The two winners of the Knit Kit giveaway are:
Jen who wrote, "A row and stitch counter. I can never remember the amount of stitches I have." Jen, the row counter on this Knit Kit is fabulous and you are really going to enjoy it.
And, MEBacons that said, "I'm always digging around in my 'tool bag' for stitch markers and a crochet hook." No more digging!!
Congratulations! Please shoot me an email at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com with your info to claim your prize.
Back during giveaway #9 I asked for you to tell me which designers or yarns you might like to see on the blog in the future. I had a follower contact me by email and suggest this week's sponsor, so I knew this yarn had to be good. I'm very happy to announce that this week's yarn giveaway is Scout's Swag hand dyed yarn!
Jamie aka Scout is the owner and lady behind this beautiful yarn line. If you have not visited her site yet, you have to check it out. She offers amazing hand dyed yarns and each colorway is so unique - not to mention the yarn is so squish-i-licious! Here is Jamie's interview:
1. Jamie you are the owner, photographer and indie dyer of Scout's Swag hand dyed yarns. Why don't you start by introducing yourself and telling us a little about who you are and what you do?
I am Jamie aka Scout, owner of Scout’s Swag & scout j photography. I started Scout’s Swag five years ago because I seemed to always sort of be in the know about the cool knitting and crochet swag that was out there in the craft world and decided I might as well sell it all instead of just telling everyone to go buy it from other people! I had a number of friends who were running their own Indie businesses and I wanted to be able to work with them and help support their businesses so it was a win/win situation for everyone involved. I’m also a mom of two kiddos who are 8 & 11 and keep me extremely busy on top of everything else. The other endeavor on which I am currently working is a how-to book on dyeing fiber with Melanie Falick of STC Crafts. The publishing date is the spring of 2012.
2. How did you get into hand dyeing yarns?
In the fall of 2002, I believe it was the first issue of knitty.com, there was an article on dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid and it inspired me to dye my first batch of yarn. I had fun with it, but hated how the yarn smelled afterwards and didn’t love how muted the yarn turned out. I didn’t play with dyeing again for a few years until I got a book on dyeing, some un-dyed yarn and some dyes in a swap. I played around a few times with a friend until I got the colors I liked and was immediately hooked. This was when the sock craze had started and I just wasn’t finding the bright, vibrant colors with which I wanted to knit. I took a few pictures of the yarn I had dyed, posted it on my blog and I had readers who asked if they could buy it! Who knew five years later I would be writing a book on dyeing yarn!?
3. You have a beautiful selection of colorways that you offer. How do you come up with the names for your colors?
I have probably named about half of the colorways and the people who custom ordered it name the rest. I like to get my customers and friends involved when it comes to naming my colorways. It’s more fun! For example, my friend Christy named, Damn Debris, Run Like Hell, Blue Roof and Storm Surge for a Hurricane Sock Party she organized. Those names still crack me up! When I name them myself I’m usually inspired by a picture or something I’ve seen and then that takes on the name. Like the colorway I just did for my April Yarn Club is called Eureka. I was on a trip to Colorado and saw this beautiful frozen stream by the Eureka mine. I dyed up a colorway to match the stream and the name was born!
4. You also have beautiful photography on your sites. What came first? The love of photography or yarn?
Photography actually came first. I have a picture my father took and developed in his own dark room of my mother pregnant with me. I grew up with a darkroom and have always loved taking pictures. When trying to sell yarn it’s extremely important to be able to accurately represent your yarn and colorways as best as possible so it’s a bonus for me that I’m able to do it myself and not have to hire a photographer to do that for me! But I will say that I’ve also knit my whole life too. I grew up ski racing in Vermont where almost all little girls learn how to knit ski hats.
5. What's next for Scout's Swag? Do you have any new colors in the works?
I’ve been so busy working on the book and keeping up with my bi-monthly yarn club (starts up April of every year) that I haven’t been able to really play too much with new colorways for the shop. However, I’ve fallen in love with immersion dyeing and the semi-solids I create with that technique. I need to post more pictures of the yarn I’ve dyed recently! They are super pretty.
