Saturday, April 30, 2011

Monster Birthday Bash Contest Winners!

The first contest in our Holiday Path of Knits & Purls has officially ended and the votes are in!  We had a wonderful time seeing what you came up with and are continually impressed with our customers' creativity.  After 137 votes, the winner is.............................................

#6 Mama Monster made by Lisa Houchins


But, don't forget that we also have a prize for a voter, drawn at random.  For every vote, your name was put into the "hat" and because of her Facebook Vote, the winner of the "Voter's Drawing" is Rose Limke.

Lisa won $60 of Cascade 220 Superwash and Rose won $30 of Cascade 220 Superwash.  You may come into the store to receive your prize.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated!  We look forward to seeing more of your projects as we continue our Holiday Path to Knits & Purls.  Check out our website to read more about our current Easter Shawl contest.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I Finished My Shawl for Spring

If you are a customer at Knitted Together, you've gotten an invitation to knit a shawl for our shawl contest. I have been busily knitting a shawl, so I could join in on the fun (minus the chance to win a prize of course). 

Yesterday I finished and blocked my Appalachian Shawl. I added 36 stitches (equivalent of two repeats of the Feather and Fan pattern) to my cast on, so that I could get more length to my shawl. I also ended up working the Framed Star Stitch pattern nine times, rather than the eight times called for, since I had to buy a second skein of Alpaca Sox in Nor' Easter which is my main color. The shawl is so soft and airy; it's just plain lovely! It will be fun to throw on over a blouse or T-shirt this summer. I have lots of leftover yarn of both colors, so I can now make two pairs of socks for next winter... no, I don't wear socks much in the summer.

Keep on knitting!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE MONSTER!

The monsters have arrived in full force!  They are decorating our shelves as we speak!  They are fun and interesting and we love having them around.  Now it is your turn to join in on the fun!  Take a moment to look at each monster and read their stories.  Then to cast your vote, just leave a comment on this post with your full name and the number of the monster you want to win!  Voting ends Wednesday April 27th, 2010.


#1 - Terror Byte
Terror Byte is a computer monster.  He has a long (and large) memory since he is a descendent of the terabyte (a trillion bytes of memory).



Terror lives in a medium-sized office with no IT Department.  He saves the office money by working on the computers at night when all the humans have gone home.  Even though he does a good job, the humans sometimes call in the outside IT guy who is stumped that mysteriously the nicest administrative assistants have the largest amounts of memory on their computers.



Terror does get hungry after all this work and raids the candy dish at the receptionist's desk or the refrigerator in the kitchen.  The humans get a little grumpy at times wondering who ate their snacks or leftovers from lunch.  They also spend a lot of time trying to figure out who leaves empty pop cans in the sink, when they are sure things were cleaned up when they went home.



After his snack, Terror likes to surf the web.  His favorite site is Ravelry where he likes to PM with other monsters.  If you ever have an encrypted message, it is most likely Terror and any monsters on your project page chatting.  After a busy night, Terror climbs on the shelf of the nicest administrative assistant and sleeps during the day until all the humans go home.

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#2 - Clarabella the Knitting Monster
Clarabelle loves to be fancy and she loves to knit. If she is not carefully watched, she will break into your stash and begin using your fanciest luxury yarn for one of her own projects. She was recently caught using Kidsilk Haze to make herself a scarf. Other than the yarn stealing proclivities, she is a great knitter’s companion. She never tires of knitting, discussing knitting, or planning projects. Just keep track of your stash…






 




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#3 - Tanga the Yarn Barf Monster










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#4 - Irvette G. Grape, The Dancing Ice Cream Monster

Irvette is the little entertainer with a big smile. Frequently confused with her twin brother, Irving the Ice Box Monster, she’s looking to make a name for herself. When Irvette’s not in the ice box eating ice cream with Irving, she can be found day dreaming about dancing in the spotlight or rummaging through her closet in search of her favorite tutu. Danger, Danger Twinkle Toes! Eating all the ice cream will add weight to your hinder putting your dreams on hold and your dancing career in jeopardy.



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#5 - Irving the Icebox Monster
Irving, known in some mafia circles as Irv the Instigator, is really a very sweet monster despite his more infamous connections. Contrary to the wild rumors circulating in the Knitted Together community, he’s never done time in prison and has no tattoos.

Irving spends most of his time not in the icebox (or refrigerator, in this country), but by the range, whipping up countless delectable egg-based delights for whichever monsters happen to stop by. He has an enormous crush on Kat the Kitchen Monster, who seems to always be annoyed with him because she is always one egg short when she wants to bake. Their compatibility problem is simple – Irving is a frittata fanatic. So Irving uses a LOT of eggs. Kat loves to bake, so she needs a lot of eggs too. Poor Kat always finds herself one egg short. Kat is too nice to blame Irving outright and Irving has too big of a crush on Kat to admit to using her eggs. Poor Irving is also an insomniac, so he sits awake at night, worrying about what to do about Kat, the eggs, and the mafia rumors!

Does anyone else think that Irving should get a Costco membership and invite Kat on a date? They could buy dozens of eggs at a time and live happily ever after.
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#6 - Mama Monster
Mama Monster has 2 kids, 1 kid on the way, and a bad dye-job. (She tried to get the dye-job fixed, but she couldn’t find a sitter.)


Mama Monster is so highly-evolved that she has grown a third arm and a pair of eyes in the back of her head, and she has caffeine coursing through her monster veins. Despite these additional maternal features, she is still exhausted and can’t keep up with the laundry.









