The BIG Botanical Knits Yarn Giveaway!

I am so appreciative of all of your enthusiasm for my new book, Botanical Knits. 

I am thrilled by how many projects  I see popping up on Ravelry.

I am overjoyed by all of your wonderful comments.

Thank you!

I have a little something for you in return...

A chance to win this big ole pile of yarn!

Included in this gigantic giveaway is...

-9 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Meteorite, enough to make up to size 44.5" of the 

Twigs and Willows Cardigan

-4 skeins of Classic Elite Yarns Magnolia in Spring Green for the Wrapped in Leaves Shawl.

-1 skein of Miss Babs "Yummy" 2 ply sock yarn in Funny Papers to make either the Ivy Trellis Socks or Mittens

-1 skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino in Harvest to make the Forest Floor Hat.

-2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Pea Soup Mix to make the Spring Foliage Mitts.

-2 skeins of Fibre Company Tundra in Mink to make the Twin Leaf Loop.

All yarns for this giveaway have been kindly contributed by the individual yarn companies. (Thank you!)

This is a whole lot of yarn and many hours of botanical knitting. To enter to win these fabulous skeins, please leave a comment (including your contact information) under this post by Midnight PST, March 10th. 

Only one comment per person please.

I will be announcing the winner on the blog on Monday, March 11th.

To gain an additional entry, post this phrase on Twitter:

"  I entered to win the Big Botanical Knits Yarn Giveaway on nevernotknitting.com. You should enter too! @nevernotknittin "

This is a joint-giveaway with Veronika Jobe from the Yarn On The House blog. She has even more Botanical Knits yarns on her site for you to enter to win, so be sure to head on over there next!

Click HERE.

Thanks everyone!

DRAWING NOW CLOSED. WINNER IS SUZANNE! CONGRATULATIONS!

Because I had to...

It's a funny thing being surrounded by beautiful yarn for 4 days straight. 

Let's get real here... how could I honestly leave Stitches West without buying just a little?

Being in the same booth with Lisa's amazing colorways.. was just a bit too much temptation to bear. 

I decided early on that these skeins had to be mine.

And no. I have not a clue what I will do with them. And no. I don't hardly ever use variegated yarn. 

But look at these! No explanation required, right?

Our booth at Stitches West was dangerously close to the Cephalopod Yarns booth and the first day I overheard one of the girls talking about "mini-skeins" perfect for the "Beekeepers Quilt."

That's all it took. I was over there in a flash buying up these 4 miniature little beauties.

The new booth that I found myself the most excited about out of all of the booths at the entire show was Spincycle Yarns. The first time I walked by, I was literally blown away by the sheer volume of gorgeous hand spun yarn. I *may* have even gasped out loud and talked to complete strangers about it that happened to be around me at the time. 

The yarn I picked is the "dyed in the wool" mill spun line that looks a lot like hand spun but has the even quality of a commercially spun yarn. I am SOO terribly excited to wind up these skeins and start swatching. You may see this yarn showing up in a future design.

Last but not least I found myself enamored with these adorable miniature sewn bags from the "A Needle Runs Through it" booth. I love this because is the perfect size for holding stitch markers, and well.. its just SO cute. I had to buy one for me and one for a friend. 

Just had to.

I had a wonderfully inspiring time at Stitches West this year! I am super excited about all of my new purchases and can't wait until I get a chance to play with all of these new goodies!

If you went to the show this past weekend, tell me in the comments what you came home with!

Stitches West 2013 Recap

I am back from Stitches West and I have to say.. it was hard as expected.. but I had so much fun!

I loved the set up of our corner booth.

Lisa's yarn display was stunning as usual..

I absolutely loved sharing the experience with my daughter this year. She excitedly dressed up as "Annie" from the book Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf and had a blast at the book signings. She even made a new knitting friend at the show. :)

I was  so happy to hear all of the enthusiasm for my new Botanical Knits book! Many knitters stopped by the booth and showed me their projects or even came wearing the actual items!

I also got to see some friends old and new...

Audry from Bear Ears showing off her gorgeous Celestarium Shawl from Twist Collective Winter 2012.
The constellations in the night sky are represented in lace. So cool!

Podcasters Sharlene and Gayle. I adore the Yarniacs podcast! And Gayle is wearing her Pressed Leaves beret from Botanical Knits!

Eileen (Redsknits on Ravelry) as the self named "Crazy Coastal Knits Lady".
She brought 4 Coastal Knits garments to show me in person. LOVE.

My Mom and Dad came to the show too! Here's my Dad wearing his handknit sweater from a few years back.

Audrey Knight from Audknits.com here wearing her Sprouts scarf pattern from her new book, Reversible Scarves!

I also ran into this little cutie wearing the Very Cherry Dress that her mother knitted for her. So sweet!

Last but not least.. my baby boy made an appearance at Stitches West too.

When he wasn't hanging out with Lisa's adorable baby, Jasper....

He had a fabulous time making messes and running away from me as quickly as he possibly could.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by this past weekend and said hello. I really enjoyed my time at the convention this year.. seeing friends, chatting with knitters.. and oh yes... buying yarn.

Check back tomorrow to see all of the fun stuff that came home with me!

:)

Getting Ready For Stitches West!

I am excitedly packing up for Stitches West today! 

Becoming Art and Never Not Knitting will be sharing booth 1147 this year. Please stop by and say hello! Lisa's Becoming Art yarn line is so special. I love her stuff and her yarns pair beautifully with my designs. Come see for yourself! Here is a photo of our booth from Stitches West 2011.. beautiful stuff, right?

Well it's even better in person!

This year in addition to Lisa's fabulous yarn, I will have the Never Not Knitting patterns available as well as the Coastal Kids patterns, Coastal Knits books, and Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf books and deluxe edition-gift sets. Also.. some limited edition single patterns from the new book, Botanical Knits. 

