Sock Yarn Scarves--winner!

We had a great response to the Sock Yarn Scarves giveaway--135 comments! No one can resist the siren call of free yarn, I suppose. ;)

So, our lucky winner is Commenter #38:

 

And that is a Ms. Cindy Smith! Cindy, I hope you remember to check the blog this week and see that you're our big winner! Shoot me an email (mediaperuana@gmail.com) with your mailing address, and I'll get your prize out ASAP.


Thanks to everyone who entered for your thoughtful comments about this collection and the individual patterns! And a special thanks to all the new blog visitors--I hope you'll continue to visit in the coming weeks, as I have 3 more new patterns debuting in September, as well as some additional giveaways planned!

In the meantime, here's an adorable behind-the-scenes video Knit Picks put together of the Sock Yarn Scarves photo shoot--enjoy!

Sock Yarn Scarves Giveaway!

 

If you like Siempre or any of the other designs from Knit Picks' new collection, Sock Yarn Scarves, you're in luck! I'm excited to share that Knit Picks has generously provided a print copy of the book for me to give away to one lucky reader!

This collection includes 7 beautiful scarf, cowl, and stole designs, all knit in fingering weight yarn.

 

Estivate, by Teresa Gregorio of Canary Knits, is my personal favorite.

 

The Bees and Honeybees Stole, from Stephanie Tallent at Sunset Cat Designs, is just beautiful.

 

The texture on the Ridgeline Trail cowl , by Angela Modzelewski, is fantastic.

 

The mix of lace and ribbing on the Ridge and Arrow infinity scarf, by Courtney Spainhower of Pink Brutus Knits, is so unique.

 

Try your hand at some unique colorwork with the Gradient Waves cowl by Hope Vickman.

 

Or go for a quick, lacy project with the Everlasting Cowl, by Robin Allen from A Texas Girl Knits.

(Queue up or show some love for any or all of these patterns here on Ravelry!)

But wait! There's more! To sweeten the deal, they're throwing in 2 skeins of Stroll Glimmer in Runway so you can knit your very own Siempre!

This is a great collection for fall, and will arrive right at your door, just in time for cooler weather (unless you live in Maryland; then you know that cool weather is, inexplicably, here right now. Not that I'm complaining. I'm just . . . confused.)

So, how do you enter? Just leave a comment below telling me which pattern you'll knit first (I won't hold it against you if it's not mine!). I'll keep this giveaway running until Monday, August 25, and then announce a winner by the end of the month!

Flashback Friday: Fundraising Edition

Here I am with mom and sis almost 3 years ago at my wedding!

We're closing in on the final week of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation fundraiser, so if you've been putting off a donation, it's time to stop procrastinating! I've got yarn, books and patterns to give away, and you only need to donate FIVE measly dollars to be entered to win one of these great prizes. The more you donate, the more prize drawing entries you get!

And remember, every donor will be receiving a copy of a brand new stranded sock pattern from yours truly.

Even if you're not in a position to donate at this time, please help spread the word about this fundraiser--tweet about it, share it with your Ravelry group, or give it a shout out on your blog. And if you do donate, spreading the word about the fundraiser via social media will earn you an extra drawing entry!

(And you just may see a few more prizes posted here over the next week . . . )

So. Donate. Donate donate donate. You have until next Saturday, May 31 at midnight!

And the winner is . . .

Three lucky knitters will be adding Nevado to their knitting libraries today! And they are . . .


Dana, Stashdaemon and Knittingdancer!

Congrats all! And many thanks to everyone who entered!

Nevado: Pattern Giveaway!

 How typical of me, to debut a new pattern and then just disappear. Let me tell you, trying to organize Christmas activities and festivities with a 10 month old isn't the carefree, easygoing time TV might lead you to believe. Although this particular event went fairly well:

 I mean, he's not screaming bloody murder or anything, which is always possible with little ones.

I've also been feeling a bit under the weather, leaving me with just enough energy to sit on the couch and watch Christmas specials at the end of the day, and not much else. I've barely done any knitting, though I am bravely pushing forward with and documenting my sweater surgery.

