giving it away!

In the spirit of the season, and to celebrate over 100 sales on etsy, I am giving two skeins of a new yarn away!! (It is of course also available in the SHOP. )

Meet Wink. A new sparkly yarn that is a joy to dye, a marvel to hold, and wonderful to knit with.

Ok I'll let you take a peek.



colorway: craving





colorway: silver lining

Periwinkle Sheep WINK

75% superwash merino, 20% nylon, 5 % Stellina

approx. 430yds/100g, kettle dyed

7-8 sts/in; machine wash delicate, tumble dry low or dry flat.

CONTEST RULES:

Start: now.

End: Sunday, December 19th, at midnight, EST.

ENTER by leaving a comment.

SPREAD word, tell a friend, and you will be entered again - up to three times.

Your friend needs to leave a comment to be entered, AND tell me who sent them so you can be entered again!

Of course that friend can be entered again too if they tell a friend...you get the idea.

I will select 2 winners on the morning of Monday, December 20th, 2010 and announce them here. As soon as I have your addresses, I will mail the yarn out to you.

ETA: thanks for  all the love!!!! Keep the comments coming. I just wanted to add that the winner will be selected via lottery. Random number generator. Sorry I should have been more specific. :)

OK, ready? Set, go!

PS: don't forget to LIKE the Periwinkle Sheep on Facebook!



heads up!

The Lame Blogger returns to announce a give-away in the coming week, and a pattern release for quick holiday knitting (in case you still need to make something for someone!).

There have been some milestones recently, and I need to celebrate with you. It just so happens to be in the middle of holiday season, so what could be better than a give-away?

There is a facebook for Periwinkle Sheep lovers, and it has 150 fans right now.

Then, sales on etsy have climbed over the 100  mark in recent days, there are new yarns to announce,

merino d k - hydrangea

merino d k - silver lining

and also,

I got into Sock Summit 2011!!

Stay tuned!

Recipe: Cranberry Apple Pie - reversed.

Do you happen to have a 12 oz bag of cranberries? An apple left over from making the Thanksgiving Apple Pie? How about a couple of eggs, some sugar, and a cup of flour? Then you can make this delicious and easy upside-down pie. Or crumble. Not sure what to call it. The original recipe that I worked from called it a crustless pie, but it really isn't crustless.

some frozen cranberries were added to the dish for styling purposes only

1 10 inch pie plate, sprayed with vegetable oil spray (or buttered, as you like).

1 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over, and patted dry.

2/3 cup of sugar, divided. CAVEAT:  I like my cranberries to retain some of their tartness. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups sugar.

1 Northern Spy apple, peeled, cored,  and cut into pieces the size of cranberries.

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spread the cranberries in prepared pie dish, top with apple pieces; sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle with walnut pieces. Set dish aside and make topping. It only takes a minute and the fruit won't draw too much juice.

Cream together:

2 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar (add more here if desired, up to one cup, but I'll tell ya that's making it way sweet.)

Add 1/2 cup canola oil (or other taste-neutral vegetable oil) and blend well.

Add 1 cup flour and blend well. I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour blend, but any flour, wheat, white, will do.

This will make a thick batter. Spoon batter on top of fruit mix in pie dish, distributing evenly.

Bake in 325 degree oven for one hour.

Let it cool a bit before digging in.

I can't have dairy, but I imagine a dollop of whipped cream on top would go great with it!

Enjoy. :)

Opera Company of Philadelphia "Hallelujah!" Random Act of Culture

How to stop holiday shoppers in their tracks.

I'll go, if they'll have me

Thank you everyone for your lovely and encouraging words. I saw many of you this weekend too who came to the market on Saturday and the holiday open house today. Everyone is wanting me to go. It lifted my heart to hear so much praise and encouragement.

It will cost me and my yarn about $3000 to go to the Sock Summit, stay for 5 days, and come back. That does not include the actual stock I am bringing- just transportation/flights, hotel, and booth fees. I will not be taking any classes.

But I am convinced now that it will be worth going. I have 9 months to plan, plot, prepare, and best of all, dye lots and lots of lovely yarn. :) Meanwhile of course, there will be other shows to go to, yarn shops to supply, the etsy shop to maintain.

I'll be putting in my application this week, making hotel reservations, and getting the (yarn) ball rolling for Sock Summit 2011! Sample knitting will begin after New Year's, who's ready to jump in with me?

should I go or should I stay?

Just came home from knit night at the Spinning Room. Full of wonderful conversation and knitting.

Still in the middle of trying to blog about everything I saw in Germany last month.

Now I have an email from the Sock Summit organizers, asking me if I want to be a vendor again next year (they are giving vendors that attended last time first dibs). I have 5 days to decide what to do.

Should I go? Not go?

One the one hand, business wasn't as great as most vendors were expecting. On the other hand, I myself am much better set up to prepare and be ready. I had a blast while I was there, I met the most amazing people,and I am not just talking about all the knitting celebs. I feel like my yarn is good enough, and I have much more to offer as far as variety and color.

Please, gentle readers, give me questions to ask myself for the next couple of days, things to consider, pros and cons to mull over. (Aside to my bookkeeper: the booth fee stayed the same.)  Do I cross the continent again to be part of Sock Summit 2011? Should I go, and represent the fair state of New York?

Coburg

On Tuesday, October 26th, 2010, my parents took me on a daytrip to Coburg. We parked in a Parkhaus in the center of town and made our way through narrow streets

 across a Marktplatz

 and after a bit of shopping (no yarn!) we had lunch in a Gasthaus.

After lunch, we hiked up to the Fortress Coburg. If you are not into historical buildings or fortresses built over several centuries, which were destroyed, restored, renovated, made accessible to the public and that house numerous historical artifacts and an art collection, don't bother reading on. ;)

one of two courtyards

my mom in a watch tower

view of the valley below

an airfield across from the castle

chapel and building which houses historical artifacts

portrait of Martin Luther, who lived here for a short while

capturing a dramatic parting shot as clouds moved in