The Final Giveaway Winner

Can you believe it's already November? I'm having a hard time with it myself. 

I drew for the final Fall Favorites Giveaway and came up with Seattle Knitter Guy! Congratulations!

He said, "Oh, wow! I'm about halfway through a sweater knitted with a 50/50 merino/alpaca blend in a lichen (green-gray) colorway. This Owl Tweet would make a perfect, non-matchy-matchy cabled stocking cap or small cowl! Maybe even fingerless mitts. Hmmm..."

I like how you think! Non-matchy-matchy, and the sweater you described? Sounds awesome and cozy for our wet Seattle weather. I'll PM you via Ravelry to get your mailing info, thanks for playing along! Did I also mention that when I brought this yarn home Mr. B tried to claim it for a sweater for himself? True story.

A great big thank you to everyone who commented during October and entered to win the giveaways. It's really great to get pattern and project ideas from you!

One more announcement! I'm attending Knit Fit! at the Ballard Community Center in Seattle (my 'hood, yo) this coming weekend, November 8th and 9th. I'm volunteering at the registration table Friday evening for the opening speaker and Saturday and Sunday mornings to early afternoons. Come by and say hello! I'll also be at game knitting with Leethal on Saturday night which is a hoot and a half. The market is FREE and although it's small it's good. This year Tin Can Knits will have a booth as well as Wendee of Hazel Knits and many other local and wonderful vendors. See you there!

Fall Favorites: A Final Giveaway

A while ago I posted about a mini- Twin Peaks Road Trip that I went on with Andi and Monica. On said trip I purchased a sweater's worth of Quince & Co Owl Tweet in a lovely Russet color and knit a cardigan practically right away. I have yet to take pictures of the cardigan but it turns out that I have two, count' em TWO, full skeins of this really delightful yarn to giveaway.

 Yummy, right?

Quince & Co Owl Tweet is a worsted weight 50% American wool and 50% American Alpaca blend yarn that has 120 yards to a 50 gram skein. This yarn is tweedy and loft and soft and has amazing stitch definition. 

To enter the giveaway, let me know what you would knit with two skeins of Quince & Co Owl Tweet! Please make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch - a Ravelry ID works best!

I'll close the giveaway next Wednesday. Best of luck to you!

Fall Faves: Giveaway Winner

Happy Monday! I admit, I'm having a difficult time bouncing back to work after what felt like too short a weekend. I'm pretty sure giving away some yarn will help me feel better, so let's get to it. Random number generator tells me that browncurls is the winner! Congratulations, Liesl! Here's what she had to say,

"You picked out some really lovely colorways at the trunk show.
Ruby Love is such a lovely red - I think I'd knit yet another Koolhaas hat in it."

I think Koolhaas will look great in Cadence; those cables will really pop! I'll be in touch via Ravelry to get your mailing address.

I still have to take pictures of the yarn for the giveaway this week. Believe you me, it's delightful! I'll be posting the new giveaway on Wednesday, so stay tuned for that!

Fall Favorites: A Winner & Another Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered last week's giveaway! Random number generator tells me that the lucky winner is #2, or Sarah, who says, 

"I wear a cowl or scarf every day from September to May! I keep feeling like I have plenty but then I always want something just a bit different when I'm grabbing one in the morning."

I feel you, Sarah! I like my collection but always want more! I've messaged you on Ravelry to get your choice of accessory pattern. I can't wait to see what you choose. By the way, Sarah is a potter and does lovely work so you should check out her website.

Last Friday was my birthday and besides doing a little too much imbibing with a great group of friends I attended a Hazel Knits trunk show at the Fiber Gallery.

Clockwise from the upper right: Cadence Laguna, Cadence Shady Verdant, Artisan Sock Haze, Entice Rogue* (yellow), Artisan Sock Rogue (red and spruce green), Artisan Sock Acorn.

 Let's just say that I spent both time and money making my yarn selection (birthday money from family purchased this lot otherwise I would have held myself in check a bit more). Hazel Knits is one of my very favorite sock yarns and I love Wendee's color sense and her wonderful yarn bases. She recently expanded her line of yarn to include a worsted weight superwash merino and I picked up a skein to give away to you wonderful folks!

Say hello to Cadence in Ruby Love. Love is right, for sure. This is 200 yards of a gorgeous ruby red 100% superwash merino that's perfect for a cozy Fall accessory.

To enter, tell me what you would knit with this gorgeous skein of yarn. Please leave a way for me to get in touch with you, a Ravelry ID works best but if you're not a member (why!?!) make sure you leave another way for me to contact you. 

Best of luck!

