Prize: too much yarn for my baby blanket!

My niece had a bouncing baby girl so now I can share pix of the baby blanket I knitted for her. She lives in Florida so I wanted a cotton yarn in sunny colors. I found this gorgeous Cascade Sierra Quatro in Color #80, a combination of buttery yellow, mint green, and rose. It's 80% Pima Cotton and 20% wool and washable. Perfect for a Sun Belt Baby!

I found this fast-knitting pattern for free here: http://www.theyarncottagefairhope.com/patterns/4ballblanket.pdf . I'm a sucker for a basketweave.

Here's the closeup of both sides, which are different from each other, but equally attractive, IMO:



Here's the whole blanket. I expanded the dimensions slightly so it would be useful a bit longer.



And here's your prize because I overbought yarn for the project: two skeins of the Cascade Sierra Quatro, color #80!



Go to my website http://www.nancyherkness.com/ and enter my contest there. Just include the word "yarn" in the comments, and I'll know to enter you in the drawing for this fiber. As a bonus, you'll be entered in my regular website contest for the silver heart pendant.

Good luck and Happy 2011!

Faithless blogger

I wanted to let all you nice folks here at RTY know that I've deserted you temporarily and am guest-blogging at Heidi Betts' blog Must Love Yarn on Tuesday, December 1st. Here's the link:

http://www.heidibetts.com/MustLoveYarn/

There will be a PRIZE giveaway so you might want to come on over and take a peek. You'll also get to see my current very large WIP. Oh, and did I mention there will be a PRIZE?

Hope to "see" you there!

Skacel winner!

Congratulations to Tanya M. of Port Orchard, WA, the lucky winner of the Skacel skein. She says it's meant to be a shawl. I think she's right so I'm hoping we'll get to see the FO. Hint, hint: send pix, Turtle!

For those of you who didn't win the yarn, I have a new contest up on my website www.NancyHerkness.com where you can win BOOKS. Since I know all you knitters are also readers, you might want to head over there and enter the drawing.

My LYS is back in business...and I'm celebrating with a prize!

My favorite LYS, Modern Yarn, just re-opened in its new location in Montclair, NJ, and I went for my first visit today. Here are a couple of photos of my new knitting home. I was greeted with great enthusiasm when I walked in, which is always gratifying. And I had a grand time squeezing the stunning new yarns.

I'm thrilled because a) it's closer to my house, b) parking is easier, and c) it's a bigger space so there's more glorious yarn for me to fondle.

The good news for you guys is that I bought this irresistible skein of Skacel Merino Lace from Italy in Color #1772, a very undescriptive label for these incredible hues. The colorway reminded me of hot August days, but it could easily shade into autumn leaves. And I'm giving it away, all 1375 yards of it! (I would have kept it for myself except that I swore I wouldn't buy any more stash yarn until I've finished at least ONE of my three on-needles projects.)

To have a chance at it, send me an email at nancy@nancyherkness.com with "Skacel" in the subject line and I'll choose a winner on August 17th (or thereabouts).

Oh, I nearly forgot: Jennifer S. from Grand Rapids, MI, is the lucky winner of the rose-colored Frog Tree yarn. Congratulations, Jennifer!

Bad News, Good News final prize!

Last but not least, these three squeezably soft skeins of 100% alpaca by Frog Tree, 130 yards each in color #95. I love the soft rose color.

Really good news: While at the local drug store, I ran into the proprietor of my now-closed favorite LYS (gotta love small towns). She says they've found a new location with cheaper rent and they are re-opening on August 1st. Oh frabjous day!

So send me your entry email for a chance to win this lovely yarn. The address is nancy@nancyherkness.com . Put "rose" in your subject line.

To celebrate the grand re-opening, I will draw the winner on--you guessed it!--August 1st.

Good news for Winner No. 2

Congratulations to Kacy, the winner of the Cool Knits for Kids book! She says she has a seven-month-old daughter who will enjoy having a new wardrobe knitted by her loving mom. Somehow the Random Number Generator must have known that.

Stay tuned for more LYS Close-out prizes!

Bad News, Good News Prize No. 2

Here's your next chance to win a prize from my LYS's "going out of business" sale. A book of patterns called Cool Knits for Kids: 25 stunning designs for babies to 7-year-olds by Kate Gunn and Robyn Macdonald.

I know nothing about its writers or patterns; I just liked the cute pictures on the cover. The photos inside are darling too so you can enjoy it without knitting a stitch.


You know the drill: email me at nancy@nancyherkness.com with "Kids" in the subject line. I'll draw a winner on July 10th.

Good news for the winner...

In our 1001st post, the winner is.......Darleen G! Congratulations, Darleen! Now you have to figure out what to do with the ribbon yarn. ;-)

Happy Fourth of July to all you Yarnies out there!

Bad News, Good News with prizes!

The Bad News is that my favorite Local Yarn Store is closing its doors, a victim of competition and the sagging economy. No more squeezing the cashmere for me. Boo-hoo!

The Good News (for you guys) is that they are having a sale on their inventory so I bought some goodies to give away to my favorite Yarnies.

The first of the goodies is this cool variegated ribbon yarn Noro Gisha in Color No. 109. I scooped up six skeins which measure 69 meters each. (You do the conversion; I never learned the metric system, despite constant threats that the U. S. was going metric any day now.)



Here it is up close so you can see the shades and texture better:



If you'd like a chance to win it, send an email with "Noro" in the subject line to nancy@nancyherkness.com.

I'll draw the winner this Friday, July 3rd, as a Happy Fourth of July prize!

Prize: yarn from the Adirondacks

We just got back from winter vacation in Lake Placid in the Adirondacks. You can read all about it (and see pictures!) at my blog From the Garret.







There's a lovely yarn store in Lake Placid where I picked up three skeins of this Marble yarn. I thought the colors were beautifully earthy with tones of brown, rust, beige and a touch of teal. I have a thing for variegated yarn in general. Here's the technical info: 3 skeins of James C. Brett Marble, 100% acrylic (good for anyone with wool allergies), machine washable, 24o yards per skein, "knits to most DK patterns" (whatever that means).



If you'd like to win this lovely yarn, just send me an email at nancy@nancyherkness.com and put "Adirondack" in the header. I'll draw a winner on Friday, Feb. 27th.