Tag Archives: Giveaway

If you’ve ever worked a pattern even as simple as stockinette sweater, you might find that it’s difficult to keep track of the several different shaping instructions worked the same time. Maybe there’s neckline shaping, armhole shaping and a cable to keep track of. That can be a lot at once! And the way traditional row counters work, you can really only keep track of one number at a time.

But our fine friends at Grellow & Gray have found a way to help you keep track of your knitting in a much more simple manner. They’ve invented the Sirka knitting counter. It can keep track of up to THREE counts at a time. So you can count rows and repeats of the same item and have one other count for something else – maybe shaping details.

How is this possible? Well, they took their inspiration from a pocket watch.

You secure the hands into the slots to know when to stop counting. Then, as you work a row or a repeat, you advance the same colored crown. Once the crown and the hand meet, it’s time to either start over (if you’re counting rows within a repeat) or move on to the next set of directions. This is a very helpful, visual way for you to be able to put down your pattern.

Even if you used a traditional knitting counter, you would have to keep looking back to your pattern to see if you’ve completed the correct number. Here, so long as you can remember what you’re doing (ie, don’t need to read a lace chart), you don’t need the pattern until you’ve completed that section.

This is pretty ingenious, don’t you think? The Bow can have a pretty ribbon tied through it to keep it nearby, or you can steady it with your finger when moving the crowns.

There are gears underneath the face, just like a watch:

This has a sturdy construction and is intuitive to me, but if you need a little more help figuring it out, you can turn to the handy tutorials that Grellow & Gray have posted. So far they have two. One that helps you figure out how to use this pattern with a traditional button down cardigan:

And one that shows you how to work a contiguous cardi. This is a fantastic top-down sweater method developed by Susie B. There’s a whole group devoted to it on Ravelry.

Definitely take a look at one of these videos to give yourself a better idea as to how to use this counter. I really enjoyed getting to know Grellow & Gray as we put together this giveaway and I hope you’ll take a closer look at this product. It’s entirely made in the USA and is a women-run company, which I’m always a big fan of. This would be a fantastic present for Christmas and definitely something a little different.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Grellow & Gray are allowing us to give away not one, but two counters with manuals! That’s extraordinarily generous of them!

And we’ll throw in some yarn and patterns with each counter! Winner #1 will receive a hank of Sabine in #19 Biscuit and the Sabine 2013 pattern booklet, with 8 awesome designs from Tabetha Hedrick.

And winner #2 will receive a ball of Tenzing in #6 Mystic Purple with the 8 leaflets from The Karakorman collection.

Combined, this prize package is worth over $115!

To enter, tell us which counter tutorial tutorial you’d next like to see on grellowgray.com. They have a number of different ones planned, so help them know which one they should work on next!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to US residents only and through Sunday, December 15th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 16th for the winner!

You can also have another chance to win a counter in the Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t forget to enter there and in the rest of the giveaways!

This is an enormous pattern giveaway! When I contacted a bunch of designers who have made patterns with our yarn, I had no idea that so many designers would respond so enthusiastically! All of these patterns would be ones that I would enjoy having in my own personal library and many of them are small enough that they would knit up quickly to make great gifts!

This is the Lady Chadwick Cap designed by Quirky Bird Knits. It’s been in my favorites since it first came out. I love the cabled band and the twisted stitches. And, it only takes one ball of Chadwick, which I’m certain I have in my stash!

This pattern is simply darling! It’s Junco by Sarah Jo Burch. In case you don’t know, Junco is a kind of bird. I saw one yesterday for the first time, and I can see exactly why Sarah named this pattern after it. Even though you need three colors of Herriot to make it, it only takes half a hank of each color, so  you can make one as a gift and one to keep!

The Rosana Shawl by Cassie Castillo is made with Findley, which will provide warmth, without weight. It’s a slight crescent shape and uses beads used throughout the lace section. I wish I had the time to knit one of these for myself.

Hope Grows Scarf and Hope Grows Cowl (below) by Stacey Pope are great accessories. Each uses one ball of Willa. Stacey donates the pattern proceeds to The Guthy Jackson Charitable Foundation to find a cure for NMO.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO or Devic’s Disease) is an uncommon disease syndrome of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Individuals with NMO develop optic neuritis, which causes pain in the eye and vision loss, and transverse myelitis, which causes weakness, numbness, and sometimes paralysis of the arms and legs, along with sensory disturbances and loss of bladder and bowel control. ~From The National Institute of Neurological Disorders

This pretty knit is The Fallen Lady Stole by Amy Kaspar. Inspired by the Victorian term for a woman who cheated on her husband, this pattern is a cheat on traditional lace, with the border knitted as you go, rather than sewn on afterward as is traditional. This is not a challenging lace pattern, and takes less than a ball of Findley, so it’ll work up quickly.