(These will only be available at the show.)

There will be two book signings for Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf!

"Annie" herself will be making a guest appearance for the signings. :)

Please stop by Friday or Saturday at 10:30 AM to get your copy signed and to meet the real "Annie".

And I have a few surprises as well.. Last night I made up these hand-sewn burlap bags filled with treats and fastened with the original Little Leaves from the Botanical Knits book.I will be giving these away to the first 12 knitters that come by the booth wearing a Botanical Knits garment.

As always, I will have lots of knitted samples to show.

 This year I will be showing some new pieces from Botanical Knits, as well as my original Little Oak sweater sample.

It looks so tiny and cute. 

It's hard for me to imagine that this BIG toddler boy ever fit into it!

This trouble-maker of a toddler boy....

Alright everyone! And now..I have to repair a decapitated mannequin and finish packing up!

I will look forward to seeing you at the show! :)

Botanical Knits-Available to Pre-Order!

Hooray! It's finally ready!

Thanks to my personal web programmer (husband) our new Botanical Knits website (botanicalknits.com) is now up and running AND Botanical Knits is now available to purchase in 2 different ways! 

You can purchase and download the digital e-book only for $18 HERE.

This is a great option for those of you outside of the US who do not want to pay shipping costs.

BUT if you would like a hard copy.... you can also pre-order the printed book for $22 + shipping HERE.

The book is scheduled to arrive in May, but everyone who pre-orders will receive a complimentary e-book to download right away. This will allow you to get started on your favorite projects while you wait for your book to arrive. As an additional "thank you" for pre-ordering the printed version, I will include a NEW, EXTRA botanically inspired pattern along with your book shipment. This is a special offer only valid during pre-orders.

Botanical Knits will also be available in yarn shops worldwide starting in May 

if you would like to purchase it locally. 

Yarn shop owners, please click HERE for wholesale information 

if you are interested in stocking this book in your store.

All of the yarn requirements for the designs are up on Ravelry and the website, but if you would like a handy  list to take into your local yarn shop, you can download that by clicking below.

Please don't forget to join the Botanical Knits Ravelry Group! It is a great way to share your projects with other knitters.We will be starting up some knit-a-longs for your favorite Botanical Knits projects soon.

I am so excited for the release of this new book and I hope that you really enjoy it. I look forward so much to hearing your feedback and seeing your Botanical Knits project pictures pop up on Ravelry.

Want to know what others think of Botanical Knits? Check in with the following friends and project contributors on the Botanical Knits blog/podcast tour to get other knitters opinions and reviews.

Feb 10 - Susan B. Anderson

Feb 11 - Stash and Burn Podcast

Feb 12 - His and Hers Podcast

Feb 14 - Stockinette Zombies Podcast

Feb 14 - Knitmore Girls Podcast

Feb 15 - Carlee Tatum (Main Photographer)

Feb 16 - 2 Knit Lit Chicks Podcast

Feb 17 - Neesha Hudson (Illustrator)

Feb 20 - Tana Pageler ( Technical Editor)

Feb 21 - Truly Myrtle

Feb 23 - Mary Joy Gumayagay (Graphic Designer)

Feb 24 - Subway Knits Podcast

Feb 25 - Veronika Jobe (Test Knitter)

Feb 28 - Blue Sky Alpacas (Yarn Contributor)

Mar 2 - Julie Crawford

Mar 4 - Hannah Fettig

Mar 5 - Kelbourne Woolens (Yarn Contributor)

Mar 8 - A Playful Day

Mar 11 - Knitting Brooklyn Podcast

Mar 13 - Shannon Cook

Mar 15 - Doubleknit Podcast

Mar 20 - Yarniacs Podcast

Mar 22 - Tanis Lavallee

Mar 23 - Anne Hanson

Mar 25 - Kirsten Kapur

Mar 30 - Jane Richmond

I have an awesome yarn giveaway coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Botanical Knits... coming tomorrow!

I have been absolutely flattered and thrilled to hear of your excitement and anticipation for the new 

Botanical Knits book. There have been so many nice comments left on the blog and the forums on Ravelry. 

Here are just a few of my favorites...

"Alana I just stumbled across these patterns a moment ago when searching for something else and nearly fainted! I want to knit everything in this book right now!!!!!!!!!"


"I went to the blog five times yesterday just to drool over the photographs. So inspiring and so beautiful. No, not just beautiful. Arrestingly beautiful."

"Wow! It’s not often I see a book where every pattern is one I want to knit! Can’t wait… although picking where to start will be a problem."

"Can’t wait to get my hands on this. I keep checking the calendar and asking 'Is it February yet?'" :-)

"I’ve been checking 3 times a day every day since February began. I do hope the patterns will be released soon. Talented people who make beautiful knitwear should be aware that knitters with patience issues who love beautiful knitwear are being driven absolutely crazy with anticipation. :)"

"Please add another to the list of people who can hardly wait to get their hands on your new book. I have been planning and digging through my stash ever since I saw the photos first come up on Ravelry. I tend to buy books if they have at least 3 patterns that I want to knit but this one… wow, every pattern calls to me.

Thank you, Alana, for putting together such beautiful designs to inspire us!"

I am so honored, truly. Thank you so much! :)

I also want to thank everyone for your patience with us as we have been working hard behind the scenes to get everything ready to start accepting orders. I popped into the office today to help my husband and found him hard at work putting the final touches on the new botanicalknits.com website.

For the past several weeks he has been working into the early morning every night and all of his work has certainly paid off. Botanical Knits will be available to pre-order in print starting tomorrow, Friday the 7th at 11 am PST. The digital version will be available to order and download at that time as well.

More details coming tomorrow! I am so excited! :)