Quaker Ridge Shawlette Knitalong Prize Winners!

(photo provided by Luna Grey Fiber Arts)

Hi, Knitters,

It's prize drawing time for the Quaker Ridge Shawlette Knitalong finishers! I am so excited to be able to offer such stellar and high quality prizes to this group of wonderful knitters. I'm going to jump right in. 

The first prize is a gorgeous skein of Rainbow sock yarn from Luna Grey Fiber Arts. Jackie the owner donated another skein of her hand dyed yarn and a project bag that was previously given out during the knitalong.  

 (photo provided by Luna Grey Fiber Arts)

The project bag is also included in this prize. And the winner is....... LannieK (rav id)! LannieK I hope you enjoy your fun new yarn and project bag.

I'd like to thank Luna Grey Fiber Arts on Etsy for generously donating to our knitalong. Please head on over to Luna Grey Fiber Arts and please take a look at her beautiful hand dyed yarns. This shop is truly a feast for the eyes.

The two hanks of yarn in the photo above are a lovely gift from Jackie of Luna Grey Fiber Arts to me. The yarn on the left is her  Hand Dyed Cashmere Merino Sock Yarn and the yarn on the right is her Merino Silk Lace Yarn. Wow, I can tell you that this is some squishy, soft, luxurious yarn. The colors are deep and rich and vibrant. I can't wait to dig in and knit something up with both of these yarns. I will keep you posted. Jackie, thank you! I highly recommend Luna Grey Fiber Arts.

 (photo provided by Dyeabolical Yarns and Spinning Fibers)

Next up in line is a skein of yarn from one of my all-around favorites in the fiber world, the one and only Dyeabolical Yarns and Fiber.  If you are a regular reader of my blog you already know that I have worked with Dyeabolical yarn and fiber pretty extensively over the last year or so. The fiber and yarn is top-notch, the colors are bright, deep, interesting, and vivacious. Rachel, the owner, is a generous soul and has once again donated a skein of her superwash merino wool in the Traveling Tea colorway. This skein is a sock weight yarn in an oversized skein of 493 yards.

Click here to read all about this skein of yarn! It is so much fun.

And the winner is...... MissyT (rav id)! Congratulations to MissyT and a huge thank you, as always to Dyeabolical Yarns and Spinning Fibers!  Be sure to stop over to Dyeabolical and check out her holiday colorways. You can't go wrong with this shop.

 (photo provided by The Wool Dispensary)

The Wool Dispensary is a wonderful and relatively new independent yarn shop. I met one of the owner's of The Wool Dispensary, Sam Boice, in Chicago at Nina's, a well-knit shop, when I was on book tour. Actually, I have met her a couple of times now. She is a lively, talented knitter with tons of enthusiasm for her hand dyeing business. I love the name of the company as well as the yarns and colorways. Sam is an experienced dyer in the industry. I believe there is another owner, too, and they work out of Chicago. Give them a visit, you won't be disappointed.

Click here to check out the intriguing yarns on The Wool Dispensary shop!

Click here to visit The Wool Dispensary website!

Thank you, Wool Dispensary, for the generous donation of a project bag and a beautiful skein of yarn called, Arabian Nights in the Useful Poison base (merino/nylon/cashmere blend), fingering weight, 435 yards. I have my own skein of their sock yarn in a denim blue called Stardust and let me tell you, it is dreamy. I can't wait to knit with it.

And the winner is...... daylily1220 (rav id)! Congrats to daylily1220 and a huge thank you to The Wool Dispensary.

 (photo provided by Knitcircus)

The next prize is from my generous and talented friend Jaala Spiro of Knitcircus fame. Knitcircus has started their own line of hand dyed gradient and kettle dyed yarns. The yarns are spectacular to say the least. Jaala has a real eye for color and she has brought this right into her yarn line.

Check out the Knitcircus Etsy shop to see the color for yourself!

Click here for the Knitcircus website and sign up for Jaala's newsletter which is packed full of yarn-y information, patterns and tutorials.

