Two for one FOs.

FO = Finished Object.  Wouldn't want you to feel excluded because you're not up on the parlance.

Two scarves, both equally yummy for different reasons. Both are for me, an occurrence too rarely repeated round these parts.

Scarf #1. Knit from yummy handspun Blue Faced Leicester wool, spun for moi by Meridith at SweetKnits. You may recall how this scarf started life as this:

And now, it's this:



And this:



Uhhh... Meridith? When are you stocking more yarn? Because I need some.

Scarf #2: Yarn Love's Charlotte Bronte Aran weight, colorway Sleeping Beauty. (You can see more about this yarn here -- it's organic!)

Knit from a pattern dictated to me by a lovely woman at Stitches East. I complimented her on it, and she said, "Oh, it's easy. I'll tell you how to make it. I'll talk, you write it down." And I did. And I'm glad I did, because I love the scarf. It naturally corkscrews on itself. This would be more twisty knit with a lighter yarn at a tighter gauge. Here, I have a heavy yarn at a looser gauge, so the effect is more drapey.





Notice the bleak midwinter weather. Notice the no leaves on the trees. (Here's what this area looks like in the summer:



Yeah. Now, we have no leaves, grey skies, and mud. And 65 degrees in late December. It's more than ridiculous. Next week it will be freezing cold again, but it rarely snows. I grew up in American Siberia, I need me some snow!

What do you think about my FOs?

[/end weather rant] [/end post about FOs]

Holiday giveaway winners!

I loved reading about all of your holiday traditions, and they've definitely given me ideas to incorporate into my own celebrations.

It was so hard to pick a winner. I agonized. I lost sleep. I couldn't do it.

I decided to get my friend Random to help me.

Random doesn't know you like I do. Random doesn't say to himself, "Oh, that person is an EMT," or, "Wow, she has nine children," or, "I met her at Stitches East, and she's a brand new knitter."

Random is just the person for the job.

Our first prize was a sock kit, including one of our patterns and a skein of yarn. Random chose:



And number 279 belongs to...



Carol! Congratulations, Carol! What a fun tradition. :) I am looking forward to Christmas as my children get older and sleep past 4:36 am. What will be like to awaken at say, 8:00 am? A girl can dream.

Our next prize was a custom colorway. How exciting -- I look forward to working with people on these!

Random chose:



339. A fine odd number.

339 belongs to...



Karen! You are hilarious! I am going to have to try this. Perhaps I will swat at the people in my house who arise at 4:36 am. Congratulations. :)

And our final winner, the person who won three months of membership to either one of our nifty clubs, is...



And 49 belongs to:



Congratulations! I'm interested to know how your Christmas Eve tradition got started -- have you always celebrated on Christmas Eve?

I'm sorry if you didn't win. I wish I could give fabulous prizes to all of you! Please check back, maybe Random will choose you next time!

Have a peaceful rest of the season.

XOXOX

Sharon

*TIME’S UP!* Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza Spectacular Spectacle!

Welcome to our first-ever Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza Spectacular Spectacle! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah (or Chanukah, if you prefer)! Make the Yuletide gay!

Whatever you're celebrating, we want to help make your holiday a little brighter.

That's why we're giving away -- in our Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza Spectacular Spectacle -- three fabulous prize packages full of wonderfulness and awesomeness.

Tell them what they can win, Bob!

Bob?

BOB?

Fine, I'll just fill you in myself.

By entering our contest, you'll be eligible to win one of three great prizes.

Prize #1: A Three Irish Girls Sock Kit. This includes your choice of any of our awesome patterns and a skein of yarn in your choice of colorways to complete the pattern! If you are already a sock club member and you have all of our patterns, we'll have a special alternative for you. (Approx. $28 value!)

You know you want a pair of socks like these:



Prize #2:  A custom colorway consultation and two skeins of a custom colorway! We can make your colorways dreams come true! On your favorite yarn base! (Approx $50 value!) Exclamation point!

Prize #3: Three months of your choice of club memberships! Sock Yarnista features your choice of two colorways, a custom designed pattern, and a fun extra each month.

If you prefer heavier weight yarns, Stash Menagerie has a broad variety of fibers, your choice of two colorways, and fun extras every few months!

Being a club member also gives you access to exclusive members-only colorways like these:











If you're already a club member, you can extend your membership, add extra skeins to your existing membership, become a member of a club you're not in, or give the membership as a gift to a very lucky person. (Approx $90 value.)

Why are we giving all of this away? For a few reasons. One is the spirit of the holidays. We like brightening people's days a little with a yummy yarn package. It's good to put a little good out there in the world.

Another is to say thank you for all of your support this past year -- you've been with us as we've moved into a new studio, expanded our yarn offerings, and started new clubs. We would be nowhere without our fantastic customers, and we want to say thank you.

Here's how you enter: leave a reply to this post answering the following question: What is your favorite holiday tradition?  Do you have a latke party? (And does your house smell like latkes for three weeks afterward?) Do you have a family outing to cut down a Christmas tree? Do you bake something special? Watch something special? Go somewhere special?

