ONE WEEK ONLY: Find Golden Scissors and Win Up to $1,000!

Have you heard that I'm a member of the all-new Blitsy Creative Team? If not, consider yourself informed :) As a proud Blitsy ally, I not only get to publish patterns and tutorials on the Discovery section of their site, but I also get to help out with fun little promotions from time to time, including giveaways (and who doesn't love a good giveaway?)

Which means it's super seriously important for me to tell you that  - right now - Blitsy is offering a pair of golden scissors to random lucky customers.

"What does that mean?" you ask? Good question. You deserve to know all the details about this amazing craft-hoarding opportunity, so here you have it:

But wait... there's more! (Yes, I seriously just typed that and I am ashamed)

To celebrate my new membership on the Creative Team, Blitsy has offered me a chance to give away one additional pair of their coveted golden scissors. That means you can win $10 in your Blitsy account - just for kicks - PLUS the opportunity to win $250, $500, or $1000. WITHOUT EVEN NEEDING TO ORDER SOMETHING FIRST!

Man, I knew I loved these ladies.

Ready to shop? Just follow the steps in my Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to be part of Blitsy's most interactive giveaway yet (with lots of chances to win!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners will be chosen on Friday, November 21st, and submitted to the folks at Blitsy immediately after. Have fun!

PS: If you like this giveaway, then you'll want to make sure you are following Blitsy everywhere online so you can enjoy even more giveaways for Black Friday. It's coming sooner than you'd think! All their links are below:

Website/ Facebook/ Instagram/ YouTube

More Chances to Win!

Check out these other Blitsy Design Team members for more chances to win a pair of Golden Scissors:

An InLinkz Link-up

$1 Knitting Pattern: Cable-ish Hat

It’s not often that I get to sit down and experiment with different knitting stitch patterns. But as with most things in life, it’s important to take a break and do something for yourself.

So the other day, I sat down, flipped through one of my pattern books, found a stitch I loved, and altered it into a beautiful hat using one of my favorite stash yarns: Red Heart Shimmer. It’s a favorite of mine because it’s so incredibly soft for an acrylic and has a wonderful little halo effect, making it appear like more of a natural fiber. The shimmer is just that - a shimmer - as opposed to a sparkle, so the effect is more subtle. I can’t get enough of it.

The hat looks beautiful as-is (if I do say so myself), but a coordinating pom-pom on top adds an extra special touch. Of course, that’s up to you!

Download Pattern

Blog Hop + Giveaway: Christmas Crochet for Hearth, Home & Tree

Storey Publishing recently sent me this wonderful crochet pattern book by Edie Eckman to test and review for a Christmas Blog Hop. Because it combines everything I love into one festive event (Christmas, blogging and yarn), I was more than happy to participate and contribute.

My first thought upon opening the book is that there's a huge variety of patterns to choose from, despite the package it arrived in being relatively small. I was impressed, even more-so after flipping through its pages and realizing that hey: I'd actually make most (if not all) of the book's featured projects. I can't tell you how often I purchase a pattern book for only one project, which is truly a waste of money in the end; this book is not a disappointment when it comes to the number of patterns included vs the number of items I want to make. Kudos!

Of course, I didn't want to review the whole book without giving you feedback on the patterns' written quality. My biggest problem? I couldn't choose which one to start first. I know, I know - what a tough life. Eventually, I remembered I had some sparkling gold and ivory "I Love This Yarn" in my stash, and I thought it would work perfectly with the Creamy Textured Stocking on page 50. I haven't finished it yet because I think I'll need to buy more yarn (the horror!), but I'm getting close and it looks awesome:

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The stocking itself is sturdy thanks to the type of stitching used, and I imagine it would look amazing with a multi-colored yarn, too! But if simple is more your style, then don't worry - the picot edging at the top certainly jazzes it up to make it more than basic. It's a fantastic project if you're a newly-intermediate crocheter looking to create holiday decor.

In addition to clearly written patterns, many include stitch diagrams, as well. Because these patterns often rely on smart construction and textures to create each shape, stitch diagrams can often be important for visual learners. Basically, there are a number of ways to accomplish the final result, making this book super versatile.

Next on my list? I really want to crochet the Advent Garland:

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Everyone knows that when it comes to Christmas, I have two obsessions: nativity scenes and advent calendars. So consider the garland added to my list. I already know where it'll hang, so now I just need to pile up my scrap holiday yarn and get to making!

So now that you've (hopefully) read my review, it's time to...

Win Your Own Copy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit all the other talented crafters who've made and reviewed something from the book:

• 3-Nov Don't Eat the Paste
• 4-Nov Moogly
• 5-Nov Liberty's Yarn
• 7-Nov Rambling Designs
• 10-Nov Plus 3 Crochet
• 11-Nov Crochet Dynamite
• 12-Nov Jenn Likes Yarn
• 13-Nov Crochet Nirvana
• 14-Nov Yarning4aSmile

Not only will you probably discover more amazing blogs (and increase your chances of winning a copy), but you'll also get an in-depth sneak peek at what this deceptively huge little book has to offer. And don't forget to...

