Tag Archives: contest

Alterknit Stitch Dictionary Winner!

Alterknit Stitch Dictionary Winner! post image

So, you’re all wondering who won the Alterknit Stitch Dictionary, huh? (grin)

So, with the help from my Facebook friends, from whom I asked for random numbers between one and four and then selected the average …

The winner is: Liz B!

Congratulations! Please email me your addresses so I can send you your copy. You’re going to love it!

And, thank you again to Interweave Press for providing the extra copy. You guys rock.

(I’ve sent an email to the winner. If I don’t hear back in a week, I’ll pick another winner. It would be a shame to let this sit unclaimed, after all.)

The Winners Are…

The Winners Are… post image

You’ve probably all been on tenterhooks, but I promise, I didn’t forget! This is a rare treat, giving away hours of sterling entertainment to my readers. I’m thrilled.

I kind of want to just savor the moment.

So wonderful, isn’t it?

Lovely.

And exciting!

Um …

Okay.

Savoring is great, but I should get on with the announcements, huh?

Thanks to Penguin Random House, the winners of these FIVE audiobooks are:


THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd, read by Jenna Lamia and Adepero Oduye. Winner is Marisa Zanon.


THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald, read by Fiona Hardingham and Lorelei King. Winner is Tobie.


FLIGHT OF DREAMS by Ariel Lawhon, read by John Lee. Winner is GMA.


THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE by Melanie Benjamin, read by Cassandra Campbell and Paul Boehmer. Winner is Sprite.


SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE by Sophie Kinsella, read by Clare Corbett. Winner is Sandy Hall.

You lucky winners need to send me your mailing addresses so we can send you your prizes. I tried to make sure all the winners got a book they actually wanted, even if it wasn’t their first choice.

Thank you all for playing–and thank you Penguin Random House for your generosity! And, even if you didn’t win, you should absolutely check out these books. They all look wonderful!

These audiobooks were kindly donated by Penguin Random House. Thank you!

My Gush: I love giving away things, especially things that free up more time for your knitting?

Audio Book Giveaway!

Audio Book Giveaway! post image

About the Contest:

It’s been ages since I had a giveaway … but that’s about to change!

Thanks to the folks at Penguin Random House, I get to give away not one, but FIVE audiobooks to you lucky, lucky knitters.

We all appreciate the quiet, contemplative nature of crafting–making things with your hands, manipulating yarn or fabric into new shapes and combinations. Being creative is one of the primary drives for anybody who makes things.

But sometimes, the act of creation isn’t enough on its own.

Maybe you’re working through a long swath of stockinette stitch, or you need something to distract and entertain you while your hands work. Knitting with a group of friends does this wonderfully–but friends aren’t always available.

Television can work, too. You can stream seasons of your favorite shows or catch up on your movie watching while you work … except, sometimes you need to concentrate on what your hands are doing. Looking back and forth to the screen is too distracting.

But still, you’re just that tiny bit bored. Or you’re shaken by the fact that, by sitting with your yarn, you’re not getting anything else done. Perhaps you’re torn between wanting to curl up with a good book and driven to knit.

Enter Audiobooks.

Audiobooks and crafting are practically made for each other. Your hands can work busily away while your brain follows daring exploits or indulges in romantic escapes. Listening to a good story takes us back to our youngest days when Mom would read to us. It’s relaxing in a way that watching television isn’t.

Which brings us to our giveway.

Thanks to their generosity, I have FIVE audiobooks to give away. Five!


THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd, read by Jenna Lamia and Adepero Oduye


THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald, read by Fiona Hardingham and Lorelei King


FLIGHT OF DREAMS by Ariel Lawhon, read by John Lee


THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE by Melanie Benjamin, read by Cassandra Campbell and Paul Boehmer


SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE by Sophie Kinsella, read by Clare Corbett

I want to read at least three of these, myself, but no. I’m offering these audio CDs to YOU instead.

To win, leave a comment below listing your top three choices. Winners will be selected by a random drawing and I’ll try to match up titles with your preferences, but make no guarantees. For the sake of shipping, winners must be in the United States.

But, there’s more–send friends over to enter and, as long as they tell me who sent them, you’ll get more chances to win!

Entries are open through Friday the 11th.

Enter now! Because story-telling never gets old.

These audiobooks were kindly donated by Penguin Random House. Thank you!

My Gush: Who can resist listening to a good story–especially if it frees up more time for your knitting?

Harry Potter Contest Winner!

