No Tricks, Just Treats - Pattern Sale, Free Knitting Pattern & Yarn Giveaway

No tricks here today, just treats! Today is the last day of my birthday knitting pattern sale and free pattern & yarn giveaway.

Until midnight tonight, EST, all Robin Ulrich Studio download patterns (except Katriel) will be 20% off, and my newest pattern, Katriel, is 50% off. One note - in order to receive the special 50% discount on Katriel, the shopping cart requires that pattern to be purchased separately from the other patterns.

And finally, since it's my birthday, 

 

 

I'm giving away a FREE PATTERN & YARN in a contest for all my followers!

The prizes for this contest include a PDF copy of Katriel (or other pattern of your choice if you've already purchased Katriel) and some yarny awesomeness to include four skeins of Misti Alpaca Lace in a lovely, silvery-lavender color (this is a total of 1748 yards!),

and a skein of hand-dyed Neighborhood Fiber Co. worsted weight, luminous silk yarn.

Like the pattern download sale, the yarn and pattern giveaway contest will run through midnight EST, tonight, October 31st. A winner will be chosen tomorrow, November 1st, by random number generator from amongst all the entries. See the rules for entering in this post: Birthday Contest.

Even if you don't wish to enter the contest, I always love to hear from readers, so feel free to leave me a comment anyway. 

I'll choose the winner tomorrow and announce their name in the next post (this week), and also notify them of their win. The winner will have 7 days from the time of the announcement post to let me know where to send the prizes. 

Good luck and happy knitting!

 

Rhinebeck Review - aka New York State Sheep & Wool Festival

At long last, I had the opportunity to visit the famed New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (commonly referred to as "Rhinebeck" because of it's location), as the first part of our vacation this year.  

Having read endless raves and reviews of past years' shows, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect - barns full of magnificent yarn, fiber and knitting and spinning supplies, fleece and fiber-animal competitions, workshops, people, food, food and more food, and lots of fun. On every item, Rhinebeck fulfilled those expectations, but I had some reservations as well. 

We arrived about 30 minutes prior to the show opening on Saturday, and had plenty of good parking choices near a secondary gate. After sitting in the car knitting for a while, we purchased wristbands for entry - $17 for a two-day pass - and joined the growing queue.

 

The fairgrounds where the show is held are clean, beautifully landscaped and easy to navigate.

The autumn trees are lovely and there are food opportunities everywhere from the giant building full of food and wine vendors

to local 4-H kids raising funds, to fair-type food like cotton candy.

A fun part of the show for me was meeting up with my knitting friends Lynn, shown here in the Brooks Farm booth,

and Andrea, a workshop teacher at this year's event.

I kept a sharp eye on Ravelry badges, hoping to see names from my friends list, but was disappointed to not find any Rav friends. However, in the photo below are a few Ravelry designer faces (and backsides), including Ysolda Teague, Stephen West and others.

Muddy fields and parking lots, hard pavement and changing weather conditions mean comfortable shoes and layered clothing are a must.

Of course, knits were everywhere to be seen and a favorite part of the experience for me was admiring all the hard work displayed by thousands of knitters.

The only unpleasant part of the show for me was from about 12-2 PM on Saturday, when the buildings became so crowded that you were literally pushed along with a solid mass of people. Stopping to look or enter a booth was difficult, and I was concerned for mobility-challenged folks with walkers, and for  those pushing baby strollers.

Lines to have knitting books signed by the author were long, with one of the longest being to meet Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot.

This photo was taken on Sunday when things were much calmer.

Of course for knitters, the fiber and yarn were the stars of the show and there was something there to tempt every taste. I especially loved selections from Briar Rose (always a favorite),

 
Spirit Trail Fiberworks, and The Sanguine Gryphon

It seems I'm also smitten with this skein of gray Miss Babs Yummy Sock yarn - what a surprise...

There are other interesting things to peruse in addition to fiber, like jewelry, baskets and farmer's market apples.

