Friday, March 06, 2015

Links Galore plus 9 Prize Winners!


Hi, Knitters,
Today is the day! 

I am giving away 9 fabulous prizes today to 9 lucky winners. The first prize is from my blog giveaway for the new Arne & Carlos Regia self-patterning sock yarn. I'd like to thank Westminster Fibers for their generous yarn donation to share. Thank you to everyone for entering. We had over 700 entries which is incredible. I'll have another blog giveaway very soon.

In the photo above I finished the first sock in the Arne & Carlos yarn and I love it! I really love the way the patterning worked on the heel by chance. I'll start the second sock this weekend.


The winner of the Arne & Carlos Regia sock yarn (in photo above) in color #3656 is..... emrubin on Ravelry!

Congratulations to emrubin. Please pm me your mailing address.

If you are interested in purchasing the Arne & Carlos Regia sock yarn I heard from the owner of Simply Socks Yarn Co. shop that she has half a ton of it on order for her shop. I'm not sure when it will be available for purchase so check in with the store. I think it will be kind of soon.


~~~

SBA SHAWL KNITALONG PRIZE WINNERS!

Now to switch prize gears, I am announcing the 8 prize winners for the SBA Shawl Knitalong that finished March 1, 2015. Let me first say what an exhilarating experience it was to be a part of this knitalong group. Here are some statistics for you from the Itty-Bitty Knits forum group:

210 participants
1023 readers of the KAL chatter thread
2287 posts in the chatter thread
331 images in the chatter thread
4 wonderful yarn-y prizes were gifted along the way to participants, no need to finish to get a prize!

And the best part of all?

That's just incredible! Great work everyone.

Many people posted multiple finished shawls, knitting and finishing one all of the way up to four shawls per person. It was just amazing. Now I mentioned before that you were able to post previously finished shawls but I have to say the majority of the shawls were newly knit during the month of February 2015. The number of shawls being cranked out was just so much fun to watch. I could not believe it. You are a fast bunch!

So before I get to the prizes I want to give a gigantic thank you to all of the participants. THANK YOU! February can at times be a down month (winter blues, not much going on....) but you all made it so much fun this year.  The camaraderie and chatting and support was unrivaled. Let's do it again soon? Maybe? Yes?

Well, I have gathered an extraordinary batch of prizes for the shawl finishers to win. I want to thank everyone for the prize donations. I really appreciate your generosity. The prize for me was the boost of energy and enthusiasm I gained from the participants. The 296 shawls that were completed along the way was a good prize, too. That's a whole lotta knitting.

So here we go!

Photo by Quilted Koala

I am so excited about the first prize I am giving out today! The wonderful people from the new Quilted Koala bag company contacted me to see if they could do some sort of giveaway together. They sent me a couple of totes to try out and I happen to love these bags. I can recommend them highly. The bags are beautifully crafted and sturdy and best of all they have lots of pockets. Quilted Koala has totes, jewelry rolls, duffel bags, fabric boxes, make-up bags, bins, and they even have a line of Downton Abbey inspired fabrics! It's all so good and inviting. The bags are perfect for knitters.

The fabrics range from subtle tonals to bright and happy prints. There really is something for everyone and especially knitters. I have been using my bags (I have the one in the photo above) to tote around my projects and I plan on bringing it with me on my upcoming teaching travels. It will be perfect.

The creator of Quilted Koala, along with her husband, is a contributor to the Today Show. Click here to read how the NYC-based company began.


The generous people at Quilted Koala are giving a $75 e-gift card to one lucky winner! 

The winner is... hollyknitsabit on Ravelry!! Congratulations Holly!


The photo above is of my Signature Needle Arts double-pointed needles and you can tell that I love these needles. I am thrilled to say that the generous folks at Signature Needle Arts have donated a fantastic prize for one winner:

1 pair of Signature circular, straight or one set of dpns OF CHOICE! You get to choose!

This amazing set of needles goes to....... queenbee1958 on Ravelry or Kristi!!! 

Congratulations queenbee1958! Please pm me your email address and I will put you in touch with   Signature Needle Arts to arrange your prize. 

Now if you are ordering dpns from Signature for yourself here are the answers to the biggest questions I get asked: 6-inch length is my preferred dpn length and the dpns only come in the stiletto point.


Photo from Infinite Twist 

Cate Carter of Infinite Twist and I have been working together on projects and giveaways for several years now and I have to say she is a complete pleasure. Cate has generously donated 2 shawl kits, each by the lovely hosts of The Knit Girllls podcast, Laura Linneman and Leslie Thompson. Infinite Twist puts together unique kits that are thoughtful. The kits include incredible one-of-a-kind yarns, well-executed patterns, needles and stitch markers. You get the whole package and the customer service Cate offers is top-notch.


