The winner of the Dream In Color Smooshy skein and a copy of the Whispers of Spring Collection is:

Sherry who wrote, "I am test knitting Harvest Shawl, I am working my way around the boarder. I love the cable twist in the lace."

The five additional winners that will each receive a copy of the collection are:

Cindy, Jessica who said, "I am working on "Evangeline" fingerless gloves and the "Brandywine" shawl. I am knitting the gloves from Dream In Color Classy and love it- I would love to try some Dream In Color Smooshy!!", InJuneau, quinn, and Anonymous who wrote, "Actually, I have nothing on my needles right now. But let me explain....It has been so nice for the past week that I cannot bring myself to do anything but be outside and working in the garden. Thanks! Amanda".

Congratulations to the winners! Please contact me at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com with your information within the next 2 weeks to collect your winnings.

I am excited to announce that this week I am featuring a brand new addition to my blog, it's the premier of the first ever Yarn On The House podcast!! I've decided to give podcasting a try and what better time to start than now when I want to tell you all about my recent goodies that I purchased during my trip to all 25 stores on the LYS Tour. This week it's all about me and a fabulous giveaway! Take a listen...




If you cannot see the player click here.




Starting in top left-hand corner (moving from left to right on each row), here are Ravelry links to all the yarns:

Misti Alpaca's Tonos Pima Silk, Manos del Uruguay's Rittenhouse Merino 5-ply, red buttons that I do not have a link for, Cascade Yarn's Greenland, Be Sweet's Bambino Taffy, Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock Solids, Art Yarn's Mohair Splash, Blue Heron's Rayon Metallic, Cascade Yarn's Fixation Solids, Trendsetter Yarn's Cha Cha, Raven Frog Fiber Art's Marvelous Merino, Clover triangle stitch markers which I'm not going to link to, Cascade Yarn's Heritage Solid, Louisa Harding's Grace Hand-dyed, Frida buttons (no link), FLY Design's Pashmara (I could not find the correct link for this yarn on Ravelry), Habu Textile's Silk Stainless Steel, Malabrigo's Lace

Links and such from the podcast:

- The NEW rules!

- LYS Tour

- Linsay

- Clapotis pattern

- Another knitter's Clapotis made out of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic.

- Fresh Picked Baby Hat

- Frida Kahlo

- Kushu Kushu Scarf

- The Malabrigo Lace one skein project.

I wanted to mention that in the podcast when I discussed the Art Yarn's Mohair Splash I said that the yarn had merino in it. I lied! I meant to say mohair, but I'm sure you probably knew that. Also, I attempted to find some of the one skein projects on Ravelry to link to, but was only able to find the last one mentioned above (Malabrigo Lace project). Hope you all enjoyed my goofy self talking about all the great yarn I acquired during the LYS Tour!

One lucky follower has the chance to choose the yarn or buttons out of a "box" from the picture above. I would like you to do the following if you would like to be entered into this week's giveaway:

1. Read over the NEW rules.

2. Leave a comment on this blog post by the end of Sunday, 6/6/10, telling us which "box" of yarn or buttons in the picture above you would like to win and why.

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

Christine, winner of one of the Knit Kits, sent over a picture to share. Yay! I love pictures! She wrote, "My 6 year old son took the photo (the photo session was quite hilarious). We tried to get a photo with all the Kit tools and me actually utilizing the tape measure but my son kept cutting off my head or my hands using the Kit. Anyway, this one is the best of the bunch." That just made me smile! Hope it puts a smile on your face too.



Sincerely,

Ve

If you've been following YOTH for awhile now, you would probably know that I've mentioned my friend, Linsay, from Mommie of 4 Munchkins before. I met Linsay via my blog and Ravelry, and she lives like 30 minutes away from me! This past weekend while on the LYS Tour, Linsay met up with me at one of the yarn stores on the map. It was a treat getting to meet a YOTH follower in person! I have to admit, I was a little nervous!! I didn't know what Linsay would think of me. What if she didn't like me and then told everyone not to follow my blog anymore... I felt like I did on the first day of school back when I was a kid. Everything turned out wonderful though and Linsay was a totally cool lady!