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#7 - Bunny Nuggets & Coco the Canister Monster











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#8 - Rita and Reggia, Mommy and Baby Monsters
Rita slips on her new purple shoes, tucks her baby boy Reggie in her big purple pocket and skips into the forest. They are off to spend the day at their favorite place, “The Veiled Gardens”; a secret place where only happiness occurs!


When they reach the gardens, Reggie hops out of Rita’s pocket. Rita joins the other mommies who are sitting in the shade, under the yellow roses. They talk and laugh and sing! They nibble on rosemary biscuits and sip green tea!


Reggie plays with his mini monster friends. They climb in the lilac bushes; chase butterflies with the fairies; and, under the hosta leaves, play hide and seek with the elves.


The air is filled with laughter! A truly magical day!

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#9 - Zoe Noel
Hi, my name is Zoe Noel. I’m a girly girl and I love to smile! I like it when Mom paints my nails. Sometimes I pretend I am a prima ballerina (I just learned how to do the splits!). When I play ballerina, I put on my tutu, hair bow and make-up. Do I have too much blush on?







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#10 - Fabien the Monster

Fabien is originally from France.  He grew up in a small Chocolate shop in Paris.  One day while 'borrowing' some chocolate, the owners dog Jacque came galloping in. Fabien quickly hid in a box.  The next thing he knew the box was being tapped up and he was off on an adventure.   Luckily for Fabien he had a whole box of chocolate to keep him full on the long trip to the United States.  When he arrived in the Iowa he quickly jumped out of the box.  The person that ordered the box of Chocolate was very surprised to find all of his chocolate eaten. 






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#11 - Mr. & Mrs. K2tog
Mr. & Mrs. K2tog weren’t always monsters…



It was a Friday night and the misses told her dear husband she was going to the Friday Night Knit Club at Knitted Together. He narrowed his eyes and reminded her of her recent promise.  I will not purchase yarn until I use up my stash. She repeated her promise, said good-bye, and headed for the door.



Mr. K2tog watched her drive to the end of the street and slowly walked to the room now affectionately known as “the yarn room”. He hung his head… she would surely return home with more yarn. He lifted his head and whispered a tease to the heavens: “If she returns with new yarn let us both be turned into yarn crazy monsters!”



Mrs. K2tog was now at the FNKC fondling all of the lovely yarn with her friends. She told them of her promise to her husband and how she was going to be good for a while. She managed to get to her chair with nothing in her hands, but that’s when it happened… across the room… that gorgeous purple and blue… it must be Malabrigo! And it was! All was lost.



Upon returning home Mrs. K2tog hung her head in shame and dropped her new yarn on her husband’s lap. She explained, “It’s Malabrigo, there was a sale, it’s for a gift…”, but before she could finish she was looking at a yellow ball of yarn that resembled a monster… and her husband!  A yarn faerie then appeared before them and explained her husband’s wish. Mr. and Mrs. K2tog would now be yarn crazy monsters until the misses stash was no longer beautiful balls of yarn, but dazzling finished projects. 

...but I guess they might be monsters for a while!

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#12 - Kat











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#13 - Nigel the Night Light Loving Monster

Nigel is a very shy and quiet monster; you might even call him bookish.  He makes himself at home next to your nightlight and passes the nighttime hours reading.   Nigel is well read on every subject from Amigurumi to Quiviut.   To take advantage of the best light for reading, Nigel stacks up his favorite books next to the nightlight.  It makes both a comfy place to rest and a way to quickly reference his favorite knitting topics.   He never ventures far from the nightlight because Nigel is afraid of the dark.   (Shhhhh!  Don't tell the other monsters!  Nigel doesn't want them to know.   All the little monsters at his old house knew and they would replace the nightlight bulbs with burnt out bulbs just to tease him.  It made him very unhappy.)   I occasionally find that Nigel leaves the nightlight on during day....usually when he falls asleep reading in the early morning light.   It doesn't bother me, because I'm afraid of the dark too!  




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VOTE NOW BY COMMENTING ON THIS POST WITH YOUR FULL NAME AND NUMBER OF THE MONSTER YOU WANT TO WIN!  Don't forget there is a "Voter's Drawing" as well! Check out all of the detail and rules on our website.

Also, remember that there are other ways to vote! You can vote once on the Knitted Together facebook page and once in the store.  Although you can earn an additional vote for every purchase you make during the voting period! 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Easter Shawl Contest

It's time for the Easter Shawl/Wrap Contest and Nancy and Megan have another message for you, to help get you started.  Once again, be sure to follow all the links and directions, because there are some great prizes awaiting the winners and you don't want to miss out.





We hope you enjoyed the message ... now click on the picture of Nancy's Truly Tasha Shawl to get all the details and a set of rules for the "Easter Shawl/Wrap Contest". We've got a bunch of fun lined up for you, so keep checking the blog and read those Knitted Together Webmails.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

May Trekking KAL Sock Yarn Is Here!

Hey 20 Years of Trekking KAL knitters,

Trekking Hand Art has arrived in the Colombo color that Michelle of Knit Purl Hunter will be using for the May KAL sock called "Lacery." It will be another toe-up sock pattern. I fell in love with the bright colors in this yarn, and know it will go fast. Call or come in soon to get your yarn.

If you still want to do the April sock which is called "Cranked," we still have a few skeins of Trekking Maxima in #906. Remember if you use the color of sock yarn called for on the KAL pattern, you get an additional entry for monthly prizes. Also make sure to send a photo of the pair of socks with your entry, to get a third entry for monthly prizes! The prizes are really nice, so you want all the chances you can get.

Keep on knitting!