Thank you to everyone who played along!!!For the past few years I have been doing an annual giveaway to celebrate the Tour de Fleece. This coincides with the Tour de France and runs from July 4th to July 26th. Spinners around the world set goal/challenges for themselves and spin during the tour. I am usually a part of Team Golden Willow but this year I have also joined Team Canada. Check out their awesome logo! Anyways, onto the reason you are here - prizes! This year I have rounded up a couple goodies and made a few packages you could win.  Spinners Prize: Winner is Lisa!A collection of some of the worlds finest fibres; 2 oz of Merino/Cashmere, a little batt of Angora/Silk (50/50), a Phil Powell supported spindle, a sample of Soak Wash in the Lacey scent and a nice little handmade spindle bag to hold it all.  Book Lovers Prizes:I also have 3 books from my collection up for grabs:
To be entered to win one of these prizes, please leave a comment below about what you would do with any one of these prizes. You can gain extra entries by heading over to my Facebook page and sharing/commenting on this post about my giveaway, re-posting the giveaway picture on Instagram, Retweeting my post on Twitter and pinning my TdF post on Pinterest. Easy stuff. I will be making the draws on Monday July 27th around 7:00 Sask time. Watch my Facebook Page to see if you won.
Thanks and let's get spinning!
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It's giveaway time, it's giveaway time! Some of my favourite games are Hidden Object ones, especially from Big Fish Games like the Mystery Case Files series. I was thinking of hosting a giveaway for this season and thought this might be a fun way to earn your prize. I have 10 questions for you. The answers are in front of your eyes, you just need to seek them out. Some questions will have multiple right answers and you must answer them all correctly to be entered to win. There are also lots of chances for bonus entries as well! I have 2 prizes available. If not for yourself, they also make great gifts, so you can cross off a special someone from your list just in time for Christmas.
Knitters Prize: 1 skein of Hawthorne Fingering weight yarn in the colourway "Rose City", "Knockout Knits" by Laura Nelkin and a purse size bottle of Handmade Luxury Hand Creme in the Celebration scent. Spinners Prize: Spinner Starter Kit including 4 oz of Corriedale and a maple drop spindle, "The Complete Guide to Spinning Yarn" by Brenda Gibson and a 4 oz bottle of SOAK wool wash in the Aquae scent. *Note: I will take pictures in the daylight on the weekend You can email your answers to [email protected] and I will type your name to the bottom of this post to confirm your entries. This contest is open to everyone and anyone and I will draw the winners randomly on Monday December 1, 2014 at 6:00pm (Saskatchewan time) Good luck and thanks for playing! Questions: 1) Out of all the spindles I have reviewed, which one has received the highest rating? 2) Most of my handspun skeins are sold at sales I attend but I do have an Etsy shop and one of my favourite skeins was called "Single Malt", how many yards are in this skein? 3) I am working on sheep breed studies, what is the average fleece weight for a Romney sheep? 4) What are the 4 scents I have available in SOAK wool wash? 5) Bankhead is one of my most popular hat patterns. Roughly how many people have made this hat? Bonus entry for those who have knit either Bankhead or Cobblestones themselves. 6) I have done a few tutorials this past year, which sheep breed did I use as a sample in the most recent tutorial? 7) I am showcasing some of my work in the Sherven-Smith Art Gallery soon. When? 8) Have you "Liked" me on Facebook? Easy entry. If you haven't already, please do. 9) I post Daily Inspirations everyday and link these to my Pinterest page. Which one has inspired you the most? 10) What is Knit Natural's slogan? Bonus entries for sharing this giveaway with your friends. For every referral you get an extra entry for both you AND your friend(s). Please make sure you tell me who notified you of this awesome giveaway. Amy Anderson (3 Entries) Keely Williams Carolynne Gould (3 Entries)  And the winner is ..... Charlynn Gimenez! Congratulations! And good luck on the Tour everyone! Time for another Tour de Fleece! For those who don't know what the TdF is, it's an annual spin-a-long, that happens at the same time as the Tour de France. Many people set goals for themselves (or sometimes not) and its a fun time to get some spinning done, learn new techniques and of course, win prizes! As usual, I am part of Team Golden Willow and our group is quite laid back, there is no pressure and its all for fun. There are many groups on Ravelry for specific spinning goals, like for example, you want to spin 15 mins a day, or if you plan on using support spindles exclusively, or you use an Ashford wheel, or you only want to spin batts etc. You can find all the groups in the TdF Ravelry page here. This year the tour runs from Saturday July 5 - Sunday July 27. My goal this year is to try and spin as much as I can everyday and I will be posting my progress on my Facebook page and a final recap at the end here on my blog.  