A Break and a First De-Brief

No voting today, but we have Semifinalists!  They are

Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Olivia Colman
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Kyle Chandler

and breaking the tie:

Elizabeth Warren.

There are a few notes from the first couple of weeks:

1) I liked the juxtaposition of Patrick Dempsey (PD) and Dev Patel (DP.)

2) I also liked "Wilde" and "Lawless."

3) Two nominees have famous moms, and I thought about posting pictures of them with their mothers.  However, I was afraid that votes might be more for the mothers than the daughters.

Andie Macdowell and Margaret Qualley

Rashida Jones and Peggy Lipton

You know I like to find photos of nominees together.  This year gave us "Trubama":

And those photos I referred to as being so great?  Again with PM Trudeau:

when he was pitted against Dr. Pol:

The reason these photos weren't used is because they are vertically oriented.  The new site for making the surveys cuts up-and-down pictures in half.  That severely limited the pool of photos to choose from, and made for many hours of headaches here at HQ.

We almost had a "Killing Eve" face-off, as Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh were in the same half of the draw.  Dame Mirren put an end to that.

And how about Dames Dench and Smith going head to head?  Good thing they're friends, is all I'm saying.

Trying to Stay Ahead

It's the time of the contests of quick turnaround on photos.  What is posted may seem a bit uneven, but rest assured we here at KH / KC HQ are moving Heaven and Earth to keep you up to date.

Okay, some of us are moving more than others.

Your most recent winners:
Helen Mirren
Stephen Colbert
Sam Neill
Olivia Colman
Daniel Levy
Judi Dench
Jason Momoa
Millie Bobby Brown


Your new choices.  (And there will not be Sunday voting.)

Back to an All Vote; All Nominees Back to the Ballot

Alrighty, let's see which men have moved into the Sweet Sixteen:
Stephen Colbert
Henrik Lundqvist
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Kyle Chandler
Nicolaj Coster-Waldau

It shouldn't, after all these years, but it does surprise me that from this point on, winners are winners by significant numbers of votes.  All the single vote squeakers and the ties sort of go away.  Not entirely, of course, but sort of.  It always surprises.

Now, let's get some other folks to join them:

All Men

Today, the guys' turn.

First, though, the women who have moved on:

Elizabeth Warren
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Michelle Obama
Rashida Jones

Millie Bobby Brown and Joyce Vance wound up in a tie, so we shall see them another day.

All of today's winners will move into the Round of 16.

All Women

Last time, you voted on men and women.  The winners were:

Olivia Colman
Ryan Gosling
Helen Mirren
Chris Hemsworth
Tina Fey
Daniel Levy
Maggie Smith
Jason Momoa

Where the last couple of days saw ties and one-vote margins, all the victors here won by a comfortable amount.

Also, KH and KC have gone international!  The data show voters from outside the US, which sort of stuns (and yet delights) me.

Today, it's just us girls.

All Over the World

Rainy in Georgia --- let's spend some quality time inside with competition.

Yesterday's winners, who move into the Round of Sixteen:

Kyle Chandler
Millie Bobby Brown
Alexander Skarsgard
Sally Yates
Barack Obama
Joyce Vance.

Needing tiebreakers to decide their fates:
Stephen Colbert / Sam Elliott
Emily Hampshire / Elizabeth Warren.

Give me a day or so to come up with new pictures for that.

As for today, look over these photos:

We're serious about this now, aren't we?

Aiming for the Sweet Sixteen

Firstly, Simone Biles won the first KC tiebreaker, and next year, these contests will (still) be called

Knitters' Hunk

and
Knitters' Chick.

Thank you for your input.

Ready to do some more voting?  Lots of you are still in the running for prizes at the end of these things.

Yes, There is Voting Today

Latest winners:
Jeffrey Wright
Judi Dench
Nicolaj Coster-Waldau
Jodie Comer
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Rashida Jones
Henrik Lundqvist
Jane Goodall

Let's see if we can break this tie:

Moving Right Along

Some of these winners are winners by only a single vote now, a sure sign that things are getting serious.  Still, let's try and have some fun, what do you say?

Next into Round 2 are
Kevin Bacon
Ruth Bader-Ginsburg
Jeff Bridges
Michelle Obama
Sam Neill
Emily Blunt
Sidney Poitier
while Simone Biles and Mandy Moore will have to face one another again in a tiebreaker.

Who do you think should join them there?

Red Light the Other Day, Green Light Today

The last of the Round 1 winners are:
Alexander Skarsgard
Joyce Vance
Mark Consuelos
Olivia Wilde
Stephen Colbert
Sally Yates
Colin Kaepernick
Elizabeth Warren
and our first tiebreaker winner, Kyle Chandler.

Well, now --- are you ready to start Round 2?

