Needlefood Samples!

Michelle at Needle Food has again supplied some absolutely fantastic samples for the next NZ Yarn Sampler Box. This time there are two new colours - Boysenberry and Dining in Denim. Both are gorgeous shades, and would look fantastic knitted up in a fancy sock pattern. Both of these are now available at www.needlefood.co.nz for $26 each (for a 100g skein). Plus, there's a chocolate for each of you too.... (unless I eat them first!)

If you are a Needle Food addict like myself, then you will already know how great this sock yarn is to work with, and you'll just be buying it immediately without waiting for your sample. If you are yet to be converted, then browse their extensive catalogue (it includes sock, worsted and lace weight and you can even have things custom ordered) - and by that stage you probably won't be able to wait for the sampler box either!

Take my word for it that Needle Food sock yarn really IS for delicious knits - please, try some too! www.needlefood.co.nz

Mohair Craft Samples!

Mohair Craft - Kid Mohair Yarn


As you drive north and south from Auckland, you have probably seen (and hopefully stopped in at) the Mohair Craft shops at the Motorway Service Centres at Bombay and Dairy Flat. They have a great selection of yarns available, both for knitting and spinning, and also plenty of other crafty gift ideas.

Mohair Craft have very kindly sent an enormous parcel of beautiful Kid Mohair Yarn for the next NZ Yarn Sampler Box. Each sample is a huge 50g ball, so this is a very generous submission! There's a wide selection of colours - the photo shows only some of the available samples. You'll love receiving this sample in your box!

Mohair craft use only the finest Kid Mohair available to make their premium Kid Mohair products. Kid Mohair comes from the younger and better bred goats and is noticeably thinner and softer than the adult mohair and young goat mohair used by most Mohair product suppliers. You will be amazed how soft and luxurious their kid mohair products feel compared to products made with young goat and adult mohair.

Check out Mohair Craft's website at www.mohair.co.nz

Serenknitty Yarn Samples!

These are the absolutely gorgeous samples that Jane from Serenknitty has sent in for the next NZ Yarn Sampler Box - aren't the colours just beautiful? The shade is Metallic Plum - I just love it! I really must try my hand at spinning so I can see what happens with the fibre.

There are two different samples - one is a 10g sample of New Zealand Merino fibre, and the other is a 10g sample of Supersock Select 100% Superwash Merino sock yarn. Love!!

Everything is individually made with love and care. Jane explains that her colour inspiration comes from her garden in the Canterbury countryside and the surrounding landscapes. Her hand dyed yarns and fiber are all unique. Custom orders are always welcome. There are a lot of great yarns to check out in Jane's etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/serenknitty, so check them out now.

Special offers for March - hurry ends soon!:
All orders for yarn, fibre or project bags received during March will receive 3 free stitch markers (of my choice).
Any order over $75 will ship anywhere for free, postage is capped at $10 for orders under this amount. This will be refunded through Paypal after your order has been processed.

Boxy Bags
Not only can you buy amazing yarns from Serenknitty, but you can buy hand made accessories as well such as stitch markers and also, my favourite thing at the moment - boxy and pyramid project bags! Check them out - I had to buy one as soon as I saw them in Jane's store. I have both a pyramid and a boxy bag - perfect for throwing your sock knitting in when you go out, or I have even been using them as a purse.

Southern Alpacas Samples!

Southern Alpacas Stud are supplying their range of natural alpaca yarns for the next NZ Yarn Sampler Box. Working with Just Alpaca, they supply their alpaca for 4 ply and 8 ply yarns in natural shades – white, light fawn, medium fawn, brown, grey, and black.

The samples are generous 50 gram balls! Wow! The 8 ply is 95 metres on 4 mm needles, and the 4 ply 240 metres on 3.25 mm needles. These yarns are 80% alpaca, dye-free, with 20% wool. Enjoy working with these natural fibres.

Alpaca can be used wherever you would use wool and the finished article will be lighter, softer and warmer. Once washed, it is suitable for most allergy sufferers.

