Knitcircus

Mini-Retreat and Warm Browns Giveaway

Congratulations to the winners of the Sweet 16 kickoff:

anythingbutsnow on Ravelry takes home the big prize from Signature, Sincere Sheep and Yarn Hollow;

Becasue of the large volume of entires, we upped the number of runners-up to five, so knitpurlgirl, @serendipityknit, sheepishlywinkn, CarolLynn and Mujercita all get Winter Complete Collections. Winners have all been notified.

Now for more terrific prizes, see the end of the post, but first, the Knitcircus Mini-Retreat with Amy Detjen and Susan B Anderson was lots of fun. Participants worked on the Tiny Fairy from Susan's new pattern in Knit Simple, and the afternoon students learned to knit with two hands in Amy's Stranded Knitting class!

Making a fairy body

Susan gives toy stuffing tips

Amy shows what good two-color knitting can do!

Thanks to everyone who attended, and to my parents, for lending their colorful and comfortable home!

Now, for Giveaway #2

One of the Winter pattern themes is Warm Browns, so here's a Warm Browns giveaway!

 

This first lucky winner will receive a skein of Rocky Mountain Dyeworks luxury  Bow Falls Fingering, and all three winners will get a Rocky Mountain dyeworks gift bag with mini-skeins

Winner #2 will take home a skein of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter yarn

and all of the winners can enjoy a Spud and Chloe favor bag with two patterns and tape measure:

And the third lucky entrant wins a set of Debra's Garden Necessary Pins Stitch markers: all the winners also receive a Needle Inventory card from Green Mountain Spinnery.

To enter, please leave a blog comment sharing some faves from one of the websites above, or from the Winter Issue; retweeting contest announcments and/or using the hashtag #knitcircuswinter counts, too! Make sure to include your email, Twitter or Ravelry handle so we can contact you if you win.

Winners will be picked Friday, November 25th and announced with the next round of giveaways.

Happy Thanksgiving, all you Stateside knitters!

Jaala

 

Fall Knitcircus Retreat

 

my registration station early in the morning

Thanks so much to the wonderful teachers, students and vendors that made Saturday so much fun!

Choosing favorite skeins from Sun Valley Fiber Farm and The Sow's Ear: a delightful dilemma

adorable sample Mini-Sheep designed by Susan B. Anderson for the morning class

Mini-sheep in progress

Blue Lupine Mitts, by Stephannie Tallent  from an afternoon class

knitters kickin' it old school

Yum!

Next up: the Knitcircus Mini-Retreat, Saturday, November 19th.The morning class is full, and there are just a couple left in the afternoon, so if you'd like to join us, please sign up soon!

Yarny Days

It's cozy, overcast and chilly weather here. Good for making pots of Carrot Soup with mondo veggies the kids dug out of a farm garden and casting on some good knitting. Since we're also ramping up for the Winter Issue in just a few weeks and hosting two Knitting Retreats, it's not exactly sit-around-and-knit at KC central, but I'm really enjoying the cozy feeling, working on a couple of my own design projects and looking at this in the moments between.

This basket of yarn sits on my office shelf, always within easy reach, and its colors and textures soothe and inspire me by turns. Whenever I see yarn from my stash, just waiting for me to cast on, I feel lucky. And happy.

Knitcircus Podcast #4

We're happy to present Knitcircus Podcast #4!

...In which Amy saves the day, loose longtail cast-on is explained, and Jaala winds yarn on the bus.

For itunes, click here.

Wool Dispensary at Yarn Con (photo from Wool Dispensary)

Mentioned on the show:

Stitch London

Happy Fuzzy Yarn

 The Wool Dispensary

Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi

Susan B. Anderson

Principles of Knitting

Trisha Malcolm, Editor of Vogue Knitting

Vogue Knitting Live

Kaffe Fassett

Yarn Con Chicago

Oh, and about Podcast #3, we want to make sure it's clear that Signature Needlearts, while they do provide excellent customer service, will only replace needles with a manufacturing defect.

Thanks for listening!

 

Amelia Earhart Bomber Hat Valley Yarns Giveaway

The giveaway Return to Fall Knitting Festival continues!

And the winner of Wendy Knits Lace is: angifitz on Ravelry

Three more winners will receive a Knitcircus Fall Pattern Collection:

sharrylee on Ravelry, sandyZ, and  ConnieMcG

Today's Giveaway: Amelia Earhart Bomber Hat Kits!

WEBS  has generously provided enough Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky for TWO kits, one purple, as shown, and one their Colonial (#40)  Blue. This quick-knit pattern from the Fall Knitcircus, by Quenna Lee, isn't just for kids, though our models were so cute we couldn't resist this shot. I finished one in one weekend, and found the lace intuitive and pattern fun to work.

WEBS was the first place I ever ordered yarn online; I had learned to knit recently, and my friend, who always had good ideas and had discovered a Debbie Bliss baby book, showed me the site and convinced me to go in on an order with her, because we'd get a discount that way. I couldn't believe so many yarns existed, and browsed the pages with growing excitement. Our then-budget didn't allow much wiggle room, so the WEBS' house brand Valley Yarns gave me a chance to try a Merino-Bamboo blend  and make my first lace scarf!

A family-run business for two generations, WEBS was passed on to trusted family friends Steve and Kathy Elkins; who stock almost every yarn under the sun and offer discounts the more fiber you buy! Their much-beloved podcast Ready, Set, Knit, offers yarn insights, glimpses of their family life and interviews with top designers.