Linsay and I had talked before we met up and she had mentioned that she is still trying to raise money for her Breast Cancer 3-day Walk. She had done a yarn raffle and raised some money, but now she's gone completely bonkers and she's decided to dye her hair pink if she meets her goal! Not just a little pink sheen over her pretty burnette hair, not pink highlights for fun, but HOT freakin' pink all over! She's also agreed to let me photograph her in her new pink-do if she of course reaches her goal.

Here's her before:




And, here's what she might look like after:




Wouldn't that be fun to see?!

-Ve

The four winners of the Sandra Singh giveaway are:

Nupur, Kristina, Dale,Lindsay and Shannon (this is one person), and Sheryl. Wow! All the winners have blogs of their own. Congratulations on winning a skein each of SandraSingh.com Exclusive yarn. Please contact me at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com with your mailing info and your first choice for which yarn you would like (either the 3 Ply Merino or the 1 Ply Merino). The first winners to contact me will have first dibs.

Whew! This past week has been hectic. I apologize that this giveaway post is going up a little late. I participated in the Puget Sound LYS Tour this past weekend and it was a lot more time consuming than I imagined. My mind is still reeling from all the beautiful yarns I saw! Twenty five yarn stores in 3 days! It's a lot take in... but more on that later.

This week I have for you the very talented knitwear designer, Christina Wall, here with us. Christina just released her new Whispers of Spring Collection in March and she's here to tell us a little bit about herself and the inspiration for this lovely collection she has designed. Grab a cup or glass of your favorite drink, and sit back and relax while you read her fun and entertaining interview.




1. Christina, please start by telling us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Currently, by day, I'm a full time wife of a wonderful journalist and mom to an adorable baby boy. By night, I'm a die-hard knitter. In my career days I was a freelance court reporter and worked for the largest court reporting firm in our city i.e. I had no time of my own and no time to be creative. Not wanting to spend the rest of my life in the corporate ratrace, I decided to stop working and take some time to figure out what I wanted to do.

That spring my husband took a business trip to Japan, and I, lonely and suddenly with some time on my hands, took up knitting again. (My mom had taught me when I was little and I continued to dabble in it through highschool and college, but it was just recreational dabbling, nothing too serious.) I remember picking him up from the airport two weeks later wearing a purple cotton tank-top I had designed and knit in those two weeks. My knitting snowballed that summer and eventually led me to take a part time job at my LYS that fall. It was then that I realized I had found my passion. My first official pattern I sold at my LYS was Delia - still available on Ravelry and on my website.

Now I spend as much time as I can designing and knitting and blogging, although I have a few distractions, namely a 9 month baby! =) I lost my knitting studio to the baby, but have a desk in my husband's home office upstairs as well as a desk in the toy room downstairs. During John's (the baby) naptime, and especially in the evening, I can be found knitting or scribbling new patterns at one of those two desks.

2. You just recently released the Whispers of Spring Collection. Tell us about the five patterns in this collection and where your inspiration came from for this booklet.

I loved Ysolda's collections that she came out with last year. I thought they were adorable and brilliant and decided to challenge myself to design an "outfit" collection - a collection of patterns that coordinated or matched each other in some way with a sweater as the main piece. I had just come home with my new baby and had ceased to work part time at my LYS. I think I wanted to convince myself that I could still design - even while working as a full time mom - crazy, I know. But who says you are sane after having a baby? =)

The sweater had been in my head for about a year and I was dying to work it up. The inspiration came from Evenlyn Clark's beautiful Swallowtail Shawl. If you notice, the lace for the upper portion of the sweater is the same motif in the main portion of the shawl.

Once the sweater came together I knew I wanted mitts and a hat that matched the sweater, I just wasn't too sure of the style. The mitts have the same motifs as the sweater -- st st, garter and lace -- and are meant to mimic the sweater almost exactly. The beret I wanted to challenge the motifts as much as possible while still maintaining the same elements. The lace is the main portion which then flows into the garter stitch ring and then a st st band. The slouchy shape with the deep band came from watching the new Emma on Masterpiece Theater - one of Emma's hats is a velvet beret of similar shape.