Check out the Alpaca Gallery which showcases alpaca and their fibre, as raw or carded fibre in natural shades, beautiful colourful blends, and fleece converted to yarns, knit kits, felted apparel, and knitwear, plus crafting hints for working in alpaca http://www.alpacasnz.co.nz/fibre.htm, and of course you can buy alpaca fibre, yarns and products here http://www.alpacasnz.co.nz/alpacaproducts.htm.

Knitsch samples have arrived!

Sock yarn is totally my thing, so you can imagine my excitement when a huge parcel from Knitsch yarns arrived today. You'll have to wipe my drool off your samples, sorry! There are so many fabulous colour ways, and I'm sure they will look extra good when knitted up as they are two threads spun together which gives a slightly shiny effect (4ply sock weight).

Knitsch are keen for you all to try out their wool, so they've generously sent enough for all the boxes to have a sample. AND.... one sample has a Golden Ticket attached which earns the winner TWO 50g skeins of Knitsch wool! Wow!!

Knitsch sells 100% New Zealand merino hand-dyed sock yarn to really scratch your knitting itch. Check them out at www.knitschyarns.co.nz - their 50g skeins are only $12, so go wild - you deserve a treat today.

Songbird Designs Samples!

Amazing - check out these beautiful gift tags from the very talented Sarah from Songbird Designs. By now you have probably used your tags from the last Sampler Box on your finished items, so keep your fingers crossed you get a cute pack of these extra cool gift tags in the next box. Each packet contains 3 beautifully crafted tags.

If you are in Auckland this weekend, stop by Crafternoon Tea and say hi to Sarah and buy something awesome from her collection of fantastic creations. Crafternoon Tea market is on Saturday 20th of March 2010, from 10am-3pm at the Trinity Methodist Church - which is on the corner of Sandringham and New North Roads in Crafty Kingsland.

http://www.songbird.felt.co.nz

http://www.songbirddesigns.blogspot.com/

Curiouser and Curiouser 20% off!

Attention people who bought the January NZ Yarn Sampler Box: did you just love your sample from Curiouser and Curiouser? If so, check the label for a handwritten code - and use this for your next purchase from Sabine's felt store to save a whopping 20%! Have you seen how much amazing stuff is in her store?? There are 4 pages of delicious yarns - something for everyone.

Get your Knitsch on...

I'm very excited that a new NZ wool seller is featuring in the NZ Yarn Sampler Box! Knitsch sells 100% New Zealand merino hand-dyed sock yarn, and after their launch at Craft2.0 recently, they now have their online shop ready. Check it out at www.knitschyarns.co.nz

Sock yarn is totally my thing, so I can't wait to see what the samples will be. And one thing I really love about Knitsch yarns is that they come in 50g skeins instead of the usual 100g. That means you could buy two different colourways to make matching-but-not socks, or you could do what I did with my Olympic socks and buy one skein and stripe it with a matching solid colour.

At NZ$12 a skein, just buy a whole bunch of different colours as a gift to yourself (and your stash)!

Sari Silk Fibre samples from Yarn Traders!

Wow, did your monitor just explode? Check out these colours! Helen at Yarn Traders has the most incredible products available, and we are extremely lucky to have her included in the NZ Yarn Sampler Box. This time, she has supplied amazing bags of Sari Silk Fibre from India, which can be used for felting, embellishing, spinning and silk paper making. The sample bags are mixed, but not necessarily the same. The fibres are rich colours, and very shiny - my mind is already boggling with potential creations where I could use this. And... Helen has very generously sent enough samples so that every box will receive one! Hooray!

Yarn Traders have also just launched their new website, packed with all sorts of unique yarns and craft supplies. Check it out at www.yarntraders.co.nz

And don't forget to sign up for updates on the NZ Yarn Sampler Box (eg when it will be going on sale!!) - just email me at blendy@blendy.co.nz or read more about what's in the box at www.blendy.co.nz

Silk hanky samples from Spinning A Yarn!