  
A pumpkin-carving expert displayed some creative items.

I saved the animals for Sunday so I could really take my time to enjoy interacting with them. A large part of the show is centered around fiber animal competitions and there were plentiful opportunities to touch the animals,

learn about them,

 
watch them being prepared for showing,

and competing with their handlers.

 
This little goat was so friendly and sweet.

My husband and I had a wonderful time and I look forward to visiting again sometime. Although it was a terrific show, for me it is not a yearly 'must-do' event, as there are so many other great fiber events held around the US that I'd like to visit. But Rhinebeck is certainly one I will keep on my list.

Celebrating My Birthday with Free Knitting Giveaway Treats!

My how time flies! I've been busy with other things, including knitting, writing patterns, submitting designs and babying my ancient computer, and it's suddenly the end of the first week of October? Criminy.  I realize I've not posted in about the longest stretch ever for me although I have, in fact, worked on several posts and will share those soon. (photo Marthastewart.com)

The changing season reminded me that later this month is my birthday. And lest you think I'm still young enough to believe the passage of time a wonderful thing, think again my friend. 

No, I'm not young (or old depending on your perspective) but I've come to love a birthday as a personal anniversary, or new year celebration of sorts, that marks our individual arrival on earth, when we began filling a place in the world that only you or I can fill.

It allows us to look back on life in the last year, remembering joys, challenges, love, failures and growth, reflect on goals from the calendar New Year and think about how we want the next 12 months to play out - perhaps differently than the last dozen.

A birthday is not another day nearer to death, after all, we're dying every second of every day, with no guarantees of even another minute in this life. Rather, I see a birthday as an opportunity to make the most of this moment, to get another 'do-over' and have a fresh start. To hopefully be a better person than I was last year.

In the US, it's customary for a birthday child to bring treats to school to share with classmates, often consisting of cookies, cupcakes or other edibles. Because my birthday is at the end of October, I usually brought fresh apple cider and doughnuts.

Always cake doughnuts, because those were my parents' favorites and because they were easy to tie to a string and hang for a children's speed-eating game. 

To this day, the fragrance of cinnamon, apples and doughnuts make me think of my birthday treats. And in honor of my birthday month, I'm again giving away goodies, and you all are invited to my party.

No tricks here, it's time for pattern discounts and yarn and knitting pattern giveaway treats!

First of all, for the rest of the month of October, all Robin Ulrich Studio download patterns (except Katriel) will be 20% off. The special birthday price will post automatically when you make your selection in the shopping cart.

Next, my brand-new pattern, Katriel, will be 50% off!

 

And lastly, I'm giving away a FREE PATTERN & YARN in a contest for all my followers!

The prizes for this contest include a PDF copy of Katriel (or other pattern of your choice if you've already purchased Katriel) and some yarny awesomeness to include four skeins of Misti Alpaca Lace in a lovely, silvery-lavender color (this is a total of 1748 yards!),

and a skein of hand-dyed Neighborhood Fiber Co. worsted weight, luminous silk yarn.

Like the pattern download sale, the yarn and pattern giveaway contest will run all month through midnight, EST on October 31st. A winner will be chosen November 1st by random number generator from amongst all the entries, and anyone can enter by doing three things:

1.  Be or become a follower on my blog (the button to link is on the sidebar). 
2.  Leave a comment to any post this month answering the question - what yarn weight do you prefer (it can be different for each) for accessories like hats, fingerless gloves and scarves? - before the end date of the contest.
3. Make sure I can contact you via your blog or other site to let you know the news of your win, or message me on Ravelry (I'm Truknit) or on Twitter (I'm Robinulrich) with your contact information.

That's it! I'll announce the winner here in the next post after the contest ends, and also contact you, to let you know if you've won. The winner will have 7 days from the time of the announcement post to let me know where to send the prizes!

Have a terrific weekend and happy knitting everyone!