I love this funky Cardiff Bay Ponytail Hat by Beth Ann Beck. Having long hair, but getting chilly easily, I think that this “hat” would be a great way to keep warm. It uses just one ball of Yearling and will be a great quick Christmas knit!

On the Front Porch Swing is a dainty shawl by Linda Day Morehouse. This semi-circular shawl is knit from the bottom up, an unusual construction for a semi-circular shawl. It uses less than a ball of Findley. You’re sure to feel feminine with this draped around your shoulders.

Elvenflyt is a fun pom-pom adorned hat by Sierra Anderson. Like the other patterns, this too takes only one hank of Sabine. You could of course leave the pom-pom off for a more sophisticated look, but a little bit of whimsy in your life is never a bad thing!

The Brazos Valley Shawl by Jenna Swanson is a perfect use of Herriot. It’s cushy and soft and will keep you cozy and warm in this colder weather. I love the bold stripes and the cabled edging.

Winter Branches is also by Jenna Swanson. I love how the pattern translates into the crown decreases. It’s an effective design and uses just one ball of Chadwick.

Turn Around by Susan Barstein is a lovely cowl knit with Herriot. Its long length means that you can wrap it double to be sure to keep out the winter chill.

Cranberry Crush Cowl by Kay Hopkins is a great way to use up that slightly-less than half a ball of Findley. It uses cushy, cozy brioche stitch, so it’s completely reversible. There isn’t an unattractive side to this cowl!

This Lombard Lace Pullover makes fantastic use of the color repeats in Findley Dappled. Jamie A Besel created a light, casual look that is sure to get lots of wear in your wardrobe.

The Marissa Shawl is one of favorite shawl patterns. Designed by Helen Rose, it’s beautiful and delicate with a complex look that is less difficult than you think, as the stitch counts throughout the lace pattern stay consistent.

This Chadwick Scarf is designed by Lynnette Connors and is a great accessory for winter. It’s a tidy length when tucked and is suitable as a men’s or a woman’s scarf. You might have guessed that this scarf is knit with Chadwick yarn!

Lynette also designed this scarf in Herriot, gracing the cover of a new magazine called Hook & Needles, a new magazine published Quarterly for both knitters and crocheters alike. Below is their inaugural issue Autumn 2013.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

All of these designers have been kind enough to give away a copy of their pattern. I was as pleased as punch at how warmly this idea was received among independent designers, because I have a massive amount of respect for them. I have five copies of Elvenflyt to give away and one winner will receive the entire issue of Hooks and Needles Quarterly Autumn 2013. That makes a total of 21 winners!

To Enter, please favorite at least one of the patterns on Ravelry (linked above) and then come back and let is know which patterns are your favorites. You might just get lost in looking at all the other patterns that they have to offer! These designers are amazing and you just might be seeing some more of them in upcoming JMF pattern lines!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Sunday, December 15th ending at 11:59p eastern time. We will be selecting one winner for each pattern, so check back on the 16th for the winners!

Almost all of these patterns are included in our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t miss out on an additional chance to win! I will pull the grand prize winner’s name before I pull the pattern winners names, so you don’t have to worry that might miss out on the grand prize by entering into this giveaway.

Now, we know that you would love to get some JMF goodies for Christmas. Otherwise, what would you be doing here? So here are some great options for your Christmas wish list.

As I mentioned earlier today, we’re having a sale in the JMF shop! So you can get one of our awesome shares at a discounted price. We’re getting towards the end of the year, so our space is limited and you don’t want to miss out.

Our shareholders return year after year to support the farm and find connection with the animals and other shareholders. A lot of them say that the yarn is a bonus, which is a lovely thought, but this yarn is good stuff that you’re sure to fall in love with once you see it!

Because our 2014 CSA yarn won’t be ready until September, a good reminder of what you’re going to receive is our fantastic JMF Calendar. I carefully selected all the photos from the last year to share and narrowing down the choices was tricky! Right now, lulu.com is offering free shipping with the code FREESHIP. They also have other daily deals, so look at the top of the screen to see if it’s a coupon code or automatically applied.

