Happy Anniversary!

First off, I want to thank all of you for your kind words and support.  Once again, I am stunned at the open hearts and minds of the knitting community.  Thank you, with all my heart.

Now, last year on this date I started this blog.  I didn't know what it would become or the things that would happen in the last year.  I didn't know how many wonderful people I would meet through the blog, or how much life would change.

So welcome to our paper anniversary!

In celebration of every step of the way so far, I'm giving away some full projects.  I've got patterns, I've got yarns, and I've got some secret goodies to go with them!

Without further ado, here are the details.
First up is a weekend project.  Something you can finish in a weekend, and that will be useful.  I use this myself all the time, and I knit them up for friends as well.

Dangerous Curves Market Bag!

This is a good project for a beginning knitters.  It uses slipped stitches, knitting back and forth, picking up stitches, knitting in the round, and the most basic of lace.  It's designed to allow you to carry back your goodies without breaking your long breads and it is washable to boot.

The yarn to make this is in blue rather than red, and I'm including enough to make a 2nd smaller bag.  Here are the skeins in question:

blue cottons, cable construction

Our small project is something a little different.  Colorwork.  Shown below as a tam

And here on my model (bribed with hot chocolate) shown as the slouchy version.

This is a small project that uses faux-fair isle techniques.  The yarn for the giveaway includes enough to knit both hats.

Next up, our medium project.  This is a smoke ring, a loose lace cowl knit using 2 strands of lace-weight yarn to make up a heavier weight.  First, my increasingly antsy model wearing it:

And now the yarns

This project actually has 3 different sizes/patterns in it and the winner has a choice of greens or the neutrals shown on little man above.

And finally, the large project.  I'm going to send the winner of this project a fully written out version of the serious scarf pattern.  A copy of this pattern will be offered for free on the original page within the next week, but in .pdf format instead of just the recipe instructions.  I'm hoping to encourage more masculine lace!

And to create your scarf (or lap blanket, etc), I have 10 skeins of Elann's peruvian highland bulky

In a gorgeous almost-navy color.

I know my modeled shots of the other items are not fabulous, but I will be putting up better ones soon.  I have a date with a friend who has agreed to model.  I won't have to chase her around the house begging, "please just let me take the picture."  I know, very novel!

Giveaway details!  To enter, simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite kind of knitting is.  Is it fair-isle?  Is it lace?  Is it cables?  Inquiring minds want to know.  Please include some contact information so I can contact you to get you your goodies.  This will be open until August 26 at 11PM Eastern.  Winners will be announced on the 27th.

Thank all of you for your support and encouragement!  You've made this last year a delight, and I hope to harass you with posts for many many years to come.

Happy Anniversary!

Friday Winners, and a Thank You

You guys are really too much.  I can't thank you enough for participating in these little give-aways.  I've had so much fun, and from what you've said you are too.  I'm grateful and happy that you all have enjoyed this as much as me.

This is the final prize I have to give out from this series, and I used child labor to pull names once again (don't worry, the child is rewarded with toast with honey on top so he feels it's fair).  I have to admit that this time only one of the winners expressed an interest in a particular object, so I also popped the yarns into a bag and let him pull them out to match them with the winners. 

So, for the Alice with Flamingo bag and the silk dk we have Penny who said:
WOW!! Look at these yummy giveaways!! Lovely. The yarns all look so breathtaking. I love all three project bags as well! :)

For the daylily bag and the prism blues we have Mujercita who said:
That blue laceweight and Daylily bag is beautiful. It's so nice of you to be doing giveaways like this!

And last but not least we have Girlieknitwit who said:
These giveaways have been the highlight of my summer (so far) These new prizes are just too awesome. Those project bags are phenomenal. You do beautiful work. Thanks to much for your generosity and the fun of this!!

I wish I had enough to give to everyone who entered, you've all been just wonderful through the whole thing and I love sharing :)

This brings our give-aways for the Fiber Fair to a close for 2011.  I hope all of you had as much fun as I did and that everyone gets a chance to go to one of these sometime soon.

I hope everyone will check back around August 17, as I'm working on a project giveaway for the 1 year anniversary of this blog and all the craziness and joy around it.  Just between you & me, I'm putting together a large project, a medium project, a small project, and a single-skein weekend project.

