Friday, February 16, 2007

New yarn and a Contest!

I knit up a swatch using my new batch of Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. It is the most gorgeous golden color. It's color 123 if you want some for yourself. - It's on sale at WEBS too! Go get some!

I am definitely a huge fan of all the Aracania yarns. The colors are so rich and warm.

I am using their worsted weight wool on another sweater right now - but it's taking me forever and the miles upon miles of stockinette are less than thrilling. I've been lusting after the Central Park Hoodie for a very long time now and decided I would add some cables to my life.

This particular yarn is thicker than the yarn the pattern calls for - but I think that will be a nice break from knitting miles on size 6 needles.

Isn't it gorgeous!






This swatch is knit on size 10 needles. It's washed and blocked and oh so soft! I swear I can't stop touching it. I am head over heel in love :) Who needs Valentines day when you can have Araucania to love. It doesn't matter that I still can't really pronounce it's name.... It knows I love it for it's body ;)

Anyway - I hope to start the sweater soon and I'll definitley keep you posted.

And now - on to a new contest!

As I was throwing the latest yarn label from my beloved Araucania Wool into my "yarn label basket" - I realized that I have quite a collection! When I first started knitting - I didn't want to throw away the labels from the yarn. I mean - really - what if I needed more! I wouldn't remember what kind it was etc... so I started keeping them in this basket I got at MD Sheep and Wool.

I have been adding to it for about a year now - whenever I wind up a new ball of yarn - the label goes into the basket. I know some people keep knitting journals and paste the labels in there. Others may just throw the labels away. What do you do with them?

Tell me what you do with your yarn labels and if you keep them - post pics of them on your blog.

It's about time for another contest around here - so whoever writes to tell me what they do with their labels will be entered into a contest to win a fabulous prize.... a skein of my hand dyed yarn!!

Since it's Friday and many people may be home snuggling by the fire instead of reading blogs - I will give everyone until Tuesday Feb 20th at midnight to leave a comment. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday Feb 21st and announce it later that day.




Enter my "Got labels?" contest and maybe I'll find a new way to store mine!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you are leaving the contest open, since I wont be home to photograph mine til monday! This will likely NOT inspire you, but I throw all the labels from all the yarns into the drawer in my "stash cabinet." I had high aspirations for making a notecard with pattern notes, yarn label, and a photo of each project I make into a cool container I made myself, but so far only about 5 labels (mostly sock yarns) have made it there. What can I say, my organization, when not for work, is mostly in my head!! This contest is so fun, I cannot wait to read the other entries.

Coleen said...

currently my yarn labels are rolled up and held together with a rubber band. I saw somewhere (and I can't remember where) someone covered a wine bottle with yarn labels. So I think in the back of my head, I was saving them to do something like that. But I was leaning more towards covering a wooden box with them. crafty crafty!

Jinann said...

Argh! My labels are all over the place...stuck in every nook, cranny, yarn bag, basket.....I'm so disorganized! I have the best intentions of putting them in a journal.....along with snippits of the yarn and a photo of the project I made with it.

knit_tgz said...

I toss some away, and some I keep in a plastic box. Nothing too artistic. But I have a yarn stash blog, where I keep all the label info!

Princessdeia said...

18 months ago, I started trying to stapled all my yarn labels to card with the details of the projects I used them for and a brief yarn review now, I have several yarn labels, loads of blank card and no reviews!

Nittany Knits said...

I love that you are just using your yarn for it's body!

I toss my labels away, once I've used it I never go back. Sick-I know.

ikkinlala said...

So far I've just been throwing all mine in a cardboard box, but I may have to put more effort into organizing them someday. (I don't have a blog or a digital camera, so I can't post pics, but I'm sure you imagine a shoebox.)

ikkinlala said...

Gah! That was supposed to say "I'm sure you can imagine a shoebox." I shouldn't try to type before I'm fully awake.

Amie said...

Uh... some are under the couch... and in between couch cushions... and stuffed into knitting bags. I don't keep them once the project is done (and sometimes it's an effort to keep them that long).

I do have other admirable qualities, though. I can sing "Amazing Grace" to the tune of "Gilligan's Island", for example.

Rachel said...

I attempt to keep them until the knitting's done then they are definately binned. Keeping them for info doesn't help though if you are trying to buy more of the same yarn ten year's later. Ask me how I know. And half my stash doesn't have ball bands to save.

brsmaryland said...

Ok, my obsessive compulsive nature now shines through. I keep them all in a bowl in my knitting area. A couple times a year, I sit down and organize them into 3-ring binders...attach the label and a small yarn sample on a piece of paper, along with a few notes re: what I used it for, how I liked it, price, etc. It does make a good reference and I've gone back a few times to look up yardage, names, etc. Looking at my bowl of collected labels, I'm way overdue. See, I'm trying to work on that OCD thing ;-)

Diane said...

I just throw them away. I'd love to be more organized and file everything but I just can't stand the clutter.

Knittymama said...

I was thinking about this just the oyher day, because mine honestly end up in the trash. I always try to keep them, but they get dragged around, drawn on, chewed on, ripped up. Then I get frustrated by the added mess and toss them.

But, if I can manage to get myself more organized, I thini it would be cool just to get a nice journal and paste them in there. Or maybe save and Modge Podge them to something.

Karen said...

For the balls I don't need to wind the bands stay with the yarn even when I'm don't knitting my project. The yarn I have to wind I stick the folded up bands into the center of the ball before I pull it off the winder. But if the bands fall off or out they usually end up in the trash.

monica said...

I put my labels in the center of my center pull balls when I wind them, I take it out when I begin to knit and keep one of them until the project is finished and then dispose of it unless I really, really want to knit with that same exact color again and then it goes into a ziplock baggie for safe keeping. Some day I plan to start a journal though with a snip of yarn the label and a pic of the project.

Bonnie said...

I have a section in my little red book I write my gauge and yarn particulars in, but I can't seem to toss those original labels either. Mine stay with my projects then go in a wooden bowl in my stash cabinet. That way if I need to reference them for washing instructions, etc. I can still dig 'em up. I do like the idea of a pretty thing covered in my own "vintage" labels.