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

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Arne & Carlos Regia Sock Yarn Giveaway!


Hi, Knitters,
While I gather all of the prize information for the SBA Shawl Knitalong that just finished yesterday I thought I would put up a quick giveaway for a ball of the crazy-good Arne & Carlos brand-new, yet to be released in the US, Regia sock yarn line. I'll be back later this week with a recount of our hugely successful shawl knitalong, we had just under 300 shawls entered in our 6 weeks of knitting together. Some people entered as many as 3 or 4 newly knit shawls. It has been incredible and so much fun.

More on this later in the week!


I was sent some of the much anticipated Arne & Carlos Regia sock yarn to review and when I was sent more than one ball I thought I would share one with all of you!  The colorway I am working on in the photos is #3655.

The self-patterning yarn is beyond fun. All of the colorways are fantastic and lively just like Arne & Carlos. This is one of the most fun sock lines I have knit. You will love it, I promise. I think this is going to be a tough one to get your hands on. It is already available in Europe and has been quickly selling out. If you are interested act fast. 

Click here to find out more about the Norwegian knitting pair known as Arne & Carlos. I love them and have all of their books. They have a great spirit about them.


And because I know I'll be asked:
Needles: Signature Needle Arts US size 1 dpns, 6 inch length, stiletto point (All of their dpns are stiletto point only.)
Pattern: My free pattern called, How I Make My Socks
Sock Blocker: From theloopyewe.com
Project bag in the first photo: Lowlands Originals on Etsy


Here it is friends. Colorway #3656. For one of you.

To enter to win this fantastic sock yarn by Arne & Carlos for Regia leave ONE comment on this blog post. Be patient for your comment to appear, only click on post one time. I approve all comments and there is a delay. You must leave your email address or Ravelry Username so I can contact you if you win. 

Okay, friends, have at it! I will be back in a few short days with the SBA Shawl Knitalong conclusion and prizes and a randomly selected winner for the Arne & Carlos Regia sock yarn in the photo above.

Good luck and let the comments begin.....
xo ~ susan

Monday, February 23, 2015

Episode 12 ~ Socks, Sock Yarn & the Unfinished



Hi, Knitters,
I have a new podcast episode today! Click here for the direct link to YouTube to watch. You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel or you can watch or subscribe on iTunes, too. Click here for iTunes.

I have a bit of a hand issue that I discuss in the video so I am trying to rest it for a few days. Therefore, I am not going to type up all of the show notes today but everything mentioned in the video will be mentioned again on the blog later or has been mentioned before. 

Thanks for watching and I'll be back soon with more.
xo ~ susan

p.s. I have the best blog readers! Willfulmina on Ravelry and Instagram wrote out and linked every single thing I mentioned on the podcast and sent it to me. Thank you Kate! So here are the shownotes from Willfulmina:
Episide 12: Socks, Sock Yarn & the Unfinished

FabFunkyFibres in "I Believe in the Impossible" and "The Cosmopolitan"
Regina 4-Ply Design Line by Arne & Carlos in Fall Night Color 03655

Friday, February 20, 2015

New Pattern ~ Little Owl and much more!


Hi Knitters,
I have a brand new downloadable pattern for you up on Ravelry today! Little Owl is available for purchase. You don't have to be a member of Ravelry to purchase patterns.

I want to share a discount code for the new Little Owl pattern today since it is a brand new Ravelry download. The discount will be good from Feb. 20-27th, 2015.


The discount code for $1.00 off is: OWL

Little Owl is a 4 1/2-inch tall seamless, bottom-up toy, knit in worsted weight yarn. The wings and feet are picked up and knit onto the body. The eyes are felt and I used a quarter to trace around to get the circle. It is a quick knit and perfect for using up leftover worsted weight yarn, less than 100 yards is needed.

I also want to start today off with my new exciting news. I have been added to Alana Dakos' (of the Never Not Knitting podcast and designing fame) selected designers for her NNK Press printing and distribution company. NNK Press is a really innovative wholesale printed pattern line for yarn shops. Alana hand-selects and curates the patterns she carries along with her own patterns and books like Botanical Knits and then markets them to local yarn shops all over the country and beyond. Other pattern lines she is now carrying besides my patterns are from some recognizable favorites like Quince & Co., Maddermade's Carrie Bostick-Hoge and Hannah Fettig's Knitbot. I am thrilled to be included to say the least.

I have worked hard for the past few months on getting these five patterns whipped into shape for NNK Press and I am proud of how great they turned out. We will be adding more patterns to the print line as time goes on.
The coolest thing about the printed patterns, besides the crystal clear lay-out and photography, is that every pattern has a scratch off code that allows the buyer to get the downloadable pdf pattern on Ravelry. This is genius! If you purchase the printed pattern you are also automatically getting the digital pdf on Ravelry. 

I am so excited to finally have 5 patterns currently available from NNK Press in beautiful, high quality printed form for yarn shops to purchase and carry in their shops. If you are a shop owner and are interested in carrying my patterns or any of the patterns discussed please check out NNK Press to find out more. 

