Posts Tagged ‘yarn’

Contest! Name My New Design Scarf Pattern! Free Prizes!

// April 4th, 2012 // 11 Comments » // Knitting

Hey knitters and crafters!

I’m in the process of designing another scarf and I need some pattern name suggestions.

In order to make this a fun process, I thought  I’d have a contest. The contest will run April 4th, 2012 until midnight, April 14th, 2012.

You can leave your suggestion and a way I can contact the winner in the comment section of My blog OR Things Crafty website. In the event of duplicate names, the first person who posts their suggestion will get credit. Shipping within the Continental US Only.

RULES:

1. Leave your pattern name suggestion  in the Contest comment section of one or both of these sites below:

My blog: http://sheeptoshawlknittingforthelamb.blogspot.com/

Things Crafty: http://thingscrafty.com/2012/04/04/contest-name-my-new-design-scarf-pattern-free-prizes/

2. Suggestions should somehow relate to the scarf in some way (note “image” below) and I’d prefer if the name wasn’t already being used in Ravelry as a pattern.

 

 

 

3. The winner will not only be named awesome and amazing (on  My blog and Things Crafty, but also will receive a FREE copy of the pattern (or pattern of his/her choice in my pattern store). The winner will also receive 2 balls of Berroco Opulent FX, Color: Rose Glow and Boye size US 15 needles!

 

 

 

4. In the third week of April, the winner will be announced, as well as the unveiling of the new pattern (pics included)…available for purchase on my Raverly pattern store: http://www.ravelry.com/stores/mary-ann-hoth-designs/manage
The above picture is the yarn I’m using for this design: MODA  DEA “Tutu” and Color: Cabana Blue

Can’t wait to read your suggestions!!!

Galler Yarn’s Inca Eco blog tour

// March 22nd, 2012 // Comments Off // Blog, Crochet, Knitting

I’m delighted to be a part of the Inca Eco Blog Tour! If you haven’t heard, Inca Eco is a new 100% organic cotton yarn by Galler Yarns, and it’s fab! I’ll tell you all about it (the review portion of this post) and then give you other exciting blog-tour details.

The Yarn

Vital Stats:

  • 100% Organic Cotton, made in Peru
  • Worsted Weight (4.5-5 sts/inch, size 8 needle)
  • 140 yards/100 gram skein
  • Hand Wash
  • click here for retailers

Inca Eco is a worsted weight, 2 ply, 100% organic cotton yarn that’s dyed with eco-friendly and low-impact dyes. It comes in 15 colorways.

I’m incredibly passionate about earth-friendly yarns (in fact, my most recent book used only earth-friendly yarns… and if Inca Eco had been available, I would have used it!). In my opinion, cotton is the most important fiber to obtain organically, because conventionally-grown cotton uses more pesticides than any other crop grown on the planet. And those pesticides that are used in the growing process linger around into the finished product… ick!

So, I’m ecstatic to find new organic cottons on the market… and this one is lovely!

Some people cringe when they hear about knitting/crocheting with cotton. Chances are (if you’re cringing) you’re thinking of something like Lily’s Sugar and Cream… the stuff you use for making dishcloths. But just like there are scratchy wools and soft wools, there are not-so-nice cottons and amazingly soft cottons. And Inca Eco (and all of the other organic cottons I’ve used) are deliciously soft!

What sets this yarn apart from other organic cottons is the way it is spun and plied. It has a hand-spun look, with a thick-and-thin appearance. I was very pleased to work with this yarn- usually I’m annoyed when making a project with a thick-and-thin yarn because it gets TOO thick and TOO thin. But Inca Eco has it right- just enough texture for an interesting look, but not too much to disrupt your knitting flow.

As you can see, when this yarn is knit up, it finishes with a pleasing texture that makes the fabric look interesting. And, it doesn’t have the ‘holes’ that you can get when other thick-and-thins get too thin. Fun and beautiful!

Pattern Suggestions

Galler Yarns will be releasing two free patterns for Inca Eco on Fridays during the tour on their site. Hooray!

As I was knitting this swatch, some other patterns instantly jumped into my mind. I think this yarn would work fabulously with a number of patterns.

