Tag Archives: giveaway

june cashmere

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on small family farms

in the mountains of kyrgyzstan

nomadic shepherds tend to the elite goats

whose soft cashmere undercoats are used to make yarn.

and what a yarn this is!

it’s an example of the world’s harshest environments

producing the very softest natural fibers.

img_5911cashmere is, of course, known for it’s softness.

what surprised me about this yarn is its amazing stitch definition.

just look at how the cable motif

from amy van de laar’s

”beeswax mitts’

pops!

img_5922i’d rank this new to me cashmere yarn

right up there with my leslie wind cable necklace

and indian lake artisans’ hexagonal wooden needles

(and if you know my taste at all, you know that’s high praise).

want a skein for yourself?

follow this link and enter to win.

i’m ending here, as this lovely yarn is just begging me

to hunker down and knit a bit more before bed…

note: now for just a little of the nitty-gritty.

i was given this skein of june cashmere dk to review,

but, you know me, a free skein of yarn (even if it’s cashmere)

isn’t ever going to make me say that i like what i don’t.

i’m much too stubborn and pig-headed for things like that.

‘soft’ taken from 65: 9-11 in the psalms.

‘cherry on top’ giveaway

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the yarnit

is doing a giveaway for mother’s day

and part of the prize is a copy of my new book ‘artistic differences’.

as a bonus, enough of classic elite yarns  ‘villa‘

is included for you to

knit up a pair of ‘silve’ fingerless gloves.

would you knit them for your mother? grandma? an aunt? a role model?

maybe even yourself?IMG_0439cropbrifor more info on how to enter

check out their facebook page here.

they’re saying new ways will be posted to enter

each day this week, so it might be worth going back to enter again.

can’t hurt, right?

‘day’ taken from 12:12 of job.

some things about julia

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althoughFFC-8030_medium2

i had seen her work

here, there and everywhere,

i had never met julia until this year

when our paths crossed

as we both were working on

our new books

in collaboration with classic elite yarns.

you know those people who

always have

an interesting story to tell?

that’s julia.

and you know the ones whose infectious laughs

can fill a room with something that just wasn’t there

before they arrived? that’s her, too.

she’s also

a fabulous designer.

she has this way of throwing in a twist

that makes a pattern oh so much more than it would have been without her.

do you know what i mean?

i love patterns that teach me something new.

especially the ones where that ‘new’ is so cleverly done

that i’ve learned something before i even have time to be

concerned that maybe i won’t be able to master the technique.FFC-7676_medium2like how in the lanesville pullover she takes stripes,

then nonchalantly adds slipped stitches and i-cord,

so before you have time to trip over the idea of something new,

you’ve already done it and it looks great.

that’s clever.

julia’s mind works like that

because she’s clever in the very best kind of way.

‘from folly cove‘ is available in hardcopy form on-line at webs

and at local yarn stores just about everywhere.

use the code FFC10

on ravelry to get 10% off the individual pdfs

between now and this friday, the 6th of february.

leave a comment below for the chance to win a free copy of

FFC-8078_medium2the lanesville pullover pattern

before thursday the 5th,

and be sure to

check out

the other stops

on this blog tour

especially kristin nicolas’ blog

tomorrow afternoon.

pics courtesy of classic elite yarns.

‘paths’ taken from 3:17 of proverbs.

today’s the day

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it’s friday,

which is a celebration all its own,

but it’s also the day to announce the winner.  ready?

i let random.org do the choosing.

it’s fairest that way.  since some of you i know well

and some of you are brand new names to me,

i don’t want to be biased by mistake in any way.

first, thanks to all who said why they chose the colorwy they did.

i loved learning a little bit about so many of you!

ok.  without farther ado.

random.org says:

IMG_6567so count down to the 6th comment below and it’s terry.

congrats, terry!

i’ll get this package headed your way asap.

thanks to mountain colors and in the loop for being part of this giveaway.

i couldn’t have done it without them.

‘below’ taken from 4:39 of deuteronomy.

 

paper and bows

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gifts.

we get them.

we give them away.

we make them to give away.

i think today’s giveaway could be all of the above.

one skein of 3-ply wool from mountain colors yarns,

wendy bernard’s book ‘up, down, all-around stitch dictionary’,

three cute pins from local yarn shop ‘in the loop’,

and a copy of my pattern ‘mixta’.

i include my pattern, because it was test knit with this same bulky weight yarn

in a different colorway.

i tend to be leary of multt-colored yarns

and cables, fearing that the stitch work will be lost,

but i really love how this yarn knit up.IMG_7542crop2it adds to the pattern instead of taking away from it.  don’t you think so?

the colorway i’m giving away is red willow (deeper reds and purples),

the perfect jewel tones for holiday cheer.

IMG_7990urband these pins will make even the crankiest knitter laugh.

not that any knitters, ever, were cranky

as they tried to push through

way too much gift

knitting…

so,

just head over here to pick your favorite colorway,

then come back and leave me a comment saying what’s your fav

and why (i love knowing stuff like this).

you have until midnight this thursday (the 11th) to leave your note.

on friday,

december 12th, i’ll choose  and announce the winner by 5pm

(that’s eastern standard time).

sounds fun, right?

get to it.