So, you’re all wondering who won the free Harry Potter magazines, huh? (grin)

So, using the handy, online random number generator at random.org …

The winners are: Jenna, Sammie, and Melissa.

Congratulations! Please email me your addresses so I can send you your copy of Harry Potter Knits. You’re going to love it!

And, thank you again to Interweave Press for providing the extra copies. You guys rock.

(I’ve sent emails to the winners. If I don’t hear back in a week, I’ll pick another winner. It would be a shame to let these sit unclaimed, after all.)

Review & Contest! Harry Potter Knits Magazine

Post image for Review & Contest! Harry Potter Knits Magazine

First, the facts:

Title: The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits

Published by: Interweave Press, 2013

Pages: 144

Type: Magazine

The In-Depth Look:

I hope you’re all as excited as I am. Not only has Interweave Press come up with a fun tribute to one of my favorite series of books (and movies), but they were generous enough to give me free copies to give away!

But more on that later.

The magazine, The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, is filled with 30 projects inspired by the series. And, honestly, they’re almost as much fun. There are some great sweaters, here (and I’ll confess that I bought yarn to make the cover sweater the other day, so right away, you know I like it), some lovely wraps and shawls and socks … but there are whimsical things, too, like the stash-busting E.L.F. cap that looks like a pile of five different hats. There are O.W.L. mittens with a cheat-sheet list of spells on the palms, a Forbidden Forest scarf that looks like a series of trailing vines … and let’s not forget the hair bow that looks like a big, juicy fly.

But more than the playful patterns, there are some gorgeous sweaters in here–pullovers for men, cardigans and vests for women. There are lacy wraps that range from shawls to cloaks (well, short cloaks). Fingerless gloves and socks are here, too, and all in all, it’s a great collection. I already told you I plan on making the cover sweater, but there are several more here that I’d make, too, if only there were time! (Unfortunately, I’m guessing Hermione’s Time-Turner Mitts don’t actually turn time.) Oh, and let’s not forget the updated school scarves with abbreviated stripes.

Along the way, there are articles about the knits in the movies and the filming locations, magical symbols in the knitwear.

Basically, yes, this is a fun collection, and as a Harry Potter fan and a knitter, I’m enchanted.

Now–the best part. I have three copies to give away!

So … to be eligible to win, leave me a comment below answering these two questions.

  1. Which pattern from the collection would you most like to knit?
  2. Which do you prefer–the books or the movies?


The contest will stay open for a for a week, and is only open to US readers. (Sorry about that, for those of you outside the USA.)

You can get your copy at your local yarn shop, bookstore, Amazon.com or at Interweave (link below).

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy and the giveaway copies were kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!

My Gush: Not only a fun magazine, but free copies to give away!

Snowmelt 2013 Contest Winner!

My high school friend Lynne! She guessed May 27. Truthfully, I didn’t look yesterday, but it is all gone today. There was still a bit of ice under some dirt there last Thursday.

In other news.

You might think I’ve been ignoring the blog. You might not be wrong. I still can’t get in from home on my iPad, and it’s a pain to post from there anyhow (wordpress admin platform issue). And I regularly can’t get in on my laptop. But I seem to almost always be able to get in on the old, old, old PC.

And I’m very unhappy with the new flickr set-up. It takes forEVER to load, on my iPad, laptop, and PC. Sure it’s pretty, but I don’t care what it looks like. I want to be able to go in and quickly manage or grab the photos I want.

Pics, so this isn’t a totally photo-less post…

I’ve been snorgling these puppies… they’re 4 weeks old here, and related to my girls.
puppies 015

Random shot around the yard from a week or so ago, before the deluge. That rhododendron in the background is beginning to bloom!
house 027

I saw these folks earlier this month in NH… and will see some of them again this weekend at Fiber Frolic!
nhsw gf gang (1)

Snowmelt 2013 Contest Winner!

My high school friend Lynne! She guessed May 27. Truthfully, I didn’t look yesterday, but it is all gone today. There was still a bit of ice under some dirt there last Thursday.

In other news.

You might think I’ve been ignoring the blog. You might not be wrong. I still can’t get in from home on my iPad, and it’s a pain to post from there anyhow (wordpress admin platform issue). And I regularly can’t get in on my laptop. But I seem to almost always be able to get in on the old, old, old PC.

And I’m very unhappy with the new flickr set-up. It takes forEVER to load, on my iPad, laptop, and PC. Sure it’s pretty, but I don’t care what it looks like. I want to be able to go in and quickly manage or grab the photos I want.

