That Crazy Stalker...

I love Carol. Don't you? She is very awesome. My chips are pretty down, and she has been really a little angel sent from heaven with a sneaky long telephoto lens and a penchant for my sneakers... I am not ashamed to say it: Carol Sulcoski is MY FAVORITE STALKER!

And if having Carol as a stalker is not cool enough? Check this out - Kristin Nicholas reviews my book on her blog, Getting Stitched on the Farm AND is giving away not just a signed of teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting BUT she's also giving way YARN - three skeins of her Best Foot Forward in color ways you will never find anywhere else!

And yes, what you read on Kristin's blog is true. Sunday. Me. Dung tags. Because I am all over that s&^t (giggle!) - and wait till the gardens 'get a load of' it! (Heh!! I crack me up!!)

A Finale of Grand Proportion - Day 14

My favorite part of the 4th of July or a visit to Disney World is always the end of the fireworks show, when they throw a bunch of stuff up all at once and fill the night with light and noise and chaos. So that's what I am going to do today - throw this all at you, one right after the other, boom, boom, boom. I will choose five - count them - FIVE lucky winners from today's post. Five lucky random people will receive one of the following:

From my personal stash

A skein of delicious Ball and Skein 50% Merino 50% Tencel in the color Arbori, along with a sock pattern of my own design and choosing (I haven't chosen yet. But I will.)

One skein of Sanguine Gryphon 100% superwash merino Little Traveller Tintagel along with a sock pattern of my own design and choosing (still haven't chosen yet. But I will.)

One ball of Trekking Pro Natura 75% new wool 25% bamboo in a color that has no awesome name, but is a lovely indigo with the shine that only bamboo can create along with (is this getting repetitive yet?) a sock pattern of my own design and choosing (which I STILL haven't chosen yet. But I will.)

And for the final explosion in our finale we have some beautiful yarns generously donated by Gail Callahan, the Kangaroo Dyer:

One skein of Kangaroo Dyer 80% BFL 20% nylon, Zinnia, which really does remind me of zinnias!

One skein of Kangaroo Dyer 50% superwash merino 50% silk Golden Flower accompanied by a copy of the talented Kirsten Hipsky's Carcosa Design "A Clockwork Daisy"

To enter to win one of these awesome prizes, just answer today's question in the comments below and I will choose five lucky winners. Today's question? Well, there's TWO of them. You can answer both, or just one. I challenge you to be brave and answer both. Ready?
When the civil defense siren goes off, what's the first thought that goes through your mind?
and
When you clean your fingernails, do you clean from pinky to thumb, or thumb to pinky?

Don't forget to return here tomorrow for the list of winners! Thank you all for playing, and thanks most to our generous contributors:
Wiley Publishing
Lexie Barnes
Webs
Foxfire FIber and Design
Jessalu
Lion Brand Yarn
Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Buffalo Gold
Spirit Trail Fiberworks
Lorna's Laces
Kangaroo Dyer

Who Does Not Love Knitting for Baby? Day 13

One of my favorite projects in this book, and easily the most adorable in my opinion, is an infant set comprised of a sweater, hat and bootie socks. One set is knit in Valley Yarns Superwash DK. The other is knit in Lorna's Laces Honor.

And may I say, it was an honor (had to go there!) to knit with this beautiful yarn, 70% Alpaca and 30% silk. It is so soft, and has a lovely halo that forms on the surface.

It's huggable, squishable, pettable and therefore perfect on a baby! (The baby here is around 40 years old. Her name is Jennifer. She is missing all of her eyelashes, and her skin has odd dirty and manky spots, but she is very quiet and I love her very much.)
Today's prize, thanks to the generosity of the folks at Lorna's Laces, is enough Honor to knit a baby set of your own for a deserving infant along with a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting. This pattern is not entirely worked in the round. The point of this project is to keep high in the knitter's mind the idea that a project, any project, can be worked on circular needles even if the project is knit "back and forth". I love that circular needles mean no lost needles. How can you lose one when they are attached to each other, like a mitten string on a kindergartner? I always loved my mitten string. I was notorious for losing bits and pieces. I still am! Circular needles mean no setting one down in the car and having it roll between the seats into oblivion. Two needles, joined by a cable, means never having to say "goodbye". Unless Mel is around and he eats one.