Basically, this yarn would work with almost any pattern that calls for a worsted weight cotton, but particularly patterns without lots of cables/lace (so you can see the interesting texture the yarn creates).

Blog Tour Schedule

You don’t have to take my word for it… Inca Eco is hittin’ the blog circuit! Check out the packed schedule and read the reviews!

Monday, March 19 – Day 1 – In the Loop in Norfolk, MA (shop website)
Tuesday, March 20 – Day 2 – Knit Purl Gurl
Wednesday, March 21 – Day 3 – FreshStitches (that’s me! today!)
Thursday, March 22 – Day 4 – Crafty Is Cool
Friday, March 23 – Day 5 – Cute Crochet Chat
Saturday, March 24 – Day 6 – Redshirt Knitting
Sunday, March 25 – Day 7 – CraftSanity
Monday, March 26 – Day 8 – Craft Gossip with JD Wolfe
Tuesday, March 27 – Day 9 – Crafting a Green World with Julie Finn
Wednesday, March 28 – Day 10 – Crazy for Ewe in Leonardtown and La Plata, MD (shop website)
Thursday, March 29 – Day 11 – Crochet Concupiscence
Friday, March 30 – Day 12 – KRW Knitwear Studio
Saturday, March 31 – Day 13 – About.com with Sarah E. White
Sunday, April 1 – Day 14 – Underground Crafter
Monday, April 2 – Day 15 – Monarch Knitting and Quilts in Pacific Grove, CA (shop website)

Follow along and feel the cotton love!

I hope you check out a few of the other blog stops (especially since it’s a collection of such awesome bloggers) and give this yarn a shot the next time you’re thinking ‘cotton’. It’s almost summer… so I know we’ll all have cotton on our minds!

Lacis Ball Winder Review

// November 14th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Blog, Crochet, Knitting

I’m fairly proficient at hand-winding center-pull balls of yarn… so I put off getting a ball winder for a long time. However, a few weeks ago, I made the move: I purchased a Yarn Ball Winder, and I’m so glad I did!

My hesitations

I’ve worked in 2 different yarn stores over the past few years, and both had very high-quality wooden ball winders. And, even those (very expensive) winders had trouble winding certain skeins of yarn. Silk? Way too slippery… often wound up in a lopsided ball.

So, I was nervous about purchasing a ball winder. I wasn’t prepared to buy a pricey one, and I wondered, ‘how good could a cheap plastic one be?’. Turns out, for under $30, you can have a ball winder that (at least for at-home winding) is supurb!

The ball winder

I purchased the Lacis Ball Winder from Amazon. It’s plastic, under $30 and came with mixed reviews. Most of the reviews were great, and (in my opinion) many of the negative reviews seemed to come either from folks who received a defective unit (and that can happen with any product!) or people who weren’t using the ball winder correctly. So, I gave it a try.

The test

I started out winding some balls, and they all came out beautifully. Then, I gave it the real test: a skein of lace-weight 100% silk yarn. And here’s how it did:

Success! No slipping… just one beautifully wound ball!

The cons

I wound a whole lot of yarn! Here are what I think are the negatives of this ball winder:

  • The clamp is only 1.25″. So, for me (who lives with a lot of uber-thick Ikea furniture), the only place I could clamp the winder was on the arm of a chair. This may or may not be a problem for you.
  • The yarn feeder needs to be pulled firmly to be engaged. If you yank on the skein a lot, the feeder will become loose (this happened to me on about 1 out of 10 balls). Having a swift would minimize this problem.
  • It’s a small capacity winder. If you want to wind skeins larger than 4 oz, you’ll need the jumbo size. (4 ounces is the recommended maximum… I squeezed on much more!)

The pros

There’s a lot to love about this winder!

  • It’s inexpensive: for under $30 you get a winder that will take care of almost all of your yarn-winding needs!
  • The winder handled bulky and lace-weight yarns wonderfully. It also would very slippery yarns with ease.
  • It’s lightweight and portable.

Wanna see how much I love it? The winder did a number on my stash:

Hooray!

So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a ball winder, I recommend it!