Mill Ends Giveaway For December 2014

100% pure Magical Qiviut Bobbin ends.....LUSH !

Finally got most of our Christmas RUSH orders sent off, been making lots of pure qiviut sweaters in the light worsted weight 3ply Magical Qiviut...... I tried one of the sweaters on. They are VERY SOFT BUT VERY' VERY WARM, TOO WARM FOR ME !

   I may have more time to work on the blogs & finally make some items for myself !

This month its more mill ends. This lush lot (shown at the top of the page) is mostly 2 ply lace weight yarn in their Natural state

but i could hand dye them for whoever should win to any of these colours below:

 Colours are (Clockwise) Bordeaux, Burnt Orange, Raven Black, Arctic Red, Slate blue, Arctic cherry, Turquoise green, Arctic Blue, Purple, Turquoise.

Now because the yarns are from several batches there will be a shade difference in the finished dyed yarn, some will be dark & some will be a lighter shade ! To enlarge any image just click on it.

To enter the December giveaway tell me what you would knit with the yarn & What colour you would choose - Natural as they are or hand dyed !

Open to everyone, runs from December 1 st to December 31st 2014

One winner drawn at Random.

Merry Christmas♥

Winner of the Magical Qiviut yarn

And the winner is #5-Margaretrer...pls contact me with your details at:

cottageqiviut(at)outlook.com

Will be posting the next giveaway tomorrow.....more mill ends !

Winner of the Name that Alpaca/Qiviut yarn & another Giveaway

    After much deliberation we decided to go with an Inuit                                         name...anana Qiviut

Afterall our wonderful qiviut fibre comes from the Far North & it was about time we paid tribute to the Wonderful Inuit community.

The winner of the skein of anana qiviut yarn is Brandon who entered so many names it was a real challenge to pick just one. Anana meaning 'Beautiful'.

Thank you to all who entered there were so many lovely names that would have complemented this yarn very well. So many great entries it has taken us 3 days to decide !

Brandon you win a 100 Gram skein of this Beautiful yarn, please contact me with your details at:

cottagecraftangora(at)hotmail.com....congratulations to you !

The October yarn giveaway is one of these little Gems !

To enlarge & see more detail click on the image !

 Winner will receive a 100 gram skein of our lace weight Magical qiviut with 720 (ish) yards

in your colour choice. The colours are: 

(TOP ROW) Raspberry, Arctic blue, (Bottom row) Purple, Arctic Red.

All you have to do is tell us what you would knit & what colour you would choose.

1 winner drawn at random

Runs from 11th October to 31 st October 2014

open to knitters world wide ! 

Name That Yarn-competition giveaway for August/September 2014

And here is the most scrumptious Qiviut yarn ever !

The blend is 50% premium Qiviut with 50% Baby Alpaca.

The Alpaca comes from a local farm, we love to support local producers. Each fall, after the Alpaca shows are over for the year we go to their farm to buy all the prize winning Champion fleece. These fleece are the highest quality with the lowest micron count so you can imagine how soft the yarn is when blended with musk ox.....no words can describe ! The base colour of the Alpaca is Dark brown & throughout the skein you can see the odd glimpse of the grey Qiviut. 

I knit a small shawl with the yarn using a 5.00mm & the HALO is wonderful. Will add a photo once i block the shawl. Turned out really lovely, will try to get a better photo you can hardly see the Purl ridges in this picture. I'M off to Twist fibre festival this weekend, i should be able to take a better picture

The yarn is a 3ply Worsted weight. If you were considering using this yarn for a lace shawl you will need to use a large needle or Hook size due to the amount of Halo as the lacy pattern will be lost. I on the other hand would love to knit gloves from this yarn. I can just see myself wearing those gloves all winter long. The yarn has very little memory due to the composition of the fibre's so gloves will need a sturdy wrist section probably knit on a 2.5 To 2.75mm needle.

I Sold the Alpaca/Qiviut shawl at the Twist show before i got a chance to take a picture

Your mission is to find us a name for this yarn.

Add your entry in the comments section, you can enter as many times as you like. The chosen name will be announced on the 30th September 2014.

Open to everyone.

Prize: 100 gram skein of this LUSH New yarn. 

If you are Lucky enough to be attending Twist fibre festival

here is a link:www.festivaltwist.org- i will have this yarn & shawl with me so you can stop by the booth & give it a squeeze 

We will also have our Roving ball with us. Shoppers at our booth will be given the chance to guess the weight of the ball of Roving. 

The blend is 50% Qiviut 20% silk 30% Cashmere winner of the Roving Ball will be announced after the show on the 31st August 2014 !

Will add more photos soon so please check back !

Best of Luck with your entry♥

 

Mill Ends Giveaway for July 2014

More bobbin ends !

We have been making lots more yarn lately & that means bobbin ends.....too good to throw away !