Random (really, really random!) question for today - Toilet paper: scrunch or fold?

Yes, I Said Cut the Knitting! Day 12

In case you didn't believe me yesterday, I have MORE stuff for you to cut into! Same shawl, same pattern, same page (198), new yarn!

Today's contribution is from the amazing and very generous Jennifer Tepper Heverly of Spirit Trail Fiberworks. There are two skeins of her luxurious Penelope, a blend of 50% bombyx silk and 50% merino. Did I mention luxurious? Yum! Love this yarn and love Jen's way with color - saturated, rich, deep jewel tones that make my eyes say "ahhh!" Love it. And you can win some of your very own, along with a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting, if you answer the question below and are the lucky winner when we draw names!
Today's question - What was your first love? (Think about it!)

Cut Up My Knitting? Is She Crazy? Day 11

Yes, I am. But that's not the point. I am not crazy about this! Yes, cut into it. Get a pair of scissors and show that knitting who's boss!
Steeking has been used by knitters for many, many years as a way to knit something entirely in the round and then open it up to add sleeves, front bands, or collars. But most of us may not feel so safe whacking into, say, a painstakingly constructed Fair Isle cardigan, right? So in Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting I start you off easy. First swatch. Then shawl. Then cardigan (not Fair Isle, but a cozy drop shoulder thing with richly deep ribbing, but that's another project!). Today's giveaway is a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting and enough yarn to knit a very generously sized shawl in Valley Yarns Goshen, kindly provided by Webs.

This shawl is found on page 198, and is knit in the round and then cut to make a self-fringe. You know those evenings when it's a bit too warm for a jacket, but a bit too cool for bare shoulders? This is the perfect project!
Now for the "how to win part" - answer this question in the comment section below to be eligible to win. Name the one thing you would never, ever leave home without!

How to Make the Most of Luxury Buys - Day 10

I think we all love the really amazing stuff like qiviut, bison, cashmere... but not all of us can afford sweater quantities of these amazing and luxurious fibers. Maybe we can spring for a skein, or two, or even three depending on the yarn and the budget. But then what to knit with it? Recently there's been a move toward cowls as a perfect accessory, and it's a move I strongly support. Cowls are extremely flexible. They can be as deep or as shallow as you want. Make a super deep cowl, and it can be pulled up over your head, snood-like, to protect you from the cold.

A smaller, more shallow one is a perfect neck warmer and a cute accessory to boot. I work outside a lot and chickens have a way of getting a hold of things like scarves. But a cowl I can pop on and be toasty warm and the knitting is safe! It was an easy choice to add a cowl pattern to this book since they are also one of the many perfect circular projects. I chose to knit three as samples, all can be found on page 124 of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting - the first is very simple, knit in stockinette stitch in Valley Yarns Northfield which is a really nice yarn, a blend of merino, alpaca and silk - YUM! The second is knit in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha, made of kid mohair, silk and a tiny bit of nylon. Geisha is a fantastic yarn for lacy, open things and the cowl I designed is a reflection of that, with a feather and fan pattern knit in a loose gauge. The last cowl is knit in Buffalo Gold Moon. I adore this yarn. Actually there is not much that Ron hands me when I am near his yarn that I don't adore. But I really love Moon, especially for this project. It is luxurious, warm, and shows the cabled stitch pattern to perfection. It has this lovely sheen that conveys amazing richness. Love it.

And you, winner, will as well, when two skeins of Moon and a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting arrive and you're able to knit up a cowl of your very own!
Today's question - What is your little luxury treat? It can be yarn, or not. When you feel a little splurgy, or a little down, what do you treat yourself to to perk up? Answer below to be entered to win this rare treat of a yarn!

Got Kids? - Day 9

Today's prize is another very generous one! A copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting and Blue Moon Fiber Arts has given enough of their Socks That Rock Heavyweight to make the child's sweater found on page 176; a simple drop-shoulder pullover perfect for raking leaves, or playing in them.