*Rogue colors are one of a kind colors that don't quite match the intended colorway. They're always gorgeous!

A Month of Favorites: Final Giveaway Winner!

Sorry for the delay in drawing a winner, I'm still experiencing some work and home upheaval that makes thinking about other things a little problematic. Let's get down to business, shall we?

Random number generator chose Sanja T (LoveofCuteness on Rav) who said, "Amazing giveaway! Thank you. Definitely a fantasy retreat would be a spa in the morning, and knitting on a blanket while enjoying warm weather for the rest of the day. Champagne and catered food wouldn't hurt either:)." That sounds fabulous! I'll be in touch to get  your mailing address and send out your package. 

I really enjoyed reading all of the fiber retreat ideas and I'd like to try all of them. The annual retreat I attend with my knitting group is very laid back and we all kind of do our own thing during the day and play games and have drinks in the evening and knit. Thank you for taking the time to share your ideas with me. 

And just a little update on my knitting progress, I finished these socks last weekend and just need to wash and block them before they go in the gift basket for Christmas. They're pair number three and I couldn't be happier with them.

A Month of Favorites: Wrap Up Giveaways

Remember last week when I posted two different giveaways?

Random number generator tells me that Sheila is the winner of Leethal's Adventure Knitting: A Day in the Woods.

Sheila said, "I'd like to go on a real life knitting adventure to Iceland. I've seen so many gorgeous photos (of both knitting and scenery) on various knitting blogs in the last few years. Since the budget puts that firmly in fantasyland, Leethal's booklet would be a good substitute knitting adventure that I could maybe actually experience!"

Sheila, I totally agree with you! Iceland seems to be the hip new place for knitters to visit abroad and I'd like to see all of those fantastic Lopi sweaters in the wild. I've sent you a Rav message and your ebook, I look forward to seeing what you make with it.

The other giveaway was a mystery giveaway. I picked up some very nice goodies from the Knit Fit! marketplace while I volunteered over the weekend.

 A Knit Fit! project bag. Small enough to carry in a purse but large enough for a pair of socks.

 A small skein of Willow Creek Farm Alpaca & Silk from Roy, WA.

 

A skein of Intrepid Otter Sparkle Sock in the Natalie Color. I love the Stellina in this yarn base and may have to purchase another skein for me.

A reusable, reversible coffee (or tea) sleeve from Chubby Cloud.

Isn't that a nice little bag of goodies? I had a fun time shopping the market knowing that some lucky person was going to have all of these nice things.

To enter, let me know what your dream fiber event would consist of - a small retreat in cabins with catered food and wine? A huge market with vendors from all over? A traveling yarn bus that takes you on a regional yarn crawl? Let me hear it!

Please make sure to leave a way for me to reach you, email or Ravelry username both work great! I'll take comments made through next Monday, the 11th, at midnight and draw names on Tuesday. Make sure to check back to see if you're a winner! Good luck!

A Month of Favorites: Day 30

What do you know, I wrote most of this post over the weekend so I could just add in the winner for last week's giveaway and I totally forgot to post it. Sorry!

The winner of the skein of Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Splish Splash is pinkknittergal! Who said,"What a lovely colorway. I would make Song of the Sea on Ravelry. It's perfect." I agree, it is perfect for that pattern! I've contacted you via Ravelry to get your mailing address!

So, what's the giveaway this week? The answer is that I don't know yet. I'm volunteering at Knit Fit! fiber festival in my neighborhood of Seattle this weekend and I'll be picking up several scrumptious prizes from the marketplace. That means some lucky reader will win a little goodie basket put together by me from vendors at the market with some other little trinkets thrown in for good measure.

To counteract an entire week of waiting I've decided to do a double giveaway! Hooray! Last week I knit a pair of Leethal's Rumours mitts from her Remixed ebook. Can I say how awesome they are? I had one teeny tiny ball of cashmere and was able to get a pair of mitts out of it - less than 126 yards of sport weight yarn made into a lovely, soft, warm pair of mitts for this winter.

I'll gift some lucky reader with a copy of Leethal's new booklet, Adventure Knitting, which is kind of like a choose your own adventure knitting pattern. One of the amazing things about Leethal's patterns is that they work with just about any yarn so you can definitely stash dive for this one and use up some of those long-lingering balls of yarn.

To enter, please comment below telling me what kind of knitting adventure you'd like to go on. You can choose something from the book or tell me where you'd like to go in a real life knitting adventure! Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you if you win - Ravelry id or email address work great. Good luck!

P.S. I'll also be attending game knitting night at Knit Fit! hosted by Leethal herself, come say hi if you're going to be there! We're watching Singles this year.

