Ravelympics!

So if you've been following my blog, you know I am the Queen of starting new projects, but more like the court jester when it comes to finishing.. So Sharon P. and I decided we'd start a WIP team for the 2010 Ravelympics.  Ms. Sharon is the Team Captain and I agreed to be a co-captain.  If you'd like to finish projects instead of starting new ones for the Ravelympics, be sure to join Team WIP.  It should be great fun in February!

Ravelympics!

Stitch & Dish: Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off & Extreme Barberpole

This week on Stitch & Dish, I had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Jeny Staiman to the show where she demonstrated her Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off and Extreme Barberpole knitting techniques!  (Warning: this show contains some strong language and is not intended to be watched by children.) 

For more information on Jeny Staiman, you can pop over to Jeny's AMAZING blog, Curious Knitter, or even see her mentioned in Cat Bordhi's book "Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters!"

I had so much fun and learned SO much.  I sincerely hope Jeny will visit the show again!  She's an amazing talent and I know we'll continue to see new and innovative things from her!

Stitch & Dish: Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off & Extreme Barberpole

And the Winners Are..

The winners of the YouCanMakeThis.com eBook giveaway via random number generator are:


Carissa & Deborah


Congrats to them both!!  Thank you to everyone who participated and a special thank you to YouCanMakeThis.com for sponsoring this fabulous giveaway.  Enjoy sewing, ladies!!

And the Winners Are..

Thirty-One Skirt Purse Giveaway!!

Be sure to pop on over to my Momma'Tudes Blog to enter to win a super cute Skirt Purse from Thirty-One.  The winner will choose the basic color and pattern!  And knitters - this would make a really cute single project bag!!  Giveaway ends 12/28, so hurry!! :)

Thirty-One Skirt Purse Giveaway!!

This Friday on Stitch & Dish: Jeny Staiman

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So if you're a fan of Stitch & Dish, you know that ever since my Windows 7 upgrade I have dealt with non-stop tech issues.  I think I've worked it all out with an older desktop computer I have.  So hopefully, my show will get back to normal, welcoming interesting guests and having fun with my viewers.

I'm SO excited to welcome Jeny Staiman to Stitch & Dish.  Jeny Staiman, the creator of Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, Jeny's Stretchy SlipKnot Cast-On, and Judy's Magic Rib (a technique using the principles of Judy's Magic Cast On to create rib) will be joining us THIS Friday, December 18, 8p EST to demonstrate her amazing Stretchy Bind Off and also some extreme barberpole (spirals).  Cat Bordhi calls Jeny Staiman one to watch!  And for good reason!  Jeny Staiman is innovating NEW knitting techniques and they're fabulous!  So please join us LIVE this Friday on Stitch & Dish and learn some new techniques as well as chat with Jeny LIVE!!  'Hope to see you there!

This Friday on Stitch & Dish: Jeny Staiman

YouCanMakeThis eBook Giveaway!

With the holidays just around the corner, YouCanMakeThis.com thought it would be fun to showcase some quick and easy gift ideas you can give to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and oh yes…even your family! You can enter to win eBooks from YouCanMakeThis.com and learn some fun new techniques, tips, and ideas not only for the people on your list, but also creative ways to decorate your home!

You Can Make This has created a free download for some fun gift tags. Each of them coordinate with ideas found as part of the DIY Gift Giving Series videos that can be found at YouCanMakeThis.com Blog , as well as designs and patterns found at Swak Embroidery and YouCanMakeThis.com.

You can also enter to win hundreds of dollars in gift certificates just for watching the videos that are part of the DIY Gift Giving Series and answering a question on the You Can Make This blog!

Details:

• The giveaway will run from Dec. 11, 2009 - Dec. 18, 2009, 11:59P EST
• Giveaway is open to anyone age 18 and older who has an email account.  The eBook of patterns and instructions will be emailed.  Your email will not be used for solicitation purposes.
• You must use the MckLinky to enter all entries.  Any entries not using the MckLinky will be void.
  