For a chance to win an Amelia Earhart Bomber Hat kit (yarn and pattern) please comment below, making sure to tell us your email, twitter or Ravelry ID, with your favorite Valley Yarn, or who you know that would love this hat.  Two runners-up will receive Knitcircus Fall Pattern Collections. Winners will be picked by Random Munber Generator Friday morning.

So Much Sock Yarn...

 
If you're getting ready to make the trip to Portland for Sock Summit, doing the Couldn't Foot It Challenge, or just like a pretty sock pic on a Friday:

 

This skein of Penny Farthing Sock just came in from Little Red Bicycle--my new fiber-love.  Can't wait to see the rest of Didi's line at Sock Summit!

Kitchen Sink Dyeworks: yum!

 

 Stricken Smitten (shown in the form of Jera Socks).

Have a great weekend, and stay cool!

Jaala

patterns and yarn and books, oh my!

More goodies for the retreat; it's coming up in eight days! This little gem of a pattern was supplied by Stick Chick Knits.

Yum; some door prizes for lucky attendees: one of four printed books of Fickleknitter's 15 Lace Designs e-book and some SpringTree Road hand-dyed sock yarn in Olivine.

On my needles: I still harbor wistful delusions that I'll be wearing this Summer Knitcircus design at the Retreat. Summer's really shaping up, by the way! Can't wait to share some sneak peeks with you soon...

In Retreat news,

Amy Detjen's Two-Color Knitting Class has filled up and we've got a waiting list going;  her Lace 101 class from 9-12 still has some openings, and the other two classes still have room for more, so it's not too late to sign up!

Goodies Galore & Spring Giveaway

Treats are starting to pour into KC headquarters for the Spring Knitting Retreat favor bags. Check out these elegant, sparkly stitch markers courtesy of Lima Pop Shoppe!

...And, Rob at Skacel Collection promised something fabulous, and boy, did they deliver: a huge box arrived yesterday with a ball of yarn and pattern for every attendee!

I pretty much can't stop saying , "Wow," at the generosity of our sponsors for the Retreat. It's going to be so much fun...

Don't worry, if you're attending the Retreat, you'll still have surprises...

...And if Wisconsin's just too far to travel, we don't want to leave you out of the party. So I hereby declare this a Spring Giveaway Weekend!

For some delightful knitting jewelry of your own, a set of Lima Pop Shoppe markers!

And for a fun Spring knitting party, a skein of Kollage's Fantastic in Olive,and a set of coasters from Cake Letter Press.

One winner will enjoy a spring boost with all three of these prizes, and three runners-up will jump into the season with free Knitcircus Pattern Collections from the current Spring Issue.

Just leave a comment here or on our Knitcircus Rav group, or tweet with the hashtag #kcgiveaway, telling us what kinds of projects your mind turns to at this time of year. Is it finishing up that sweater you wanted to have done this cold season, getting out lacy socks, knitting up shower gifts, starting a log cabin quilt or putting it all down to plant seeds and bulbs? Let us know! And if it's warm where you are, please tell us so we can live vicariously through you. :)

Winners will be picked by the Random Number Generator sometime this Monday, March 28th.

Knit-In Goodness

Ravelry folks were so kind, and sweet, and down-to-earth the way you know the Ravelers would be. Loved the way they told the story of beginning the site and being so excited when seven people were on it all at the same time. Even though it was the end of a long day in which they gave two talks, they graciously posed for a pic with me. It was so satisfying to get to thank them in person for being so small-business-friendly and making the site accessible to organizations like KC; Rav ads send 15% of our readers to the magazine.

Big props to Creative Director Tracy for creating the shirt I was sporting there;

Some fun handscreened prototypes...

We're flirting with the idea of offering Knitcircus swag, t-shirts, bags and the like, and Tracy used the graphics she designed for our Treasure Hunt for a festive look.

Now for the yarny goodness:

 

Delicious Sun Valley Fiber Farm yarns...

By dint of promising to review yarns and use skeins for designer support, many lovely vendors sent me home with mementos: The only caveat is that I get to fondle, but not keep these skeins. It's like fostering cute little kittens without the midnight face-pouncing. (Purl, by the way, lives up to the kitten stereotype by liking nothing better than to gnaw my WIP yarn to pieces).

Yarn Hollow, Briar Rose, Ogle Design, Happy Hands...yum!

More Knit-In fun; I gotto take Franklin's Lace Edgings class and shoot the breeze and shop the yarn with Katie Mayer, our Yarn Stylist author and Loop blog writer. Thanks for the ride home, Katie!

 

Hope everyone's having a spring-y Monday,

Jaala

 

Scarf Design Contest Underway!

It's prime time to send in your Health and Love Scarf Design Contest Entries! The winning design will be worked up for you in this luscious Briar Rose hand-dyed yarn for the Fall 2011 Issue.

You don't have to be able to draw like Dani Berg; just get into your happy place and find a couple of stitches you love to knit or have always wanted to try, and knit up a swatch. Send some pics and basic info to me at [email protected] and you'll be done! Click here for official pdf of info .

 

Beside the chance to win wonderful prizes donated by Handwerks, Krafti-Kit, Jed's Joy, Shannon Okey, Knitcircus and Lima Pop Shoppe, your design will be used by knitters to cheer people with heart disease and their families.

The Madison chapter of Womenheart wanted a pattern they could use with wool and hand-dyes, so you can help them create beautiful handworked scarves for members currently facing or surviving heart disease. The winning pattern will be made available for free to Womenheart and other charity knitting organizations on the Knitcircus site in perpetuity to honor their spirit of generosity.

 So get out your needles and that favorite stitch dictionary and create a project which will have a positive ripple effect.

Looking forward to seeing your entries,

Jaala