A Month of Favorites: Day 22

Phew! I just wrapped up a whirlwind of a visit with my bestie, my mom, and my sister. I'm back to work and trying desperately to keep my cold in check - Little A is on round 3 of school colds and everyone at work is trying their best to spread the, ur, love - I'm surprised I've held out so long. 

But let's talk about the good stuff! The giveaway from last week was 2 skeins of Fibre Company Acadia in the Kelp colorway. Random number generator says the winner is Carrie B.! Congratulations! Carrie, I don't have an email address for you so please contact me (erin.birnel@gmail.com) with your mailing address so I can send out your yarn. Yay!

This week's giveaway is a special one. I've lauded the yarn of Wendee of Hazel Knits for years now and it's still my absolute favorite. The Fiber Gallery hosted a Hazel Knits trunk show over my birthday weekend and I hand picked a special skein to give away to one of you lucky folks! 

<photo via Hazel Knits>

The color is Splish Splash on Wendee's Artisan Sock base - 90% superwash merino/10% nylon and 400 yards to 120 grams. 

To enter, comment on this post saying what pattern you would knit if you win the giveaway. I'll randomly draw a winner next Tuesday and ship your yarn. Please remember to leave a way for me to get in touch with you in case you win (email or Ravelry name work great). Good luck!

A Month of Favorites: Day 15

Sorry for the late post! I have family coming into town for the week and they start arriving tomorrow so I've been utterly swamped with housework and tidying since I came home from work - not to mention things like, you know, cooking and eating dinner. Phew!

Random number generator tells me that the winner is Andi! Congratulations, Andi! Andi has a wonderful blog and if you haven't read it, you totally should.

This week's giveaway is a new favorite yarn of mine, Acadia. I recently cast on the Quaking Aspen Shawl in some Fibre Company Acadia and I immediately fell in love. I've knit with other Fibre Company yarns in the past but Acadia really takes my breath away - the colors are rich and complex and those slubby little bits of silk just get me. I'm so in love with it that I'm drawing out the knitting process so I can knit with it even longer.

I have two skeins of Fibre Company Acadia in the Kelp color (slightly acid green) to give away to a lucky reader. To enter, all you have to do is comment below and tell me what Fibre Company yarns you've knit with or if you've never knit with any of them. Please remember to leave a way for me to contact you in case random number generator decides that you're the winner. I'll draw a name next Tuesday and post the winner! Good luck!

A Month of Favorites: Day 8

Last week I kicked off my month of favorite things with a giveaway. Random number generator tells me that the winner is  RC who said, "Cute markers! I usually use a mixture of the plastic locking type and the plastic circles. Boring but I hate snagging markers. Would love to try these out!" . Congratulations! I'll be in touch to get your mailing address and send off your Velvet Hippo stitch markers. Yay!

I decided that Tuesdays are giveaway days and, lucky you, there happen to be five Tuesdays in October. This week's giveaway is for patterns from my favorite designer, Amy Christoffers. My two favorite sweaters are Amy's designs - the Acer Cardigan and the Bailey Cardigan. And while I have a tendency to think of Amy as a capital S sweater designer she does publish a lot of accessories, too.

 <pomme de pin via Amy's blog, Savory Knitting>

What do you have to do to enter? Tell me in the comments below which of Amy's designs you've knit in the past or what design (or designs) you're dying to cast on. The winner will receive two of Amy's patterns. Patterns need to be giftable via Ravelry but don't worry about that, Ravelry tells me that there are still 50 patterns to choose from! You have until I post next Tuesday to enter to win. Good luck!

A Month of Favorite Things

It's October and we're officially ensconced in the Autumnal season. I absolutely love Fall and I always look forward to pulling on my wool sweaters, the changing of the leaves, and all of the yummy comfort foods that abound. It just so happens that my birthday is in October - maybe that's the real reason I love this time of year so much!

For the month of October I'll be sharing some of my favorite things on this here blog, including a couple of giveaways. In fact, I'm going to kick off October faves with a giveaway.

<via Velvet Hippo on Etsy>

I stumbled across Velvet Hippo via Andi's blog this year and went straight to her shop to purchase a set of stitch markers. In the past I've always gone for those plastic locking markers you can purchase at your LYS but these are so pretty that I just can't resist. My current set of VH markers are in constant rotation and I can attest to the fact that they're snag free and slip easily from one needle to the next. Most of Velvet Hippo's markers are customizable to fit up to size 7, 9, or 11 (US) needles.

To win the above stitch markers, leave a comment below with your email address or Ravelry name (I need a way to get your address!) telling me what type of stitch markers you usually use when you knit. You have until Tuesday, October 8th to enter to win!