6. What do you currently have on the needles?
I had a really good run there for a while during the winter cranking out a few of the Wood Hollow hats by Kirsten/Through the loops. I made one for my husband and then my daughter and then cast on one for my son……and there it sits about 3 rows into it. Seems like that’s how my knitting goes. I hate knitting once it gets warm.
7. Do you have any hidden talents or super powers? These could of course be hidden knitting talents of super powers.
Hahahaa! Oh how I wish!
8. What's your worst knitting or yarn dyeing disaster?
I don’t think I’ve really had one! I’m sort of one of those, measure twice cut once type of people. However, the one thing that could be considered a disaster is when I’ve dyed a skein, left it out to dry and it gets so tangled that I can’t even use it. Nothing frustrates me more than having to toss an entire skein of yarn especially when it’s a custom job!!!
I will admit that recently when I test knit the Wood Hollow hat I didn’t follow the directions very well and didn’t do repeat the cable part 3 times and almost got through all of the decreases before whining to Kirsten about how short it looked. I hated having to frog back through all of the decreases but I did! It ended up working out but I almost just tossed the whole project. I don’t have a lot of patience sometimes. HA!
9. If you could live and knit anywhere in the world, where would you knit and live?
See that’s hard for me because I like it to be cold when I knit but I hate the cold!!! I can do socks and small projects on the beach but the sand bothers me! So…..hum. I would still go with the beach somewhere. I need to travel to a few more beaches before I could answer this question!!
10. And last but not least, if you were to be drinking a cocktail while reading my blog, what would it be?
Right now? I’d say either a dirty martini with three olives or a vodka tonic with lime! I used to be a Cosmopolitan girl until I realized how many calories they were!
Jamie, thank you for taking the time to answer the Q's! Scout's Swag is generously sponsoring the chance for TWO winners to win a skein of 100% Merino Wool fingering weight hand dyed yarn. Each skein boasts 400 yards! Look at the beautiful colorways
Here are some up close shots of these beauties:
color: Eureka delux
color: Illini
I would like you to do the following if you would like to be entered into this week's giveaway:
1) Have an address in the US to ship the yarn to. If you have a friend or relative that has a US mailing address who is willing to be your shipping sponsor, that will work as well. I will send it to them and they can then forward it on to you.
2) Post a comment on this blog post by the end of Sunday, 5/16/2010, telling us which Scout's Swag colorway is your favorite. Visit the gallery, and come back to leave a comment here telling us which color you like. My fav is Daisies in case you were curious! ;)
3) Please post only one comment to give everyone a fair chance.
Again, I'll randomly pick the winners on Sunday and post the results on Monday along with the new giveaway, so be sure to check back. Good luck everyone.
Sincerely,
Ve
189 comments:
I love Tarzhay! So pretty. That llini color-way looks just like a monarch butterfly. Gorgeous!
I thought of butterflies, too, when I saw that Illini colorway--gorgeous! I've seen some great colorways created from Kool-aid, but tried a more natural approach with turmeric, with some interesting results!
I love Convergence! Awesome colors
It's flat-out mean to make me choose!! Right now, I'm feeling the "Inner Rage". :-)
Thanks for the chance to win! My favorite colorway is Bluetini.
Color Queen just popped out at me! I Love it!!! The blues and purples are the perfect combo!
I would have to say - that I loved
Harlots Mums - although a couple of others spoke to me as well. Kill Bill is truly a wild color!
OOoooooooooh, definitely Socktoberfest! Love it!
I think I'd pick the SocktoberFest, mainly because it's out of my usual box, but it was truly a difficult choice! Thanks to both of you for your generosity!
bookboxer
It's definitely Cookie for me! Love the pink & brown!! Great interview with a wonderful indie dyer!
Kim in IA
There are almost too many to choose from. I like Harlot's Mums, Hunker Down, Lederhosen, and S'mores (and about a dozen others).
My favorite is Zuluknitty, but they are all beautiful.
Harlot's Mums... And I love that one of the colorways is named Deatheaters!
They are all so beautiful but I think my fav is Bibliotheque.
They are all so gorgeous - how to pick just one? I think I like Hunker Down the best. I am a sucker for purple!