This book encompasses so many different types of projects. From hats to steeks, we have it all. Each pattern really builds on the previous one in terms of skill level. You could begin at the beginning and knit to the end, and find yourself in possession of just about all the skills you'd ever need as a knitter. You would also have a pretty good sized pile of finished projects! When I design things like this I think about kids I know, what they wear, and what they will wear. A simple sweater with maybe a single stripe knit in favorite colors is often a great bet for a kid. Classic, wearable, comfortable; like a cozy sweatshirt with mom or grandma or auntie's good karma knit in. Perfect!
To win today's prize answer this question in the comment section below - What is your best yarn memory? Now think about that for a minute, and let me hear your memories below!

Feet Love Cashmere - Day 8

More socks? Of course, more socks! Who's book/blog is this, anyway? What else would you expect? Today's yarn is Lion Brand Superwash Merino Cashmere, and there is enough here to knit the socks found on page 157 for most adults. The pattern makes it possible for you to knit socks for about everyone in the family, with a range of sizes (5.5 - 10 inches) and gauges (5 - 9 stitches per inch). It's a plug and play sort of pattern, or as Wiley calls them, a master pattern. The basic information is presented and you just find the numbers for your desired size and gauge, and knit away! Lion has surprised me of late with their entrance into the world of luxury, exotic and organic fibers.

This yarn is classic-worthy; a superwash merino, with nylon for stability and longevity, and just enough cashmere to make your fingers (and toes) say "Ooo...soft!" Today's lucky winner will receive three balls of this yarn in the color slate, along with a signed copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting! Lucky winner!
Maybe a knitting question today... What was the first knitted project you created, start to finish? Remember to leave a comment below answering the question of the day in order to win today's prize!

Warm Hands, Warm Heart- Day 6

The truth about working for me as a sample or test knitter is that sometimes I can hand you something scrawled on a napkin in orange crayon, and expect you to get back to me with a finished project in a week. The mittens on page 146 are an example of this rather haphazard method of tormenting these innocent volunteers. Case in point, to Katy I said "Hey, could you put a cable on there, I don't care what I trust you, just tell me what you did." She created the beautiful cabled mittens knit in Barb Parry's Upland Wool Alpaca. To me, my intrepid and longsuffering technical editor Tamara said "We need examples of these mittens in different gauges.", and I found myself knitting a pair in Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky, and a second pair in Valley Yarns Superwash DK. In three-round stripes of four colors. Kristen is one of my favorite people to throw things at. First, she throws them back. It wasn't until, I think, this project that the others found out that if Kristen decided she did not like her project she gave it back. I remember everyone slightly aghast saying "Wait. You can give them BACK? And she LETS you?". Yes, for Kristen, I will take it back. First, we appear to be (if distantly) related. Second, she's about a foot taller than me. Really, who is going to argue with someone who could step on them without much effort? I handed her Valley Yarns Berkshire and a pattern with holes in it, and said "Make mittens". They were her first. She triumphed over them, and did so beautifully!

Now you can too, thanks to the generous contribution of Webs - one skein of Berkshire will accompany your copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting, should you be declared today's winner! Oh, and the holes in the pattern? They're gone now, so you know! Just answer this question in the comments below to be entered to win! Are you craft-monogamous or do you cross-craft? Just knit? Spin? Sew? Paint? Or collect bottle caps to recycle into sweet, hip belts? Share!

You Need a Hat! - Day 4

Today we have a very special yarn to give away along with a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting. I am blessed to live where I do, smack in the middle of a region overflowing with good and better things. Barb Parry's Upland Wool Alpaca from Foxfire Fiber and Design is one of those things! Barb is a natural choice for me on so many fronts. She is an amazing woman and a tremendous survivor. She's a loving and gentle shepherd to her flocks in Shelburne Falls. She makes and dyes amazing yarns. Her yarns come into play in the book on three occasions. Hats, mittens in Upland Wool Alpaca and a lovely pullover knit in her Cormo Silk Alpaca.
Upland Wool Alpaca is a single ply yarn dyed in an amazing palate by Barb herself. I love this yarn, the heathery subtlety of the dye, the soft halo of the Alpaca that sings out on the surface of a finished project. It was a no-brainer really.

