Tutorials

27 May, 2012

Congratulations to the Winners

beckarahn2012-05-27T10:24:46-05:00Freebies & Patterns|4 Comments

Congratulations to the Winners of my Blog Giveaway Day prizes! I chose prize winners a bunch of different ways, so you had lots of opportunities to win.

For the looms, the random number generator chose:

Susan – Who said “Those looms are fabulous! I’d have to say my favorite fiber is merino wool. I absolutely love knitting with it. “

and I chose:

Jamie – Who said “Favorite fiber! My CVM ewe Cameo has the best fiber in the world! I love to spin it and it felts like a dream. Love your loom, what a clever idea!”

Because who can resist a girl who raises her own favorite fiber. I have friends who would be green with envy of Jamie.

For the “High in Fiber” bandanas, the random number generator chose:

Breanna – Who said “my favorite fibers are merino and BFL. I started spinning with merino but recently have really enjoyed BFL.”

Julianna – Who said “Hi! What a great giveaway I love wool. My fave breeds are merino, polwarth and BFL. I am also on a wool/silk spinning kick. A delicious combination!”

Sharmie – Who said “my favourite fiber is wool… as a knitter i appreciate its magical abilities a LOT! thanks for sharing this great giveaway. i would SO love to make woven coasters as presents.”

and I chose these two because of their unusual favorite fiber choices:

Kirsty – Who said “When I awoke this morning it was -1 degree Celsius, with Winter well and truly on its way, so I’d have to say my favourite fibre right now is a possum/merino mix. I have gloves and a scarf in this and they are so deliciously toasty warm as well as being super soft. Possums are pests here in NZ, and we have about 40 million sheep as well, so I like the idea of being able to make something wonderful out of such an abundant resource.”

Dina – My favourite fibre is yarn made from sugar cane. It has a lovely sheen, is cool to the touch,cool to wear and looks great.

I actually have a skein of merino/possum which I thought was the strangest thing in the world and Kirsty has given me a new appreciation for it. I am totally looking for a skein of sugar cane yarn when I am next at my favorite LYS (they are having a big sale this weekend).

Emails have all gone out to these ladies and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who visited and commented.

21 May, 2012

It is time once again for GIVEAWAY DAY!

beckarahn2012-05-26T08:15:51-05:00Everything Else, Freebies & Patterns, Weaving, Felting & FIbers|166 Comments

That’s right, it is Blog Giveaway Day once again. This is a bi-annual event, co-ordinated by the hard-working team at SewMamaSew. Bloggers participate by offering a giveaway on their blog and then linking up to the SewMamaSew site so that everyone shows up together as a big giveaway party. So be sure to jump over there and browse the other giveaways too!

THE BIG PRIZES

These were a big hit last year, so I am giving away two again this year: Little Loom Kits. Have you ever wanted to learn how to weave? I designed these looms and have them lasercut from bright colored acrylic plastic. They are a simple frame style loom, just right for making coasters and little squares of woven fabric. Knitters – you can use up all of your scrap yarn! The “kit” comes with the complete instructions, the loom, three needle-style shuttles and a “beater” comb for packing the rows together. They are fun and easy to learn.

RUNNERS UP

And because I know it is just really fun to win something, I am going to make a few more people happy and draw some random names to receive a “High in Fiber” bandana. These are hand-dyed and silkscreened from my sheepy illustration, 100% cotton, machine washable. I use these bandanas for everything – as a tea towel, to wrap up my scissors before I throw them in my knitting bag, as a picnic plate/napkin, keep one in the car for spills, as a handkerchief, and my husband wears one under his bike helmet to keep the sweat out of his eyes. Darn useful.

HOW TO ENTER

To enter you must comment on this post. (Comments are moderated. Don’t worry if yours doesn’t show up right away. I will approve them as I get the chance.)
In your comment, you must answer this question: What is your favorite fiber and why? (aka silk, cotton, linen, bamboo, corriedale, BFL? The list goes on and on! It could be in any form: yarn, fabric, roving etc.)
Enter your email address in the “Mail (will not be published)” section of the comment box, so I can contact you when you win. (Please do not include it in the text of your comment; that just invites spambots.) Your email address will only be visible to me and I will not collect it, share it or use it to send you spam.

THE SMALL PRINT

Winners will be drawn at random from eligible comments. (aka my family is not eligible to win, but they always like to play along)

I will ship prizes internationally.

Comments will be open until May 25 at 5 p.m. PST.

Winners will be contacted via email by May 26 and posted here once I have heard back from all of them.

I will ship the items on or about June 1.

(Edited: So sorry, the blog was down for a few hours on Wednesday night! We are back now.)