I love Needles on Fire. Beautiful!
I love Roaslie! And the Eureka Delux example that you photographed above. SOOOO pretty!!
llini is so stunning!
Love the gimlet! Would love to give that one a try.
Agree with all the others who say Illini looks like a monarch butterfly!
I LOVE the Snowbunny! How beautiful! =)
Amanda Werling
amanda dot werling at gmail dot com
I have 3 favs:
hizKNITS, Tarzhay, ZuluKnitty.
They are all so pretty. It was hard narrowing it down to just one. I love the Northern Lights colorway.
I love the Hunker Down purple colorway.
How can I decide? They are all beautiful! I like Rosalie or Hunker Down! The two skeins would make for a beautiful shawl.
Harlots Mums!! So original!
I love Bibliotheque and Hunker Down. I love purples, but don't seem to have too much purple yarn. Time to change that, I think...
I love Bibliotheque! I'm an avid reader, and I love all the colors incorporated in that colorway.
I have to admit, I really like the Illini. My dad went to college there! It's always funny to watch him try to cheer for a Mizzou vs. Illini game (my sister and I go to Mizzou) because he never knows who to cheer for.
Snowbunny is also another favorite. I've always been a fan of chocolate brown and light blue together!
Gorgeous colors! My favorite is orchids.
ALL the colors are beautiful but I really like Roasalie.
So many great choices! I like hizKNITS best though.
Those are the most beautiful colors! I am attracted to the color, ZuluKnitty!
I love Tarzhay, but if I won the Illini it would be fun b/c my dad lives in Illinois and is a big Fighting Illini fan. So is my stepmom; I might have to make her an Illini clapotis or something!
Jess
jessicacook17@hotmail.com
I LOVE Scout's colorways! My favorite today is lavender mint. How pretty!
Wow, they are all gorgeous - hard to pick a favorite, but forced to, I would say Bluetini.
I love all of Scout's colorways but today I especially love Lavendar Mint.
All are beautiful but I really like Strawberry Quick!
jpeled on ravelry
Oh wow, so hard to choose from so many great colors! I think I'd choose Puesta del Sol because it just looks like the sun plucked right from the sky.
What pretty yarn. I think my favorite is Rosalie.
I think I'm fallin' inlove with Tarzhay! So many colors, you could wear whatever you knit it up to be with anything! She really does some beautiful works of art!
Jessica
Those yarns are gorgeous!! I especially LOVE Turquoise Snowbunny which ironically reminds me of a tropical beach.
I love the hizKNITS and the ZuluKnitty. I love how many colors are found in both of those skeins! Amazing! They make me think of fields of wildflowers.
I love "power couples." You must click on the thumbnail to see how gorgeous that colorway is.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I love discovering "new" yarns and designers! I don't consider myself a yellow-type of girl, but am captivated by the Kill Bill colorway and am so curious to see it knit up!!! Thanks :)
hizKnits is such an unusual colorway, I just love it!
I'm digging Appletini and now I'm thirsty.
I love the subtlety of Eureka delux offered as a prize here and on the website, Glorious Morning Glories is just too pretty.
Marina piccola and puesta del sol are my favorites...
My favorite is Biblioteque. Love yarn and books and deep colors - perfect.
So I could not choose one, but here are the top three I really like: Lederhosen, Convergence and Power couples are my favorites. Lovely colors!
Glorious Morning Glories is my favorite. I also like Death Eaters but really don't like that name!
I am a big fan of Daises too!!!
I can't choose between hunker down and million dollar baby!
i like the Think Pink. pink is one of my fave colors!
I love biblioteque, it is gorgeous..and I'm a librarian and love everything biblio....
I really like Convergence!
i just love Power Couples! it would make some seriously cool socks!!
Thanks for pointing us to this site! I love some of these yarns for the colors and some of them for the great names, but I love "Power Couples" for both!
I love the Run Like Hell colorway...very hard to pick one.
Definitely love the Orchids colorway. Nice interview. Thanks.
I like Bibliotheque. Power couples a close second.
monkalicious on Ravelry
My favorite is Bluetini, but all of the colorways are beautiful.
greyowl (rav id)
I am always drawn to blue/purple combinations so my favorite is Color Queen.