The cowl and the shawl were inspired by my morning walks. Early in the year, as soon as it became somewhat tolerable outside I began to bundle John up and take him out for at least a 1 hour to 45 minute walk each morning (I was desperate to loose the baby weight, which I'm still working on) =). Each morning I would look for new signs of spring - the bulging red buds in the tops of the trees, the tiny little flowers on the floor of the woods, the green leaves that finally break open on the bushes... thus the cowl got covered in leaves and the shawl begins with garter stitch (the barren woodland floor) moves into a floral lace (the little flowers that pop up on the woodland floor) and then ends with an edging that looks like leaves (the leaves on the bushes or on the trees).

3. What is your process when you start designing a pattern? Do you have a routine?

Ha! I should have a routine but every design is different. Some start out because I'm inspired by a yarn. Others start out because I see a shape that I just have to try to get into a knitted sweater. I will say that the hardest design is when I have the design in my head but I can't find the perfect yarn -- something I'm going through for my fall collection. I have the perfect cable sweater running through my head but I cannot find the perfect, round, Aran weight yarn. Anyone have any favorites?

4. For budding new designers out there, what's the one piece of advice you have?

Knit, knit, knit and submit, submit, submit. Do what you love, don't try to mimic someone else's success, you will be successful only when you are you. My love is top-down, seamless sweaters and coordinating outfits. I don't love knitted nick-knacks therefore, I would not be good designing them.

5. What will be next for you? Do you have new designs in the works that you can share with us?

Yes! I just partnered with Twisted Fiber Art, an Indie dyer, to put together the South Hampton Scarf. I really appreciate the color and uniqueness Indie dyers bring to the table and I look forward to working with more Indie dyers. Knitpicks has picked up a small neckerchief and shawlette design I just did and that will be debuting soon. And, of course, there will be a collection for fall, again, planned around a sweater (the lovely cabled one I can't find the perfect yarn for) with accessories that coordinate. There are some lovely things in this collection - I can't wait to release it... but not until fall.

And, of course, I always have some random, knitterly ideas in the back of my head. One I would really like to see come to fruition is a pattern partnership with fiber farms here in the United States. I hate the fact that most of our yarn that we use gets shipped back and forth all over the world before it makes its way to our needles. It seems so senseless. Instead, why don't we support and build up the sheep and wool industry on our side of the ocean (at least) if not within the borders of the US. Also, I would like to see more done to develop patterns for heritage breeds of sheep and more attention paid to keep the yarn as breed-specific as it can be. It sounds crazy, I know. But I think it would be a wonderful way to begin to knit sustainably. Britain has done this quite successfully and I think it is high time we try.

6. Why do you knit?

Ah, that is a million-dollar-question. Knitting is an art form for me, a way to release all the creative energy that builds up in my mind. My mother is an artist, a wonderful watercolorist; my two sisters can paint and draw but I can't - not at all. In fact, I usually don't draw up my designs when I have an idea because my sketches are so bad. Knitting is the way I draw and paint.

7. When did you learn to knit and who taught you?

I can't remember the age I learned to knit - I must have been very young. At first I mainly crochet, and again, I rarely used a pattern but preferred making up my own (this would have been when I was 7 or 8. My mom has some hideous slippers that I made at this point in my life. I knit my first sweater when I was 14 - I saved up my lawn mowing money and went to the only yarn shop in town at the time. A terrible mistake. It was run by two older women who made the whole experience miserable for me. But I made the sweater and then ripped it out and made another sweater (as a 14 year old I didn't have much money but found I loved to knit. So I would reuse my sweater yarn. I still have a sweater whose wool I used to make 3 totally different sweaters, again, all my own designs, unfortunately I never wrote those designs down).

8. If you were to knit and live anywhere in the world, where would you knit and live?

Hmm... well, I'm pretty happy here. If I were to take a knitting vacation, though, it would be to an island in Maine with heaps of yarn, or perhaps New Zealand where there are boatloads of sheep. Hmm... well, perhaps Samos Island in Greece -- I'll never forget that island - it was so pretty. But just a vacation, mind you. I've lived overseas before, would love to do it again, but love having my family nearby. I didn't have that growing up and would like my son to have the experience of playing and romping with his cousins.

