Knitting Up "Natural"

Do I have a taste of natural for you this week!

Sandy is the owner and operator of a small farm in Battle Lake, MN.  She along with her woolly friends are hard at work creating and making natural fiber for spinning and yarn for knitting.  Inspired by lack of money and fabulous knit patterns, she is always trying new blends.  She was gracious enough to send a sampling of her natural yarns.

CVM~Romeldale is a true American Breed.  Developed in the early 1900's by breeding Marsh Romney & Rambouillets.  The result was a well sized dual purpose breed producing fine wool and a respectable butcher lamb.  These sheep were solid in color and were called Romeldales.  In the 1940's a few badger marked lambs were born and that was the beginning of the

CVM (California Variegated Mutant)- they are still Romeldales but the CVM are distinguished by this short story.

This rich dark brown/black worsted wt. with kid mohair, is produced from the solid black romeldales and black angora kids.

A medium gray 100% CVM wool worsted wt., this yarn when knit up is sort of tweedy from the many shades of gray a CVM comes in and from the dark wool from the lower sides, shoulders etc.

An oatmeal colored CVM/Alpaca worsted wt. 3-ply, this is from the morrit CVM's.

Lastly a 'Winter White' fingering wt. 3-ply with nylon added, necessary for the fine wool to survive being knit into a sock!!!

This weeks give away is a "Refer A Friend." 

1. Make sure you are a Follower on My Blog

2. In the comments for this Blog post, let me know who you invited be a follower of my Blog.

3. If they become followers, you and your friend will get an additional entry into the drawing!!

The give away will be open from Sunday 29th thorugh Sunday the 5th.  The winner will be announced on Monday February 6th, good luck all!

So go and tell all your friends!

The winner will be drawn by a random number generator and you will be receiving the 

"Winter White" Sock Wool

Perfect for a new pair of socks

Winterwind Farm 

receives a 5 Needle Review Rating!

Just remember;
“Anything can happen when you put on a pair of Hot Pink Socks”
~Stephanie~

Special thank you again to Sandy for donating to the Blog for this fantastic Yarn Review!

Please make sure you check out all the new things she has in her shop.

www.winterwindfarm.com

The Best Fit Sweater

I have been searching for what I would call "The Best Fits Sweater" for a while now.  I was looking around on Ravelry and was not really finding anything jumping out at me.  Then it presented its self, it is the

Madison By; Kim Dolce

This sophisticated sweater is unlike anything that I have ever knit.  I was intrigued from the cast on to the bind off and finishing of buttons.  The pattern was easy to read and the measurements were right on.  As I would finish one piece of the sweater, it was almost as though I had to race to get the next one cast on.  I watched this master piece unfold in front of my eyes.  I loved every minute of the knitting adventure! 

Dolcehandknits is the name of Kim's design collection.  She has several trendy and classic looking patterns.  The pattern was reasonable priced at $7.00 for the download.  This would also make a great addition to all of you who are participating in  "The Year of Sweaters."  So many of the pod casters and my friends on Ravelry have been talking about this being the year that they want to knit up some sweaters. 

Here are a few photos that one of my friends so graciously took of me in the sweater. 

 (I'm not as cute as the model, but this is what it looks like on me.)

I would put this at the top of the Queue for sure.  It would actually make a nice gifted pattern for someones birthday.  The pattern allows for several sizes to fit a wide variety of body shapes. 

 [35", 37", 39.75", 40.25", 43", 45", 47.75"]

I was more than pleased when I chose to stick with the recommended yarn for this particular project.  Kim knit her original pattern using Plymouth Yarn, Baby Alpaca Ampato

The drape and the sheen that this yarn knits up into is nothing like I have in my collection of hand knits.  She really took the time to consider how the sweater would flow and move with a 100% Baby Alpaca. 

It is really hard for me to take it off, I find my self using this gorgeous sweater as my new go to.  Dress it up with a pair of heals or dress it down with my favorite, a pair of blue jeans and boots. 

Kim also has a Ravelry group that she has set up so that if you are in need of asking her a question, she is more than happy to help you out. 

Dolce handknits

receives a 5 Needle Review Rating!

Just remember;
“Anything can happen when you put on a pair of Hot Pink Socks”
~Stephanie~

Thank you again to Kim for the donation of the pattern to the Blog!

The Winner Is??

Today's give away was selected by a random number generator.  And the winner of this fantastic fiber is, Comment number 9, { neilsnana }

Congratulations!

Please make sure you email me your address so I can send you your Fantastic Yarn!

hotpinksocksreviews@yahoo.com

Thank you again to Taddie Bee Knitting for the fantastic Yarn to Review!