For my annual TdF giveaway I am offering a travel sample size niddy noddy (that comes apart for easy transport), a bunch of rolags I made with my handcards (wool and angelina) and a handmade spindle that can be used as both a support or suspended spindle. There are several ways to win and you can enter as many times as you want. The prize will be awarded on Sat July 5th. Good luck! (I am just trying out this new giveaway feature, let me know if you have issues FYI I will not send you emails unless you are the winner and also the "rules" don't apply at all. This giveaway is open to everyone and anyone)  Looking for your daily dose of fibre? I know exactly where to turn. Kim from The Wacky Windmill was in Regina for the Regina Weavers & Spinners Guild monthly Fibre night (we are SO lucky). She brought with her a wonderful collection of hand-dyed yarns, fibre, notions, project bags and everything else a fibre artist needs. As I was helping put product on the tables I couldn't resist wanting to keep it all! Kim's good friend and awesome knitter Donna was there to enable (I mean answer questions) and she displayed some of her beautiful hand knit items made with Kim's yarn.  I managed to snag a few things that I couldn't live without. The yarn is destined to become a shawl, it's SW Merino/Stellina so it has a beautiful shimmer and all the best colours rolled into one. The two braids at the front are SW BFL in hot pink/black and white. The braid at the top left is Merino/Silk and apparently I bought fibre just like this a few years ago (obviously it's wonderful). The last two on the table are a past club colourway and my all time favourite in the luxurious blend of SW Merino/Sea Cell *sigh*. I <3 The Wacky Windmill. The project bag at the top of the photo is the perfect size and how could I not love: a) a bag b) a bag with sheep c) a bag with sheep that holds fibre?!
 I spun this Falkland in the "Pot of Gold" colourway for Kim's SAL (Spin-a-long). This was the softest Falkland I have ever worked with. She is hosting another challenge this month and you can check her Ravelry group for more info The prizes are gorgeous!  While we were hanging out and spinning, I asked Kim a few questions (as an adoring fan) and thought others might be wondering some of the same things I was.
Where do you find inspiration? I find it all over the place; photos, nature, other dyers. I’ll notice color ideas on my way home from work or when I go snow boarding – there are lots of nice colour combos on the slopes. Sometimes I will also randomly grab containers and see what happens. How do you come up with colourway names? I sometimes ask other people around what they think the yarn or fibre looks like. We bounce ideas back and fourth. My husband doesn’t offer a whole lot but when he comes up with something it works well – like “Charred Oak”. Sometimes the names revolve around themes such as my silk yarn which is named after characters from the game Clue. “Tea Cup Elephant” was based on a dream I had. “Stow Away” was named because I found that braid among other fibre it didn’t belong with.  What is your favourite colour? My favourite colour is green which may be why there is so much of it in the shop all the time. What other artistic hobbies do you do? I spin, knit, crochet, I’ve dabbled in weaving, I like to sew and quilt. I make soap, lotion and lip balm. I also like gardening, although I sometimes forget to water. I really enjoy renovating too. How has your work evolved since you started? When I first started dyeing I used Wilton dyes but they kept breaking and the colours sometimes ended up looking like mud. I was afraid of acid dyes – the name "acid" scared me, but when I used them for the first time and my hands didn’t burn off I realized how great they are. I have done a lot of research and looked into different fibres and how they appeal to people and take on colour. I have taught myself a lot about different ways to dye and have tried kettle dyeing, hand painting, dip dyeing, sprinkle dyeing and infusion. I like experimenting to try and get different effects. I am more adventurous than I used to be, and I will try mixing dyes to see how they turn out and will also try colour combinations that may not appeal to me but they do to others. I love seeing how each fibre artist adds their own techniques to my fibres, like in the club shipments, everyone comes up with a different way to spin or ply their yarns and come up with a unique end result.  What are your favourite fibres? To dye? I love the way Superwash Merino and Falkland take colour, but SW Merino is slippery when you rinse. To spin: BFL hands down. BFL and Merino plyed work really well together, the combination makes the yarn softer. What does your studio look like? Unfinished drywall, cement floors and poor lighting. I used to work in the kitchen but I have now moved downstairs. I have tables and a sink and stove down there, I need to work on the lighting but I have my own space now and it’s wooly. My rabbit Sunny is my dye buddy. Tell me about your pets: When I learned you can spin angora I found my first rabbit; Suzuki (Suzi) (3yrs) from a breeder in Vulcan. She is a French German Angora cross Red Eye White (REW). Gremlin is an English Angora Lop Cross rescue (received from the same breeder). We have fostered him for 2 years. His original owner passed away which caused him some health related stress issues, but he is a sweet boy. Sunny, which is short for Sunflower (1yr) is a French Lop Cross. She was a Christmas present and she is my biggest bunny. She loves to be held, pet and cuddled and really doesn’t like when she’s on my lap and I'm playing on my cell phone.  I also have 2 dogs; Boo who is 11 and Gracie who is 7. They are Maltese / Shih Tzu X's and are my sweethearts. I've had them both since they were puppies.