9. What's been your worst knitting disaster?

Ha! My first sweater from that horrid little yarn shop run by those two old ladies. They picked the yarn and the pattern out for me. It was an oversized, pieced, drop shoulder affair made in chunky yarn. It came together fine but it was SOOOOO uncomfortable to wear. I was so frustrated. However, it led me to discover the wonders of Elizabeth Zimmermann and how math is the foundation of a sweater that is comfortable to wear. From then on I designed my own sweaters using the percentage system, only I preferred to knit from the top down, where as most of EZ's designs are from the bottom up. This year I realized I had never made one of EZ's sweaters. I had always used her percentage system to create my own. So... crazy as it may sound, I embarked on a project to knit my way through her book, Knitting Around. You can read about my progress so far on Knitting Zimmermann!

10. And last but not least, if you were to be drinking a cocktail while reading my blog, what would it be?

I love this question! Definitely a mohito - absolutely my favorite. However, to be honest with you, I usually read your blog drinking a good, strong cup of Irish Breakfast, milk in first, of course, and no sugar.

Thank you, Christina, for such an enjoyable interview! Now, onto the good stuff! Christina is offering SIX winners the opportunity to win a PDF electronic copy of her new Whispers of Spring Collection. This collection includes five beautiful patterns and a great short story about a fiber fest.




The first place winner will also receive one skein of Dream In Color Smooshy sock yarn, because we couldn't do a giveaway without a little yarn! This one skein of fingering weight yarn has enough yardage to make the entire Woodland Spring Shawl (the shawl pattern in the collection).




In addition to the fabulous purple skein of Smooshy, the top winner will also receive that adorable felted flower pin handmade by Christina's sister, Heather from The Blackberrytree. How stinkin' cute is this flower pin?! And! Not only is this flower cute, but it is also made from recycled, felted wool. Who doesn't love repurposed material art?!

I would like you to do the following if you would like to be entered into this week's giveaway (I HAVE ADDED AN ADDITIONAL RULE FOR THIS AND ALL FUTURE GIVEAWAYS):

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, 5/30/10, telling us what project is currently on your needles (name and Ravelry link if you would like to share) and why you are knitting this project. Christina says, "I always like to know what people are knitting!"

3) Please post only one comment to give everyone a fair chance.

4) The winner(s) need to contact me with their shipping information at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com within 2 weeks of the winning announcement being made on the blog. If I do not receive an email within those 2 weeks, your winnings will be forfeited and go up for grabs at a future giveaway determined by me.

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

I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off! Alright, maybe not. There's probably some moral obligation to not say that statement when you are a vegetarian (which I am). I feel like something similar to that, but without the hurt animal part.

I've been busy putting together giveaways and knitting like mad! I've also recently taken on a couple of test knits (don't worry they have different starting and due dates). I'm quite excited about doing these test knits, because the patterns look wonderful! Are you curious yet? Well, bwahahaha! You'll have to wait and see, because they are Top Secret of course.

If you follow me on Twitter than you probably already know that I'm currently knitting a secret shawl project. I've posted a couple of sneak peaks if you'd like to check them out. Plus, if your not my friend on Twitter yet, you should totally do that!

Starting today I'm headed out on the Puget Sound LYS Tour. I plan on spending the next 3 days trying to go to all of the 25 stores on the map. I'll be Twittering the whole experience (totally another reason why you should be my friend on Twitter). My sweet hubby will be keeping me company tomorrow, Saturday my wonderful and only knitting friend, Pavla, will be with me, and Sunday I've talked my younger bro into going with me. This'll be my first time doing the tour and I'm stoked!

I'll leave you with these darling pictures of my finished Cedar Leaf Shawlette, which my little girl modeled for ya'll. I thoroughly enjoyed this shawlette pattern and would highly recommend it.



















Have a fantabulous weekend and as my LYS says, "Lots of hugs and stitches!"

Ve

The two winners of the Scout's Swag giveaway are:

jhartwig who said, "It's a tie between snow bunny and turquoise snow bunny! I'm so predictable!"