The first Infinite Twist shawl kit to give away is called Trouvailles by Leslie Thompson. It is a unique garter stitch design with interesting twists and turns as you can see in the photo. Here is the description from Infinite Twist: Trouvaille is available in Halo Heather Handspun, or in our newest yarn, Nimbus - a 65% mohair/35% nylon blend that is soft and light as a cloud.


The Infinite Twist Trouvailles Kit goes to....... gayleywaley on Ravelry or Gayle! You choose the colorway.

Congratulations to Gayle. By the way, Gayle is one half of the podcasting duo from The Yarniacs Podcast which is one of my faves and she is delightful.

Photo from Infinite Twist

The next shawl kit from Infinite Twist is called the Wizzpopper Shawl. It is designed by Laura Linneman. This is a lovely garter stitch shawl with a garter lace applied edging. It looks like it would be super fun to knit. I love the design. The same kind of wonderful kit applies to this pattern as well. You'll get the yarn in your color choice, a well-written pattern, needles and stitch markers.


The winner of the fantastic Wizzpopper Shawl Kit is.....  monkeybuttbabies on Ravelry or Jessica!

Congratulations to Jessica!


I have a beautiful skein of fingering weight yarn to give to a lucky winner. The yarn comes from Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn and I have it in my hands. It is stunning. The colors are deep, rich and saturated. The yarn feels squishy and smells great. Ashley does wonderful work. 


The winner of one skein of Basic Sock, 75% Merino/ 25% Nylon fingering weight yarn, 460 yards in the Twilight colorway is..... pipersmom on Ravelry or Sandy!

Congratulations pipersmom! 


The second skein of sock yarn from Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn is BFL Sock, 100% BFL, 435 yards, fingering weight in the Steel Blue colorway.  This skein is breathtaking. 

And the winner is....... NanJSknits on Ravelry or Nanette! Congratulations to NanJSknits!


Next I have this exquisite skein of Luna Grey yarn. I have loved Jackie's work for years now. The hand-dyed yarns are absolutely beautiful and you really have to look through the yarns in her shop to see the complete aesthetic. Luna Grey brings soft, rich, tonal colorways on top of the line yarn bases. Jackie dyes out of Colorado and I am a big fan of her work.


The winner of one skein of Luna Grey Fiber Arts yarn of the Hand Dyed Cashmere Merino Sock Yarn, 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, 434 yards, fingering weight, in the beautiful gray/blue/green tonal color is.......

Izzybellarina on Ravelry or Deanna! Congratulations!

And last but not least....


You know of my love for Yowza by Miss Babs. I live for these humungous, squishy, unmistakable, splashy hanks of yarn. The simple act of looking at one of the Yowza skeins inspires me to dream up new designs. I am so in love. I am currently working on the Yowza Weigh It Shawl 3 as you can see above. Yowza Weigh It 3 will be released soon. And you can also see that I have 3 more skeins of Yowza waiting to jump on my needles. Also, I purchased every skein of Yowza I have and used in the Weigh It Shawls. I wasn't provided any yarn from the company, I love it all on my own. 

The Yowza colorways are from left to right: Perfectly Wreckless, Ansel, Coffee Break, and on the needles is Berlin. My Swedish clogs are from Troentorp. And my lovely yarn bowl is from Heckathorn Turned Wood. The needles are US size 8, 32-inch circulars from Signature Needle Arts.


The one and only Miss Babs is giving a lucky winner one skein of Yowza in the color of your choice! 

Click here to see all of the colors of Yowza! There is everything from muted subtle tonals to wild and crazy variegated colorways, something for everyone. From the site:

Yowza! Whatta Skein!

You’ll be saying “Yowza! These skeins are BIG!” too when you see this yarn. Yowza is perfect for sweaters, baby items, and snuggly shawls and wraps. Yowza has a smooth and soft hand that works well for textured stitching. This yarn is often substituted in patterns calling for a DK weight yarn.
Size: 560 yd / 8 oz (512m / 227g) skeins
Content: 100% superwash Merino wool
Gauge: Light worsted weight. 4.5-5.5 stitches per inch on US 6-8.
Care Instructions: Machine wash gentle. This yarn should be dried flat for best results.


Finally, the winner of one skein of Yowza is......

Eweturn on Ravelry or Candace! Congratulations!

Phew! That's a lot of prizes and links. I'm now on to the task of contacting all of the winners on Ravelry. All of the winners should contact me via Ravelry pm if there are questions, instructions will be included in the pm for each winner. Prize distribution will ensue in the days ahead. 

I'll be back with a blog post containing a special SBA Shawl KAL tribute and I will share a sprinkling of the finished shawls. These shawls are so good that I have to share a little more.

Thank you, once again, to all of the participants and to the companies and individuals for the generous prize donations. 

Have a great knitterly weekend everyone.
xo ~ susan