• Two lucky winners will each win (1) eBook from YouCanMakeThis.com which will include the pattern for the Believe Pillow.   

Required Entry:

• Visit YouCanMakeThis.com and let me know what pattern you'd be interested in owning.

OPTIONAL Additional Entries:

• Follow YouCanMakeThis.com on Twitter. Come back & tell me using the MckLinky for an additional entry. 
•  Tweet about the giveaway.  Come back and leave the link to your tweet on the MckLinky for another entry. You can Tweet about it as often as you like.
• Subscribe to the YouCanMakeThis.com Blog RSS Feed. Come back and tell me using the MckLinky for an additional entry!
  
• Follow the KPG Blog.  Tell me you're  follower for an additional entry.
• Follow me on Twitter for an additional entry!
• Blog about it!  Blog about it with a link to this post.  Come back and leave a link to your blog post in the MckLinky for 5 entries.  (Please leave 5 separate MckLinky comments - one for each entry.)

YouCanMakeThis eBook Giveaway!

And the Winner of the Namaste Hermosa Bag Is...

 

 

Here's the screen shot of the Random Number Generator with the date and time.. The winner is #277, Jane!

Congrats to Jane!!  Thank you to everyone who participated.  A special thank you to Namaste for providing this AMAZING prize!!  Please tune into my web show, Stitch & Dish in January for my interview with the owners of Namaste!

And the Winner of the Namaste Hermosa Bag Is...

Craft Groupie & Calling All Crafters For Upcoming Giveaway

I have always thought of myself as a crafty gal.  I subscribe to like 5 crafting mags; 10 crafty eMags; about 200 crafty blogs.. I created and co-host a radio show and host a web show about fiber arts. I moderate a Ravelry group. I honestly feel I could LIVE in a craft store.  And unlike most women, I don't have UGG boots or Coach bags - but I have Buffalo Gold Yarn, Mod Podge, super fine glitter, and a Xyron Personal Cutting System.  Heck I even dye my own yarn with Kool Aid.  But suddenly, I realized something.  I'm not crafty.  I'm a craft groupie.  I STALK craft blogs.  I squeal with joy when my Crafts 'n Things Mag comes in the mail.  I TiVo numerous sewing, quilting, cake, and craft shows.  But I don't craft.  I knit.  (Of course, I rarely finish projects.  More of a process knitter, don't ya know.) But I don't craft.  I watch other ppl craft.  But I don't craft.  I drool over projects and even buy supplies for them.  But I don't craft.

UGH!

So I have decided that my New's Year's Resolution this coming New Year will be to pick up those supplies, make some time every week, and CRAFT!  It's not that I don't have the know-how.  I have so much going on in my life, that I have forgotten to make time for the thing that makes me happiest: CREATING.

Infact, to get me started, I am going to be offering a GIVEAWAY in January.  I'm asking that all of my readers help me get started crafting.  Send me your best craft tutorial video - can be about ANY craft.  I will post the videos here on KPG with credit to the crafter (of course).  Then, I will hold a VOTE.  Which ever craft video gets the most votes will win a basket of goodies from yours truly.

Details:

• Crafters: Email me (knitpurlgurl [at] gmail [dot] com) an embeddable video of a craft tutorial that you've created.  (Please don't copy someone else's tutorial.  That's an automatic elimination.)  It must be no longer than 10 minutes. (So you may want to shoot your video and edit for time.)
  
• Companies/Shops: Email me if you'd like your product to be in the goodie basket.  I will do another post in January repeating the guidelines and highlighting the goodie basket.
• I will accept submissions Jan. 1, 2010 -  Jan. 22, 2010.  Then I will announce the 5 finalists on Jan. 25.  (If I have a HUGE response, I will increase the number of finalists.) Voting will commence that entire week for the finalists.  The winner will be announced Feb. 1st and will receive the goodie basket!

So get out - create your tutorials.  Get ready to email me come Jan. 1st.  I can't wait to see your submissions and get crafting!

Craft Groupie & Calling All Crafters For Upcoming Giveaway

Austen Collection

I wish I could've gotten better pics - the camera doesn't do the subtle color variations justice.

