giveaway #97

The Grand Prize winner of the Yarn Buddy and a skein of beautiful Sun Valley Fiber yarn is:

ypsiknitti

The Runner Up who will also receive a skein of some SVF yarn is:

Carmen Nuland

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

Somehow October has just flown by in our household. It was my birthday on the 16th and I swear the days just keep getting shorter and shorter as I get older! I love this time of year though, not only because my birthday is in October, but because the air starts getting chilly which makes for perfect stay in and knit moments. Plus the colors of the season are just magical around our neck of the woods, and pumpkin spice lattes are my favorite!

In honor of this wonderful season of change, this giveaway's sponsor: Fable Fibers (or you can check out the blog as well), has sent over some gorgeous Autumn colored yarn to share with you. But, first let's let Lelah tell you about her indie yarn company in a written interview she did with me:


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

I'm primarily a very proud mother to an almost three year old boy and 17 month old little girl. To say they keep me busy is an understatement. We recently moved to New Hampshire, also. My husband took a temporary position for work, so we've all been adjusting!

2. Your hand dyed yarns are really beautiful! I especially love the way you blend the colors and tones in your yarns. Can you talk a little bit about what inspires you?

I think like a lot of hand dyers, I'm inspired by the fine arts. I look to how Mark Rothko layers his pieces to do my kettle dyes. I will admit I will look anywhere for color inspiration - nature, high fashion, history... beauty is everywhere if you look critically enough.

3. Do you have a favorite colorway or yarn that you offer?

I love the green and purple I do, it's called Purl Jam after the yarn store I used to teach beginning knitting at. Both colors are smokey, but they definitely do not come that way out of my dye stock. The green is a vivid kelly green with a lot of yellow in it, and the purple is like grape jelly. How they play off each other after I layer the colors is just amazing.

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

Don't be afraid to mess up your yarn. You can always overdye it. Learn about color theory, and you will be fine.

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

I am planning on doing more spinning fiber, as well as more hand painted yarn. Winter is coming, so I need to make some more bright colorways.

6. I always like to ask, why do you knit?

I've always knit as a way to relax, as a way to express my creativity, and as a means to make myself things that are better quality than what you can buy in stores.

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

I always wanted to learn, but nobody in my family could teach me. My Grandma tried to show my how to crochet, but it wasn't for me. I finally got to learn after I found knitting-help.com! It was 2002, and I really wanted a Harry Potter house scarf. The videos were insanely helpful, and still are. I have their app, it's great.

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

Honestly, I think I'd like to live in Paris. And I've never even been there. I feel like the history, culture, beauty, and je ne sais quoi would really appeal to me. I heard yarn isn't sold in actual yarn stores there, but that's ok. I'll have my own shop. I feel like I could be inspired there every single day. My husband will laugh when he reads this, because my music tastes would tell you that I'd live in London. I can easily visit, though. :)

9. What's been your worst knitting or in your case it could be a yarn dyeing disaster?

With our recent move, I moved all my dye stock too. Well water and city water don't mix! I nearly cried after I took my first few skeins out of their dye baths! Having messed up ph levels can produce some dull colors.

10. And last but not least, if you were enjoying a favorite drink while reading my blog, what would it be?

A River Horse Hop Hazard. I miss my favorite microbrew up here in NH!!!


I'll let the picture of her yummy yarn do the talking! Isn't it BE-U-TI-FUL?!


Three winners have the chance at winning one of theses fantastic skeins of Fable Yarns pictured above.


In addition to sharing Fable Yarns with you today, I wanted to mention what Lelah is also doing in her Etsy shop for relief help over on the east coast after the devasting hurricane Sandy. In her own words...

"Basically until the Etsy shop is sold out, I am giving all the profit I make to:

Jersey Coast American Red Cross
Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties
Popcorn Park Zoo
(Associated Humane Society): They are collecting/distributing animal supplies for pets of people displaced by Sandy.
The buyer can leave me a comment when they purchase yarn as to where they'd like their donation to go, and I will make the donation in their name, and send them the email receipt to the charity they choose.

As you know I'm temporarily living in New Hampshire right now, but I am a 20+ year resident of New Jersey, and my favorite places to go with my family were completely destroyed. All the places my husband and I walked when we were dating are gone. The place we honeymooned at is gone. The beach we held our daughter's first birthday party on is gone. And it wasn't just our family's leisure spots destroyed, so very many year round residents had their places wiped out, as well as their livelihoods. I can't imagine my home destroyed, and not being able to return to my property for 6-8 months. And I can't imagine being with my two toddlers in a house with no electricity and freezing weather at night for over a week. I also can't imagine having to wait five hours for gasoline because most gas stations are also without power. But that's the reality of the entire state right now. Slowly the power is being restored, and we will rebuild, but my state needs some desperate help right now."


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, 11/18/12. What's your favorite thing about Autumn?


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