18 April, 2012

Embroidery, &Stitches and more

beckarahn2012-04-18T07:43:26-05:00Embroidery, Tutorials|1 Comment

The latest issue of &Stitches zine is available and I am a contributor! This issue is all about books: embroidery books themselves, book themed patterns, fun contributors (like Aimee Ray and Cate Anevski) and a couple of tutorials for some really neat stitches (Turkey stitch). It’s a fantastic issue once again.

My project & article is all about teaching embroidery to kids. I picked one of my favorite projects, “Poetry Pockets” that we have done with several groups of 1st and 2nd graders at the Textile Center and gave some tips for ways to teach embroidery to kids, like picking the right needle and thread.

Threading needles is always the biggest hurdle in teaching kids (or adults) to embroider, so I have a bonus tip for you, which I always show in my beginning embroidery classes: Making your Own Needle Threader.

You can get “needle threaders”, which look like a little bit of metal with a wire loop on the end. You pass the loop through the eye of the needle, put the thread through the wire loop and them pull it back so the thread goes through the eye. Great idea, but I can tell you from experience that if you put one of these in the hands of an 8 year old boy it will last about 13.5 seconds before it is completely mangled.

However, you can make your own needle threader for large-eyed needles (embroidery or chenille) out of a tiny slip of paper. Just cut a piece of scrap paper about 2 inches by 3/16 inches. Fold it in half. Lay your thread end in the fold. Now push the fold of the paper through the eye of the needle. Easy! (And you can make more when they get mangled.)

21 February, 2012

Cat congrats

beckarahn2012-02-21T09:04:33-06:00Freebies & Patterns|1 Comment

Congratulations to Rachelle, who was the winner of the “Knit your Own Cat” Book drawing.

(this is Andy and his Miss Kitty)

31 January, 2012

A Free Pattern: Downton

beckarahn2012-01-31T18:00:16-06:00Embroidery, Freebies & Patterns|Comments Off on A Free Pattern: Downton

My twitter stream and Google reader are both abuzz with comments about Downton Abbey. I am completely in love with this show and those that know me will be un-surprised to hear that I am captivated by the costumes. So, for all of you that love it as much as I do, here is a set of free embroidery patterns just for you, inspired by the costumes of Downton. “Mary” is inspired by a black beaded choker. It would make a nice edging embroidered on something with french knots for those beaded chains. “Anna” is a detail from the edge of a tiny lace collar. “Dowager Countess” comes from a green and purple ensemble with ribbon embroidery. “Sybil” is inspired by the embroidered bodice of the infamous “harem pants” outfit. “Edith” is from a detail on the sleeve of a black and gold evening dress. These aren’t exact replicas, but my take on the design. Click the image above to download a full sized .pdf you can print and use.

19 December, 2011

Winners

beckarahn2011-12-19T09:50:52-06:00Everything Else, Freebies & Patterns|Comments Off on Winners

Thank you to everyone who left a comment! They were so much fun to read and I did read every one.

The copy of Fabric by Fabric One Yard Wonders goes to:

Trish

I made a pretty neat baby quilt for my son before he was born. It has a row of houses, a row of trees, a row of fish, a row of stars, and more all in bright purples, blues, and yellows.

The quilt sounds awesome. The random number generator thought so too, so it picked your comment and I am glad it did. You can find Trish’s blog at Overflow Creativity, where she has some fun projects and poetry.

Then I decided to pick a few of my favorites to win a few more little prizes. These commenters will be getting some little handmade ornaments.

Sharleen

The best gift I ever got that was handmade was from my niece who was 16 at the time, it was a gorgeous quilt for my then new baby daughter with her name machine free sewed into it.

I love that your favorite gift was something made for you by a teenager! A lot of my job involves teaching sewing to teens and I think if you get them hooked then, they will be sewing and crafting for life.

Liz B

The handmade gift I am most proud of was a knit hat I made for my husband. He had shown me the Jayne hat online, and asked if I could do that, and I said I didn’t think I was a good enough knitter. He said ok and pretty much forgot about it. My grandmother had been teaching me to knit every year for about ten years; this was the year that it stuck! I focused harder than I ever had until I really had it down, and then I made that Jayne hat and it was perfect, AND he was surprised, which is really hard to do. I make a lot of gifts each year but I still haven’t topped that one.

My husband would love a Jayne hat too.

Abby

The best gift I’ve ever received was for absolutely no reason. When we first started dating, my partner gave me a 2?x2? stained-glass window that she’d made herself. She painted the frame blue, and created a beautiful design in orange, yellow, and blue glass, and put a small square mirror in the middle. She came to my house every day for two weeks with cuts on her arms and hands, and I had no idea what she was doing until she brought the window over. It’s one of my most treasured possessions.

Gifts for no reason are the very best. In college, my friends and I used to celebrate a floating holiday we called “Peanut Butter Day”. We couldn’t afford to get each other Christmas presents, but as soon as the loan checks came in at the beginning of the semester, we would declare “Peanut Butter Day” and have a little party.

Thank you to everyone who commented!