Here is my Darcy yarn.  It is a subtle combination of blue, teal, and green in various combinations to create  a VERY subtle variegation.  The Darcy yarn is 440 yds of 100% Merino Wool in Fingering Weight.

Here is my Emma yarn.  This pic doesn't show all of the color variations.. but there are subtle lighter and darker color pieces in this yarn.  It is comprised of scarlett, hot pinks, and purple in various combinations to get this gorgeous colorway.  Emma is 440 yds of 100% Peruvian Highland Wool in fingering weight.

This is my Willoughby yarn.  It consists of browns, yellows, & rusts.  The color is actually much less pumpkin than it appears in this picture and more brown.  It is 440 yds 100% Merino Wool in fingering weight.

 This yarn is Fanny.  It is my most favorite of the group.  Unlike subtle variations like the others, Fanny is complex and boldly colored - though together the colors seem muted and quiet, much like I imagine Fanny from Mansfield Park.  This colorway boasts purple, green, yellow, and white.  It is also 440 yds of 100% Merino Wool in fingering weight.  In the last picture, you see the same yarn re-wound in a larger diameter to create a more prominent striping which is more aesthetically pleasing when photographed.

I may still over dye Emma and Willoughby to add a little more definition.  I need to re-hank these so that the color variations are more prominent when twisted (like I did with my Fanny yarn).  When I do that, I'll post pics of the finished hanks and then if I'm satisfied with them, list them in my Etsy Shop.

Austen Collection

Dye Job

Here's my latest dyed yarn.  I love the rich brown variations in this yarn.  I can't wait to wind this into a hank to see how the colors look!  It's drying right now.

Dye Job

Bella's Mittens

See a pattern in my knitting of late? Super quick knits with a Twilight theme.. While the Twilight theme was unintentional, the super quick knits were.  I've been chugging away on projects that take concentration and lots of time to complete (lace projects).  I've also had a bazillion product reviews (mostly on my Momma'Tudes Blog) to get done.  And with everything else that has been crazy in my life, I felt like I lost my knitting-fu.  I mean, what fun is it to blog about knitting if you don't get to knit AND FINISH some projects, right?

So here is my latest knit obsession: Bella's Mittens.  {FREE PATTERN} These were knit in Patons Shetland Chunky (Taupe to match my winter coat).  The pattern was fast, fun, and really pretty east.  INFACT, all of you newbies to cables and increases should cast on this project immediately.  It is actually a terrific teaching pattern.  You knit simple 6 stitch cables, perform M1, M1L,& M1R increases, K2tog, K3tog, ssk, sssk, & p2tog decreases, pick up stitches, and even cast on in the middle of a project.  I realize the pattern author wrote the pattern to resemble the mittens in the Twilight movie, but this is a fabulous teaching project.

I knit mine entirely in magic loop - even the thumb (Which she calls for DPNs.  But given my utter hatred for DPNs, I picked up the thumb stitches and knit them in magic loop as well.).

This is one of the mittens, I still have to knit it's mate.  I would say 5 hours of knitting (conservatively) for this mitten.  I literally knit it most of the day, BUT I had a 4 yo that I was playing with in between and then when my teenager came home, I was the referee.  (Which may explain why my stitches didn't match at the very end of the pattern.  Extreme kid fighting does not mix well with concentrating. But I improvised and it turned out just fine.)

I love that these knit up so quickly. I adore the cable pattern.  Not loving the rib on the underside.  Perhaps it's because I have chunkier arms than the average woman AND I knit it using a cheaper yarn.  I think if I'd used a yarn with a tighter ply, it might look heaps better.  Also, the bottom of the mitten curls a tad.  A quick border or rib before starting the cable pattern would prevent that.

Bella's Mittens

Namaste Hermosa Bag Review & Giveaway

Ever since I began knitting, I've heard the name, Namaste.  And last year, I ordered myself a GORGEOUS Namaste Bag, the Newport Bag, in Olive.  I've been delighted with it!  It has held up to me throwing it around the car, the apartment, and at knitting group.  It looks as fabulous as it is functional.  The only draw back - as my knitting addiction grew, my need for more more space did as well and I realized that I really needed a bigger bag.  So when I heard about Namaste's new Hermosa bag, I was anxious to get my paws on it.