‘mixta’ photo by wmr photography.

‘gift’ taken from 3:13 of ecclesiastes.

the disclaimer: mountain colors yarns

gave me this yarn to play with, but you know me.  i am

way too stubborn to be influenced toward lies or embellishment by two free

skeins of yarn.  therefore, the opinions expressed here are honest, and truthfully mine.

a heathered hunt

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fill in the blanks.

‘i really like ________’

‘i find lace knitting ________’

and ‘i approach knitting lace with a great amount of ________’.

my answers would be ‘buttons‘, ‘daunting‘, and ‘trepidation akin to fear‘,

but it’s a good guess

that heather zoppetti would be likely to say

‘lace‘, ‘exciting‘, and ‘enthusiasm‘.

Everyday_Lace_-_Strasburg_Arm_Warmers_beauty_shot_medium2i agreed to

review her new book,

‘everyday lace‘

with high hopes

that i might

learn something

and i did,

while also

unexpectedly gaining

a growing interest

in exploring

the fascinating realm of lace myself.

heather lays things out so clearly

that i found myself wondering ‘what am i so afraid of?’.

i mean why am i willing to rip out 12 rows to fix a cable,

but terrified of having to pull out 3 rows to a lifeline

for correcting a lace mistake?

i fear that my own misplaced paranoia is to blame.

picking a lace pattern isEveryday_Lace_-_Christiana_Headband_beauty_shot_medium2

my next step.

heather offers up

so many great options.

the strasburg

arm warmers are

just beautiful,

and i have

the perfect button for

the cristiana headband.

ah, back to buttons.

i love them.  i have my grandmother’s old button tin

and can dig through it endlessly

which always makes me smile as i remember

these buttons which she eagerly sewed onto knit sweaters and handmade blouses.

some of the ‘everyday lace’ patterns require buttons.

official scavenger hunt question:

just how many of heather’s patterns in ‘everyday lace’ call for buttons?

huntImageand along those lines:

which pattern of mine has the most buttons?

(hint: it has more than 20…)

have you not yet heard about heather’s clever scavenger hunt

(which could win you yarny prizes)?

check out all the scheduled stops here.

the first questions were posted yesterday on amanda’s blog.

the third set will go up on stephannie’s blog on the 27th.

have fun hunting!

i’m off to find fabulous fingering weight yarn

to match this perfect button…

photos by joe hancock.

courtesy of h. zoppetti & interweave.

‘eager(ly)’ taken from 31:13 of the proverbs.

here it comes

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…and the winner,

of enough of julie asselin’s super bulky ‘yotta’ to knit up the neckwrap

‘water under the sky‘, is tinerw!

IMG_4491contcongratulations!

or as my cousins said at my graduation,

snoitalutargnoc (in true cousin style, they sang it in harmony)!

and for those who almost won,

julie has plenty of

amazing colors to check out.  enjoy!

‘sang’ taken from 38:6-7 of job.

needles at the ready?

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IMG_4325cropi used up

one and a half skeins

of yotta to make

‘water under the sky‘,

braids and all.

now i have

one and a half skeins

left to giveaway

for someone else

to enjoy.

you have from now until this saturday night

to leave a comment (which includes your rav name

or some other way for me to reach you if your name gets chosen).

IMG_4317cropi’ll draw a name this monday, the 21st.

take a look at julie’s yarns

and tell me which one

 you’d most like to knit with.

you can include why if you feel so moved.

then check back monday to see the results.

ready? … set … comment …

‘half’ taken from 44:15-17 in isaiah.

coming your way

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IMG_1947croppedcongratulations wendy randolph!

the random number generator picked you,

and the sun is shining!

what more could an early weekday ask for?

for anyone else who really fell in love with the idea of having their own copy

(that’s always how i feel when i enter a contest and lose),

you can buy your own here.

i would if i were you.

smile.

‘love’ taken from 8:7 in song of solomon.

differential

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as to my favorite

galler yarns fiber,

i have two (so far).

i’ve recently

had the pleasure to

use asana bulky for

…well, i…

can’t say quite yet, but this yarn is a great balance of things.

now, i’ve always been a fan of the texture of thick and thin yarns.

sometimes, though, the ‘thick’ bits can be so big as to be hard to manage

and the ‘thin’ bits can be almost lace weight leaving gaps in the knitting.

it was a challenge

for me to figure out,

as much as i

liked the textures,

how exactly to use yarn

like that practically.

but,

oh joy,

galler has found

just the right ‘thick’

and paired it with just the right’ thin’.

its name is asana bulky.

loaded with texture.

none of the headache.

to top it all off,

it’s multi tonal and so soft.

pretty brilliant.

don’t forget, enter to win

a 600 yd skein of galler yarns’

heather prime alpaca,

by going back to this post.

‘thick’ taken from twenty-three:seventeen of job.