Hey, lucky winner, you get TWO skeins of this amazing yarn! If you have a smallish head and hands you could possibly get a hat (pg. 133) and mittens (pg. 146) out of the deal - not too shabby!
The question for today - remember, post your answer in the comments below to be entered - how many licks does it take to get to the center of a.... ok, maybe not. How many years have you been knitting?

More Free Stuff, Day 3!

When you are just learning a technique a small project often seems like a better idea than a big one. Sometimes you just want to DO a thing, learn a skill and move on. If you end up with something useful, even better. Today's project is "just such-a-one", as the old timers might say. In chapter 4, after you have experimented with the techniques used in circular knitting presented in chapter 2, and read a bit about potential problems in chapter 3, you can cast on and knit your first circular project. Perhaps a pair of fingerless mitts or an ear warmer, or a set of potholders knit in Lion LB Collection Organic Wool! I like potholder projects. I know some people make faces when you say the word - but here is why you shouldn't: if you make a mistake on a learning project that serves such a useful and practical purpose, the blemishes that are inevitable won't bother you nearly as much as if you had turned to page 203 and started in on a steeked cardigan (yes, there is one!). The potholder is a "safe" way to practice a new skill with minimal commitment and a useful outcome!

Start small if this is your first foray into circular knitting. Make yourself a potholder. Make a stack and give them as a housewarming or shower gift with some nice kitchen stuff from someone's registry. It's win-win, really.
Did I mention it is ORGANIC? And it is dyed in six richly saturated colors with low-impact dyes. They also have two organic cottons as well. Kudos to Lion Brand!
Ok, now, remember to post your answer to the question below to be entered to win four generous skeins of Lion Brand LB Collection Organic Wool and a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting!
The question for today - what was your best weekender, vacation, break, or mini-break ever?

Giving it All Away, Day 2!

Who loves socks? I love socks, of course! Who doesn't? (Don't answer. This here is sock territory, this is!)

There is no way that I could do a third book and not include socks. But it needed to be straightforward socks, maybe blank canvas socks for you to put your own design ideas into. In Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting there is a great adjustable pattern for making basic top-down socks in a variety of gauges and sizes. Start with a swatch and a size and build your own design, or keep it simple and work them in rib or stockinette.

One of my all-time favorite sock yarns is Valley Yarns Franklin, hand dyed by Gail Callahan, the Kangaroo Dyer.

If you haven't yet sampled some of Gail's work, you should - and here's your chance. If you're the lucky winner, knit up a pair, get a little creative with them, and come back here and tell me about it! Franklin is a durable, go-to yarn perfect for making socks for everyday wear. In fact, about half of my sock wardrobe is made in this yarn. 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, they go in and out of the washer and seem to last about forever. I have yet to wear through a pair! The yarn is available in 15 different hand dyed colors. Today's giveaway skein, a gift from Webs, is dyed in a colorway called Camo, which is a lovely sea of greens and blues and grays that puts me in mind of the Atlantic on a hazy gray day. I love it, and you, lucky winner, will as well when it arrives at your home with your signed, personalized copy of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting!

Today's question... yesterday's seemed a bit easy. Let's try something off topic, but still simple, ready? What is your dream car. Really. I mean it. I said they might not all be knitting questions. What, if you could have any car, would it be? Leave your answer in the comments below to be entered for today's drawing, and good luck!

Lucky Winners

There were lots of Ravelers in this contest. For the first time all of our winners have Ravelry accounts. Is anyone else totally blown away by how fast Ravelry has become as ubiquitous as yarn in the fiber world?

I give you the winners:

Kelly (knit4joy) said...

What a fascinating road to take, beekeeper. Such a honey of a job! The chicks are sweet and so cute, hopefully, many will become layers and will life a long and happy life.