The Hermosa Bag (Pictured in Eggplant), is so roomy, I joke that I can fit my Puggle in it.  It goes without saying that the bag is indeed beautiful.  But what you may not realize from all of the pictures (mine and other online pics) is just how roomy it is. The dimensions of this bag are a whopping 18 inches wide x 14 inches High x 7 inches long.  (Go ahead and get your tape measures out. You know you want to.) You can fit everything is this bag.  It's amazingly functional!  The bag is constructed out of PVC-free, faux leather. (Animal friendly!!)  The bag stands up on it's own, has 2 exterior zipper pouches, a water bottle pocket, a document or pattern pocket, and an extra side pocket with closure.  Inside, it has a zipper pocket and 2 additional pockets great for your cell phone and MP3 player (at least that's what I use them for).  There is enough room to keep your projects, mags, notions, and other items.  So no need to carry a separate purse when you're off to knit!

I also had the opportunity to review their wonderful Oh Snap Bags.  Shown here are the Sm, Md, Lg, XL, & XXL Oh Snap Bags.  These beauties are fabulous for carrying your individual projects.  You can put a project in each bag and then pop them into your knitting bag as you head out the door.  They are well constructed and light weight. I used to store my knitting projects in plastic sandwich and gallon baggies, only to have my needles poke through them.  But with these, they remain lightweight while providing a nice place to store my work in progress.

Pictured here is the Md Oh Snap Bag with my current lace project peeking out.  I'm able to store my knitting needles, project, pattern, and row counter in this bag.  -Everything I need is altogether and ready to pop into my Hermosa bag for a morning of knitting with the girls.

And while we're on the subject of accessories, you won't want to miss the Namaste Buddy Case.  Made of the same high quality, durable material, the buddy case comes in colors to match the bags.  Shown here in Olive, the Buddy Case is a soft-sided notions case, magnetic on the inside (so you will never drop another tapestry needle) and roomy enough to carry all of your must have knitting notions. There's also a divider to create two separate areas of storage.  Plus, it's just as fashionable as the bags, so no more sandwich baggies for your notions! (You know who you are!)

Drooling yet?!  I've saved the best for last!  The VERY GRACIOUS people of Namaste have agreed to give away one of these fantastic Hermosa Bags here on KnitPurlGurl!  That's right - one lucky knitter will win a Namaste Hermosa Bag!!!  What a terrific Holiday gift this would make for the knitter in your life (or for yourself)!

Giveaway Details:

• Those who enter must be 18 years or older.
• The giveaway will be open Nov. 24 - 11:59 pm EST Dec.8, 2009
• ONE winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator and shall receive ONE Namaste Hermosa Bag in the color of their choosing. (Accessories are not included.)
• To enter - you must enter using the MckLinky.  All entries not included on the MckLinky will not be honored as entries.
• All entries must include a working email address.  If an email address is not provided, another winner will be chosen.  (Your email address will not be used for solicitation.)

Required Entry:

• Visit the Namaste website.  Come back and let me know (USE MckLINKY!) which Namaste product you're most interested in. 

OPTIONAL Additional Entries:  (PLEASE ENTER EACH ONE SEPARATELY ON THE MckLINKY!)

• Become a FAN of Namaste on Facebook.  Come back and let me know (& who you are) for an additional entry.
• Leave a comment on the Namaste Fan Page on Facebook letting them know that you're excited about the giveaway and that KnitPurlGurl sent you! Come back and let me know for an additional entry!
  