There will be some changes with the blog, and I've got a stack of FO to 1 block and 2 post about in the next few days of the 3 day weekend.  I realized I must block when I saw this waiting for me:

Erm, that color combination can't be allowed to continue, so the blocking must be accomplished.  Thanks again everyone, and congratulations to the winners.  You've really made this fun, and I hope to do it again next year after the 2012 fiber festival!

Final Festival Friday

Okay, so this is the last Friday I'll be posting about the NH Sheep and Wool Festival.  I really want to thank everyone who participated, it's been a lot of fun!

Let's jump right in with the winners!

The winner of the Cinder is Knittingdancer who said:
I have never been to a fiber fair. I don't think they have them in Alabama or in the south. 

I hope you find a fiber festival in your area, they're a lot of fun!

Next up for the pretty pink laceweight is Renee Anne who said:
I like yarn. I don't really care which one I get...because I like yarn. However, I am not a "pink" person, nor do I really like laceweight so maybe not the pink laceweight one...but, if it's lovely yarn, then I don't really care. I do have some pink in my stash (lovely sock yarn from Kiparoo Famrs in Middletown, MD) and I do have some laceweight from various places.

What can I say? I have a problem.....

I can completely relate.  And it's not a problem, it's a passion ;-)

And finally for that gorgeous red alpaca and silk we have girlieknitwit who said:
I would love to go to SAFF in Asheville. It is not too far away but it will have to wait until my kids are older. I will go one day though.
When the kids are out of the house I may just make a round of it and try to hit every one. Wouldn't that be awesome!!

That sounds like a plan.

Now, the random winners of independent dyer yarn (randomly pulled from the people who entered but didn't win in the previous giveaways):

For the DyeforWool yarn, we have JoyceAnna who likes DK to knit with best.

For the Woolen Rabbit yarn, we have sch4gaters who is going to love her independent dyer!

For the RandomKnitLab yarn, we have BarbaraChan who loves greens.  I'm hoping this gives you some great inspiration!

For my last giveaway post, I'm doing something a little different.  This is more about thanking all of you who participated and whose comments have brought me a bright spot in weeks filled with a lot of hard things.  I am constantly humbled by the good hearts of the knitters around me.  So thank you all so very much!

To celebrate the last post in this series, I'm giving away 3 projects with bags.  To wit:

Alice with Flamingo project bag, 100g of silk singlespun dk weight

blue prism laceweight and glorious daylily project bag

mucha inspired knitter's all-project bag, 2 skeins malabrigo laceweight

Thank you again to everyone who enters, and I hope your knitting treats you well

It's that time again!

Hello!
Welcome back to the Fiber Festival Friday where I share the fun of the NH Sheep and Wool Festival with folks all over the all over.  I'm enjoying this so much, I think I'm going to do it every year.

Anyway, on to the winners.

For the faded blues Mocha's Fiber Designs, we have GailGodwin who said:
My favorite color is the copper penny. But would love any of the colors that you have. I can't beleive all of the beautiful yarn.

For the Lilipad colorway, we have FelicityS who said:
I know EXACTLY what you mean about the lilypad colorway!! I love blue/green combinations with a passion but all the colors in nature are wonderful. Thank you for the opportunity to win something so lovely.

Congratulations!

Now, for the Tanis Fiber Arts Skein in Mallard, we have Mujercita who said:
My favorite color family is definitely blues- there is no contest there! I love a nice pretty blue! Throw in some purple or green with it, and I'm thrilled (that Arauncania skein you have up there? I have that colorway in my stash!) The Tannis fiber arts skein is BEAUTIFUL!

For the Araucania blues and purples, we have LynnIL from the previous post who said they love Sanguine Gryffon as their favorite independent dyer.

And for the Copper Penny we have GreyOwl who said:
 Blues, blues, and more blues! My favorite and a color that looks good on everyone! But I have to say that the copper penny would look lovely on my oldest daughter

Now on to this week's giveaway!

This week, one of each of these beauties:

will be going home with a lucky commenter.

These are from the ball and skein booth, and I had a REALLY hard time choosing.  Never mind getting in the booth itself... these folks have been very popular every time I've gone.

The top one is a fingering weight MCN blend in colorway Cinder.  It's a gorgeous combination of greys, and in a fingering weight with a nice tight twist to it.  It should wear well.