&

Kathleen that wrote, "I love Convergence! Awesome colors."

Alright, the first one of you that can get a hold of me at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com with your shipping info gets first choice on color (either Eureka delux or Illini).

Over the last several months since I began this blog and started this big adventure, I have had the opportunity to meet so many talented knitters, designers, yarn shop owners, and indie dyers. I'm amazed every week at the support and friendliness that I have received for this blog. With that being said, this week I have a wonderful sponsor to announce. Her name is Sandra Singh and she is the owner of SandraSingh.com. Sandra has been in the biz for 5 years now and recently came out with her own exclusive yarn line. She's here visiting us this week with an interview and a little look into the life of a yarn shop owner and the inspiration behind her new yarn line.



The stunning shawl that Sandra is wearing in her picture is the Desert Rose shawl that is only available at Sandra's shop.

1. Sandra, please start by telling us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

First, thank you for this opportunity to work with you and for hosting this giveaway on your wonderful blog.

I'm Sandra Singh, the Sandra behind the fiber arts website, Sandrasingh.com, I sell luxury yarns & designer patterns as well as the tools to make knitters & crocheters' fiber arts dreams become realities. May 2010 is my website's 5 year anniversary, though wood is the traditional 5 year gift, I'm celebrating with merino wool!

These past 5 years have been very busy, in 2009 I worked with four of the industry's top knitwear designers to create an Exclusive Pattern collection for my website. This year I've introduced an exclusive line of yarn, 4 yarn weights in 100% merino wool, Sandrasingh.com Yarn!

If you'd like to keep track of all my events & sales join my Ravelry group, Sandrasingh.com, follow my blog, I Twitter as Sandrasinghcom and friend me on Facebook Sandra Singh.

2. What inspired you to start your own online yarn store?

Knitters did, literally, knitters. Before opening my website I sold stuff on eBay, my first eBay sale was my car. You name it, I probably sold it. Occasionally I would come across bags of yarn and I'd organize them by color or brand and list them on eBay. The customers I had were terrific. They asked specific questions, placed serious bids and paid instantly after the auction was won. I loved these people! So I began searching for a wholesale line, found Cherry Tree Hill yarn and I've never looked back!

3. You have recently released your very own yarn line, Sandra Singh Yarn. Can you tell us about that process and inspiration?

Since the day I started my website I thought...wouldn't it be fun to have my own yarn line? I worked with a few independent hand dyers and dabbled in having them hand paint colors exclusive to my website. Even Amy Hendrix of Madelinetosh dreamed up a few exclusive colors for me. Finally, Angela of the Serendipitous Ewe dreamed up some very lovely colors for me in her Fate Fingering yarn and these are available on my site.

One day a fiber fanatic friend of mine mentioned a lovely yarn out of Uruguay and that it's as soft and beautiful to work with as Malabrigo, also out of Uruguay. So I gave it a try and one thing quickly led to another and Sandrasingh.com Yarn was instantly born. My new collection features a 1 Ply Merino Worsted, 3 Ply Merino Worsted, Lace and Superwash Fingering and I'm very happy with all four yarns and the positive response has been overwhelming.

4. How did you come up with the fun names for your colors?

Great question, I'm glad to hear you like them. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to name colors! Of course I see yarn names all day long which you may think may make it easier, but it doesn't! I decided I wanted my colors' names to reflect the actual colors of the yarn while at the same time being pretty, not just some cool sounding name that really didn't tell you a thing about the color. So I pulled names from nature like "Cool Mountain Stream," which evokes forest green with blue and names that made me think of the changing seasons, "September, October, November" which reminds me of burnt colored falling leaves. Once I got going it turned out to be a lot fun and I even got my family and friends involved.

5. What's next for SandraSingh.com?

"What's next," you think like I do! What's next is going to be patterns for my yarn! I have two very talented knitwear artists, Renee Leverington of "Goddess Knits" and Michelle Miller aka the "Fickleknitter" who are designing with the new yarn as I answer this question. Michelle is working on a single skein cowl project with the 1 Ply Merino Worsted and Renee is working with the Lace and Superwash Fingering. I'm hoping they'll be ready by the Fall, but you can't rush talent!