If so, I want to hear about it!

Winners will be randomly selected from the responses. You have until Monday, December 22nd at 9pm EST to reply. Winners will be announced Tuesday, December 23rd.

If you'd like to give any of these prizes as a gift, that can certainly be arranged!

Thank you again, dear readers and loyal customers.

The Yarnista Answers Your Questions #7

I have not answered questions in a while. Please forgive me. I've been a tad busy. But really, busy-ness is no excuse whatsoever.  None at all.

Jaime, friend, asks:

Is your husband of Irish blood too? Can you trace your ancestors back to parts of Europe? You're definitely a beautiful Irish girl!!

Yes, my darling hubs is Irish as well. His family knows where they came from, and none of them want to go back.  When they left Ireland, times were bad. People were starving. There were no jobs. Everything was always damp. People were dying of consumption and other diseases that now have modern names.

These stories were passed down through the family, and my husband's generation is now far enough removed that Ireland seems like a beautiful homeland with castles and green meadows and people with lilting accents and deep literature.  But to my father in law, Ireland is like a place he was rescued from -- he has no desire to go back there.

It's hard to imagine that at the turn of the 20th century, the Irish were shunned in the United States.





Fortunately, times have changed. More Americans claim Irish ancestry than any other. It's now OK to have the word Irish in the name of your business. There are entire stores devoted to Irish stuff. Like Irish Indeed at the Mall of America.

You can purchase this, if you really must:



My great great grandmother was an Irish immigrant through Ellis Island at the turn of the century.

As to the second part of your question, Jaime, all I can say is thank you. And perhaps you need glasses.

Kimberli asks,

How does one find more money to buy yarn? All options considered (even robbing a bank).

Well, now. As a law teacher, I would have to advise against the latter, as the FBI will likely seize any yarn you purchased with the stolen money and hold it in an evidence warehouse until the exhaustion of all your appeals. I don't want that to happen to the lovely yarn. It didn't ask to be bought with stolen money.

Here are some ideas for finding ways to purchase more yarn without actually committing crimes:

1. Sell your junk on Craigslist or Ebay. I like Craigslist because it's free, and nothing more is needed in your listing than a tiny picture and a lot of exclamation points. Like this:

TV CABINET CLEAN AND CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People eat that stuff up. In fact, I have purchased a clean and cheap TV cabinet off of Craigslist. Use money from selling junk to buy more yarn.

2. Tutor or teach lessons. Maybe knitting lessons. Maybe SAT tutoring? Reading? Math? Piano? (I got a clean and cheap piano off of Craigslist as well.) Banjo? LSAT? MCAT? Put an ad on Craigslist, you'll find customers.

3. Cut out Starbucks for a week. I did this last week and saved $433.92. I bought yarn with it, naturally.

4. Go out to eat less often. Use the money saved to buy yarn. If you spend $35 going out to eat, the enjoyment lasts, what, two hours? Three, max? If you buy yarn, you get to spend hours picking it out, maybe days or weeks of excited anticipation as you wait for it to arrive, time fondling and petting the yarn, the actual knitting time (weeks? months?), plus all the time you get to enjoy the item after it's finished. It's definitely a wiser use of your funds. No dinners out = more yarn for you.

5. Cancel the internet at your house.  Never mind. That's ridiculous.

6. Look on Craigslist for stuff to sell on Ebay. I am serious. Go to yard sales, find sellable stuff, and then resell it for a profit on Ebay. I once found a Delft plate at a yard sale for $3 that I sold for $90 on Ebay. I once bought a designer leather jacket at a yard sale that would never fit me (I haven't been a size 0 petite since I was like... well, never.)  and sold it for like $120 or something. At yard sales, people just want to get rid of their stuff. On Ebay, people try to find good deals on collectibles. You get a good deal at the yard sale, and the buyer gets a good deal snagging a leather jacket for $120.

7. Ask for gift certificates for your birthday and the holidays. I can think of a few yarn sites that sell them. 

8. Marry rich.

Those are all my suggestions at the present time. Please feel free to add your own in the comments.

This has already become interminably long. I fear your eyes are beginning to weep at the site of this post, so I shall have mercy and bid you a fond adieu.

Creativity gets you everywhere.

I have been chuckling over these pictures for days, and just have to share them with you.  Several of my lovely friends took it upon themselves to make little displays using their stash of my yarn.

Here's one:

Yarn as food!



Yarn as Christmas tree:



Yarn as business acronym:



Yarn = better than stockings



Yarn as Christmas tree. No two trees are alike!



Yarn as snowmen (I am not showing this picture to my kids, lest I give them ideas...)



An adorable little picture:



And last but not least, yarn wearing a hat:



There is one person, who shall remain nameless, who sent in pictures words cannot even describe. So I won't describe them to you.

But I can tell you they made many a grown woman gasp and laugh hysterically. And I can also tell you that her husband is a verrrrry good sport.

If you send me your stash pics, I'll be happy to include them up here. Or I can keep them private, like the woman who shall remain nameless. If you send in those kind of pictures.