Where can we see your work this year? May 3rd – Regina Weavers & Spinners Mini Retreat May 30th – Kings College HWSDA Conference June 13 & 14 – Fibre Arts Week in Pincher Creek June 23 – 27th – Olds Fibre Week Oct 4th & 5th – Knit City in Vancouver Watch for more updates throughout the year! Where can we find you online? ~ The Wacky Windmill group on Ravelry ~ Etsy ~ Twitter @TheWackyWindmill ~ Email Kim ~ The Wacky Windmill Website and Blog
I want to share my Wacky Windmill love with you too - I have a skein of TWW Getting Heavy in the colourway "Seriously Disturbed" to give one of you! It is 250 yards of soft, fluffy wool and one of my favourite yarn bases.  To win, you must comment on this entry with shawl pattern recommendations - just kidding ;P just let me know what you would like to make with this yarn and what you love about Kim and The Wacky Windmill.
This giveaway will end on April 19th Congrats to Linda! Thanks to everyone who entered. Stay tuned for more giveaways.  Well the first day of Christmas was fun, but we must move on to day 2! This deal is for a Felted Soap Trio. 1 Unscented, 1 Lavender and 1 Green Apple. This would make a unique gift for those people who have everything or are hard to buy for. You can even maximize your Christmas spirit and give 2 away and keep one for yourself!
Its like a soap and washcloth in one! These usually sell for $10 each or 3 for $25 Today's Deal ~ All 3 for $15 That's a 40% discount ~~SOLD~~ Wet the soap and work it around in your hands until the later starts coming through the fibre. Use as you normally would. Wool is naturally antibacterial so this soap won't turn moldy in your shower. When not in use, store it in a self draining soap dish and the bar will last up to a year! As you use it the wool will felt tighter around the soap, so it just keeps getting better and better with each use :) These are my last 3 soaps. This last day for this deal will be Dec 5. This soap is a vegetable/glycerin base. The wools used are Merino & Romney.  Handmade Sask is a great community which gathers a lot of great handmade artists from this province in one place. This is a great group for, not only those wishing to shop local but also to network and build your own handmade business.
They are hosing a week of giveaways starting Monday and I will be up first :) I am offering a free Knit Natural T-shirt in your choice of size/colour as well as 3 mini skeins of handspun yarn. You can check the Handmade Sask site for more info and get in on all the giveaways!  Time for another giveaway, and just in time for Tour de Fleece! The prize this time is a top whorl spindle made by Jill Holbrook and some merino & merino/silk fibres. This is a great little starter kit for someone who wants to learn how to spin or another great addition to your spindle collection. So now for the catch, to win this you must answer a skill testing question:
"What is the difference between top and roving?" You can post your answer in the comments and also post why you love spinning or why you want to learn how to spin. I will pick a winner based on the correct answer via a draw on Sat June 29th in time to kick off the tour. If you aren't aware, Tour de Fleece runs along with the Tour de France. People pick goals or challenges and spin during the entire tour. You can make this as simple or difficult as you like. My friends and I are a little more easy going than others during the tour and people will be spinning all around the globe during this time. Did I mention you can win a lot of great prizes? Another little tid bit of info; this year is the 100th year of the Tour de France, so if you haven't tried it yet this would be a great year to start.   I recently bought a pair of these Chiaogoo fixed circular needles to try out. I loved them so much I bought another pair. The points are nice and sharp, the joins are smooth and the cable is... an actual cable. Very strong and as I am using them on my current project I find I am knitting faster with them because I'm not worried about them coming unscrewed, or the tips breaking free of their casing. I have been knitting effortlessly with them. I would like you to try these needles out as well! All you need to do is comment on this post saying why you could use a good set of needles and what project you would try them out on. You will win a pair of Chiaogoo fixed circular needles in any size and cable length and I will also be throwing in 3 mini skeins of my handspun yarn. This giveaway will close on Sunday March 17th at 10:00 pm Sask time and I will randomly pick a winner. Good Luck!
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