I love the Loops and Storm Surge!
InJuneau on Rav
Ooh, so hard to choose a favorite; there are so many pretties! I think I'll have to go with Fraises des Boise though.
I love Daisies too! I also love the colors up for winning!
The yarn is beautiful! I especially like Rosalie.
Oh my!! Where do I begin?!? I LOVE soooo many of these beautiful colors...Orchids, Daises, Prepster, Secret, Strawberry Quick, Think Pink...Sorry - I really love them all!
i do like the illini.....very pretty.....
though the lavendar mint, the inner rage, the joseph's coat, the needles on fire....too hard to choose!! they are all gorgeous!!!
-oonaghfibersmyth on ravelry
There are so many pretty color-ways, but I think that Glorious Morning Glories is my favorite. These are the colors that my kitchen is decorated in.
I have say that I LOVE Bibliotheque. It is gorgous!
Northern Lights are beautiful. I love that purple/green combination
those colors are gorgeous if i don't win i need to scope these out asap!
Oooh, that's hard, but I really like "Northern Lights". Very pretty!
Too many to choose from and they are all soooooooo beautiful!
It's a tough choice, but I'm going for Rosalie.
I love them all, but Hunker Down might be my fave -- I love purple yarn :)
I actually love the Eureka that's pictured, but I didn't see it in the gallery.
Hokies is my favorite! It is really hard to find the "right" Hokie maroon :D
What beautiful colours how could you choose just one I want them all! Is that a bad thing? I think a new colour every week would be a great present to me!!!
My first pick was the new color - Lavendar Mint. Then I saw Rosalie and lost my heart. Rich, blooming colors. Yum
The Needles on Fire color-way is a pink dream! There are so many wonderful color-ways. Jamie's color mixes are beautiful.
I love DeathEaters and Power Couple.
Lederhosen looks delicious! Then again, so does everything...I sense shopping coming on.
So beautiful! My fingers are itching to try some! Plus one of my favorite cousins is an Illini and I promised to make him some winter gear before he goes back in the fall, and this colorway would be perfect!
That Lederhosen is pretty amazing ... and what a great name!
I love Harlots Mums. What beautiful colors! thanks for a great giveaway!
Rosalie is just beautiful!
Oh, WoW! That is a tough decision. I think that I would go with Turquoise Snowbunny.
midwifemom@clearwire.net
Wow. Already I'm contemplating the gorgeous gloves I would knit from a skein of hunker down. LOVE LOVE LOVE all the color choices.
They are all so pretty!
I really like the Illini (it reminds me of a monarch butterfly)!
run like hell is my fav. i love the color and the name.
How can I choose only one?? I love bibliotheque and soctoberfest! Beautiful yarns.
I love "Run Like Hell" but really any of these colorways would be great, they're all so lovely!
I really love both Death Eaters and Inner Rage, but they are all so gorgeous.
I hope I win! Those yarns are delicious!
Wow! Hard to choose. It's funny how the names of the yarns have a tendency to influence my decision -- something I don't pay attention to when I'm in my LYS.
If I had to choose today, I would pick up the Eureka in a heartbeat and, then the Hunker Down.
Thanks for the chance for some of this luscious yarn.
Convergence just jumped right out at me...WOW
I like Secret. It is so hard to choose!
I really like power couples, but there's a whole bunch more there that speak to me. Those are great!
It is SUPER difficult to decide. I really like HFS/S'mores because I have not really seen anything like it anywhere else. Love the white in it.
Wow....such vibrant colors. Thanks for sharing. Amanda
monarch butterflies for sure, Tarzhay! We were recently at a butterfly pavilion, gorgeous!
Tough choice, but I'm gonna have to go with Rosalie.
I'm going to have to go with Daisies too! But I don't think there was one I didn't like!
appletini! Of course I'm very partial to green, but love it. Needles on Fire looks fun too. Beautiful colors!
How to pick just one favorite? I tried writing just one down, but came up with a list of at LEAST 8 colorways!
If I had to choose, though, I really like H.F.S./Smores - great color combination! And who can resist a food-inspired colorway! lol
All of the colors are beautiful.