6. Who taught you to knit?

My mom, who is very talented in the hand arts she crochets, sews, quilts and does embroidery & macramé, she taught me when I was about 7. I gathered all her scrap yarn to knit a super long scarf reminiscent of a Dr. Who scarf, but that wasn't my source of inspiration. I had no sense of color and mixed a rust with a variegated purple and some green. It ended up being worn by our family dog, Sugar! But after this scarf I didn't knit again for many, many years. I started my business in 2005 and began taking knitting classes at my LYS Hill Country Weavers in Austin, TX. I've been hooked ever since and still take classes to this very day.

7. Why do you knit?

I'm so intrigued by not just making my own garment, but actually creating the fabric for it as I create the garment.

8. What is currently on your needles?

I have to admit when I started knitting I only tackled one project at a time and swore I would finish each project before I started a new one. And I stuck with this promise for a few years. But now...WIP include Gardiner Yarn Work's Birch in Cherry Tree Hill's North Country Cotton and Fuzzy Mable's Leaf Stole in my Sandrasingh.com Yarn Superwash Fingering.

9. What's your worst knitting disaster?

Clapotis hands down, I was knitting along on it very pleased until I reached nearly the end where you begin to drop a stitch twice in the same row. I even managed the first few times to drop stitches at both ends. But than I put the project down for awhile, which is a knitter's folly, upon picking it up some time later I completely forgot to drop the second stitch! I even said to some one in my knitting group..."it doesn't seem like I'm doing this right, but it looks right." Needless to say I hated it upon completion and ended up giving it away!

10. And last but not least, if you were to be drinking a cocktail while reading my blog, what would it be?

This is Texas baby, I'd be sipping a margarita on the rocks with salt and a slice of lime!


Thanks, Sandra for answering the interview and joining us on the blog this week. You are a girl after my own heart! I love margaritas on the rocks! Especially in the warm summer weather.

SandraSingh.com has generously donated 4 skeins of yarn for this week's giveaway. FOUR lucky winners will have the chance to win a skein of either the 1 Ply Merino Worsted or a skein of the 3 Ply Merino Worsted. Here are the beautiful colors:





color: Light Orange with Gray and Straw






color: Bollywood Leading Lady

I am totally in love with this fun Bollywood Leading Lady color! Both of these yarn bases are amazing and I have to say that the 1 Ply is definitely comparable to Malabrigo Worsted. It has the same lovely twist and sheen, but I think Sandra's hand dyed colorways are absolutely unique and worth checking out.

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, 5/23/2010, telling us which SandraSingh.com yarn base and colorway is your favorite, and why? I've had a chance to see the 3 Ply, 1 Ply, and I ordered myself some Superwash Fingering which I'll share with you later this week. I would have to say that it's really hard to choose a favorite, but I think for me it's the 1 Ply Merino Worsted because I love worsted weight and the rustic look off a single ply. I'm really diggin' the Bollywood Leading Lady color, but I think I would like to see the Bollywood Leading Man now. ;)

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

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

This past week I finished knitting the Clara dress just in the nick of time for it to be sent off to Prague with my parents for my new niece that was born April 14th. The dress was a pleasure to knit. If I was to knit this pattern again, I would like to make some small changes, but overall a very nice pattern. I've made notes on my Ravelry project page if you're interested in my ramblings.








Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the special mothers out there!


Sincerely,

Ve

The two winners of the Topped for a Year booklet and one skein of Berroco Comfort giveaway are:

Natalie Servant who said, "Wow - there's enough adorableness in there to keep me busy for a while & to make prepping for a baby shower that much more fun."

And, April who wrote, "Oh my goodness! I LOVE the dinosuar hat! I have 5 nieces with 2 more on the way... I would love to make them in pink, yellow, & purple! What a cute picture that would be!! ROAR!"

Congratulations, ladies! Please shoot me an email at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com with your info to claim your prize.

For those of you who didn't win, Linsay over at mommieof4munchkins is doing another great raffle raising money for her Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk and she is offering two winners a chance to win the Topped for a Year booklet and a skein of yarn!