Our friend Anna Branner makes some fantastic pottery! We’d commissioned her to make some JMF mugs and she’s nearly out of stock with no plans to make more. So if you haven’t snatched one of these up yet, now is the time to do it! They can be found on her etsy shop, Cloth n’ Clay with a bunch of other great items including yarn bowls! Woops, she’s sold out, you’ll have to see what else that she has in stock.

And we have a growing selection of patterns in our shop, with more patterns being released digitally soon! (Maybe once we’ve caught our breath from this giveaway.)

We have a ton of great stuff in our Cafe Press swag shop, including this awesome water bottleand this great tote bag

New Shop Item! We are bringing back A Year at the Farm Sock Club! This past year’s club was a little more sporadic that we would have liked, but we’ve worked up a way to improve.  Instead of shipping the yarn each month, we’ll ship it out three months at a time separated into paper bags adorned with our logo with each month written on it. You’ll be on your honor not to open up the bags until the first of each month. (Or you’ll just delve right in. We don’t judge!) This is going to take some of the pressure off and ensure on-time delivery!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

We’re giving away one of our fantastic 2014 calendars! This calendar features 13 beautiful pictures showing life each month of the farm. You’ll enjoy seeing photos of the JMF animals that you’ve come to love.

And, we’re giving away a hank of Herriot Heathers in #1000 Oatmeal and all 8 leaflets in The Haverhill Collection, designed by a terrific designer Alison Green, whom I’m happy to call a friend!

This package is worth almost $90!

To enter, leave us  a comment with what your favorite or most-hated Christmas song is. We’ll randomly pick a winner, but you’ll get bonus points if you make us laugh or warm our hearts.

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Sunday, December 15th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 16th for the winner!

Please don’t miss out on entering our Grand Prize Giveaway. And remember, the more daily giveaways that you enter, the most chances you get at the grand prize!

PS – Sorry this post is so late in the day. Blanket shipping was crazier than expected. More on that soon!

One thing you can’t do without as a knitter, is needles. Needles are the kind of thing that pile up in your craft room and take over your life. How many times have you hunted through project bags long forgotten to see if you could find that needle in size 5 that you KNOW that you have. And to the uninitiated eye they all look the same. How is one to know that you need both a size six 24″ and 32″ circular needle? or size 2 and size 3 dpns? (That’s double pointed needles!)

I’m really grateful to ravelry’s needle inventory to help me keep track of all my needles so I know when to hunt around the house for a particular pair and when I need to buy another one.

And if I DO need to buy another one, there are tons of choices on the market, sometimes just within one company! Knitter’s Pride has a tremendous selection of needles available. On their website, they’ve broken down needles (and crochet hooks!) into the different materials that each one is manufactured in. Let me try to give you a brief overview of each type!

First up, bamboo needles. Bamboo has a lovely lightweight and warm quality to it that makes it very comfortable to hold while knitting. Bamboo tends to be a quiet material to work with as well. I like using bamboo needles, especially when the yarn is slippery and I would like a tiny bit of grip from my needles.

Nova Metal needles are made from hollow brass tubes, coated with high-quality nickle. They are surprisingly light and extremely smooth. They have a sharp, tapered point with a smooth join.

The Symfone Dreamz needles come in a range of gorgeous colors which allow you to quickly identify what size you’re working with. They’re made of a polished wood for a smooth finish which also gives a nice warmth to the touch.

A newcomer to the market, Karbonz are made of high-tech carbon fiber and have nickle-plated brass tips. They have an unusual, but warm and light feel. I would definitely recommend trying them to make sure that you like this feel. Many knitters love them, but they’re not to everyone’s tastes. They definitely have a great, modern look to them!

Basix Birch needles and hooks are made from birch wood, which is a lightweight, but strong wood. It’s polished to allow yarn to move over it smoothly without snagging. These are available in the larger sizes, making them ideal for use with chunky yarn.

Knitter’s Pride also has the needles on their website broken down by style and shape, so if you’re looking to see what they have for interchangeables, you can do that. And as seen above, they also have a range of crochet hooks, including some with built in soft grips.

One of the newer needle innovations on the market is Knitter’s Pride’s Cubics needles. These are needles with a square shaft. Why a square shaft? Well, it’s more ergonomic, leaving less stress and strain on the wrists and more uniform stitch formation! That’s great when you’re working something with a field of stockinette. Because they’re square, you measure them diagonally in knitting needle sizer.  The Cubix needles are available as Symfonie Cubics or as Nova Cubics. I’m especially interested in trying Cubics, since I have carpal tunnel syndrome and my wrists can get fatigued quickly while knitting.