Bluetini is my favorite.
I like the Eureka deluxe - beautiful - but then again the sockoberfest is lovely, too...power couples...mmmm....too many to choose from...
Thanks for the opportunity to see some new yarns I'm not familiar with...and of course to win something, too...
So many beautiful ones to choose from! Orchids is probably my favorite, I'm loving purples lately!
Holy Moly - those are some amazing colors - I think I like Harlotmums the best. Love the name!! Although KillBill is a close second!
OH EM GEE I ❤ ❤ ❤ Gimlet!!
kristinfitzgerald on Ravelry
Think Pink, is my favorite because it is my favorite color, and the way the different shades are blended is beautiful.
Ok, VERY hard choice! Then I saw Biblioteque and I was in love!
Wow, they are all so beautiful. But Power Couples really hit me hard!
I have visited Scout's Swag but never purchase yarn. What a treat it would be to win.
I love the snow bunny! It would make a fabulous toy bear.
I loved Inner Rage--the combination of reds and oranges was absolutely beautiful. I also liked Bibliotheque--also very beautiful, the colors of an old library.
Oh - so hard to choose just one but I love POWER COUPLES! It jumps off the page at me and I love the name too!
I am suddenly into very little color so I like Eureka delux.
My favorite Scout's Swag color is Turquoise Snowbunny. I'm a sucker for teal and brown together and this colorway is so vibrant!
I love both the Bluetini and the Turquoise Snowbunny. mm yumm!
My favorite: Marina Piccola! Water water everywhere...just beautiful! Would love to wear it on my shoulders!
I am so in love with bluetini because I love anything blue. The different shades are absolutely gorgeous and would make a beautiful shawl!
I really like the Illini colorway -- my parents went to University of Illinois, so I guess it's in my blood. :-D
Picking just one is difficult! I really am loving Deatheaters because I have recently fallen in love with green and I like that color combo! It's really tough to pick just one...really!
I love Glorious Morning Glories! Great blues, with just a few other colors to set them off.
Oh wow! No kidding on the color saturation! I love all the colors, but the Northern lights is my favorite.
Oh dear...how could you pick just one. They are all awesome!! A few jump out at me...Convergence, Appletini, and Lederhosen.
I like Inner Rage, I think. It is hard to decide with so many choices:)
Such amazing colors I am running through all of the patterns I would make....
Thanks for introducing me to such a talented indie dyer! I think my favorite is Fruit Salad.
oh wow! i can't pick just one!!! i love northern lights, run like hell, prepster...i love them all!
all of them are wonderful, but ColourQueen just stole my heart!!!!
I've never used it, but always thought the yarns looked luscious! My favorite colors are Inner Rage, Hunker Down and her new Hokies! so so pretty!
The Aries in me LOVES Inner Rage!
wow! they are all so awesome! i think i like power couples though!
Definitely Power Couple! Love!
Just one? I like Rosalie and Glorious morning glories and.... :-)
Hmmm... decisions, decisions... so many lovely colourways. It's pretty tough to choose but I think I'll go with "Lavender Mint"
They're all gorgeous, but I'm just dying over Socktoberfest and Harlot's Mums!
Wow, that was a tough choice, but my fav is Power Couples. What gorgeous yarns!!
Think Pink made my inner child go "Squee!" I'd love one of each of the colors but that one really jumped out at me.
Hunker down, million dollar baby, and Loops
Okay, I know you asked for favorite, but I love so many!
I clicked on the link expecting just a few options, but OH MY GOODNESS, those are some beautiful yarns. I think overall my hands are itching for "bibliotheque," I really like the maroon/green combo.
oh, just one color??!! but they are all so gorgeous!! if I did have to choose one, for the mood I am in now, I would pick the Glorious Morning Glories color - so spring :)
Being from Illinois, my fav is Illini. And I would make a pair of socks or mittens for the biggest Bear fan in the state, my friend Mike!
Thank you for introducing me to a great site.
