Giveaway of the Day: In the Shallows + STR Med in Nyame

The first giveaway was so much fun that I've decided to keep it going. Leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win a copy of my pattern In the Shallows and a skein of Socks That Rock Mediumweight yarn in the Nyame colorway (look at all the different yarns Tina will dye in this colorway!), which would be perfect for the plain or fancy version of the shawlette (or split the skein in half and make two mini versions!).

This skein is from The Fold, which is halfway between my parents' and where my grandparents all lived in Illinois. If you haven't been to The Fold and you are in Chicagoland for some reason, try to go. It's out in the middle of some fields in the Chicago ex-urbs, and, more importantly, it's filled with Blue Moon Fiber Arts, other yarns that I heartlessly ignore when I'm there, lots of fiber for spinning, wheels, spindles, dyestuffs, you name it, and, most importantly, Toni Neil the proprietress. I have acquired a number of special yarns from Toni on my way back from visiting my grandmother, including the yarn for the Grés sweater I'll blog about soon. This Nyame skein has been waiting it's turn patiently, but in the spirit of Spring I've decided to send it out into the world (as well as the spirit of Keri's decluttering post). How much pale blue yarn does one girl need? I'm going to share!

As you can see, it's in the skein now, but I would be happy to wind it for you. So, leave a comment on this post, and you will be entered to win. Why not mention what signs of Spring you're seeing in your part of the world? Tell your friends! And I will announce the winner on Tuesday morning (8 March 2011).

Contest winner for The Natural Knitter

And the Random Number generator says the winner is:

Yolande said...

There must be something in the air. I have never liked walking, but this January saw me finally get on my treadmill and get myself moving every day. I'm quite amazed at myself...hope it continues :-)

Congratulation, Yolande! Please send me your mailing address, and I'll visit the post office ASAP.

Ravelry meet-up

I was really excited to see that Knitty City (my madtosh connection here in NYC - it is an addiction!) was hosting a Ravelry meet-up tonight from 6-8. Lucky for me, Nick was kind enough to wrangle the girls for dinner and bedtime so i could go. And even luckier for me that it was really cold today, so I could wear my Turn of the Glass without looking like a complete twit.

Everyone was very nice, and I love how there are knitters (and crocheters) there of all variety: age, skill level, pattern interest (you know, some people are obsessed with socks, some love anything in Wollmeise - must ask my sister to get me some while she's in Berlin - and some are into garter stitch). That last one is actually me, working on a possible Knitty submission. We'll see; I had to frog a big chunk of it today but am pretty sure I'm on the right track now. Now, I have to admit here to all of you that I am shy. No, really, I'm kind of a big dork, perhaps especially the past few years. I think my social muscles don't get the same workout these days - I'm home with the kids a lot and most of the grown-ups I hang out with are other moms and dads, so we reflexively talk about them. But, I got over myself tonight and had a good time with people I didn't know.

I'm looking forward to going again next month, since this is now going to be a regular thing. Yay! Between my kids'-school based knitting group that meets joyfully but sporadically and this Ravelry meet-up, perhaps I'll get back in social shape, at least with the knitters.

Knitblogger of the day: Canary Knits

In an effort to start my new blog home off on the proper foot, I've joined CanaryKnits and some other bloggers in blogging every day for the month of March. So, I thought today would be a good day to profile the knitblogger and designer who profiles independent designers. And you're in for a feathery treat if you visit her blog today, since she's featured her new zebra finches.

Teresa not only profiles independent designers every Friday, she is a designer herself. She has self-published the booklet Little Seasonals recently with Hannah Poon and has a pattern - the alluring Milk Maiden - featured in Julie Turjoman's Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere.

Short and sweet today, since we're hosting a playdate for Isobel. Tomorrow everyone will be at school, so hopefully (after a workout) I'll be able to write a little more, perhaps even post a picture. After I exercise, of course!

Many thanks to yesterday's commenters, some of whom I didn't know before. Remember, you can still comment on yesterday's post until Friday morning, when I will announce the winner and the next giveaway!

Welcome! And a contest.

Today is the day! I've "moved blog" to this address and hope to blog long and often here from now on. To celebrate I'm going to have my first contest (how embarrassing to blog for so long without hosting a contest).

How about we talk about "firsts" and turning over new leaves and such? In addition to moving to the new blog, today I went to the gym. Can you believe it? Generally, I pride myself on my laziness, but it's time to get back in shape. So, I walked and jogged on the track and took a look at all the equipment they have (it's the Columbia gym, so they have a ton of stuff for all those kids). There was a Vinyasa Yoga class going on in one of the studios while I was there, and I may have to see if I can arrange my schedule to take it, though I'd rather do Hatha to start. Anyway, that's my new leaf today.

For the contest, I have an extra copy of the wonderful book The Natural Knitter (link will take you to Amazon; go here to check it out on Ravelry). It's a lovely book (and a shame that Barbara Albright passed away before it even came out), with a nice variety of patterns and lots of interesting information about plant and animal fibers, as well as a little bit on dying and spinning. It looks like Potter Craft may be taking this book out of print.

To enter, leave a comment about what new things you're doing as Spring comes our way on this post before 9am on Friday March 4th. On Friday I will announce the randomly selected winner. And be sure to keep reading for more contests and knitting news.

Thanks and happy knitting!

Moving House/Blog

If you are reading this, it is time to change your feed/bookmark. As of 1 March 2011 I will blog at kathleendames.blogspot.com, so be sure to join me over there. Thanks and happy knitting!

FO: Emily 2 shawl

I knit this shawl up over Christmas break and finally got around to photographing it (playing around with my camera remote and tripod). This is Emily 2 by Kieran Foley, and I knit it with some beautiful Madeline Tosh lace in the Baltic colorway and a bunch of seed beads that matched perfectly, which is probably why you can't see them in the picture. This was my first time working with beads, and it was a little bit of an adventure, what with the kids and cats in my life. It turned out nicely, and I don't think I lost too many beads in the process. I didn't block it severely, so it's not nearly as open as Kieran's. I may re-block at some point.

This version of Emily is knit from the top-center down, like many triangular shawls. The other version of Emily is knit from the bottom up and starts with a jillion stitches, so when I saw that Kieran had come up with a top-down version in December, I snatched up a copy. The beads kept my attention from wandering too much - this is a garter stitch shawl after all, and the only serious lace action comes at the end.

In other news I've decided to move the blog. I've been working on a redesign of my other blog and will abandon good ol' Purly here on March 1st. There will be a redirect post here, then, but you can go check it out now at kathleendames.blogspot.com. I have to figure out what to do with the Purly content but will probably just leave it here, as is, and continue on from March 1st at the "new" place. I'm thinking about a little contest and giveaway, too, since I've never done that before. I will, of course, keep you posted. More FO's and patterns to come, too!