You should ask for Knitter’s Pride needles at your local yarn store, alongside Juniper Moon Farm Yarn, but if you can’t find them, you can purchase them on Amazon. A reminder that our proceeds from our Amazon affliate account is matched by JMF and goes to Heifer International!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Knitter’s Pride is graciously allowing us to give away a set of Nova Cubics Double Pointed Sock Needles! This set includes five 15 cm long needles in each of the following sizes: 0 (2.00 mm), 1 (2.25 mm), 1.5 (2.50 mm), 2 (2.75 mm), 2.5 (3.00 mm) and 3 (mm). These needles are new on the market. It’s the first time Cubics have been made in brass. They’ve got a great hand feel and are nice and smooth.

In addition, they’ve been so kind as to throw in a knitting needle gauge, so the winner will be getting one in ivy.

And Juniper Moon Farm is giving away a ball of Findley Dappled in color #120 (which is a brand new color we’re releasing for SS2014) and the Findley Dappled 2013 booklet featuring 11 charming patterns by Corrina Ferguson (and moi on the cover).

To enter, go to knitterspride.com and have a look around. Then come back and tell us what would be on your ultimate Christmas wish list! I think a Symfonie Cubics interchangeable set would top my Christmas wishlist!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Sunday, December 15th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 16th for the winner! That’s also the deadlines for our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t miss out there, especially because Knitter’s Pride is generously giving away a bamboo interchangeable needle starter set in our grand prize giveaway!

Today’s Giveaway comes with an exciting piece of news that we haven’t shared with anyone yet– we are hard at work on a Juniper Moon Farm book, to be published next Fall by our great friends at Sixth&Springs! Sixth&Spring is the book publishing arm of the company that publishes Vogue Knitting. In other words, these people know what makes a good knitting book.

Needless to say, we are very, very excited about having a JMF book on the shelves of book stores and yarn shops. We’re working our butts off to make sure it something that we– and our shareholders– will be super proud of.

I have to say that meeting with Trish Malcolm and Joy Aquilino on this book and getting a front row seat to how these things are put together has been an education for me, but it has also been a whole lot of fun! All the people in their NYC office are so knowledgable  kind, and they have been so lovely and patient with me.

The ladies at Sixth&Spring are also crazy generous! When I told them about our “All I Want for Christmas” series, they offered to let us giveaway some of our very favorites! A big thank you to Joy and Trish!

Here’s some of their books that we like!

Vogue Knitting Very Easy Sweaters has well, a bunch of Very Easy Sweater patterns from Vogue Knitting. The title tells it all! This is fantastic book for if you’re just getting interested in sweater knitting and don’t want to get bogged down by too many fiddly things. Or if you just want to have good, solid fairly mindless knitting on your needles at all times. And at the end of it, you get a great sweater!

Who doesn’t love knitting hats? With Vogue Knitting’s The Ultimate Hat Book, you’ll not only get 50 hat patterns, you’ll also get a bit of the history of knitting hats, some information about the different types of hats and how they’re construction, as well as great tips on fit, measuring, yarn substitution, techniques and stitch pattern.

Debbie Bliss is a wonderful friend! We always have a great time hanging out with her at TNNA in June every year and then I got to spend time with her in London during my visit to Scotland. Debbie is absolutely kind and lovely, and we adore her. So it’s no wonder that we also love her yarn and patterns. We got to see some of these patterns in real life at TNNA and they’re fantastic! There is a wide variety of patterns, so I’m sure you’ll find something to love!

We’re big Louisa Harding fans in the JMF office, and when you see the 25 patterns that are used in Knits from and English Rose, I think you will be, too! If you thought Fun Fur was a tacky yarn, Louisa Harding’s Luzia yarn (as used in the Myrtle Fur Collar) will turn what you know on it’s head!

Noro is a super popular yarn because of its interesting, long color repeats. Knit Noro Accessories features patterns that uses those color repeats to make complicated-looking garments with ease!

Noro is a great yarn for crocheters because of the long color repeats. 30 fantastic crochet patterns are here from well-respected designers like Doris Chan and Robyn Chachula.

Knit Noro features 30 designs using, you guessed it, Noro. There are a couple of great colorwork patterns that makes use of the color changing aspect of the yarn to create a complicated pattern that is actually much simpler than at first glance.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Sixth&Spring is generously giving us each of these titles to giveaway! We’ll pick 8 winners who will each receive one of these books.

To enter, go to SixthandSpringsBooks.com and find some titles that you would like to receive for Christmas. There’s more than just knitting and crochet books, so take a good look! Come on back and leave us a comment with what you’d like to get!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Sunday, December 15th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 16th for the winner! That’s also the deadlines for our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t miss out there!