Pics, so this isn’t a totally photo-less post…

I’ve been snorgling these puppies… they’re 4 weeks old here, and related to my girls.
puppies 015

Random shot around the yard from a week or so ago, before the deluge. That rhododendron in the background is beginning to bloom!
house 027

I saw these folks earlier this month in NH… and will see some of them again this weekend at Fiber Frolic!
nhsw gf gang (1)

Spring! Snow melt contest!

Well, it seems it has become a tradition to have a contest to guess when the big piles of snow at work will melt (check out the category “contest” down on the right side). As it is the first day of spring, it’s time to announce the contest!

Guess when these piles of snow will melt. As in be ALL gone, no ice in the mud, just damp. There are two piles of snow this year, so whichever melts LAST.

Pile 1 (this has been the bigger pile in the past couple years, but not this year).
snowpiles (3) snowpiles (2)

Pile 2 (this was the bigger pile in the first few years, and seems to be this year too).
snowpiles (4) snowpiles (1)

Rule! One guess. Put it in the comments in this post.

Deadline for guesses! March 30, 5 pm.

Two winners! One will be chosen randomly, and one will be the winner for the closest date to the actual all gone and melted date. In the unlikely event that two people guess the same date and it is the melt date, I’ll draw randomly. If two people guess either side of the melt date, I’ll take the one who guesses the closest date BEFORE it is all gone vs after.

Prizes! Fair warning, I’m destashing… If a non-knitter wins, I’ll grab a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card. Possibilities include yarn or fiber, enough for a small project. Here are some, but there is more… If you have a website or Ravelry profile, I’ll look around and see what you have and like to work with and offer some things that I think you might like.

greta socks purple (1) alpafina str berylmeilenweit french twist carezza handpaint originals firefly (1) meilenweit perhaps

I have some spinning fiber, but no pictures. And 6 Encore Worsted in an orange/pink/white, great for a small girl… happy to send all of that off, enough for a sweater.

Contest Winner!

Post image for Contest Winner!

It’s about time I got around to announcing who won the free book, huh? (grin)

So, using the handy, online random number generator at random.org, it came up with #20.

Comment #20 belonged to Deirdre, who wants to try Brioche knitting.

Congratulations, Deirdre! Please email me your address so I can send you your copy of Essentially Feminine Knits. You’re going to love it!

And, thank you again to Interweave Press for providing the extra copy. You guys rock.

ess-fem_016

Review: Essentially Feminine Knits

Post image for Review: Essentially Feminine Knits

ess-fem_016

First, the facts:

Title: Essentially Feminine Knits: 25 Must-Have Chic Designs

Author: Lene Holme Samsoe

Published by: Interweave Press

Pages: 151

Type: Patterns

Chapters:
Garter Stitch Patterns
Leaf Patterns
Structure Patterns
Cable Patterns
Lace Patterns

Essentially Feminine Knits

The In-Depth Look:

Another lovely book from the author of Feminine Knits.

She writes at the beginning, “If you are crazy about knitting, you already know that creating a knitted garment is the perfect antidote to the busy lives we lead. … In this book you’ll find projects for any occasion. There are a couple small, quick projects that you can almost make while watching the TV news, some garter-stitch sweaters you can work on while having a rewarding conversation, and complicated-patterned tops that stretch your mind just as much as Sudoku.”

There are 25 designs here. Some are small projects like caps or fingerless gloves, but most of them fall into the sweaters-jacket-shrug-cardigan-pullover category. And, refreshingly, I liked almost every one of them. Just like her last book, they all seem eminently wearable and great additions to any wardrobe. There are at least three I’d cast-on for right now if I didn’t already have enough on my knitting to-do list.

Like her last book, though, my biggest concern are the photos. They’re all very pretty to look at, but there are so many shots of models reclining or leaning or crouching in ways that make it hard to see the actual item. I can only believe that this is an artistic decision, but–with a lesser-known designer–it would send up red flags that the photographer was trying to hide flaws.

That said, these are great patterns, and I would love to have any of them in my wardrobe.

But wait! There’s more! Through a lucky coincidence I HAVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

To win? Leave a comment on this post answering this question: Name one thing you haven’t knitted that you WANT to knit.

(Contest is open until June 24th, and is only open to U.S. mailing addresses.)

Don’t want to rely on the contest? You can get your own copy at Amazon.com.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy–and the giveaway copy–were kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!

My Gush: Lovely, wearable patterns.

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