The chicks are adorable! Some of them will grow up to be layers, that's for certain. The rest are boys, and there's only so many roosters a girl can have on ten small acres with only 25 or so hens. We'll keep 2-3 of the boys for breeding back to the girls. The rest will become part of our food web. I know this can be hard for some people to (for lack of a better word) digest. It's very important to us to know where our food comes from as much as possible. By raising these 'as hatched' or 'straight run' chicks - that means girls and boys - we're taking responsibility for all of the chicks hatched on our behalf. Many hatcheries offer pullets, which are girls. That means they have to set about twice the number of eggs as there are orders for chicks, because about half will NOT be pullets - they'll be cockerels (boys). What happens to the boys? This way, I know what happens to them, and it feels right to me. It's not for everyone, I know!

Kim (tarheelfan) said...

Would love a copy of your book and yummy yarn. I haven't done 2 at a time yet, but working my way to it as I just learned magic loop recently.

Then, Kim, this is a great book for you! Make sure you check out, if you haven't already, the 2-at-a-Time group on Ravelry. It's an awesome way to get help if you have questions, or share finished projects.

Paulette (fuzzy-slipper, who's also a homeschooler, and we all know how near and dear that is to my heart AND apparently makes some quite lovely jewelery as well!) said...

Well, you'll be happy to know that since I apparently don't travel in your circles often enough I hadn't heard of Valley Yarns before, so you weren't preaching entirely to the choir. I mostly am a "reclaimer" and a Knitpicks fan, but I loved their website and their variety. Thanks for the info.

Living as close to Webs as I do I sometimes forget that there are people out there who may not have heard of them. Their Valley Yarns are lovely. I'll add the caveat that I teach at Webs and have designed for them in the past, but trust me on this - I don't recommend yarn I don't like. I won't bash it, but I also won't mention it. This is yarn I can happily mention, recommend and stand behind!

Rosie (canadianknitter) said...

I am terribly impressed by your daughter becoming a beekeeper. Does her interest stem from the depleted bee population?

There were a few bee questions in the comments, so I'll share some answers here. Girl (who's 21 now) showed interest in bees from the time she was about 13. She's allergic to a lot of things, and we were more than a wee bit paranoid, and more than a wee bit broke (we have four kids, she's the youngest. The groceries alone...), so we delayed "the bee thing" in case she changed her mind and in the hope of better times. She did not change her mind. She studied and spent hours hounding innocent beekeepers at any public event she found them at, and many more hours begging her equally innocent mother. Bees, she said, would make my garden huge. They would make us honey. I only use about 10 pounds of honey a year. It seemed like a big investment for a meager ten pounds. Then a few years ago she became very concerned when she read an article in American Bee Journal about bees in crisis. She shared the article with me, and I became convinced that an "if not now, when?" mentality was what we needed. Small producers like we hope to be could be essential if bee numbers continue to diminish. All of a sudden keeping bees means more than just honey to us. It meant a positive step in preserving humanities access to food. Pollinators play a much bigger role in producing our food than most of us know. A family member (Cousin Gail) very generously offered to give Meg (that's Girl's real name) some of her father's (Uncle George's) bee things. It took us some more time to get established in our new home; getting our gardens in, taking out a lot of trees to make enough dappled sunlight for bees and direct sunlight for gardens to feed them properly. Finally this winter we were able to place our order from Warm Colors Apiary for a nuc, or nucleus colony of bees. I doubt that Dan Conlon the owner of Warm Colors remembers, but my daughter has, I believe, chewed his ear off with endless questions at our local fair on more than one occasion over the years. (He and any other beekeeper who wasn't moving. And some that were. But she's fast and slippery and could keep up with them when they tried to escape.)
And yes, Cheryl, my kid is totally cool. The bees are just the beginning. When she was quite young she said she wanted to learn sign language after meeting and spending time with an older girl who was deaf. We put her off on that one, too. Homeschooled through high school, when she began college the first class she registered for was American Sign Language. She came home from the first day of the first class and said, at 18 years of age, "I know what I want to do with my life." She's got a passion for ASL and the Deaf community that never ceases to move me. Once Girl sets her mind to something, there's no stopping her.
There were some chicken questions and comments too - yes, the post office delivers the chicks. They leave their 'home' as soon as they're fluffy and dry. Chicks absorb the remaining yolk into their body just before hatching, and their abdomen closes over it. They can live off the contents of that yolk sac for up to three days. The baby chicks make it from where they hatch to my door in about 36 hours. The postmaster gives us a ring and we fly down to meet them fresh off the truck. Swknits asked if the chicks were any particular breed - they're a mixed bag from an truly wonderful place called Sand Hill Preservation Center. We order assortments because they're a fun way for us to experience lots of different breeds. These chickens are mostly Red Sussex, Cuckoo Marans, Buff Cochins, and Rhode Island Reds. There's also some very fun things in this batch, like Blue Jersey Giants, Blue Laced Gold Wyandottes, Black Australorps and the "original chicken", Black Dorkings. To learn more about chicken breeds, check out Feathersite, an amazing compendium of chicken information. It is my firm belief that everyone should, if they can, have chickens in their backyard. Or in their chicken house. And with that, I give you pre-adolescent poultry at their finest. Gawky, lanky, half grown feathers and all.The butts are still fuzzy.
This is a guinea fowl. They eat ticks. I hate ticks. More on that another time.
Delightful little chick that I believe is a Dorking.
A Rhode Island Red