The bottom one is what appears to be roughly 600 yards of heavy lace weight.  The yarn is not on their site, it's named Nerissa and it's in colorway orchid.  This is a 60% seacell, 40% silk combination.  I LOVE knitting with seacell/silk.  I knit it every chance I get, and every person I've given an object made out of this blend falls in love with it too.  I wish more dyers offered it!

Also, there are these from Owl Brook Alpacas Farm

it's ~ 300 yards of alpaca/silk blend in a worsted weight.  Gorgeous red!  It's hard to capture with the camera.  To enter for one of these 3 different prizes, just leave a comment telling me which fiber fair you like to go to (or would like to go to if you haven't had the fun yet) and a way to contact you.  Winners will be announced on June 24.

And finally, for fun, I'm putting the names of the folks who haven't won yet back in the hat to get one of these three beauties each from independent dyers:

Happy Knitting!!

Fiber Festival Friday returns!

ETA:  this giveaway is now closed, but we have a new one up.  Also all folks who entered into this giveaway are being entered into the "I'm sorry my job is evil" giveaway as well.

This week has been insane to put it lightly.  I did get a little knitting in a park in Boston, but it's been yarn-light around here for far too long.

So first things first, our winners from last week's blog post.  Same short-guy generated winners,

First up we have Greywolfie, who posted:

Hi, the yarns are so pretty..!
I've not tried anything other then DK yet..so if I were to choose I'll go for the lace weight..

Next up, is lorraine, who said:

id have to say lace right now..im into making shawls and i love the yardage on some of these hanks..thanks so much fot the giveaway! 

And last, but not least, we have craftink who said:

I like both sport weight and lace. Oh you can never choose with yarn! evrey single skein is just adorable with unlimited potential!

Little man pulled, and we've matched up the yarns with the names and emails are about to go out to the winners.  Congrats to all!!

This week, I have some goodies from a dyer whose cycles I always miss online... the colors I love best are always sold out.  And for good reason.  I found the Dirty Water Dyeworks booth and did a happy dance.  Luckily, the nice woman there didn't run away in fear.  I suspect she gets these reactions from most of the knitters who manage to hunt her down in person.

She does some beautiful work, and the color depth is just luscious.  I've photographed these skeins separately, because photographed together I couldn't capture the beauty of the yarns.

First up, we have:

360 yards of glorious blues and greens in 50/50 merino/tencel.  Drool worthy colors, soft pet-able fibers.... what's not to love??

Next up:

 Such gorgeous blue.  A generous 401 yards, AND 100% superwash BFL.  Did I mention BFL, in superwash??  It's just lovely.  I'm not a big blue fan, but this I could not leave behind.

And finally, this cutie:

75% superwash merino, 25% nylon in sexy peacock greens.  It is lovely.  And an even more generous 464 yard hank.  Sure, you could make socks with this.  But I bet you know what I'd rather make with it hehe

So, because I'm a bad blogger but a good shopper, I got enough for me and enough for the blog!  One of each of these skeins will go home to a commenter.  Just leave a comment telling me who your favorite independent dyer is, and a method to contact you, and I will be posting one winner for each of the skeins next Friday.

Previous weeks winners can always put their name back in the hat.  If I get more than 15 entries, I use random.org otherwise little man chooses our winners.

Err, and I'll be back at home again next week, so I'll be able to blog more and have the winners up at a more reasonable time.  Congrats to all!!

Fiber Festival Friday, winners and next giveaway!

ETA:  This giveaway is now closed, check out the latest give-away here in this post.

Let's start the day off right!  Through the random magic of little man and a bowl full of strips of paper, the winners of the first festival giveaway have been revealed.  I was pretty stoked because the winners actually chose opposite yarns, and I don't have to make an administrative decision that might make someone sad.

So, name number one is Michaela who said
"Wow, this is really beautiful yarn, and the colours are prefect for summer. Suddenly I've got lemons and peaches on my mind :) I love the yellow/golden yarn- I think it would be perfect for a shawl such as "Citron"."