• Become a follower of KnitPurlGurl Blog.  Let me know for an additional entry.
• Follower me on Twitter.  Let me know for an additional entry.
• Tweet about the contest with a link to this post.  Come back and give me the link to your tweet for an additional entry.  You may tweet about the contest as many times as you like!
• Blog about it!  Write a blog post about the contest.  Link to this post in your blog post.  Come back and give me the link to your blog post for an additional FIVE entries.  (BE SURE TO ENTER 5 TIMES ON THE MckLINKY FOR EACH OF THE FIVE ENTRIES.)
• Put my KnitPurlGurl Blog Button on the sidebar of your blog for an additional entry.  Come back and let me know your blog address to complete the entry.

I was fortunate to review the Namaste Hermosa Bag, Oh Snap Bags, and Buddy Case courtesy of Namaste.  KnitPurlGurl Disclosure Policy Applies.

Namaste Hermosa Bag Review & Giveaway

Oops, almost forgot..

I ALMOST forgot to post pics pf my FINISHED New Moon Mittens.  Yes, you may want to stock up on canned goods as the world just may be ending if I've finished a project.I think they turned out great! Love them!  For project details, click HERE.

Oops, almost forgot..

Stitch Diva Studios

I was fortunate to dish with the fun, fabulous, and ever-patient Jennifer Hansen of Stitch Diva Studios last night on my Stitch & Dish Show.  I wish I could embed a video of it here but unfortunately, my show experienced some major tech issues: everything from my headset mic not working to Stickam logging me off several times and telling me that my session did not exist to horrible feedback which prevented me from switching feed to Jennifer to my kidlets who in all honesty were just being kids -  but let's just say that they weren't sitting quietly and watching the movie I had rented for them. LOL!  Jennifer Hansen was an absolute delight to interview.  And despite the horrible tech issues I had, she was professional and gracious about it, continuing to log back in to the site and answer yet more questions.

The thing that struck me the most about Jennifer is her willingness to think outside the box.  Instead of the normal confines of hairpin lace or tunisian crochet, Jennifer has tools made to match her ambitions with the crafts - allowing her to create stunning and  interesting pieces. Proving that anyone can learn a fiber art at any age, Jennifer told us that she learned to crochet and knit at the age of 31 for her son - AND she's self-taught! 

I am very excited to share with my viewers and my readers some of the amazing things that Jennifer is doing in her shop.  As always, you can look for more funky, fashionable and functional designs coming up.  As well as a top down sweater design, knit in the round, that promises to be a versatile wardrobe staple.  ALSO - Ms. Hansen will be bringing us MORE video tutorials!! (YAY!) Infact, she's pioneered a new way to Tunisian Crochet in the round!  (I know, right? I'm so pumped to learn something new too!)

If you'd like to learn more about Jennifer Hansen and/or Stitch Diva Studios, you can connect with her via:

• Wesbite: Stitch Diva Studios
• Twitter: @stitchdiva 
• Facebook: Stitch Diva Studios Fan Page
• Ravelry: Stitch Diva Fans Group
• You Tube: Stitch Diva's You Tube Channel (AMAZING video tutorials here!)
  

And DO become a fan of Stitch Diva on Facebook where she hosts Random Fridays (which sometimes contain cool contests!). Be sure to tell her that KnitPurlGurl sent you! :)

Stitch Diva Studios

Black Friday Thru Cyber Monday on Stitch & Dish

Are you a

• Craft Retailer
• Etsy, Artfire, Silkfair, or other handmade shop
• Company looking to promote their online sales

I'd love to include you in my Black Friday Christmas Kick-Off Show on Stitch & Dish on MomTV.com.  The show airs 11/27, 8p EST.  To be included, please email me the following information:

• The site where your sale is taking place
• The dates of your sale
• The promo code
• What the sale includes
• If you'd like to include a giveaway on the show to further promote your site/shop. (Giveaways are a great way to get exposure.  Participants would have to visit your site during the show in order to win!)
• If you'd like to participate in a giveaway on Stitch & Dish next week, I need to know what item you are giving away.

Additionally, if you'd like to appear on the Stitch & Dish web show to give away an item or display items for sale in your shop, that can be arranged as well!  Email me for details. knitpurlgurl[at]gmail[dot]com

Black Friday Thru Cyber Monday on Stitch & Dish