#becauseofknitting

My husband can attest to the fact I've gone a little knitting podcast crazy over the past couple weeks. Not only have I loved seeing or hearing about what everyone else in the universe is making, but I feel like I'm learning a lot about my craft while also working on my craft. Podcasts are the perfect media for keeping you entertained while you work on however many rows of stockinette so you don't pluck your eyes out with that fifth DPN.

One of the podcasts I'm enjoying most is the ACTually KNITting podcast, an audio podcast that can be downloaded on iTunes or streamed online. The podcasts are not only interesting, but also the right amount of time for sitting down for 30-45 minutes to knit uninterrupted (or, in my case lately, loading 400 USBs with corporate collateral like a crazy person).

In any event, I wanted to contribute because I think it's easy for people to overlook the personal and psychological benefits of knitting. Yes, it's a hobby, but it's also something that's helped me - and many others - make it through difficult times in our lives. So here we go.

#becauseofknitting, I:

• Have no excuse for being bored. Knitting, in most cases, is easily portable, so I can take it from room-to-room or, in some cases, state-to-state when I'm traveling for work. I even took yarn with me on a trip to Spain when I was in college.
   
• Feel productive, even if I'm not actually being productive. I had to stop knitting the other night due to pain in my wrist, and I couldn't pay attention to what we were watching on TV. I felt like a useless blob.
   
• Can prolong memories of my grandmother, who taught me to knit when I was young and unfortunately passed away in April. She was always interested in what I was making and asked a lot of questions about what I'd learned.
   
• Have a way to deal with my anxiety. Which is something I hear a lot from fellow crafters, so I'm not sure if people who are anxious are naturally attracted to repetitive crafts, or if it's just great therapy to calm us down. Either way, it's been an amazing way for me to cope with panic attacks in times of overwhelming stress. Honestly, knitting has probably saved the lives of people around me.
   
• Can make homemade gifts, even if the gift receiver doesn't always appreciate the love and ability that went into making it.
   
• Make extra income to offset my yarn hoarding. And, when the holidays get closer and my shop is busier than usual, have more earnings that I use to buy special gifts for people I care about.
   
• Have a distraction for when things aren't going so well. Several of my family members have had to stay in hospitals over the years, which requires hours sitting around in waiting rooms. It's easier to focus on "Knit until three stitches before the short row gap, wrap and turn" than mindlessly watching Meredith Vieira talk about silly misspelled grocery store signs while waiting to hear from doctors.
   
• Bond with people in a different way than others might. Whenever I knit in public, I draw attention, and sure enough, there's always at least one person who wants to know what I'm making and how I do it. Sometimes it's annoying, sure, but it's mostly fun to connect with strangers, even if it's only for a few minutes.

Do you have something to share? You can write your own #becauseofknitting story over in the ACTuallyKNITting Episode 16 forum post over on Ravelry or post online using the hashtag: #becauseofknitting.

Stashed: madelinetosh and Cascade

Commence drooling.

Last week was my husband's and my fifth wedding anniversary. Originally, we had planned to spend a relaxing weekend at my parents' lake house in the Poconos; however, those plans were put on the back burner thanks to some dude going psycho in the woods up there. Because there aren't many people hanging out at the lake this time of year, we didn't want to chance anything.

So instead, we stayed in the home-ish area for the weekend, went to dinner at a new local speakeasy (it was aight, but not our favorite), then traveled down to Peddler's Village for a romp in the land of tchotchkes.

Sidebar: I can't tell you how many people I've nearly had to physically fight over the correct spelling of "tchotchkes".

It was freezing, a factor that automatically turns me into a raging she-witch in most cases. But I survived and we had an enjoyable time, especially because we ended our trip with a visit to Twist Knitting & Spinning. Leave it to me to find a local yarn store when traveling.

There, I was able to pick up a beautiful skein of madelinetosh sock yarn in the Mala color way and Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk Paints sock yarn in the 9812 colorway. I wasn't sure which gorgeous hank to wind and work with first, so I recently cast on some Noro sock yarn I had lying around. Makes sense, I think.

I also picked up my first set of Knitter's Pride Karbonz DPNs in size US 2. I haven't worked with them yet because I'm obsessed with a pair of Addi Turbo Sock Rockets I bought a couple weeks ago, but I'm looking forward to testing them. They're incredibly light and the tips are nice, sharp, and metallic, which should make for easy sock knitting. They're quite long, so I'm not sure how I'll get on with them, but I'll let you know.

So now that I've taunted you with my recent stash enhancements, I'm off to enjoy them during my weekend. I've got a couple custom orders to complete, but then I can knit or crochet my personal projects I've been dying to work on. Life never gets less exciting :)