And here's what is shipping to you:

And winner number two is GailGodin who said:
"the orange color is one of my favorites. I would make a shawl or something lovely to show off that gorgeous shimmer!"
Here's your care package waiting to go:

Contact is about to go out, and congrats to the winners!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

On to new business.  While I was at the fiber festival, I ran into one of my favorite fiber artists with a new name.  The artist behind Sereknity Fiber Arts has re-branded because people were having a hard time finding her with her original name.  You can now find her at Mad Color Fiber Arts.  Definitely check her out, she's going to be running contests and giveaways for a while to celebrate the rename.

While I was there, I picked up two skeins of lace-weight blue silk and linen yarn perfect for a summer weight something.  The best part about a silk/linen blend is that it will work even for folks with hair-fiber allergies.  Here's what I couldn't walk away from:

So, one for me one for the blog!

But while I was thinking about it, the prize stack seemed a little light.  To sweeten things a little, I went into my stash and pulled 2 of the artist's standard colorways.  This week, our giveaway is one skein of variegated blues in lace-weight silk and linen, one skein of superwash sock weight in colorway black pearl, and one skein of sport weight greens.  See, aren't they pretty??

As last time, one winner for each color/weight of yarn.  To enter, just leave a comment telling me what your favorite weight yarn is and why as well as a little bit on how to contact you.

Next Friday (June 3) I will announce winners on this, and put up the next batch of giveaway goodies.
Happy knitting!!

portable camera be darned, fiber festival goodies part 1

 ETA: this giveaway is now closed, congrats to Michaela and GailGodwin!
Check our next giveaway now live at this link.

Ok, I wasn't able to find the specialized cable for my point & click camera.  I realize that this doesn't bode well for what I'll be cleaning (and how many bad words I'll be taking out and examining) this weekend, but I'll keep looking.... and if I can't find that I'll order a new one.  Take that, technology!

I got a question about the hoodie, which will make an appearance or 4 in the festival post once I manage to get the photos off the point-n-click.  The yarn is Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Superwash, and I picked it up at Webs.  Color 32.  The boarder is in Plymouth Encore color 0240.  The Oatmeal contrast band is just a small band of 2 rows of garter stitching, and then 2 rows of k1, s1 with color held to RS of work, then 2 rows garter stitch.  I'm glad you like it!

I was pretty excited to see the comments on Mom's sweater!  I spent nights up knitting it, and ended up knitting it in 5.5 days over coffee and tears because our ancient cat chewed on the original yarn I'd started knitting it in the first time.  He loves alpaca, and he's ~14ish, so I have to hide my alpaca yarn if I don't want it to be suckled into non-existence.  I foolishly didn't, and ended up buying the Vintage on May 7th for a sweater I had planned to finish for May 5th.

This was Mom's anniversary present, Dad's was supposed to be a gift certificate for Audible but Audible closed down their gift center.  But that's a tale for another blog post.

Anyway, folks are really here for yarn!

So let me introduce you to today's Friday Yarny Goodness:

Yum!

Okay, so as the tag shows, today's yarn feast was purchased at the End of the World Farm booth.  There were a few vendors at this year's Fiber Festival that I was hoping to see.  This wasn't one that I had planned on, but their display was so visually stunning that I ended up running back and buying the above.

This yarn is 100% Tencel.  It drapes and knits like a tightly spun silk, but it is machine wash and dryable.  It's also nigh-unto-impossible to snap.  I don't recommend trying it, it will leave serious dents in your fingers.  On the other hand, the lovely folks at the booth said that tencel yarn wears like steel.  It's tough as nails.  And soft and cuddly, and LOOK at those colors!!

So, although I hadn't planned on them being a highlight of my trip... well, they were.  And a wonderful one to boot.

This is a heavy-lace weight yarn in my book.  And it ladders just like silk if you drop a stitch.  But the drape!  The coolness... it will make perfect warm weather things.

So without further ado, the first of the free yarn!  The lovely gold and orange yarn are in need of owners, and I know there are people who are in need of some really awesome yarn.  I am ashamed to admit, I've already knit up the red... one skein makes a perfect Joie shawl... and I've been arguing with myself about giving away those gorgeous sunny colors.  But I'm going to do it!  Captain Alpaca says it must be done:

If I fight with Captain Alpaca, he might wake me up again in the morning.  And as lovely as he is, he's a bit unnerving full in the face at 5 AM.

