ohmygoodknits! // a knitting & crochet blog » yarn

Giveaway: YARN! edition

Lisa — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 03:44:09 +0000

CLOSED!!!

Hello, friends! If you hadn’t heard, my lovely little Dory pattern is in the current issue of Craftsanity! I made a few adjustments* to my original pattern to make it more Spring-friendly. In celebration of SPRING and all things yarny, I’m having this little giveaway!

To convert my Dory into something one could wear during Spring, I scoured Ravelry for yarn inspiration. There is SO.MUCH.YARN. out there.

I happened upon Bamboo Cotton (worsted) by Three Irish Girls and was smitten by some of the colors. It was a little pricey, but I bought two skeins from someone’s stash in the beautiful Sweetmint colorway. I knew I would love the color, but what won me over completely was the softness. Ohhhhh my goodness–it is SOFT. I wound up my skein immediately and got started. Soon enough, I had a lovely Spring shawl and only 9 yards left! Perfect!

Unfortunately, the Bamboo Cotton is discontinued, so I went on the hunt for something more widely available. I landed on Cascade Ultra Pima. It is equally as soft and available in a multitude of bright colors. It took a whole skein plus a few yards of the next, but I figured out a few adjustments** to the last border row to make it a one-skein project.

And now, the giveaway! I have a skein of Bamboo Cotton and a skein of Ultra Pima, so that means TWO winners! The first winner will select which they want and the second will get the other yarn. They’re both gorgeous, so there aren’t any losers here. Both winners will also receive a printed copy of Craftsanity! If you aren’t a crocheter and have zero interest in my Dory pattern, do not fret–there are knitting patterns in this issue (and all others), too! There’s something for everyone, so this giveaway is open to knitters and crocheters alike.

To enter, just leave a comment below letting me know what projects are on your to-do list this Spring!

~~Giveaway ends this Friday, March 30, at 11:59pm CST. I’ll announce the winner shortly after!~~ CLOSED!!!

*My changes include using either of the two Spring yarns above + a 6mm hook and crocheting fewer of the main body repeat. It’s still the same size as the original, just lighter because of the yarn and gauge.

**Make a slst between each scallop instead of a sc.

A Month of Craft Photos: Days 21-28

Lisa — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:32:26 +0000

21; crafting companion (orig. #30)
this pillow sits on the top edge of the couch and the kitten likes to nap there almost every time I sit to knit.

22; contrast
a colorwork hat–diagonal shifting stripes. I was in that sort of mood for a few days. I learned– knitting with both of my hands makes them cramp up big time! I don’t usually get any hand cramping problems, but when I’m knitting with two colors, my left hand ends up sore for a few hours.

23; inspiration from clothes
fun, bold colors, patterns, teal, red, etc.

24; up close
I love lace. Orange lace? Even better.

25; when I craft
knitting in the morning; listening to dreams of the little ones while they munch on eggs and toast.

26; organization
really, this is just a shelf of yarn that will get used up soon. my stash is located in bins, but the yarn that will be used up soonish gets put on the shelf. I like looking at the colors–inspiration abound!

27; the wrong side
I finished the hat I was working on a few days ago. It’s a colorwork hat, so the wrong side is all sorts of lovely stripes of wool. I like the floating yarn!

28; simplicity
the crochet looks complicated. I bought the doily for a great price because it has a hole in it. Placed in an embroidery hoop, it’s a simple, yet beautiful, wall adornment.

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A Month of Craft Photos: Days 18-20

Lisa — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:26:52 +0000

18; craft books

19; supplies
a knitter/crocheter’s most abundant source of supplies–the scrap yarn jar. I turned some of mine into a heart.

20; finishing

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Make it: hanging yarn heart

Lisa — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:55:04 +0000

I know Valentine’s Day has passed, but I kind of like hearts. And I LOVE yarn. My scrap jar is one of my favorite sources of craft supplies. This project is so easy, I didn’t take any step-by-step photos.

You start with a wire hanger (mine is coated in white plastic*), shape it into a heart, or circle, or whatever shape you want, untwist the top, thread your balls of yarn scraps around the whole thing, then re-twist the top. Done. No glue means you can re-use the yarn if you find yourself on the path of, say, a granny square afghan.

*My plastic-coated hanger kept its original twist while I threaded, so re-twisting was a cinch.