A Recycled Contest

Now that I have captured your attention, Lets talk about 2012.  What are you doing to try and recycle or eliminate waste?  This was a question that I was thinking about while the New Years rolled around.  Then came the most practical and intriguing answer, Repurposed yarn!

This weeks review is a challenge and a contest.

Carol who is the owner and designer of the etsy shop Taddie Bee Knitting has given a great slogan name to her products, "Luxury Upcycled Yarn."

That sounds great, but what does that really mean?  Carol was kind enough to explain,

"I like to knit with animal fibers and I get a kick out of finding nice sweaters (like Ann Taylor or Talbots) in thrift stores, unraveling and maybe dying the yarn, and then knitting with it myself or selling it on Etsy. My favorite shops are The Brown Elephant Resale Shop in Chicago and The Ram’s Rack in Boone, NC. Anywhere with cold winters and affluent neighborhoods make for good finds!"

What a great concept for the New Year.  I was thrilled when Carol sent me a skein of 100% Merino wool that was originally an Abercrombie sweater, who would have thought.  The skein contains 110yards/50g and would make the cutest hat or mittens for the January months.

As I said earlier in the post, this is a challenge and a contest.  I challenge you at some time this year to "Upcycle" some of your own yarn or to purchase an Upcycled skein of yarn to do your part.  You may have a few unfinished objects laying around in your project bags that really, when you think about it, are never going to get finished or you have just lost all interest in the current pattern that your needles have been simply used for the purpose of holding your stitches.  Lets get to repurposing the yarn your already have.

Finally, I want to hold a contest for this skein of 'Upscaled Luxury Yarn.'  In order to be entered into the random number generated contest, you need to do 2 simple things. 

1. Become a follower of my blog

2. Please post a comment under today's post, anything. 

  [Even just to tell me that your like the blog.]

Make sure to leave your contact information

The contest starts today January 16th and will end at midnight on January 22nd.  The winner will be announced on Monday January 23rd.  Good Luck to you all!

Taddie Bee Knitting receives a 4 Needle Review Rating!

Thank you Carol for donating to the blog!!

 

Just remember;

“Anything can happen when you put on a pair of Hot Pink Socks”

~Stephanie~

Let's Do a Throwback

Does this bring back any thoughts for you?  My first thought was Fruit Stripped Gum!  Oh to be a kid again when all you are concerned about is what color piece of gum to chew first. 

This yarn comes to the blog by String Theory Colorworks.

This is the Continuum Self Striping line of fingering weight sock yarn.

430 yards (393 meters)

80% Merino

10% Cashmere

10% Nylon

This fiber was an easy knit and I loved watching the color changes as I knit.  Being that I am so crazy about sock knitting, this was a great choice.  As if it is not obvious how great the color changing is, the feel of the knitted socks is even better.  We all know how our favorite pair of socks or slippers have managed to be the most squishy and wonderful on our feet, that is the feeling of these socks.  I could not be more pleased to recommend you try this yarn in the new year.  If you have never used a self striping yarn before, don't let that scare you.  Pick a color and go with it, you will be pleasantly suppressed. 

String Theory Colorworks can be purchased at the following website.

Continuum Self Striping Yarn receives a 4 Needle Review Rating!

Thank you String Theory Colorworks for donating to the blog!!

 

Just remember;
“Anything can happen when you put on a pair of Hot Pink Socks”
~Stephanie

Something to get you in the Winter Spirit

This is a pattern that I cast on over Christmas.  I am a nut for color work that has some what of a traditional pattern.  The pattern is; Snowflakes in starry skies mittens, by

Rowan Martindale.  She has done such a great job with her pattern and making it extremely clear to understand, and her charting is flawless.  Her pattern is a download able PDF on Ravelry that retails for $3.00.  I am telling you, this is a GREAT price for the pattern that you will be getting! 

I cast on using Size US 2 [2.75mm] needles and am using Spud & Chole in the color way, Snorkel and Sidewalk.  I am really excited to finish these mittens in time for "Winter?" (If we ever get snow?)

This is my progress so far!

I can not recommend this pattern enough!  Do some stash diving, pick two colors and cast on.  This is something that I will be knitting as part of my selfish knitting in January.  If you are in need of a gifting pattern for a fellow Rav buddy, this should be at the top of every ones gifting list!

Snowflakes In Starry Skies Mittens receives a 5 Needle Review Rating!

Just remember;
“Anything can happen when you put on a pair of Hot Pink Socks”
~Stephanie~

Thank you to Rowan for allowing me to review her pattern.

~Happy New Year's Knitting Everyone~