Also, Jaala has started a brand new yarn club called All Wrapped Up. This club includes yarn and shawl patterns (Jaala designs the best shawls!) sent to you on a monthly basis. Click here to find out more.

Jaala has generously donated this skein of Malabrigo worsted base (yes, she dyes up the original Malabrigo Worsted which they have available to hand dyers), 100% merino and 210 yards, in her Foliage colorway, to one lucky winner!

And the winner is...... kieristhefastest (rav id)! Congratulations to Kelly and a gigantic thank you to Jaala and Knitcircus yarns. Jaala actually donated two skeins, one was previously awarded to a winner during the knitalong. Below is the photo from MelissaMartin (rav id) of her previously gifted gradient skein of Knitcircus yarn:

photo of Knitcirus gradient yarn by MelissaMartin (rav id)

Isn't it beautiful? Melissa is already knitting away on a new shawl with her prize which is fun to see.

 (photo provided by Infinite Twist)

This next prize is so above and beyond. I can't believe I get to offer such an interesting and high quality prize. Cate Carter is the owner of an independent company called, Infinite Twist. Here is a blurb from the website about the yarn and kits offered in her shop:
All of the wool yarns used in our kits are hand-spun and hand-dyed. Our range of semi-solid yarn is handspun at the Qinghai Spinner’s Cooperative. The Co-op (which is managed by social venture Shokay) provides much-needed income to 22 rural Tibetan women living in China’s Qinghai province. Our silk/wool 2-ply and wool/novelty yarns are spun in-house. All dyeing is done in our color lab with safe and colorfast dyes sourced in the U.S.

Infinite Twist is quite an impressive undertaking for Cate. Please visit her website by clicking here!

Click here for the Infinite Twist Etsy shop! Cate sells more than just yarn. Cate gifted me some of her spinning fiber and yarn samples. I'll post again about Infinite Twist in the near future to share the fiber and yarn further.

(photo provided by Infinite Twist)

The winner of the prize from Infinite Twist will receive a beautiful kit that includes handspun yarn, the pattern for the Leaf Pattern Cowl pictured above, and a set of circular needles. What a generous prize! Thank you, Cate. Please jump over and check out Infinite Twist!

And the winner is....... nauti54knitter (rav id)! Congratulations.

 (photo provided by Jelby)

The next set of prizes has been generously donated and created specifically for the Quaker Ridge Shawlette Knitalong. That's right, we have our own colorway now! Cary Smith, the owner of the Etsy shop, Jelby, creates the most beautiful, fun and practical stitch markers around. I have about 5 sets of her stitch markers that I've purchased and used extensively. I am a die-hard fan! 

To my delight Cary came up with a set of Quaker Ridge Shawlette stitch markers that so beautifully represent my love of the outdoors and autumn and this shawl. For those of you interested in getting your own set of Jelby Quaker Ridge Shawlette Stitch Markers, Cary is making them available in her shop for purchase!

Click here for Jelby on Etsy! Go get some! You will love these stitch markers. All of the colorways are beautiful. Check out her tins and wool stitch markers, too.

Here is Cary's description of the inspiration for her prize donations:

When designing the stitch marker colorway for the KAL, I tried to focus on the shawl name, Quaker Ridge, as well as Susan's love of nature. Using her photography as an inspiration, I imagined Quaker Ridge as a wooded hillside that runs along a field in shades of green and amber with accents of chocolate brown. 

Prizes:

• A set of Eterne (snagfree) stitch markers in the Quaker Ridge colorway (fits up to US7)
• A set of Eterne (snagfree) stitch markers in the Quaker Ridge colorway (fits up to US9)
• An embroidered felt storage tin and a set of Eterne (snagfree) stitch markers in the Quaker Ridge colorway (fits up to US7)
• An embroidered felt storage tin and a set of Eterne (snagfree) stitch markers in the Quaker Ridge colorway (fits up to US9

Each set contains 10 stitch markers. The tins are similar in design (sheep under a tree) but like most things in nature, they are slightly different.

 (photo provided by Jelby)

So there are 4 Jelby winners!

