giveaway #50

The two winners of the Traveling Woman Collection and a skein of Plucky Knitter Primo are:

Phyllis & knitwork

Congratulations! Please contact me at yarnonthehouse@gmail.com to collect your prizes.

I apologize for being late this week; however, the prize arrived a day late and I really wanted to share a picture of the beautiful yarn being offered, but I promise, it was all worth the wait! Meet our wonderful and generous sponsor this week: Sunshine Yarns. Dani is the cool owner and artist behind this line of yarn and she did a fun written interview for us. Take a look...




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

Hello, and thanks so much for having me! Let's see ---- my name is Dani and I just bought a house with my husband Scott in Boulder, CO. I grew up in Colorado, so its good to be back! We have two kitties, Soma and Kali who are like our little kids. I'm a very outdoorsy person --- I hike, bike, run, swim and have recently started doing triathalons. I also love food and have become obsessed with our garden and eating what we grow. I love to read, love to go to happy hour and am dying to start sewing. I'm a pretty laid back person and try to take each day at a time. Sunshine Yarns fits really well into who I am as a person. Its often hard to balance the business and my own life, especially since we have grown so much the past couple of years. But, it keep me on my feet! You can see what we are up to at our website here: http://www.sunshineyarns.com; or see our "not too up to date" blog here: http://www.sunshineyarns.com/blog. We also have a wonderful and very active Ravelry group called Sunshine Yarnies --- come check it out!.

2. You offer some amazing hand dyed yarns. Where does your inspiration come from?

I am so inspired by the world around me. I grew up in the mountains of Colorado and from an early age, was out hiking, skiing, canoing, camping. I think this has always made me appreciate nature. I love to look at yarn and see an ocean, a sky, a rainforest. I also love to travel --- many of my colorways come from recent journeys both close to home and from around the world.

3. What got you started in dyeing yarns?

Let's see, well, while working as an Environmental Scientist in Boston, I started knitting alot more frequently and also started perusing knitting blogs. I saw the Kool-Aid craze sweep across the blogs and wanted to give it a try. I was quickly hooked and started Sunshine Yarns not long after that (this was Fall 2005). Starting a business wasn't something I really set out to do, it kind of just happened. Its been a learning experience for me, but I am thrilled with how things turned out. I think sometimes its better when you kind of fall into something you love to do!

4. I know that your yarns and colors are probably like children to you, but what's you current favorite colorway and/or yarn base that you offer?

My favorite colors have always been blues and greens, but recently I've been addicted to oranges and yellows. I don't think I can give you one colorway, but a few of my current favorites are Peacock, Saffron and Wanderer. I love, love Sportweight yarns --- so my current favorite base is the Merino Sport (or Luxury Sport).

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

Well, our next BIG thing is that we are going to Stitches West in February! Its our very first public appearance. I'm so excited, but there is also alot to get ready for! After that, we plan on having some new base yarns this year, and will hopefully continue to offer up our fun yarn kits and clubs. I'm always dyeing up new colorways, so its always good to check out our Tuesday store updates. This week's is 1-11-11 at 11am MST. How cool is that?!

6. Why do you knit?

I've always loved arts and crafts. I used to watch my amazing grandmother knit and sew, paint and bead. I love to knit because it is creating --- its relaxing, its fun, and its a great excuse to get together with knitting friends :)

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

I am a self-taught knitter --- decided one day that I just had to knit and went to Michaels for some cheap yarn and needles (let's see, this is the Fall of 2003). After looking up some internet tutorials, I sat down to cast on a scarf. It turned out to be a blanket for our cats, because I had no idea how many stitches to cast on. I think I had at least 100 in bulky yarn. We laugh now, because I had the nerve to just keep on knitting, rather than frog and start over!

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

I've traveled alot over the years, but New Zealand felt the most like home to me; plus there is sheep galore. To be honest though, I'm perfectly happy on our 2 acres here in Colorado :)

9. What's been your worst knitting or in your case, yarn dyeing disaster?

Hmm, I've actually never had anything too horrible happen! I guess I would say the worst disaster was last year, when we had a sudden wind storm, and I was moving all the drying roving inside. I tripped and fell over a pot and cracked a few ribs and partially dislocated my shoulder. Yep, seriously.

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

A rum and tonic with lots of lime of course!


Thank you, Dani, so much for visiting us! Sunshine Yarns is offering one of the coolest giveaways, the Dipped Infinity Kit. I'll let Dani tell you all about it:

"Dipped infinity Kits create an amazing scarf or scarf knit in the round --- it is joined, so its like a huge cowl. The pattern that comes with the kit is by Laura Chau. You always knit two colors together, so you get a really beautiful fabric, with the colors blending into one another. To find out more information, take a peek on Ravelry to see all the beautiful finished knits! You can view all the color sets we offer on Ravelry, or in our Sold Out section on the website, www.sunshineyarns.com. You can simply type in "infinity" and what we offer pops up. We offer color sets such as: Secret Garden, Be Natural, Find Me A River, Shoots and Leaves to name a few! If you are interested in ordering, please email me!"

Check out some of these amazing knitted scarves:

Kit color: Secret Garden



Kit color: Find Me a River



And, here is the lovely kit in the Autumn kit colorway Dani has sent over for one lucky follower to win:




Isn't that just cool?! I told you it was worth the wait.


I would like you to do the following if you would like to be entered into this week's giveaway:


1. Read over the rules if you have not done so already.

2. Leave a comment on this blog post by the end of Sunday, 1/16/11. Just imagine... it's a cold winter evening with snowflakes falling outside and you are sitting in the most comfortable chair by a cozy warm fire. What are you knitting?


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