, loved so much. Thank you for sharing with us. Love, nia
These are simply amazing! No wonder you had such a time deciding. The rare breeds blanket is especially, uniquely lovely…and appropriate to the task.
That skirt blows me away! How is that possible?
beautiful and inspiring! congrats to all! (and sending good thoughts to you and your husband, Karen)
HOORAY! I’m so glad Oysters and Purls little romper won because it is one of my favorite knits that I have ever, ever laid eyes on!
OMG!! I love the Josef Albers-inspired cowl…and the socks…and the baby romper. Actually it’s all pretty awesome.
I am so happy to be a winner. Thanks to Karen and all the people that have liked and commented my posts about the Rare Sheep Corral. I have won a prize but I might also have found a few friends in this Logalong. And for sure it is/was a lot of fun!
Congratulations to all of the winners. It sure was fun to watch the IG feed and see how the projects progressed. They’re all great, but I especially love @clairesounes‘ and @elsbethsteiner’s blankets….guess I’m a quilter at heart!!
Thanks for hosting the logalong. Great idea and hours and hours of fun for all!
These make my heart happy just looking at them! I couldn’t wrap my mind around how you’d make your choices as I followed the unfolding projects. And, happily, they’re here on your blog and Instagram for ongoing inspiration. Yahoo!
Oh how fun! I am amazed at the versatility of this pattern; they are all so stunning!
CREATE-ive pieces! I am in awe of anyone that can start a quilt or blanket AND finish it!
Well done, everyone! So so fun to watch these projects grow, and I want to second Karen’s desire for that log cabin footie pattern!
The color and pattern in @breiwerken’s blanket is totally flippin’ mezmerizingly gorgeous! I have a lot of catching up to do. And the photo you’ve called Square & True – the way the sunlight is raking across the couch makes it look as if the whole light/dark scheme on the blanket could be the result of sunlight and cast shadow. Blown away.
I loved watching these projects evolve!
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Yeah ! So glad @autumngeisha won a prize, her socks are so awesome and original, they deserved to be featured here.
wow!!
Wow! I’m completely in awe here… cannot believe that you’ve selected my project. You’ve totally coined it, LEGO is exactly what it is! Thank you so so much for doing this KAL, I’m having the best time with it!
This was such a fun knit along. Thank you for organizing it. I am an experienced knitter with decades of knitting under my belt and had never tried log cabin knitting until now. And so honored to have won with my Albers cowl, but I have to give props to Albers himself, the color genius.
Oh my, these are amazing! I think the first thing I have to do is start travelling so I can obtain the rare breed yarns. And in the meantime, it would be great fun to have a pattern for those socks–so perfect for cold floors. And there are several historical lines of African textiles for inspiration–what a good idea. I wonder if I could start with artisan yarns from each Canadian province? That sounds do-able. Thank you for opening my mind on this approach–it was so successful and it looks like all the participants had great fun.
All were totally prize worthy! Such wonderful, inspiring creativity.
Thanks for hosting the log along. I’ve enjoyed it so much. Thanks to everyone on Instagram for all the comments which really spurred me on
Thank you for hosting such a fun and inspiring log along. I love the log cabin concept and how open ended it was. So in awe of all the amazing and beautiful projects that were and are still being created.
Marvelous creativity! I was moved to grab four skeins of sock yarn to see if I can log cabin them into a light cardigan following Lynn Garret’s recipe. Super fun.
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