Alana and NNK Press are at Stitches West market this weekend in booths #1039 and #1041. If you are attending please pop in to see all of Alana's offerings.

The following are the other patterns that have been added to Alana's NNK Press pattern line, all are available for purchase on Ravelry through my pattern shop as well:






I love this back view of the Milk Cow!


This pattern includes the Elephant, Bunny and Hippo and the sweater! 









Here's the whole NNK Press bunch together. These toys are all in a trunk show at the NNK booth (#1039 and #1041) at Stitches West right now!

Alana sent me these fun photos from her Stitches West booth going on right now! The patterns are available for purchase at the NNK booth.

Here's another photo from Alana from her booth at Stitches West.

Enjoy the discount code: OWL for $1.00 off the purchase price for my new Little Owl pattern on Ravelry!

Have a great weekend. I am teaching all weekend at the Madison Knit In. I am so excited to see my students right here in my hometown. I am doing a book signing at lunch one of the days (not sure which yet). I love being able to go home after a long day of teaching to be with my family and sleep in my own bed. What a treat!
xo ~ susan
p.s. Here's a little behind the scenes look into our photo shoot. It's a pretty fancy set-up.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

New Mittens, New Thumbs


Hi, Knitters,
Do you remember these stripey Noro Kureyon mittens I was knitting last fall? I knit and Knit and KNIT mittens for a couple of months starting last September. Honestly, I can't remember how many mittens I knitted, some went to charity and lots were gifts. Well, I gave every last mitten away and there were no stripey mittens left in my house.

Miss Molly has a stripey pair I knit for her and she wears them every single day. Quite awhile ago, I was talking to her about her mitten love and she said her sister and mom wear their stripey mittens I knit for them a lot, too. That makes me feel good.

After this conversation, which was a couple of months ago, TC told me that she would really like a pair of stripey mittens. I told her I would knit her some. Time passed, the weather got colder, no mittens were knit. I felt bad.

Last Sunday I decided that today was the day and early in the morning I cast on a pair of stripey Waiting for Winter Mittens for old TC. By the afternoon I had finished the mittens and TC was a very happy girl. Those are her hands in the first photo. Now she's happily wearing them to school this week and it's a good thing because we are having an arctic blast as they say.


I talked all about this stripey version of the Waiting for Winter Mittens on this blog post.


The Noro Kureyon yarn I am using is being recycled from this decade-old project that I pulled apart last fall. Click here to see the old project. And here is all of the yarn I saved.

I Instagrammed about the mittens here, here, and here if you are interested.  


Since TC's mittens were knit out of recycled yarn that was really quite old they definitely needed a wash and a block. The yarn was a little kinked up while I was knitting. 

I love Soakwash for my woolens. Click here to find out more about Soak.


Now the mittens are so soft and they smell great.


On to the other mitten story. Miss Molly's mittens have worn through at the inside of the thumb. This thumb in the photo is threadbare but the other thumb had completely worn out and there was a gigantic hole. The mittens wore out here because Miss Molly had been doing a ton of driving last semester and she thinks the steering wheel was the culprit.


I decided to cut off the thumbs and rip them back to the held stitches from the thumb gusset and put the stitches back on the needles and knit brand new thumbs on both mittens. I pulled out a ball of the recycled Noro Kureyon and began the new thumbs.


I quickly got the stitches back on the needles and knit....


.... and knit...


.... and knit until I had a brand new thumb!


Good as new.


Miss Molly has given the new thumbs on her Waiting for Winter Mittens an official thumb's up.

And with new mittens and the new thumbs I bid you adieu.

Later this week I'll be back with some new socks and some big news. The big news is the reason many of my knitting plans for new and revised patterns have been pushed aside. 

Until then....
xo ~ susan
p.s. I always knit the Waiting for Winter Mittens and Fingerless Mitts on my Dyakraft Darn Pretty Needles double-pointed needles for some reason. I like these dpns a lot, they are warm, smooth and they have a nice point, perfect for mitten knitting. 

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day


Hi, Knitters,

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day
from my house 
to yours.

xo ~ susan

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

100% Wild Maine Wool ~ Starcroft

Hi, Knitters,
Before I get into today's topic I want to make sure to let you know that I am coming to Pasadena, California in April, 2015 to teach at Vogue Knitting Live. If you are thinking about coming to this event the registration is already up for classes, lectures and more. If you are able, try to register early because what happens is that pretty early on classes will get cut and I mean a lot of classes get cut. One fell swoop! Then the classes being offered fill up and I often have students tell me they wanted to get into classes but they weren't being offered any longer or they were sold out. So early registration helps everyone involved.

I am teaching and speaking on the following topics (I've linked the project information.):
Friday, April 17th: 
Seamless Knit Doll Workshop: Mary, Millie & Morgan ~ click here! Oh, and look at these fun in class photos and write up of this class from one of my students: ChemKnits!
Sock Yarn Fox in a Vest ~ click here!