But, I digress. As you know, Nevado is on sale through Christmas Day for just $2.49 with the code "MERRYXMAS." With only a week to go until Christmas, you can still get this speedy hat finished, so if you're still looking for gifts, it's a good bet. Pick it up in my Ravelry shop!

In addition, I'll be giving away 3 copies of the pattern to 3 lucky blog readers. We all know this is a busy time of year, so this contest will stay open all the way until December 31. Just leave a comment on this post, and you'll be entered to win. Winners announced early in the new year. Hopefully.

In the meantime, we'll be here, waiting for the big man:

Wittle Wednesdays: A Winner

Someone adorable is 8 months old today! So, since he was the inspiration for the Javi sweater, I think I'll go ahead and announce the giveaway winner. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, the winner of the Javi sweater kit is . . .





SarahAnneKnits!

She'll receive a copy of the pattern, along with Wool of the Andes Sport yarn in the color combo of her choice, and buttons to finish the sweater. Sarah, please email me at mediaperuana at gmail.com so we can coordinate!

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway, it was lovely to hear so many nice comments about the sweater.

One commenter expressed an interest in seeing this as an adult sweater--I'm already thinking about it! I'm imagining a closer fit, thinner stripes, and something more "grown up" with the sleeves. I'll keep you guys posted.

Another commenter had nice things to say about JJ's hair in the pattern photos, so I feel obligated to show you what JJ's hair usually looks like:

OK, that's actually his bed head, but his hair is slightly wavy, and gets disheveled ridiculously easily. The results of brushing are very short lived.

But I digress . . .

Thanks again to everyone who entered the sweater kit giveaway--and as a special thank you, I'm offering a promo code for my Ravelry pattern store. Purchase the Javi pattern, and get any of my other patterns FREE. Use code "JAVI." Good through October 10.

I've got one more pattern making its debut in October, so please check back soon to read about my very first adult sweater!

Javi Sweater: Button Up

The buttons on the Javi sweater have the potential to give the finished piece a special touch. I'd like to tell you that I took great care in selecting the buttons for the sample--and it's sort of true. I picked out some buttons I loved on Etsy. And waited patiently for them to arrive in the mail. And waited. And waited.

It turns out, they'd arrived while I was on vacation, and the post office SUPPOSEDLY attempted to deliver them. They left no note or anything, and apparently only bothered trying to deliver my package once before shipping it back to the sender.

So I was forced to cannibalize the buttons from another sweater that JJ had outgrown. Fortunately, I like these buttons quite well.

I opted for decorative wood buttons, but this is a place you could really have some fun. Try fabric buttons, buttons in fun shapes, or colorful buttons that work with your color scheme.

A red color scheme could be accented with strawberry buttons:

Photo courtesy of AMECOScrafts

These green frogs would've been adorable on the sample.

Photo courtesy of AMECOScrafts

Or celebrate winter with these more understated (if somewhat impractical?) snowflake buttons:

Photo courtesy of AMECOScrafts

The giveaway wouldn't be complete without the buttons to finish your sweater, so in addition to the yarn and pattern, the winner will receive these decorative wooden buttons:

Photo courtesy of AMECOScrafts

Don't forget to comment on the giveaway post to be entered to win. You have until Monday, September 30!

Readers' Survey Giveaway Winners!

I'm going to try to keep this post free of any pictures of my adorable baby. Let's see how I do!

First and foremost, I have YARN to give away! Thirty-five awesome people responded to the readers' survey--thanks so much to all of you for your ideas and feedback!--and two of them have won grab bags (or, boxes, really; mailing a bag would be difficult) of yarn! And those two lucky crafters are Mary and Leann! I'll be emailing you guys to get your mailing addresses, and then will get your yarn out to you just as soon as I can. (It will hopefully be next week, but next week--eek!--is my first week at home ALONE with baby, so . . . no promises. I might have to spend my days crying in a corner instead.)

Ok, I said this post was going to be baby-free, but I lied. But really, this photo is all about the knitting. This is JJ in his coming home "sweater," which is clearly more of a coming home dress.

