Bosc Hat & Scarf Set Special

I can't believe it's 'that' time of year again - how do the holidays sneak up so quickly? I've been knitting, running test knits (thank you Laurie, Josefina, Julia and Connie!), photographing, working with tech editors, etc. for my next pattern release and time just got away from me.

Despite being busy with the pattern and feeling under the weather to boot, one thing I'm happy to have accomplished this week was to put together a multi-pattern set including my Bosc Hat and Scarf designs. The set includes both patterns at a savings over the price of each pattern purchased individually.

Because everybody loves a sale, and to celebrate the start of the holiday season with Thanksgiving next week, I'm offering an additional 20% savings on the purchase of the Bosc Set (this is an extra savings on top of the discounted set price). The special begins today and only lasts until the end of November (who knows, maybe I'll have another pattern special for December?), 2013. To receive the savings on the Bosc Set at the Ravelry check out, enter coupon code: BoscSet2013

Thanks for stopping by my studio today and I wish you a wonderful weekend!

KAL Mania!

I love scarves - they're fun and relatively fast to knit, don't require a huge amount of yarn, and are stylish to boot. This week I was thrilled to learn that both of my scarf patterns have been selected as KAL (knit a- long) choices for two groups on Ravelry.

The Frostlight pattern, shown above, has been chosen by the Malabrigo Junkies Ravelry group as one of the projects for their annual Malabrigo March KAL festivities. 

I'm also happy to have had my Bosc Scarf design chosen as the official March KAL project in Anastasia Wraight's For The Knit of It blog group. Anastasia recently also set up a Ravelry group.

It is an honor to have my designs included in these wonderful groups and I offer my thanks for being selected. 

If you would like to knit along with others, make new friends, receive support and cheer others on in their stitching endeavors I highly encourage you to join in one (or both...) of these opportunities, they're a lot of fun!

Sarah's Beautiful Bosc Scarf

It's impossible to keep up with most of the projects knit from my patterns that get posted on Ravelry but every now and then I get a chance to peruse the latest project posts in my designs.  

This is how I recently happened across a lovely version of my Bosc Scarf pattern by Sarah Owens of the Yarnie Me blog aka Sarahsplace on Ravelry.

In her blog post and Ravelry project notes, Sarah mentions that she is a newer lace knitter - wow! I would never have guessed it if she didn't say so. 

One of my favorite things about the Bosc Scarf and Hat designs is that the cable and lace stitches are really very simple to knit but produce a result that looks impressive. Some of my test knitters even referred to it as 'potato chip' knitting because they just wanted to keep going! Yum, potato chips...

And speaking of yummy, Sarah knit her scarf in Malabrigo Merino Worsted in a delicious natural creamy color. Her scarf looks so pretty and cozy that I just want to curl up in it.  

Congratulations Sarah, on doing such a beautiful job, and thanks for the nice project post. 

I wish I knew about all the lovely projects in my designs that are posted on blogs or mentioned on podcasts, so if you do one of your own, or come across a mention on the internet, I'd be so appreciative if you dropped me a note so I can check it out. Whether you are new like Sarah, or more experienced, my readers are all super nice people and so very talented. I love to show off the gorgeous things you make, so please don't be shy!

Amethiste Pattern Giveaway

There's still time to enter the drawing to win one of 3 free Amethiste shawl PDF patterns in my giveaway contest! 

Details are outlined in this post. 

In another post soon, I plan to share a few of the beautiful Amethiste's already made by readers, including some by my talented test knitters.

That's it for today, peace blessings and much happy knitting to you!

Contest Winners & another FO

I hope everyone is enjoying a nice President's Day weekend! I was determined to finish up some important things by the end of the weekend, including blocking a few FO's, posting the winners of the giveaway contest, and completing tutorials for a new pattern in progress (only 50% complete, but I still have a few more hours). Let's get to the winners first since I know that's what everyone has been waiting for! 

THANK YOU to all who left comments to the contest post, for leaving so many detailed and insightful responses to my question "What makes a knitting (or crochet) project fun for you?" 

I loved reading your responses and found they contained a great deal of variety, but also a common theme - many people like to have a project that does not greatly exceed their current technical ability but that gives them a small challenge or opportunity to learn something new. I have to agree with that one.

If you posted a comment and did not win this time, I thank you very much for contributing and encourage you to try again next time because I will be holding many more giveaways in coming months!

I used the True Random Number Generator at Random.Org to choose the winners from among followers of my blog who posted their answers to the contest question. The winner of the individual Bosc Scarf pattern 

goes to... 

Smitiha 

who responded to the contest question with 

"I love to play with yarns, love to knit with different types (not like in instructions) and to see how it will come out. So I love instructions which give me this pleasure. I love charts, it's easier for me to visualize knitting patterns. And I love to have a lot of "little things" for knitting for they makes the process not just convenient but also very feminine and beautiful!"

Thank you very much Smitiha, for sharing your answer, and congratulations on your win. I will add your pattern to your Ravelry library right away.

And the main prize winner of the Bosc Scarf pattern, yarn 

and Baggu bag 

is...

Taylor 

who almost wasn't able to post at all when Blogger gave her difficulty and she contacted me for assistance (I'm so glad she did!). When her post finally appeared, she had responded to the question with 

"I love having a mix of different types of projects to match my moods. Something intricate and challenging, and something soothing and relaxing.

The main thing that attracts me is structure. A great example of this is the elegant simplicity of your Sothia. Each part on its own is simple, yet they combine to make a beautifully structured shape and fabric."

Thank you Taylor for your response and for the kind comment on my pattern (not necessary to win, lol). Taylor, you have seven days to contact me via Ravelry or email with your postal address so I can get your prize mailed out to you. 

I recommend you check out Taylor's blog as she has knit THREE stunning Sothia shawls so far (wow!) and posted them on her blog and Ravelry page.

In other news, I'm still chugging away on my gray hoodie, now finishing the second front panel. I've also finished and blocked two of four scarves I knit during development of my next pattern release, one of which is shown in the photo at the top of the post. This version is knit with two skeins of Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn. It's a very simple and fast knit and I'll have many more details and photos when the pattern is ready to be published, probably a few days at most. 

Guess I'd better get back to work, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks again for reading and commenting here on my blog. Happy knitting!