So, to enter just leave a comment about what you'd like to try in Tencel and a method to reach you.  One winner for yellow and one for orange will be announced next Friday, and when they're announced the next batch of festival goodies will go up.

When you win, so do I!

Okay, so first I want to thank everyone who left a comment about their favorite way to beat the winter blues!  I read every comment & thought the range of things we do was just amazing and occasionally truly inspired.

I also want to thank the fine people at Ravelry and Wiknit for making it possible for this little contest to get so many great entries!

Here's what everyone's been waiting for:

Our first winner!

The great random voice said that Skaro964 is our first winner.  Here's the comment that won:

hot cocoa definitely doesn't hurt :)

You get the Ella Rae!  And I'll send as well my recipe for a shorty cowl, which takes one ball of this for an adult, feel free to ignore it or use it.

Congrats!

Our second winner is:

Entry 61!

This entry is by Affiknitty, and here's the comment

Planning a spring garden sounds really good.

You get the Cascade 220 handpaints.  And I'm tossing in a set of felted bag patterns which would be lovely in these colors.  Again, they are for fun and are not mandatory.

Congrats to you too!

Our third winner was also randomly generated

Comment 26!

Comment 26 is by Knittingdancer from Ravelry.  Here's the winning comment:

Bright colors work well for me too :)

You win the skein of scarlet fleece sock yarn!  I'll also be sending a recipe for a great winter scarf.  Ignore, use, trade, or trash as it amuses you.

cool colors

Congrats!

Thanks again to everyone who entered!  As I get my stash organized I'll likely be doing more giveaways.  I know I have yarn that I love but will never reach for because it's a color I like to look at but maybe not so much work with...  and it all deserves a place where someone will love it AND use it.  I'll also be doing a giveaway after the NH Sheep and Wool Festival in May.  We have a lot of great folk in fiber here, and I will be sharing the love.

Emails will go out shortly to our winners (typing takes me a little right now), and the packages will be on their way!

Thanks to all the folks who wished me a speedy recovery on the broken wrist!  I appreciate it so much!

@Sara  That version of Kisses Sweeter than Wine is one that my husband introduced me to.  We both loved the song, but he found it on a CD that was a tribute to Pete Seeger.  Lots of great artists on it.  I'm really glad you like it!

So, for the moment, that's all she's got to write.  Thanks to everyone, and everyone who made it to the bottom of the post!

the power of wool compels you

Wow, I hadn't anticipated the response to the giveaway when I posted it on ravelry! I guess that was pretty silly of me. I mean, they've got over 1 million user accounts now.... and none of us joined because we dislike yarn and the many things yarn can do.

Actually, I'm excited to have so many interesting and often quirky and fun suggestions for the winter blues. All of the entries so far are fabulous. I'm enjoying hearing about what folk do, and what they sometimes avoid doing in the winter months.

The giveaway is ongoing until midnight January 9, and winners will be drawn and announced on the 10th.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've been fighting one handed typing up my patterns and doing sneaky knitting.  I can't knit for long with the cast, and having only my off hand as my primary knitting engine has changed my tension.  It has made me something of a tight knitter so I am not/cannot work on the projects I started before the fall.  It occurred to me that, given the nature of lace, even if I post what I'm working on it is unlikely anyone will be able to identify it.  That frustrating thought in tow, I've snapped this:

look, ma, no hands ;-)

While I'm thinking about good things, I wanna thank my little band of loyal readers.  You know who you are, and so do I.  Even though I'm too much of a pleeb to figure out how to respond to comments, I do read every single one.  And they mean a lot. 

This afternoon, I'm editing pictures to do the finished object posts I've been meaning to do.  I have 4 FOs that I need to get documented;  I will answer the questions that were asked about my INSANE FO in its post.  I haven't forgotten, I promise.  :)

I just want to say thank you again for the encouragement.  Knitters on the web, you rock!

lady sings the blues, giveaway 2

ETA:  Contest now closed, please enjoy the comments!  And thank you to all who entered!

The end of 2010 went out with a bang.  Given all that happened last year, it's with mixed feelings that we bid it good-bye.  It's kind of like the song "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."  There was a lot of sad, bad, and just plain confusing.  But there was also good company, fine friends, laughter, love, and the joy of life.

Good-bye 2010, you won't be forgotten.

With a new year to try to remember to put on random paperwork, I figure let's start on the right note!