Sigh. I guess he'll grow into it one day. Probably in July.

His hat is also too big, but I've ripped it back and redone the crown decreases, so it fits much better now. I hope to release it as a free pattern, just as soon as I can.

But I wouldn't hold your breath or anything.

As you can imagine, figuring out how to keep a new baby alive and healthy has severely cut into my knitting time, though I was so dismayed by the idea that he won't be able to wear this sweater until he's 30 that I did cast on another one for him. It's Phazelia's Mitered Baby Jacket, which I'm working up in some Knit Picks Stroll handpainted in Tree Fort. It's an easy to memorize pattern, so I can add a row here or there while baby naps.

I know I'm supposed to nap when baby naps, but apparently, given the choice between sleep and knitting, I've chosen knitting. Let's see how long it takes that to come back and bite me in the tush . . .

TGIF

Happy Friday, and a belated Happy Valentine's Day! Just a quick post to let you know that I'll be returning to the blog on Monday, February 18, and I'll be announcing the winners of the giveaway! Thanks to everyone who provided feedback, I am slooooooooowly going through it, putting together lots of great ideas for the future of Learner's Per-knit and MediaPeruana Designs.

Have a great weekend!

Speak Up: Provide Some Feedback about MediaPeruana

My day job is often spent trying to explain to countries how drug policy and programs are supposed to work.

For example:

Me: You want to improve your drug prevention programs? Great. But first you have to evaluate them.
Country: Why?
Me: Because . . . how else will you know what needs to be improved, and how to improve it?

Ok, the conversation isn't usually quite that straightforward, but the lesson at the end is the same--it's better for everyone if you figure out what's working and what isn't, rather than making changes willy nilly, just for the sake of change.

This applies in a lot of areas in life, including, I think, blogging.


2013 promises to be a big year for our little family. I'd like to take the blog and MediaPeruana Designs in some new directions, but first, I need to know how my audience feels. What do you like? What do you hate? What do you want to see more of?

(I know. Dory.)


So I'd like to request some feedback from you. Whether you're a long-time reader, or new to the blog, I'd love to hear your ideas.


And what's in it for you?

How about some yarn?

I have 2 lovely boxes of miscellaneous yarn here, just waiting to be mailed to 2 lucky respondents.

They both look something like this

I can't tell you exactly what's in them . . .

(Well, I could, but that would ruin the surprise!)

But I can tell you all the yarn is new and unused, from our fresh-scented smoke-free home, and may or may not have been snorgled by Dory at some point.

All you have to do to be entered in this giveaway is fill out this Readers' survey.
Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win--I promise not to spam you!

You have until February 8 (the wee Peruanito's due date!).

Thanks so much in advance for sharing your thoughts with me!

On Winning!

The big winner of the Columbia Inn mittens pattern + yarn is  . . .

claire.elizabeth!

Please send me an email at mediaperuana at gmail.com, so I can get your contact info and get your prize out!

Thanks so much to EVERYONE who entered the contest; as always, your support is much appreciated!

And I have a little treat in the works, a free holiday ornament pattern, which will be available later this week! Keep an eye out!

(And in case anyone was wondering, no, the raccoon has not come back. Nelly is very sad.)

On celebrating!

I made it, my fifth blogiversary!

First, let's get to the good stuff--prizes!

You'll recall, I had a bag of yarn:

And promised to divide it up among 3 commenters.

I had 27 commenters total, so I listed their names in an Excel spreadsheet, like so:



And then used randomnumber.org to pick 3 random numbers: 14, 3 and 6.

So our winners are . . .

MaineKnitter1975
collegeknitting
Sara

And what have they won? Let's take a closer look at the contents of the bag o' yarn, shall we?

 

It's quite a mix of yarns! Most of it is still labeled, though a few skeins are not and I'll try to answer any questions about mystery yarn. Off the top of my head  I can tell you that there's some Spud & Chloe, Blue Sky Alpacas, Berroco, Malabrigo and Knit Picks in there. So, winners, please send me an email ASAP at mediaperuana at gmail dot com with your mailing address, and I'll get your yarn out during the coming week!


Now, philosophizing.