Time to make your picks.  And, hey, if you could invite some folks to come along on our merry adventure, it would be much appreciated.  

The Going Gets Tougher

Y'all aren't looking at the draws like I am, so I know you don't know what's coming, but may I say, "Hoooo boy!  (And  girl!)"  There are some pairings on the way that will probably make me, myself, turn to flipping a coin to decide.

ANYway, the latest winners are:
Justin Trudeau
Malala Yousafzai
John Cho
Sandra Oh
Chris Hemsworth
Frances McDormand
Jeffrey Wright
Catherine O'Hara
Ryan Gosling

Today's pairs are the last of Round One.  Don't panic if your nominees haven't shown up yet.  Lots of people got first round byes.

 Enjoy!

Onward

Before we get into voting, both past and present, I wish to say that there is a pair here for whom I found fantastically beautiful "matching" photos, but the settings on Crowdsignal chopped them in half.  The wrong half at that.  I will definitely show them to you later.

Also, Crowdsignal does not seem to allow voters to view the results in real-time.  I've looked and looked and tried and tried, but that instruction is simply not there.  A little mystery can be a good thing, right?

The latest winners:
Rashida Jones
Mindy Kaling
Sidney Poitier
Mandy Moore
Steve Carell
Kate Middleton
Peter Dinklage

Who will win today?

Red Light

IF you're re-visiting this page from earlier in the day, you'll notice that one of the KH pairings has been deleted.  That's because both men in that match-up were nominated by the same person, which is a huge mistake on my part.  I try not to have anyone's nominees face-off in the first round, and I missed this one.

I'm re-checking the rest of the draws in both KH and KC, and will be re-drawing any pairs that shouldn't be together.  You'll get a chance to vote again in the days to come.

Deep apologies to Lora for this.

So Maybe

So maybe running totals are available now?  I'm still futzing with all the new code, and quite annoyed that the questions aren't looking good.  Again, I know you probably don't mind, but after all the years of mostly smooth sailing, this is aggravating me.
ETA: No, totals still aren't showing.  I'll keep trying to set things right.

Our first winners are:
Kate McKinnon
Sam Neill
Kamala Harris
Megan Rapinoe
Emily Blunt
Patrick Dempsey
Bradley Whitford
and our first tie is between
Kyle Chandler and Patrick Stewart.
We'll get back to them another day.
(Twinnie was right --- these choices are hard already!)

Here are some more.

Right Quick

Before you start voting, let me apologize for the footers after each pairing.  You can eliminate those by upgrading your survey-making account (as in, paying for it), but I figured y'all could scroll through them pretty fast.  If you find any other bugs, let me know.  I do know that the tallies aren't showing up, and I'm trying to figure that out.  Sorry!

Otherwise,

See you tomorrow!

Little Data Points

I've just finished filling out the KH and KC brackets and getting the first pairings ready for tomorrow.  I'll post new voting somewhere between 10 and 11 each night (ET.)  The polls are set to close at 11PM (ET) each night.

For the first time, there is the same number of men and women in each contest.  Previously, there were always more KH nominees.  It doesn't impact the contests at all, but it does make bookkeeping easier for me.

My survey-making site has changed, so things won't be exactly the same as before.  There are some "ads" I can't get rid of, and the photo uploading isn't as crisp as I'd like.  If anything looks or feels off to you, let me know, and I'll try to set it straight.  Other than that, everything is pretty much as it has been the last 10+ years.

This will be practically all I do from now until the new champions are crowned.  If something really big or cool or earth-shattering happens along the way, I'll interrupt scheduled programming, but don't expect much beyond voting opportunities and voting results for the foreseeable future.

I hope you all have fun!

From These Seeds Will Champions Grow

Knitters' Hunk

1.  Harry, Duke of Sussex

2.  Jeff Bridges

3.  Henrik Lundqvist

4.  Ewan McGregor

5.  Jason Momoa

6.  Daniel Levy

7.  Lin-Manuel Miranda

Knitters' Chick

1.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

2.  Michelle Obama

3.  Helen Mirren

4.  Tina Fey

5.  Awkwafina

6.  Millie Bobby Brown

7.  Maggie Smith

Don't Let Time Get Away

Nominations close at 11:59 PM tonight.  Hurry and get your names in for Knitters' Hunk, Knitters' Chick and, if you're feeling especially creative, possible new names for the contests themselves.

The goal is to use tomorrow for filling out the draws so that voting can begin on Monday.

Who Ya Gonna Nominate?

So far so good on the nominations;  keep them coming!  I'm taking names on Facebook, too, so if you know anyone who might want to play along and isn't likely to visit here, steer them that way.  Everyone has until 11:59 PM tomorrow (Saturday) night to send in or edit their nominations.