It's Monday, the sky is the kind of blue poets can't seem to do justice to, there's turkey soup simmering in the kitchen (thank you Mommy!), and I've been feeling creative.  So, here's a new giveaway in the new year to celebrate all of our creativity.

Sorting through the stash, I found these beauties:


2 Skeins of Cascade 220 handpaint (worsted)

blues, greys, purples

One skein of Ella Rae Latte (Chunky)

Royal blue, made with milk

And finally one skein Scarlet Fleece It's Tubular (Sock weight)

purples, blues, blacks

There will be 3 winners for this giveaway, and I'll toss in a set of free instructions for a winter project for each in case the winners want a little inspiration.  The winners can use said instructions to make something, to light a fire, or even to line pet cages.   *Insert knit-eating grin here*

So, here's the details:
Leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite way to beat winter blues is.  On January 10, I'll use the lovely random number generator to pick some winners, and then ship the loot post-haste.  I will announce here, and email winners (leave an email where I can contact ya?  I really do want to get prizes out so folk can enjoy them!!) to let them know as well.

Without further ado, 2010, here's your (non-traditional version of this) song

The post you've been waiting for (me too)!

So here we are, and I'm all a-twitter.  First I want to thank the lovely folks who commented & gave me some direction.  I really appreciate the feedback, it helps me to not be a ruthless tyrant concerned with ruling the world.  You know, on a knitting scale.

Since we had 5 total comments, I didn't use the random number generator (random.org).  I used the time-tested child labor.

So we started like this:

All of our lovely commenters!

Which were separated, and put into this:

My black sheep mug.

Then I demanded help from the most random person in the house

He puts his hands in that mug all the time, this time he just had permission to do it.

At which point, the hand of fate chose names

So we made a list of the names pulled out in order as so

Read like knitting chart, bottom up.

If we recall from the original post, each name was entered to win one of the prizes being offered.  In that post there were only 3 prizes, so you  may be wondering why we pulled all 5 names.  Before I get into the next bit, let me explain.  I decided that the pool of candidates was not so large to choose from that everyone couldn't be a winner in our first giveaway.  So I set up a bag of goodies, and let little man pull the yarn for the names.  Because the 2 additional prizes are (in my opinion) just as fabulous as the originals, they were put in there for everyone to benefit from as well.

The yarn bag

So, as it stands we have 5 winners, yaaaaaaaaay!

First name pulled was One Sheep.  Little man pulled this from the yarn bag first.  He says it is very soft.

He's right, this is sooo soft to knit with.  Hope you love it!!

The next name pulled was Graywolfie.  And from the bag o goodies, our little man snagged one of our surprise goodies.  You get one of my favorite colorways in one of my favorite blends!

300 yards silk/wool blend in colorway indecita

Next up is Kitten with Whiplash!  Little man pulled out this prize for you from the bag of yarn.

You grabbed the cashmere/mink!

My cats love my cashmere/mink shawl, so I hope you'll love your cashmere mink yarn!

Next, the small hand of fate chose TuttleDB.  And for your prize, he pulled a fun one.

Fleece Artist!!

I was surprised that the Fleece Artist yarns made it until last, but the boy is completely random.  He declairs this yarn to be soft and woolie.

Last, but not least, the boy pulled DMPattersall.  The last yarn to be pulled was waiting for you, but I hope you won't be disappointed!

fleece artist blue faced leicester

Be aware, this contains higher lanolin content, and so smells a little closer to the sheep.  It is soft, the nature of the wool is to have a natural sheen, and it feels divine to knit.  550 fingering weight yards of one of my favorite Fleece Artist Colorways in one of my new favorite fibers!

Congrats to all of you!!  And thank you all for your feedback and encouragement.  Please email me privately where you want your prizes sent!!  Email to marveloustoy @ yahoo . com (remove the spaces, and it will get to me) and I'll pop your loot in the mail!  I've taken the liberty of emailing the folks whose emails addresses I can access.  But Graywolfie and TuttleDB, I need to hear from both of you as I haven't been able to snag your mail addresses (possibly due to being blind or crazy).

Edited to add:  If you like someone else's prize better, feel free to haggle.  Just let me know what you decide amongst yourselves :)

Okay, thank you all for reading this far, and happy knitting.