10th anniversary give-away: Holiday Mice

I opened my first shop on Etsy, November 5, 2006. At the beginning, I was just selling toys I had knit, not patterns. Those only came when other knitters saw my toys, and wanted to knit some themselves. It's been a crazy, fun adventure of yarn and cuteness since that day! Sometimes I miss knitting toys for my shop. I'm so busy designing now, I can only manage to make extra toys for family and friends.

One of the first toys I made for my Etsy shop.
My designs have changed a bit since then!

For my final give-away contest, in honour of those first toys I knit, you could win a pair of Holiday Mice! The winner will be free to choose the colour of the mice, and the style and colour of the hats. You could even ask for a wee Santa Mouse, like this one by the Yarn Harlot (I'm still blushing a bit over that). I will pick the closest yarn I can from my stash. Hopefully, I will have them done and off to the winner in time for winter holidays!

Holiday Mice: what colours would you choose?

If you would like a chance to win this prize, please leave a comment below, with a way of contacting you (email, Ravelry name, etc. I've been asking for this because usually Blogger does not give me this information when you leave a comment). I will do my best to ship to anywhere in the world. I will draw a random winner on November 15.

Best of luck, and thanks for visiting me this week!

10th anniversary give-away: Knit and Crochet Toys magazine

For my third give-away, you could win a copy of Knit and Crochet toys magazine! I contributed two patterns to this special issue, and in addition to those, there are over 20 adorable and fun patterns to knit or crochet. You can check out the magazine here, and see all the patterns over on Ravlery.

As before, if you'd like a chance to win this gift, please leave a comment on this post, including a contact method (email, Ravelry name, etc).

P.S. I didn't mention on the previous post that I'm willing to ship to just about anywhere. If for some reason you win, but I can't ship to your country, I hope we can figure out an alternative prize.

10th anniversary give-away - Puss in Boots kit

Today I have a kit plus pattern to give-away! My Puss in Boots pattern was originally published in Knit Now magazine, and came with a kit, containing enough yarn to knit one toy. If you'd like a chance to win this kit and pattern, please leave a comment below, including a contact (email, Ravelry name, etc). I will draw a random winner on November 15, so you have lots of time to enter!

Don't forget to check yesterday's post, if you'd like a chance to win a free pattern of your choice. Plus, more give-away contests to come over the next 2 days!

10th anniversary give-away - Patterns

In addition to the free teddy pattern I mentioned yesterday, I will be having a few give-away contests this week. I'll announce each separately, and you can enter all of them, or just the ones you're interested in. To enter, please leave a comment here or on my Facebook page. If you comment in both places, you'll have 2 chances to win, since it would be too hard to sort out who's who. If you do comment here, please include a way for me to contact you (email address, Ravelry name, etc). I'll draw for all the give-away gifts on November 15, so you'll have lots of time to enter.

Today, the give-away is for a copy of one of my knitting patterns. I'll choose 10 winners (one for each year, of course), and you can pick whichever design you like. You can see all of them in my Ravelry store. (Please note that I have a number of other designs which I cannot sell myself, so the store is the best place to see what you could choose). I've even been working on my newest pattern, the Wood-Elves, so it's ready in time for the give-away draw.

Please check back later in the week, to see what else you could win! Or just come to see photos of cute knitted toys, I don't mind ;)

10 year anniversary celebration

I'm resurrecting this long-quiet blog, to announce a special 10 year anniversary event!

It has been ten years since I opened my first shop on Etsy, and I wanted to do something special to show all my lovely customers how much I appreciate you. To start off a week of fun give-aways, I've updated my very first pattern: a teddy with a sweet cardigan. You can download it for free, for the whole month of November! I'll announce a new prize each day this week, both here and on my Facebook page, so be sure to check back later! More details will be given each day, but the give-aways will remain open for a while, so don't worry about missing them.

Teddy Pattern

 I never thought I would still be designing knitted toys ten years after I started, as it was just something to keep me busy between jobs. I've learned so much over the years, tried lots of interesting things, and I am still enjoying creating cute toys for people to knit. I have some projects in mind for the next year or two, so if you enjoy my patterns, be sure to visit and see what I'm up to!

wow!

First, I must say I'm completely overwhelmed by how many people participated in my contest! Thanks everyone for stopping by! Good thing I'm used to my usual 2-3 comments a day, or this could all go to my head :)

So, the winner, chosen by random number generation is Ali from Texas! I hope she really enjoys her prize! (Ali, I'm sending you an email as soon as I finish this post, so look for that this morning).