We were so thrilled when a couple of weeks ago, our Facebook likes topped 5,000! I’ve been really enjoying our Facebook page and the interactions people are having there. If you don’t like us on Facebook, yet, then you’re missing out on some great stuff. We always post when we have a new blog entry, so you’re sure not to miss a post (especially helpful with all the giveaways that we’re currently doing), but we also have lots of other content. We love to see yarn shop owners and knitters and crocheters share what they’ve made with our yarn – there are almost daily “Yarned by You”s. Sometimes we come up with silly pictures and videos of cute animals or knitting things that we share exclusively on Facebook.

It’s a fun place to hang out, so I hope you’ll join us by liking our Facebook page! We’ll be selecting one winner from all of our Facebook fans. There’s no need to leave a comment here or anything else. Just make sure that you’ve like Juniper Moon Farm on Facebook!

Oh, what will you win? Well, it will be a ball of Marlowe in color #18 Peacock Feather and all 8 of our Marlowe Leaflets in The Alban Collection.

We’ll announce the winner both here on the blog and on our Facebook page on Monday, December 16th, so hurry up and like us if you don’t already!

How many time have you been working on a project and rummaging through your project bag hoping to find just one more stitch marker or a darning needle? Well if you’re like me, not at all. Why? Because I have my very own tool tin! What’s a tool tin? Well, it’s a great altoid-tin sized container that contains everything I might need for a project.  I actually put my own together, but I’m going to replace it with something much more festive. A tool tin from The Sexy Knitter herself!

When I anxiously approached Sarah Wilson to see if she might possibly be interested in giving away a tool tin, she enthusiastically agreed. She was SO enthusiastic about it that I didn’t hesitate to ask if she might be interested in designing a special JMF tool tin. And I’m so glad that I didn’t because we collaborated to come up with not one, but TWO awesome designs.

First there is this tool tin with this adorable picture of FDR, the first lamb born on the farm. FDR with this sideways ears was the inspiration for our logo and it’s a cropped verion of this photo that you see when you visit our blog. It’s hard to imagine that this adorable lamby sired Dakota and Delaware in 2009!

The other tool tin features everyone’s favorite goat, Hannah! Hannah is a favorite because she’s friendly. Maybe even TOO friendly at times. She was a bottle baby and she’s not at all afraid of humans. She’s always expecting a hand out. Susie says that she looks like Julia Roberts, if Julia Roberts were suddenly a goat. I especially love this photo because this is one of the pictures I took on my farm visit in October, and it’s the tool tin that is on its way to become my newest knitting accessory.

Now, what exactly comes in these adorable, altoid-sized tins? All of this:

That’s a stitch holder, cable needle, double ended crochet hook, three different needles, five star stitch holders, measuring tape (which Sarah will try to make green or blue to go along with our logo colors) and a pair of snips that fold up! On the inside of the tin lid, there is a small magnetic strip so those needles stay safely in place. Brilliant, I tell you!

Now, if you’re not enamored of our little lamb or goat image, there are 41 other tool tins that you can choose from. But really, what’s wrong with you? These are the most adorable creatures that have every graced the earth!

If you’re a crocheter, she also makes tins that have stitch markers with lobster clasps, and I can’t think of any reason why she wouldn’t change them out in the JMF tins.

And in case you think that this is all that The Sexy Knitter does, she is also an accomplished designer (with a design in Hitch, which we’re giving away right here) and there are several of her patterns available in her etsy shop AND on Ravelry, so be sure to check out her work!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

We’re so thrilled that The Sexy Knitter is giving away one of her FDR tool tins!

And to sweet the pot, we’re also giving away a hank of Sabine in color #18 Clementine and a Sabine 2013 booklet featuring eight patterns by Tabetha Hedrick!

To Enter, go to The Sexy Knitter and check out her tool tins. Come on back and let us know what your favorite image is. I understand if you’re a little biased, but feel free to mention something other than the awesome ones that she created for us!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Thursday, December 12th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 13th for the winner!

The Sexy Knitter is also giving away a Hannah tool tin in our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t forget to enter there, too!

COUPON
And to sweeten the deal, The Sexy Knitter is offering a 20% off an order of $20 or more! The coupon code is JuniperMoonFarm and is valid through Saturday, December 14th. So make sure that if you’re sharing this with your friends and family you stress the importance of ordering soon. (Or just go ahead and order right now. You won’t be sorry.)