The two winners of the String Theory yarn & a choice of Surya or Ruffle My Feathers pattern are:

marlono & Rowleeeee

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


This week I'm bringing back a wonderful and generous sponsor: Joanna & Eric Johnson of Slate Falls Press. Do you remember meeting Joanna last year? She and her husband are the fantastic writing and drawing duo behind the fun childrens' books: Phoebe's Sweater and the new Freddie's Blanket. Their books are truly genius! In essence they are knitting picture books that you can share with your favorite l'il boy or girl.

The newest children's story has the sweetest platypus as its main character! And, is full of darling knitting patterns that are incorporated throughout the entire story. I just can't get over how great this concept is and even my soon to be 10 year old likes the books and patterns. Here's a little more from Joanna herself about the new book and the creative process:


"Eric and I really enjoy working together to create these unique knitting storybooks for children and adults to share together. Often while we are going about our day we discuss little details about the storyline, the illustrations, or the patterns. But our most favorite part of the creative process is when we begin a new book- that initial brainstorming session when a new book is conceived is really an exciting creative moment for us, and it is the big spark that fires the rest of the long journey to having a finished book. I have learned to keep a notebook handy at all times! Of course, the day when thousands of copies of our books arrive is rather exciting, too, but it is that very first collaboration of an idea that we love the most.

From there we talk about character, then names, settings, seasons, deatils, it is all out there on the table to be discussed. When we were exploring animals to be the character in Freddie's Blanket, we talked about a variety of critters. But once the platypus was mentioned, we were smitten. Eric sent me a photo he found of two baby platypodes (yes, this is the correct pluralization!) nestled in the palm of a scientist's hand, that decision was set. From there, we explored the habitat of the platypus, and fell just as hard for the beautiful and interesting plants and animals of Australia. Every animal, plant, leaf, and bug in this new book is Australian. Now even our children want to go there, too! Details like the character names come along early on while we are talking through all of the decisions we need to make. We don't obsess too much over the names, we just try a few out, ask the children how they like them, and call it "good" then and there.

We are actively working on our third book which we plan to publish in 2012. It will be another Phoebe Mouse book and is set during the summer, so our friends in warmer climates can be a part of the fun, too. Eric and I are working through a storyline that pulls in a lot of details from our own childhood summers and we are really enjoying the ways we are finding to bring our two distinct sets of memories together into one story. It will include knitting patterns again (I am going to pick up my needles in just a few minutes here and keep working on the first design, which I am really enjoying!) but this time we are adding in a little something extra to go along with the knitting. There are a few hints on our blog that let you in on the secret- and we are thrilled about who we are working with on it!"


Joanna and Eric have put together a fantastic giveaway for you this time, but first check out some of the patterns in this book:












Just too cute for words! Now onto the good stuff: one Grand Prize winner will receive a signed copy of Freddie's Blanket and EIGHT skeins of Brown Sheep's Company's Serendipity Tweed, a cotton and wool blend. That's enough to knit a Baby Envelope Blanket, Freddie Platypus, and May Platypus. Two runners up will also a receive a signed copy of Freddie's Blanket to add to their knitting library. How fun!





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, 5/8/11. I wanna know if this if your first time hearing about these awesome books? If so, what do you think and do you have a special someone you would love to share them with? If this not your first time hearing about them, tell us what you like about the books and how you ran into them originally?


I'll randomly pick the winners in 2 weeks and post the results along with the new giveaway, so be sure to check back. Good luck everyone.

Sincerely,

Ve

I have a very special project to share with you today. Back at the beginning of March just shortly before the tragedy in Japan struck, I spotted an ad on Ravelry for a pattern that I immediately fell in love with, Kira's Hooded Vest by Yumiko Sakurai. I promptly contacted the designer and asked if I could knit her pattern and do a small feature for it on my blog. Yumiko is a truly sweet lady and she was happy to oblige. Just a few short days after we spoke, the disaster in Japan struck.

Kira's Hooded Vest is a pattern that Yumiko designed for her adorable nephew who lives in Japan, and the earthquake displaced Kira and his family in the days following it. The family is now safe; however, not everyone in Japan has been as blessed. Yumiko is generously offering all the proceeds of sales of the Kira's Hooded Vest to disaster relief and the help of Kira and his family. I truly believe in fate and I know that this pattern was brought into my life for a good reason and that's to share it with you, my wonderful and caring followers. I'm blessed to have such a large and kind following and sharing such giving patterns with you is a special treat for me.

