random driveby post

So, I had all these good intentions to blog more frequently this week.  I forgot I'm still covering for one of my coworkers, whose accounts are utterly filled with crazy people.  Those aren't the words I've been using all day today, but they'll work.  I'm too tired for vitriol tonight.

So, in no particular order, here are the things I photographed today.

In order to keep colors from blending where I don't want them to, I do a single color per day on each of these.  Today was yellow on concalls day.

I keep wishing for snow.  Thinking about snow.  Contemplating a nice fire and a white-out outside.  I think it has to do with these 2 above....  the left is knit with a single strand of elann baby peruvian lace and a single strand of elann silken kidd.  The right is knit in cashmere.  Touching them is like a pile of downy goodness.

As you can see, wishful thinking abounds here today.  Both of those are projects I'd like to see on the needles in short order.  But first I have to free up the 60 inch, size 3us needles for the red.

And finally I'm debating some possibilities for the 1 year anniversary.  I like this dyer a lot, and these skeins are random madness.  Gotta love me some random madness.

I actually want/need to do another thank you post because I got a buncha unexpected goodies in the mail today.  I can see that some of them were posted a while ago, so I know my main branch office has been behind(?) playing games (?) having a bad month (?) as well.  I'm just so touched, I owe them their own post.  I won't forget, but want to photograph in natural light so that everyone can see how cool and uplifting they are.

Hope your week involves keeping cool and knitting lots!

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

small delay

Today's winners will be announced this evening.  I've got something good up my sleeve, but need to photograph it before I can announce.  Look for a post around 6PM ET, and thank you to everyone for entering and playing along!

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!!

Not good Artfire

My Subscription Details
Next Payment Date: 06/21/2011
Last Payment: 05/22/2011
Subscription Cycle: 1 Month

So, when you downgraded my account on the 9th in the middle of a billing cycle 11 days BEFORE payment was due...
So, when the settings to send any notifications to my personal email didn't...
So, when I attempt to change from the card that was de-activated and replaced by my bank (due to a security problem that didn't originate with me) and no browser will put the form through.....

Not Cool Artfire.

a day late but I brought the cake

Ok, I have to apologize again for being utterly swamped at work and having it overflow into my non-work happy time.  I actually work in a technical field, primarily with unix, and I got bunch of  new responsibilities and additional projects to work on.  I'd weep from the stress but the job is what funds my eating, my kids going to school and (let's face it) my yarn habit.

Let me jump right in and announce the winners from last week:

These were pulled using child-powered paper-slip technology and just matched to the skeins from top to bottom.  I'll be emailing the winners separately afterward, but it's fun to see who gets the goodies.

First up, for the lovely silvery-greens and blues we have Girlieknitwit who said:

 I have never use an indpendent dyer before, shameful, I know but am going to look into it now. There are always the budget issues but I love some of the colors that people come up with!! They are so lovely sometimes it is hard to decide just what it will become.

Next for the BFL we have Knitsensei who said:

I have never bought any yarn from an indie dyer...I feel deprived :( I'd love to throw my hat back into the ring from last week.

And finally, for those luscious greens, we have Beki who said:

This is a TOUGH question.
Dyeobolical... http://www.dyeabolicalyarns.com/
Turtlepurl... http://www.artfire.com/users/Turtlepurl
Happy-Go-Lucky... http://www.happygoluckyyarn.com/

I think my favorite is the Soft Shell Turtle Toes base from Turtlepurl. 

I am really excited to be introducing knitters to an independent dyer's work!  I want to thank all of the people who entered, I haven't had time to go through all of the links and names that were provided yet but am sincerely looking forward to it.

Next up, we have Mocha's Fiber Designs.  She does some very beautiful and subtle things with color.  Right now she's working through some of her existing yarn bases in order to introduce some new ones, so not all of the categories (worsted hand paints in particular) have a ton to show.  

I was very excited to see this booth in person.  I probably could have spent the entire day there just oohing and aahing and petting the gorgeous yarn.  Her pictures are good on the site, but they don't capture the magic that goes into her creations. 

I am sad that I only have 2 skeins of Mocha's amazing yarn to give away.  But they are beauties, so let's get to it.

First up, 875 yards of  80% BFL 20% silk in blues like your favorite pair of old jeans:

This is a little more blue than in real life, it's a bit more grey in person.  And just like those favorite jeans it's soft and comforting to the touch.

Next, we have 875 yards of 80% merino 20% silk.  I have been having such a hard time parting with this one, I've had to already wrap it up with goodies so I couldn't get too attached:

Oh lilypad colorway... where have you been all my life?

I really wish I'd picked up a few more skeins from all of the vendors I've shared so far, which just goes to show that the folks at this year's fair were in great form.

Now, to apologize for the lag in yesterday's post I went ahead and pulled a few things from my personal stash that I love.  Everyone who entered last week's giveaway and everyone who enters this week's giveaway will be popped into the pot for the skeins below. 

From independent dyer Tanis Fiber Arts we have a skein of her blue label yarn in colorway Mallard:

Next up is a skein of Araucania's superwash merino, silk, and bamboo sock weight

And finally, a skein of one of my favorite Madelinetosh colorways.  Merino lite in copper penny:

So, to enter this week's giveaway all you need to do is leave a comment by Friday June 17 telling me what your favorite color family to knit with is (and a way to reach you). 

Happy knitting!

postponed

Due to work insanity beyond my control, today's fiber festival post and the winners of the last batch of yarns needs to be delayed.  I apologize, and I will come up with some stuff to make it up to you guys.  I will be on tomorrow, I just haven't had enough time in a big enough block to get the post done and am not sure when I'll be off work tonight.

I am really sorry (plus, my life and sanity is really sorry too), and I will be doing some goodies tomorrow to make up for it.

Thanks for the patience!!

I'm melting... meeeeelting

Okay, radio silence here is not something I was planning... but neither is my office being 102 degrees with a nice convectional breeze.  We're looking into options that don't involve me tanning without the sun and I'll be posting stuff once it won't give me heat stroke to do it.

I am prayin' for rain today!

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!!