Five years of blogging. I haven't always had something interesting to say--maybe I've never had anything interesting to say, I don't know--but my blog has provided a wonderful outlet for me, and I greatly appreciate all of your support through the years. I hope you'll continue to visit Learner's Per-knit as I work to expand it and add additional content (tutorials, reviews, and giveaways), as well as expand my pattern collection.

So again, thanks so much for reading, and I hope you'll stick around!

Theoretical Thursday + Blogiversary Giveaway!

Welcome to Theoretical Thursdays, where I show you blobs of yarn that may eventually become, uh, things.

It's hot and humid, we're just on the edge of summer, so of course I'm working on two woolly sweaters. And to make matters worse, one is a men's sweater, so it's at least twice as large as any sweater I've ever knit for myself.

I finally finished slogging through the sleeves (they were miserable; I hate sleeves), and got them attached to the yoke, so now I'm working on the raglan decreases. This thing simply must be done by May 31. For this reason, we turned the AC on this morning--I was trying to hold out until June, but a heat wave starts today that will reach its peak on Monday with a high of 91, and I might suffocate under all this wool if I leave the AC off just to make some kind of symbolic point to Mother Nature about her refusal to follow the seasons appropriately.

The pattern is Terry's Pullover, and I'm knitting it out of Beaverslide Dry Goods Merino Mohair. The yarn has a good bit of barnyard detritus in it, but I think that's to be expected with these earthier, homegrown, rustic-type yarns. The only thing that really bothers me about it is that I can't get it to felt. Which seems like something these earthier, homegrown, rustic-type yarns should do quite readily. It's not the end of the world, but it does mean more ends to weave in.

(I feel I need to pause here to mention that the guy in the next cubicle just showed up, and is wearing 8 tons of whatever cologne it is that college frat boys insist on wearing. I feel like I've been transported back to a frat party circa 2001, only there's no cheap beer or body glitter.)

The second sweater is for me, and it's a somewhat cropped cardigan that I'm making short-sleeved, so fortunately that means it's much smaller and less oppressive:

(These photos are just lousy; only 28 days 'til we move to our new home, with a backyard just perfect for knitwear photography!)

The pattern is Miette, and I'm knitting it in the Tosh Mo I received in the Madelinetosh spring yarn club. This terrible photo really doesn't do the color justice, it's a lovely, sage-y silver. I don't know why I decided to knit this now--I really need to accept the fact that it's summer and look for a camisole-type project to keep me busy for a couple months.

And it just wouldn't be Learner's Per-knit unless I told you about something crazy, overly-ambitious and delusional I did. I don't want to disappoint you, so--I signed up for Tour de Sock! Six 9-day stages, six pair of socks. Last year there were apparently people finishing pairs of socks in TWENTY-FOUR HOURS. I can barely squeak out a pair in a month. But the money goes to a good cause, and I get six exclusive sock patterns, so even when I fail spectacularly, I can still look back on the whole experience fondly.

In preparation for the race, I've been working on a training sock:

This is the Crosswired pattern, and I finished sock #1 in about 10 days; sock #2 is languishing. Sigh. I've reversed the main and contrast colors on sock #2, so the cable is black--working the cables in black yarn is not fun. I might be blind by the end. But once I have a complete pair, my feet will be fully Hufflepuff-ed.

The TdS starts June 1, and you can still register!

And speaking of things happening in June, on June 2, Learner's Per-knit will celebrate its fifth blogiversary. FIFTH.

Incredible.

Certainly, we need to celebrate. So, here's a bag of yarn:

Right now, this is my yarn, but I'm going to give it to you. To 3 of you, to be exact (sorry, you have to share!). On June 2, I will divide this bag o' yarn among 3 of my blog readers, to thank you all for your support over the last five years.  

To be entered in my blogiversary giveaway, just leave a comment on this post, telling me . . . hmmm . . . oh, I know, telling me what kind of design project you think I should work on next! More accessories? A sweater? A vest? A knitted catsuit? Whatever floats your boat. Just leave a comment, and on June 2, I will pick 3 commenters at random to win some yarn!