This week on YOTH, I have Barbara Barry with The Knit Kit here to visit us. If you haven't seen these little suckers at your LYS or online, you have to check them out! The Knit Kit is about the size of your hand and includes all the eight essential knitting tools that every knitter needs. Barbara was nice enough to join us this week and answer a short interview I sent her. Get to know the woman behind the innovative Knit Kit...




1. Barbara, why don't you start by telling us a little about yourself and what the Knit Kit is?

I have always been an entrepreneur. I was a bilingual teacher, owned preschools in California, owned a fine dining restaurant in Sun Valley, Idaho, was a real estate broker in Naples, Florida, was a yoga teacher and now I am an inventor.

The Knit Kit is a compact device that houses all the eight essential knitting accessories including a row counter, thread cutter, double ended crochet hook, tape measure, point protectors, stitch markers, darning needle and TSA compliant collapsible scissors. I have been coined in the industry as the "Swiss Army Knife for Knitters".

2. How did you come up with the Knit Kit idea? Was there a specific event or project that inspired you?

Three years ago I was a brand new knitter and as I learned my knit teacher would continue to have me buy accessories like a crochet hook, row counter, stitch markers, etc. I was constantly losing these things at the bottom of my knit bag especially the crochet hook. I went online to find something that had all these things together thinking for sure someone had created this. They hadn't. It was the "ah-ha" moment of every entrepreneur's life. So I drew my idea on a napkin and brought all the individual accessories to a prototype maker in LA and the process began.

3. Your Knit Kit was recently featured on the Martha Stewart show. Tell us a little about that experience.

That was an experience! Her set is the most beautiful television set I have ever seen. I would love love love to have the kitchen on that set. Everyone always asks me what she was like. Totally expecting me to say she was a B...... But she was exactly as she appears to me on television. Not nice not mean she just is very straight forward.

4. What is it really like to run your own business? Are the day to day tasks more than what you expected?

Since I have had many of my own businesses I knew what to expect. You are absolutely married to your work and it is always on the forefront of my mind and thinking every day and every hour. But I absolutely love the knitting industry and being creative so I couldn't be any happier than doing what I am doing.

5. What will be next for you? Are there any upgrades or new products in the works?

There are many many things in the works. The first is the release of our first Holiday Knit Kit which will be red and available in November. We are knitting and creating patterns for The Knit Kit Kase which will hold The Knit Kit. Those will be online shortly. Knit Kit 2011 which will have an added feature of a needle gauge on the back. We are also in the prototype phase of The Quilt Kit which will be released at the October Quilt Show in Houston, and the development of The Scrap Book Kit. So we are super busy.

6. Why do you knit?

I knit to relax, be creative and make cool stuff to wear.

7. What is your current knitting fantasy?

Dolce and Gabbana knitted reindeer suit. I live in snow country and am dying to get it knitted for me. Trisha Malcolm from Vogue Knitting told me if I got the yarn she could get it made for me. Here is a pic of the suit:




8. If you could live and knit anywhere in the world, where would you knit and live?

If I could knit and live anywhere it would probably be Italy. I love it there and they have the greatest food and fashion.

9. What's your worst knitting disaster?

I was a really aggressive new knitter and my second project after a scarf was to try and knit a 3/4 length alpaca sweater coat. It had holes everywhere. Was five times my size and shed on everything. I tried using a dryer to shrink it, the freezer to stop the shedding and the trash can to get rid of it. It took me six wasted months to make!!

10. And last but not least, if you were to be drinking a cocktail while reading my blog, what would it be?

I would be drinking at glass of Flowers Chardonnay.

Barbara also sent me a picture of her cool bedazzled Knit Kit.




This week Barbara is sponsoring TWO lucky winners a chance to win a Knit Kit. Thank you, Barbara, for doing the interview and sponsoring the giveaway. These Knit Kits will be a wonderful addition to any knitter's arsenal of tools!




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, 5/9/2010, telling us what tool is most essential to you while you are knitting. Of course, we know you need knitting needles! But, what else do you tend to reach for the most?

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