This is my lace-weight Baktus.  I promise you it's very sparkly.  Why said sparkles won't show up on camera stumps me.  Also, there's more purple than shows up here.  Photo-wise, this is almost not the scarf I knit at all.

_________ hot here.  (Provide your own adjective.  Visit Thesaurus.com if you need to.

Nominate!

You know what to do. .  .

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

You can start sending in your KH and KC nominations tomorrow!

(Suspecting NC-W might show up.)

Up to three nominees in each contest.  Don't worry if you see, or even think, someone else may have nominated one of your picks --- that's, in part, how seeds are established.

If you're unsure of the rules, let me direct you here.

Also, I'm still a bit bothered by "Hunk."  Maybe even "Chick," just a little.  So, if you have suggestions for alternative contest names, please send me those, too.  (Some of you did some time ago, but humor me.)  I will put all ideas up for vote, and, as is our wont, the winning submitter(s) will receive prizes.

You may enter here via comment, or through e-mail.  I'm at handeyecraftsAThotmailDOTcom.

Nominations close this Saturday at 11:59 PM.

Gears

I've finished two scarves in the last couple of days.  Working toward the end of my sparkly Baktus, and would like to show it to you, but the sparkliness won't show up in the photos.  When it's done, I'll take it out into the sun and see if natural lighting makes a difference.

I'm trying to get ready for KH and KC.  There's really not a whole lot I can do right now except wait for the nominations to start coming in.  I think I've got my own three men, but I'm having a little trouble with my women.

Which reminds me: I'm going to sort of crowdsource the name thing.  First, by asking for suggestions, then putting those suggestions to a vote.  And yes, the person who submits the winning name(s) will receive a prize.

Reminder

Applying for a couple of teaching jobs in the area.  It's been a long time, but I need to get back.  Still, keeping this in mind as I hit those "Send" buttons:

College Days

Classes at UGA start next week, so this is move-in weekend.  Avoid campus, and whatever you do, don't go to Target!

Staying with the college theme, I'm making a "school spirit" scarf from Red Heart Yarn in Vandy colors.  Yes, it's scratchy, stiff, sticky yarn, but I love these colors and the chevron "v" is perfect.

I like chevrons, and welting, and feather and fan. . .  Since I don't do colorwork, I rely on stitch patterns to make my knitting interesting.  Those and good yarns --- let them do all the work.

Briefly

Do any of you have a suggestion for where to buy nice, pretty, affordable shawl pins?  The couple I have were gifts, so . . .

Action Verbs

Writing every officeholder I can think of, demanding that they do their job(s).  We aren't going to have a democracy, or constituents for a democracy, if someone doesn't step up.

Eating Zotter chocolate.  Yes, I've been on a diet, and it's been quite successful.  But these are SO good.  Some days you just have to cheat, you know?

Knitting with Darn Good Yarn sparkly lace yarn.  Making another Baktus;  I'm totally in the groove.

Itching because I just got a haircut and all the little stray hairs are down in my shirt.

Repotting a few of my little succulents.

Reading The World As It Is, a memoir of one of Barack Obama's speechwriters.  I've gotten through all the books checked out of the library last week.

Throwing Tap's squeaky toy to him.  Over and over and over.

Let's Review the Rules

Hello, new nominators!  (And old pros.)

The rules for Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick are the same:

1.  Your nominee must be famous.  (So photos can be found.)

2.  Your nominee must be alive.  (We do "Classics" every February.)

3.  You can nominate anyone who meets the preceding requirements.

4.  You DO NOT need to nominate these people.  (They go into the draws automatically.)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Michelle Obama

Helen Mirren

Tina Fey

Harry, Duke of Sussex

Jeff Bridges

Henrik Lundqvist

Ewan McGregor

(If the photos have distracted you, and you've forgotten the rules, don't worry --- we'll go over them again.)

The Fallen Fig Kitchen

All these years with the fig tree, I've tried recipe after recipe so as not to let all the figs go fallow.  Most consistently, I've tried making jam, but without real success.  Until today.

Two little baby jars, but it's actual jam.  There are still loads of figs left, so I can make more if I'd like.

(I also made some spaghetti sauce with scallops, but I've successfully made spaghetti sauce before, so there was no need for a photo.)

Working on my second Baktus scarf of the week, both using Lion Brand's Scarfie.  One is gold into white shading, the other black into turquoise.  It's a super-easy pattern, and I like the different ways the scarf can be worn.

Otherwise, I've been reading a lot.  I got five books from the library Monday, and am through two of them.  There just isn't anything like a good book, is there?

August Alert

August begins, and so do preparations for this year Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick contests.  These are the card boxes, one for men and one for women.  I write the nominees' names and the names of their nominators on the index cards (straight from Dollar Tree.)

In two weeks, I'll open nominations.  Put those thinking caps on!  

And spread the word!  There may well be extra prizes for people who get new folks to nominate.