Winner #1 - Set of QRS, fits up to US size 7 stitch markers is..... my3sonsjct (rav id)! 

Winner #2 - Set of QRS, fits up to US size 9 stitch markers is....  EllenLBishop (rav id)!

Winner #3 - Set of QRS, fits up to US size 7 stitch markers AND the embroidered tin is.... peggity (rav id)! 

Winner #4 - Set of QRS, fits up to US size 9 stitch markers AND the embroidered tin is.... moniquew (rav id)!

Thank you, Cary!! You are fun and generous. Congratulations to the winners.

 (photo provided by Sun Valley Fibers)

Jeanette of Sun Valley Fibers is the owner of a local (to me) independent yarn company. She is one of the kindest, most generous people around. I love working with her and her yarns. I own Sun Valley yarn that I've purchased and I can't say enough good things about it. 

Jeanette donated 4 skeins of her luxurious and beautifully dyed yarns to our knitalong prize treasury. Thank you, Jeanette. I've already given out one skein to a lucky winner during the knitalong so that means we have 3 skeins left to give. Please check out Sun Valley Fibers online and at fiber events all over the country. This is one popular and respected yarn company and it is well-deserved. 

Click here for the Sun Valley Fibers website and shop!

The winner of the beautiful yarn in the photo above, a glittery fingering weight superwash in the Cheeky colorway, is..... Gmahelen (rav id)! Congrats!

 (photo provided by Sun Valley Fibers)

This gorgeous single-ply fingering weight in the Blush colorway is going to..... Julesbean (rav id)!! Congratulations.

 (photo provided by Sun Valley Fibers)

The luscious yarn in the photo above is fingering weight merino/cashmere/nylon in the Plum Crazy colorway and a skein of this is going to..... jenb69 (rav id)!

Congratulations to the three winners of Sun Valley yarn and thank you to Jeanette!

(photo provided by Inspinknity)

Last but not least, there was a lot of discussion about blocking shawls and blocking wires going on throughout our knitalong thread. It came up over and over. One thing I could not live without when I am blocking my shawls are my Inspinknity blocking wires. So I contacted Rachel Calado, the owner of Inspinknity blocking wires to see if she would want to donate to our knitalong. Rachel told me she had been following the QRS thread and would definitely throw in a set of her Super Long Premium Blocking Wires! How exciting is that?

Click here to go to the Inspinknity website!

Click here to see the Super Long Premium Blocking Wires!

Here is a description of the prize set:
Super Long Premium Blocking Wires are designed especially for large pieces, such as circular shawls, scarves, blankets, or anything with a really long edge. With these super long wires, you'll be blocking your hand knitted (and crocheted!) items more easily and faster than with traditional methods. Using just a couple of wires and some T-pins, your work will look amazingly professional after blocking.

These wires stand apart from anything else on the market today. Made from a super-elastic wire with seemingly magical flexibility, these blocking wires will not rust, tarnish, corrode, or easily kink. They will not stain your knitting, and will last for many, many, many years! You can arch and curve these wires as you need, and they will always return to straight. This special property allows these wires to be used over and over again without weakening from repeated bending and straightening.

Set contains:
six 67” wires with tip protectors
thirty nickel plated T pins

I am so excited about this set! Thank you, Rachel. Go look at the Inspinknity Blocking Wire sets, there is so much variety. They are wonderful and tried and true. I could not live without my set and you will love them, too. 

And the winner is..... greeneye (rav id)!

Congratulations to greeneye and a humungous thank you Rachel of Inspinknity!

Well, in total I gave out 16 fantastic prizes during and now after the knitalong. I have contacted all of the winners through Ravelry with instructions on how to receive their prizes. It has all been a great experience. I love the positive energy surrounding this wonderful shawl knitalong. The camaraderie and helpfulness has been truly inspiring. I'd like to thank everyone for participating and thank all of the amazing prize donations I received to pass along.

Phew, that was one long post.

Have a great weekend, Knitters. I'll see you on the other side of Vogue Knitting Live in Chicago! I can't wait.
best, susie