This lovely lot is 367 grams. Spun into 2ply lace, 3ply worsted & 4 ply sock weight

The blends are Qiviut-Cashmere-Silk-Angora rabbit-with one or 2 small skeins of 100% Magical qiviut all natural shades. 

Click on the picture to enlarge it !

Because there is so much yardage & weight i thought i would divide into 2 lots so there will be 2 winners.

To enter simply head over to Ravelry, join our ''cottage craft angora mill'' group & 2 winners from the group members will be drawn at random on the 1st of August to win a 183 gram lot.(If you are already a group member then no need to do anything...your already entered )

Rules:

Must be a member of our Ravelry group.

If you enter you declare that you are willing to share the project you knit or crochet with our ravelry group in the photo/projects section.

Open to knitters/crocheters world wide.

Runs from 5Th July TO 31st July 2014

Here is the link to our Ravelry group:www.ravelry.com/groups/cottage-craft-angora-mill

Best of Luck to you !

Please check back soon.....we have a Name that yarn event coming soon.

This is the yarn

A blend of 50% Baby Alpaca 50% Qiviut spun into a worsted weight, will be available in 3 Natural colours

The two winners drawn at random are Ravelry group members: lorainec & Lynn-marie.....congratulations! 

Winner of the magical qiviut yarn in Raven black

                  And the winner is... after much debate...

              Carlene & the 'bone yard Shawl' designed by Stephen West

Here is a link to the shawl pattern: www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boneyard-shawl

The yarn is perfect, the pattern will be stunning knit in this semi-worsted weight Luxurious qiviut yarn, perfect project in every way right down to the needle size & generous Yardage.

Carlene pls contact me via Ravelry with your details. I am 'The Qiviut Fairy'

Toronto Knitting Frolic & yarn giveaway for March/May 31st - 2014

TORONTO

Frolicing Sheep Poster Designed by Heather Brady 

Its Show Time

And this is the first show of the year for us !

What can i tell you about the 'Frolic'......

It could very well be the best show in Eastern Canada. The Venue hasn't changed locations in years & i think it is one of the most beautiful locations to have a fibre event from a building stand point.
 The Frolic came to its current location on Apirl 16Th 2005

I love how the Vendors are dotted about in different rooms. There is plenty to see & occupy the mind with everything you could ever want to supply your crochet/knitting Addiction.
             The first Frolic show was held in 1998 at the Bloor Street United Church about 150 people attended. The Organizing committee of 5 & the Current President Carole Adams work incredibly hard to bring this great show to life giving their time for free.

              Today's show see's over 2,000 people through the doors thanks to the Dedicated work of the Down Town Knit Collective whose Goal is to 'share the advancement of knitting through the sharing of idea's & techniques, education & Community involvement' their goal appears to be working not only in the number of people that attend but the fact that they have chosen such a beautiful place to host & will continue to do so for years to come.

                                               A quiet little spot to sit in the Japanese Garden

                                Natural Light Filled spaces can be found everywhere in this building !

This brings me onto what we will give as a 'Raffle Prize'....this year we decided to give a $100 Gift certificate spendable at our booth on Frolic day, so if you happen to be the Lucky winner just stop by the booth & present your gift card & you can carry off 100 bucks worth of products.... all our yarns, even the pure qiviut!

For those readers who can't attend i have this.....

This is 100% Magical Qiviut in 3ply a huge skein of  Raven Black 140 grams with 567 Yards

To win this you must tell us what you will knit with it, then if you are the winner you must list the project on your Ravelry projects page & share it with our group here: www.ravelry.com/groups/cottage-craft-angora-mill

This Give away Runs FROM: 21st March to May 31st 2014

Rules: if you take part you agree to knit what you said you would knit & that you agree to list the project on your Ravelry page & you agree to share your Ravelry project page with our group ! 

If you do not intend to do this then Do Not Enter !  

                           Open to knitters OR Crocheters world wide.

                                Hope to see you at the Frolic ♥

here is a link to the Down town knit collective to learn more about the guild & what they are currently upto.....website: www.downtownknitcollective.ca

Winners from January 2014 for the 100%qiviut texting mitts

                              The 4 Winners drawn at random are:

                                                       Linda, 

                                                North Caster, 

                                               Michele Brelia, 

                                                    Sadetha.

Please contact me so i can mail out the yarns & patterns !

Up Helly Aa - Live Webcast - 28th January 2014

Up Helly Aa - Live Webcast - 28th January 2014

100% pure qiviut mill ends giveaway for January 2014

 2014-mill ends !

We made it through the Ice Storm but lost our connection due to the ice destroying the internet tower ! Without the internet connection I found I was less distracted. This gave me chance to catch up on more orders & get them mailed out ASAP.