This pattern is adorable and I loved knitting it so much, that I couldn't put it down. I finished the knitting on it in just a few days! Yumiko is a very talented designer and has a great eye for attractive and trendy style. This pattern is worth the price for just the star stitch design alone, in my opinion. It was extremely addictive and I plan on using it in the future for other knitted items. I could totally see using it in a Textured Shawl! Either way, I think this pattern has not only a great cause behind it now, but is a lovely knitted garment for the perfect l'il girl or boy in your life. My knitted vest is going to one of my BFF's son who is turning 1 year old this weekend. Here are some of my pics of this darling vest...










You can check out my project page here.

You can purchase the pattern here.

You can visit Yumiko on her site here.

And, you can see a picture of Kira and learn more about his family here.

Happy Friday, everyone!!


-Ve

The two Grand Prize Winners of the Luna's Shawl & Miss Babs giveaway AKA Buried Treasure Hunt are:

Maggie & Connie Brooks

Liz has been generous enough to offer a few more lucky participants a PDF copy of the Luna's Shawl as well!! Here are those:

Patricia Witherspoon, Laura D, & LuisaM

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

Hi, knitters! I'm super excited to bring you another fantastic giveaway! A few months ago I ran across String Theory yarns. I'd seen their yarns before knit up into beautiful projects like: this one, that one, and this one. Everytime I recognized their name in a pattern or project, I thought to myself, "I really need to get a hold of these ladies." Well, I finally did and I invited them to be our lovely sponsor and guests this time around.

My favorite type of yarn is hand dyed sock yarn (in case you didn't know that about me already) and I have to admit that String Theory fingering weight yarns are some of the most marvelous sock yarns I've encountered. I can't even pick a few colors that are my favorite to show off, because I love them all! Check out their very popular Caper Sock line here! I'll wait while you wipe the drool off your keyboard! Their other yarn bases are just as lovely - check those out here. One thing I can say is that the ladies at String Theory know how to dye up magnificent grays. I'm a big fan of semi-solid, mulit-layered gray tones, and String Theory has several that I plan on knitting up in the near future.

String Theory is run by two fun ladies, Karen and Tanis. Here's a little bit about them in their own words:

"We are in our fifth year of business, when we started our venture we were both working as labor and delivery nurses in our local hospital. When the department was closed down; a casualty of the downturn in the economy and changes in health care, we suddenly had time to throw ourselves full speed ahead into String Theory. We started going to fiber fairs and selling wholesale, we are now doing this full time and loving every second.

When not in the shop, or tending dye pots, Tanis can often be found in her amazing flower garden, or shoveling snow to make a path to her greenhouse. Karen can be found growing food to squirrel away for winter or making magic potions in her kitchen. You can find us both pinching our selves about the turns our lives have taken."

Along with the fabulous yarn sponsorship, I also found a fantastic indie designer, Caryl Pierre, that has two terrific shawl patterns that are a wonderful match up for String Theory yarn. Meet the two shawls that are being featured today:

Surya
(photos courtesy of Caryl)



Ruffle My Feathers



Aren't the shawls gorgeous?! I love both of them for different reasons, but with equal delight! Surya has classic triangle shaping and beautiful lace stitch patterns that flow so well together, and Ruffle My Feathers has unique shaping and I could totally rock a modern and fun shawl like that.

The girls of String Theory have sent over two skeins of Caper Sock in Spruce Head for two lucky followers to have a chance to win, and Caryl our talented featured designer is throwing in a choice of either Surya or Ruffle My Feathers (PDF pattern format) for the two winners as well. Take a look at the stunning yarn skeins:






A little tidbit about the color inspiration, "Spruce Head is a color inspired by a point of land that Tanis spent some time sailing around. The natural beauty that is so abundant in our area, is the source of much inspiration for our yarn colors."

Thank you Karen, Tanis, and Caryl for being our lovely sponsors this giveaway! Come back and visit us anytime!!


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, 4/24/11. My hubby and daughter came up with this question for you this time around: If you were able to turn ANY material into yarn and knit with it, what would you want to have a chance to knit with?

Hubby says he would want me to knit him a carbon fiber scarf and Jasmine says she would want something knit outta ice!! I think that would defeat the purpose of a knitted item (which in my opinion is to keep you warm), but maybe it would be practical for hot summers, I guess.


I'll randomly pick the winners in 2 weeks and post the results along with the new giveaway, so be sure to check back. Good luck everyone.

Sincerely,

Ve