Another Rhode Island Red. I've had "RIR's" before, but from a commercial hatchery. There birds are nothing like commercial birds. They're super calm, and more true to their original breed than I've seen before.A smattering of baby cuteness.
More smattering.

And the finale - a Blue Jersey Giant, a Buff Cochin and the capper - a wee little Ameraucana pullet. I think she looks more like a chipmunk than a chicken. When this little girl grows up, she'll lay blue eggs. I have seven of them. The Ameraucanas did not come from Sand Hill - we got them at a poultry swap in New Hampshire. After a week in quarantine they're in with "the big birds" now, and settling in beautifully.
Knitting someday soon. I promise. Well, unless bees or chickens or the garden catch my eye and I forget to knit...

I think this calls for a celebration...

I revel in my job as a yarn enabler. I consider it my highest duty, really. A few days ago the new Valley Yarns catalog arrived on my doorstep. Or, rather, in my mail box. Valley Yarns is Webs' own line of "quality yarns at affordable prices". I have not been shy about relating my love of their yarns here and on Ravelry. Because I am not at Webs all the time I miss out on hearing some newsy bits. As a result I was happily surprised to discover that Webs is now offering new "grab bags" - not just their close-out grab bags, but a new idea where a knitter can buy a selection of one skein each of various Valley Yarns in their preferred color family. It's an excellent way to try out new yarns. This excited me. I personally remember grab bags as a kid and always delighted in them. It was just pure fun; opening the bag and poking around inside, seeing what I'd gotten for my investment. With these yarn grab bags you just can't go wrong. One skein of these yarns will, as a rule, generally be enough to knit at least a hat. The tons of patterns and books available for "One-Skein Wonders" abound. It's pretty easy to find something to make while you acquaint yourself with the yarn.

But then Kathy sprung this one on me. Webs' volume discounts will now apply to books as well as regularly priced yarn! Let's say you order yarn and books totaling $60. You'd get 20% off of your total order. Order $120, and get 25% off your order. Add in the ease of on-line ordering and getting all your items together - books and yarn (and, if you need them, needles and notions too - although these don't count toward your discount amount, why not go in for one-stop shopping?) all in the same package!

This announcement made me feel a little flush with yarny joy. Overcome, I made a decision to do another give-away! I will give away one skein of sock yarn (enough for a full pair of socks) and one signed (and personalized if you so desire!) copy of that book of mine to four random commenters on this blog. This contest will end, and names will be drawn on Saturday June 20th. All comments made through midnight of Friday June 19 will be entered in this give-away. One comment per person please! Duplicate comments will be disqualified.

And now, because I am flush with the new life around here, including my own (but more on that later), I give you food for your weekend: Chick-A-Bees!






This one is my favorite, I must say. After bugging us for 9 years (NINE, the poor deprived child) Girl is now a beekeeper, and has the sting on her neck to prove it.
I think a celebration is really required. Share in it with me and leave your comment by midnight on Friday June 19th!