                    Have not had time though to work on the special post I planned for January

The pillow knit from ''The Little Prince Batch of Yarn'' will have to wait until February after I finish all my qiviut sweater orders.

The yarns above are what I found laying around on bobbins. Skeined & washed. A gorgeous lot of 2ply & 3 ply magical qiviut shown here:www.cottagecraftangora.com/musk-ox-yarns/4521339631  These yarns will knit some lovely texting mitts.....more than 1 pair. Different shades from about 4 different batches of yarns but all PURE LUSH QIVIUT !

                   This month we will draw at random 4 winners, YES 4. This gives more people a chance to experience just how FANTASTIC Qiviut yarns & Knitwear are.

I will be updating this post & add my texting mitt pattern later in the week.

 To Enter: Simply tell us that you would love to knit the text mitts above & your entered !

Open to knitters world wide.
Only one entry per person.
Runs from: January 5th TO  31st January 2014

The Pattern:

you will need, a total of 40 grams of yarn for each pair.

1 set of 3.00mm D.P.N's

1 pair of straight needles 3.5mm

3 st marker (2 same colour) 

wool needle.

The leafy cuff is knit lengthways then the lace cuff is stitched to the cast on edge of the mitt. Mitts are circular knit with a Picot edge to finish.
Use a single strand of 3ply yarn for the leafy cuff & for the main part of mitt use 2 strands of lace qiviut held together.

Tension: 7sts = 1''inch X 9 Rows = 1''inch 

These mitts fit the average person. You will need to adjust your needle size to get the correct tension.

To Begin, with D.P.N's cast on 42 sts, divide sts thus 14-14-14, join to work in rnd, pm & knit every rnd until work measures 8 cm.

Begin Thumb Inc's:

Thumb shaping is knit on needle #2

1: k18 sts, pm, m1, k1, m1, k1, pm, k to end of rnd.

2: & all alt rnds, k without shaping.

3: k18, sm, m1, k3, m1, sm, k to end

5: k18, sm, m1, k5, m1, sm, k to end

7: k18, sm, m1, k7, m1, sm, k to end

9: k18, sm, m1, k9, m1, sm, k to end.

11: k18, sm, m1, k11, m1, sm, k to end.

Next rnd, k18, remove marker, put 12 sts onto a holder or waste yarn, remove other thumb marker. make/inc 2 sts & continue knitting across closing the gap.

Continue working in plain k rnds until work reaches just past your knuckles.

Picot Edge:

At beg of rnd, * k1, yo, k2tog, rep from * to marker.
Next, k 6 rnds then bind/cast off all 42 sts. Turn the edge to inside & sew inplace catching the purl side loops & using only light tension on the yarn so the sts are even & neat !

Make another cuff. 

Leafy cuff pattern- make 2

Cast on 8 sts on with 3.5mm straights 

1: (rs) k5, yf, k1, yf, k2.

2: p6, inc in next by knitting into front & back of it, k3.

3: k4, p1, k2, yf, k1, yf, k3.

4: p8, inc in next st, k4.

5: k4, p2, k3, yf, k1, yf, k4.

6: p10, inc in next st, k5.

7: k4, p3, k4, yf, k1, k5.

8: p12, inc in next st, k6.

9: k4, p4, yb, sl1, k1, psso, k7, k2tog, k1.

10: p10, inc in next st, k7.

11: k4, p5, sl1, psso, k5, k2tog, k1.

12: p8, inc in next st, k2, p1, k5.

13: k4, p1, k1, p4, sl1, psso, k3, k2tog, k1.

14: p6, inc in next st, k3, p1, k5.

15: k4, p1, k1, p5, yb, sl1, psso, k1, k2tog, k1.

16: p4, inc in next st, k4, p1, k5.

17: k4, p1, k1, p6, yb, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1.

18: p2tog, cast off 5 sts using p2tog as first of these sts(1st is on right needle), k1, p1, k5.

Rep these 18 rows another 2 times then bind/cast off all 8 sts.

with 2 right sides facing sew lace cuff to edge of mitt cuff. 

Knit Thumb: Pick up the 12 sts from waste yarn, join to work in rnd & knit 8 rnds.

Cast/bind off the 12 sts. 

This is the 4 lots. I tried to match them up as best as i could with a shade difference between the cuff
& mitt part. To work with this odd yarn you will need to Divide all your 2ply lace weight yarn into 2 lots knitting in a sequence & repeat for the other text mitt......if i have time i will divide them for you & bag the yarns for left & right mitt in 2 small bags & most likely ball them for you too so you can start knitting the moment you open the little package !

This a pair I'm working on knit from Qiviut-Queen yarn in Raven Black. (70% Merino-10% qiviut-10%cashmere-10%silk) Even with only 10% qiviut in the yarn blend you can feel the difference in the warmth & softness, the blend has just the right amount of Elasticity too to make great socks that are quite Durable !