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Thrift Score of the Weekend

Lisa — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:31:53 +0000

A pretty pretty golden yellow waste bin for my yarn. I immediately came home, lined it with some fabric, and filled it with balls of yarn.

sleeping yarn

Lisa — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:11:52 +0000

I haven’t been sharing any crafty goodness, but I HAVE been making things and planning others. I picked up my knitting needles for the first time in a while, the other day. I gathered some yarn in a basket for me to have downstairs at my disposal. I am one of those people that needs to see things and feel them to get inspired to create. I like having this basket around while I do other [more mandatory] things around the house. When I have to rock the toddler to sleep or sit down to catch my breath, I can look at the basket and think of what I’m going to make next; what I’d rather be doing: knitting.

I took this photo with my Polaroid SX-70 camera and The Impossible Project’s newest film–PX 70 FF Color Shade. I love the soft color and blue tone. I had a tough time with my first pack of film, but I learned some things about my camera. I think that’s why they have the 2+1 starter packs–the first is just practice!

the smell of loved woolies

Lisa — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:32:51 +0000

The first Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern I ever made was ‘Ganomy’ from Knitters’ Almanac. It’s also been the most used pattern in my repetoire. My copy of KA is in bad shape. It lived in the bottom of my bag for a while. I haven’t knit everything she gives pithy directions for, but I HAVE read the whole book–some parts more than others.

Anyway, what I meant to blog about is how much I love wool. I’m sorry you have to wash your handknit hat. I’m sorry you accidentally put it in your hamper and it’s a ball of fluff. I’m sorry it itched you when you first touched it and now lives in a box in your closet. Fact of the matter is: you never gave wool a chance! It took me longer to knit your hat than it will for you to wash it. You should not put something beautifully made in a hamper. If you would have given it a soak, it wouldn’t be itchy.

That first Ganomy was a rather quick knit. It isn’t perfect, as I was a newbie to knitting, but it fit and was pretttyyy in all its Noro Kureyon glory. It was also lost in a hamper, almost-felted, and hella itchy. But I kept putting it on my little one’s (now, 4.5) head, hanging it on a hook, or shoving it in my bag, when he wasn’t wearing it. I even soaked it in warm water + lanolin (the same tube I got at my baby shower–thank heavens for an easy start to my breastfeeding career) + baby shampoo to wash it when it got really dirty one day.

Three years later, it is the hat I love most. Soft, pilly, smelly. It’s never gotten quite as dirty as the first time it warranted a cleaning. Heck, it’s only needed a wash once since then. And because of that, it smells wonderful. It smells like their heads. A lovely mixture of baby shampoo and baby sweat. No, don’t wince! Babies’ heads smell gooood. I promise.

This hat has been loved. It will continue to be loved for the rest of winter and perhaps into Spring. Maybe Easter will be cold and Andy will wear it one last time, on his second celebration of the holiday, like Nate did in 2007.

Won’t you give wool a chance? In a few years, when my boys undoubtedly become obnoxious the way I was when I was little, I bet someone will find me crying on a closet floor, deeply inhaling the scent of my babies from this hat. It’s just a fact.

365.272: yarny pumpkins

Lisa — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:55:34 +0000

I found this fabulous tutorial for apple yarn favors. Since October is like 2 days away, we made pumpkins! We also made an apple, and a tree. They’re super easy!

365.262: jar o’yarn

Lisa — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:52:12 +0000

say hello to my scrap jar! I shoved a bunch of bits in there. It’s mostly wool, with some cotton at the top. It’s destined to be scrappy hats. Autumn starts tomorrow!

a little de-stashing

Lisa — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:20:51 +0000

I really need to de-clutter my craft area. I have a lot of yarn and fabric I should get rid of, but the task is daunting! I am going to start small, with a few balls of yarn I wouldn’t mind parting with.

First, the cotton yarn!
Cotton Soft by Plymouth Yarn

$4/skein or all for $12, postage paid in the US. this yarn would make a beautiful baby bib!

Den-M-Nit by ROWAN

SOLD

Classic Elite Denim

SOLD

Now, some wool. I thought I would dye this stuff, but never got around to it.
Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool

SOLD

That’s it for now. Contact me: lisa @goodkntis.com if you’d like to purchase any or all of these. If you’re awesome and do want to purchase everything, I’ll mail it all to you for $38 (in the U.S.).