Saturday, April 18th:
Little Dragon ~ click here! Or you can make the mini-version, too.
3 Wee Sheep ~ This pattern isn't available yet, workshop only. There is a photo with the class information on the VK Live website.
Lecture (1 hour): Sheep, Moneys, Bunnies ~ Toy Knitting for All

Sunday, April 19th:
Build a Toy Workshop ~ Check out the VK Live website for more info.!
Sock Yarn Bunny ~ click here! Or you can make the mini-version, too.

For all of the toy classes we cover so much technique, tips, demonstrations, guidance, individual and small group attention, and discussion. Each class has a different project focus that has different and unique construction and techniques used. Some projects have seamless construction, some have seaming. I really try to pack in as much fun and useful information into all of the classes as possible.

I hope to see you there! 



Okay, let's chat for a minute about the pop-up shop I visited in NYC a few weeks ago. First, a pop-up shop is just that, a shop that pops up in a space for a short while and then it is gone. I found out about the shop through Gale Zucker, the photographer/knitter. You may know Gale from her blog, books she has photographed, or her teaching. You can find out more about Gale by clicking right here. She was helping to set up a Starcroft pop-up shop in NYC on the weekend of Vogue Knitting Live. Gale was working with Kirsten Kapur, another lovely fiber-designer talent, click here to find out about Kirsten! These two lovely ladies picked me up at the hotel and brought me to the Starcroft shop. What a treat.

Click here for Starcroftfiber.com! It looks like the site is under construction but check back.


There is Gale and Jani Estelle, the owner of Starcroft, through the front window. I have to admit to not knowing much about Starcroft or Jani. However, when I started hearing about Nash Island, off of Maine, the sheep, the journey and efforts Jani makes every year to harvest the wool, then process and dye it, I did remember Gale telling me about being involved in the shearing process along with Mary Jane Mucklestone and Ysolda Teague one year. I believe that Gale has been there three times to help with the shearing now. She loves it and has described the hard work involved. 


photographed and owned by Gale Zucker
This photo is one of the postcards that is available. Information is below.

photo from Gale Zucker

Left to right: Gale, Ellen Mason, Jani Estelle, Mary Jane Mucklestone, Ysolda

photo from Gale Zucker



Here we are back in the NYC pop-up shop. It was incredible, the yarn, the atmosphere, Gale's beautiful photography..... the company!


Kay Gardiner popped in right before I had to leave so I was thrilled to meet her in person. I have long admired her blog and books and knitting. Gale is friends with Kay because she photographed the first Mason-Dixon Knitting book I believe. Gale is one to support and maintain friendships and foster new friendships. I really feel this about her and I love that.


The Starcroft samples were extraordinary. What a perfect yarn for color work. I wish I could have stayed at the shop longer but I had dinner plans with my Artisan Book (my publisher) buddies of the past, my former publicist Jaime and my beloved former editor, Trent. We had so much fun together. The shop and the dinner with old friends made this a night to remember.


Here is what I selected from the shop. Three lovely skeins of Starcroft Nash Island 100% Wild Maine Wool in the Tide weight, which is DK. The colors are from left to right: Barnacle, Clear Skies and Cove.

I believe you can purchase the yarn here if you'd like some for yourself.

I also picked up a dozen GORGEOUS postcards of Nash Island photographed by Gale Zucker. You will want a set of these I promise. Click here to find out more.


I hand-wound the skeins and the yarn seemed prettier than ever. It kind of glows with natural beauty.


I began a hat and after a couple of false starts things moved along quickly.


The yarn softened as I worked. There is such a purity and calmness to the yarn.


Here is my finished hat! Fits like a glove. Feels like a million bucks.


I did a simple single round striping on the top. It is quite beautiful.


After the blocking the yarn fluffed up and softened even further. I have been wearing it non-stop!

I will write up the pattern soon. This is a simple color work pattern that would be a good first Fair Isle project. I really love this hat, there is so much history, hard work and natural beauty in the wool.


Here are the postcards I purchased from Gale at the Starcroft shop in NYC! I love this set of postcards to no end. I've already sent one off but I am telling you they are like a little pack of art. I don't know if I can part with any more of them. I think I will somehow frame them and hang them up in my house.

You can order a set of these postcards from Gale. What a perfect gift for any knitter or sheep lover or nature lover or Maine lover..... etc. I will probably be ordering more soon.



I can't possibly do the Starcroft and Jani Estelle story justice. It is a story of sheep, fiber, dedication, hard work, perseverance, forces of nature, love and more. 

To find out more of the story please watch the video from Fiber Trek (a great fiber podcast you should check out). Click here for the direct link to the Fiber Trek podcast. In Episode 1, Sarah of Fiber Trek takes you directly to Nash Island and interviews Jani of Starcroft and Mary Jane Mucklestone the color work master of our times. You'll learn so much about sheep, fiber, processing, dying, Jani and more from this video podcast.

Anyway, what a fun time I've had learning about Starcroft through my friend Gale and many others. Thanks for coming along today.
xo ~ susan