Jessicah at Spinning a Yarn comes up with the most amazing fibres. The samples she has sent in for the next NZ Yarn Sampler box are just stunning. I've never seen silk hankies before (although I'm not a spinner) and they look intriguing. Jessicah had to explain to me how to use them, and now it seems so obvious (and completely fun!) - here's what she says:

Silk hankies are a versatile and fun fibre to experiment with. They are perfect for beginner spinners, as all the drafting is done before you sit behind your wheel. However they are also able to be knitted without spinning, just give them a little twist as you go. Or you might like to incorporate them into a felting project, however they won't felt on their own, so you will need to use them with wool. Maybe you have some left from the last sampler box?

To draft them, you separate the very fine layers, there will be 8-10 per hanky, and stretch them out. Very detailed instructions can be found at knitty:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/FEATsilkhankies.html. The length of fibre you will get from this hanky will depend very much on how thin you draft them, you might be surprised by how far they can stretch! To go make them go even further, ply with wool , or even sewing thread. The possibilities are endless- experiment and have fun increasing your daily fibre intake!

Don't forget to check out the Spinning a Yarn felt store - you will be amazed!

Winners!

Congratulations to the following winners from this week's giveaways (from email, twitter, facebook entries):

Songbird Designs:
1: fabric covered badge and awesome giant paperclip - Rachelle Crosbie
2: 3x amazing fabric covered hair ties - Wendy Pamplin
3: the most beautiful pair of grey rose hair clips - Faery Sarah

Fab Fibres Pack: Nikki King

Well done! I will contact you for your postal address.
There will be another giveaway very soon.

Next NZ Yarn Sampler Box is coming...

don't forget to register so you can be kept up to date with the contents of the box and the sale time. www.blendy.co.nz

TWO Giveaways this week!

That's right - I have lots of goodies to give away! I'm going to run the Songbird Designs competition again because there was an email glitch and I received no entries.

So, we have Songbird Designs and Fab Fibres giveaways!

I have 3 awesome prizes from Songbird Designs. (You may have received a cute packet of their knitting gift tags in the last Sampler Box)

Prizes are:
1: fabric covered badge and awesome giant paperclip
2: 3x amazing fabric covered hair ties
3: the most beautiful pair of grey rose hair clips
(there will be three winners, each receiving one of these prizes)

How do you enter?
Tweet/Facebook/Blog this: "I want to win these beautiful handmade hair accessories from Songbird Designs! www.NZYarnSampler.blogspot.com @blendy" and don't forget to comment on this post so I know you've entered. Winners will randomly be selected on Wednesday 10 March. Anyone can enter - I'll post your prize anywhere in the world.

Check out Songbird Design's blog or their felt store to see more tempting gift ideas.

The Fab Fibres giveaway is a gorgeous sheet (a bit bigger than A5) of orange hand made wool paper, and a tantalising pile of matching yarns for you to go wild with your creating!

How do you enter?
Tweet/Facebook/Blog this: "I want to win the amazing wool paper & yarn pack from Fab Fibres! www.NZYarnSampler.blogspot.com @blendy" and don't forget to comment on this post so I know you've entered. Winners will randomly be selected on Wednesday 10 March. Anyone can enter - I'll post your prize anywhere in the world.

Check out the FabFibres website to see more fabulous yarn, fibres and accessories for your crafts.

Knitting Olympics are over

Well, the Knitting Olympics ended a few days ago. Did I win Gold? No. My challenge proved too difficult, so I've awarded myself a Silver for effort and achievement. I was attempting to knit two socks at the same time, which in itself is not that challenging, in fact I saw many people complete several pairs of socks, or absolutely ridiculously challenging sweaters. However, my handicap of two small boys and other real life activities prevented round the clock knitting time, but I am very pleased with the progress I made in the time available.

Here is my last update picture - this was taken the day before the end of competition, so imagine a few extra stripes added after some frantic knitting during the Closing Ceremony. I think I'm actually not far off beginning the toe.However, as the ceremony ended, and I had not achieved Gold, I was feeling a bit sad (I don't like failing on self-imposed challenges!). Like one of the US Hockey guys said, "You don't win silver, you lose silver". So, what's the best way to lift the spirits of a knitter? Cast on a new project!!

So now I am knitting what claims to be a 3 hour sweater, vintage 1930's pattern. While it will take more than 3 hours, I've already completely finished the back. If I continue at this rate, I could possibly have a new sweater by the end of the weekend!