My goodness, those are some beautiful colorways! I think my favorite is "Hedgehogs," because I love the light pink/brown combination. Reminds me a bit of an argyle sweater from the '50s. :)
oooh i love tarzhay, all the colorways have nice yummy colors, but this is so bright and springy
i love Illini, my family are alumni! the colors are gorgeous
teri
oh my. hunker down! i love the name and the colorway...
WOW! The colorways are so beautiful and vibrant. I had a really hard time choosing a favorite. I guess I'd have to say Zuluknitty, but Leiderhausen was a close second. I LOVE them both!
Purlescence (on Ravelry)
I love Illini, but all the names of all the colors make me giggle. :)
Hunker Down, Hunker Down!! Gorgeous!
It's a tie between snow bunny and turquoise snow bunny! I'm so predictable!
Harlot's Mums is gorgeous! I've never done a project with fingering weight before...and I think that colorway would keep me inspired!
I like Hunker Down and Needles on Fire!
Run Like Hell cause my Needles are On FIRE!
Heidi
bigheidi on ravelry
I'll have to go with Tropics. What appeals to me really depends on what I want to make. The Think Pink and Bluetini I like too. I can totally see something for little one in the blue.
I like appletini. pretty colors. patsycoats@bellsouth.net
eThey are all pretty but I liked Hedgehogs the best. Thanks for the look.
They are all pretty but I like Hedgehogs the best.
I adore the ZuluKnitty but am also in love with KillBill-great movie!!
When I see Crayola Colorway, I know that socks are dying to be made and complimented by these gentle colors...and my feet agree!
K.M.
208 Maple St
Naugatuck, CT 06770
Daisy, Bluetini, Cookie, Appletini...need I go on?!? Seriously awesome colors!
They are all stunning! But I keep going back to Bibliotheque!
I've been mooning over the colors but I think at the moment SECRET is my fav! Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Pam
phopkin1@rochester.rr.com
Turquoise Snowbunny. Not for me, but for a new mom who needs a gift for herself as a belated first mother's day present!
I'm loving Hunker Down. I actually thought to myself, "holy cow, that's gorgeous!" when I saw it.
These are so beautiful! I love Northern Lights, Rosalie, Blue in Green and Hokie (since I am married to one)... oh, was I supposed to pick just one? Impossible!
Jenny (jrt35 on ravelry)
I love that Illini for sure- orange with a little sprig of something even bolder!
I don't normally like pink, but I need Hedgehog. I'm just drawn to the soft, feminine and classic colorway. I also like Bibliotheque, Eureka and Kill Bill.
So much prettiness to choose from!
I think Tarzhay is my favorite, although as a witness to Katrina (rode it out on a houseboat), I'm a bit partial to Run like Hell and Storm Surge. Wish I could've seen Damn Debris and Blue Roofs!
I was going to go with Appletini, but then I saw Kill Bill. So many pretties!
So many amazing ones but I'd have to say 'Secret'.
Silver Streaks for sure!
Wow!! It's a toss-up between Rosalie and Storm Surge and about six others! But the first one I'd cast on with would be Rosalie :)
quinn on rav
Lavender Mint is my favorite, but I'm a purple person. Cookie is a close second, because I think that pinks and browns are gorgeous together.
I love these colours - took me forever to choose just one - but it has to be needles on fire - as I hope mine will be with this wonderful yarn.
(say I - as I sip a dirty martini myself)
Thanks
I LOVE cookies! It is soooo gorgeous!
All the colorways are so beautiful, but my favorite would be Northern Lights. The color combo is gorgeous. It is now on my for future purchase list. Just as soon as I finish the rest of my stash...could be awhile.
Loops is by far my favorite! They are all great though.
Just one? I love so many! But right now I'm particularly loving Gimlet.
Such beautiful work! My favorite is NEEDLES ON FIRE.
Love Scout's yarns! The one calling to me today is 'Glorious Morning Glories'. Gorgeous.
Marina Piccola, oh, so beautiful!
I love Power Couples! But they are all incredible!
Wow! Glorious Morning Glories rocks my world. I love the bright cheerful blues!
Thank you for the opportunity!
BigAshDog on Rav
POSTING FOR THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Thank you everyone for posting! -Ve
I like northern lights! So many beautiful colors though!
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