Friday, May 30, 2014

Odds & Ends Friday


Hi, Knitters,
First, in my last podcast I shared a couple of Rebecca Ringquist's Dropcloth Samplers from her color club. Guess what!? Cal Patch is hosting a giveaway to win 4 of these gorgeous samplers from Rebecca. 

This information is straight from Cal's blog, Hodge Podge Farm:

"rebecca has sweetly offered a 3-month subscription of Colorbursts, PLUS the Starburst sampler, to one lucky winner! leave a comment below saying what you would do with your mini samplers, before midnight on Sunday June 1. i’ll announce the winner on Monday."

Isn't that exciting? There are not many entries so far so jump on over there and enter right away! The winner is being selected on Sunday, June 1st! Your chances are really good.


Now for the button giveaway winners. The three winners of the Sheppard Handmade button sets are as follows:

Margaret or mac-maggie on Ravelry  - won the set of blue and white flowered buttons!

Angie or Cantrix on Ravelry - won the orange-y with a green center button set!

Linda or PippyKnits on Rav - won the burgundy button set!

I have contacted the winners on Ravelry. Congratulations! Thanks for entering everyone and I'll have a new giveaway soon.

Moving on, I think I will have a new hobby now. I purchased my first spindle. I have never felt the urge to have a spindle until I saw Kate of Gourmet Stash's photo of her colored pencil spindle. I couldn't resist. I love the name of Aaron's Etsy shop, too, it's Aaron Makes Stuff.


If you want more of an idea how these gorgeous spindles are made and the variety click here to see Aaron's Instagram. It's pretty and impressive. He is having an update soon on the colored pencil version of his spindles. He makes different styles of spindles as well.


Here you can see the clear resin holding the pencils together. I just love this design. I have no idea how to use a spindle. If anyone has any video suggestions or suggestions or tips in general I would love to hear about it.

One more thing about Aaron Makes Stuff on Etsy, he has fantastic customer service. I had a few questions and he answered them so quickly. He checked in as the spindle was being shipped, too. I appreciated all of that support.


Now for some other miscellaneous miscellany. 

Miss Molly finished a Sockhead Hat out of some yarn I gave to her. The yarn is from Sun Valley Fibers, fingering weight, MCN in the colorway Bucky. Since Miss Molly is a Badger through and through I thought she should have the yarn. Every Badger should have a hat made in Bucky yarn from a local dyer.

She worked through the hat quickly, really enjoyed the knitting, and it looks just adorable on her, as everything always does!



Great yarn and a great simple hat pattern!

(photo by Carol E. Herman)

My Itty-Bitty Knits (come join us) friend, Carol, on Ravelry released a new pattern called the Topiary Fingerless Mitts. I happened to see these mitts in person in Seattle at Vogue Knitting Live. Let me just say the mitts are stunning and they look like loads of fun to knit. I thought maybe you might like them as much as I do. Carol is a kind, gentle, giving soul, and you would all love her as much as I do for sure!



My final odds and ends today is something really new and cool. I think this is about as cutting edge as spinning could be. I happily received a couple of test bobbins from Akerworks. These Schact test bobbins are completely collapsable and are made in fun colors and patterns to boot. 

Akerworks makes bobbins for other brands of spinning wheels as well. The Schact bobbins are still in the testing phase but will be released soon. They are made on a 3D printer which just fascinates me. I love these fun designs and colors. There are so many choices. 


Thank you to Akerworks for letting me try out your latest design! I will keep everyone posted after I try them out, hopefully I'll get the chance this weekend. 

Can you believe it's the weekend already? I can't. I hope you have some fun plans lined up or that you get to relax and stay home, whatever makes you happy.

best, susie