So, now that all the excitement is over, what next? Well, today I'm putting the final touches on my last 3 custom toys before the holidays. Usually I make custom items in the order that they're requested, but these three were all commissioned around the same time, so I decided it was only fair to have them all done the same day. Besides, there's something so fun about getting all the pieces ready, and then having 3 finished toys for a couple hours work.

Oh, and I'll nag Mr. Mitten tonight about the Santa Reindeer pattern, so he will get that all done for you. One of these days I should get him to teach me how to use the publishing software, but it's rather different from a word-processor, and rather more complicated. I like sticking to the designing and knitting parts :)

give-away today!

In case you're dropping by here for the first time, thanks so much! Maybe you'll have a look around and find something worth reading. But without further ado, let's get on to the contest!

The prize: a printed copy of my new Festive Knits pattern book, sent directly from the printers to wherever you live. Or, if you already have the book, an equivalent value in goodies directly from me! If this is the case, I'll email you with a few questions to make sure I send stuff you'll enjoy.

The rules: very simple, just leave a comment on this post before 8:00 am EST tomorrow, including your name! Your email address would be useful too, but you must know I can't give a prize to anonymous.

The winner: I will use a random number generator to pick one of the commenters, and post that name here tomorrow morning. However, since I have to send the prize by this weekend, I need you to email me with your shipping address by Friday afternoon. If I don't hear back from the chosen winner by then, I will choose another.

Good luck! And don't forget, to increase your chances of winning something, check out the list of participating blogs on Sew Mama Sew.

awww

In case you're hesitating over participating in my hubbie's contest, I say go for it! He's really excited to draw the portrait, and we're both excited to read your stories. They don't have to be long or perfectly written, just tell us about how great or funny your kid was this one time... I think all moms are pretty good at that, right?

As for my contest, I've decided to give away a copy of Festive Knits! A shiny new printed copy to whomever wins. However, if the winner has already bought it (and lots have, thank you so much!) I will put together a package of goodies for you, probably involving some combination of yarn, fabric, buttons, and chocolate.

And to round off the week properly, here is an absolutely adorable bunny made by Kelli. I spotted this little treasure on Ravelry a few days ago, and she made even my husband say, "awww."

unbirthday contest winner

The winner of my unbirthday contest is Catie! Hooray! I've emailed you already, Catie, so you can tell which toy you want. Thanks so much to everyone who commented! I had a lot of fun reading your stories about past birthdays. If any of you need a pick-me-up, please have a read through some of them. These contests are a lot of fun, and I'll be sure to have others in the future :)

I know it's been a couple weeks since I posted any photos of toys made by you. I've had some trouble contacting people to find out if I can use their photos. So from now on, I'll just assume that if your toy photos are in my flickr group, I can use them here (and give you credit, of course). That way I don't have to wait to post about a toy I really like.

I could write tons more, but I think I'll save it for later in the week. Happy monday, everyone!

happy (un)birthday!

So here's the big surprise: another give-away contest! In celebration of my birthday, and the un-birthday of everyone not born on this day, I'm giving away one of my toys. If you win, you get to choose one of the twelve cuties in the photo (but not the cake, it will shortly be consumed).


To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post, telling my about a very special birthday present you received. It could be something you got as a kid or as an adult - anything that really sticks out as a gift that was super awesome, made you smile or cry (in happiness), or was just exactly what you needed at the time. Don't think too hard about it! I just thought I would ask, because I think good things are better when shared :) For example: my most special birthday present ever was being asked to marry my sweetie, which happened just after my birthday last year.

Also, please leave your name with your comment, and email address if you feel safe doing so. It would be difficult to give something to "anonymous." The contest will end next Sunday (May 25) at midnight. The winner will be randomly chosen, and announced here the next day. I'll also send the lucky person an email (if I can).

Good luck!

P.S. I am now on Twitter as fuzzymitten. Please add me to your list, if you feel like keeping up with what I'm doing. Also, the pdf file for the Fuzzy Knits cover is now available from my website. I thought this method would be much easier than emailing it to those who remembered to ask.

and the winner is...

Eva is the winner of the super cute spring bag and pattern! Yo ho ho! I've already sent you an email about the prize, so make sure you check your inbox, Eva :) Now I have to start calling the hippos Esmerelda and Ol' Scurvyshorts, instead of Girl and Boy. Kind of funny, though, that Ol' Scurvyshorts in fact has none (maybe because they were so scurvy?). Esmerelda likes to tease him by calling him Henry, which only his mother ever called him, and only when he was really naughty.

I was feeling generous when drawing names this morning, and decided to choose two more lucky winners, who both get a copy of the new Pirate Hippo pattern. This would be Jacqui and euphoria7. I've already sent you both an email about it, and I hope it makes your day a little brighter :)

As for which pattern I will be writing up, the tally put the girl hippo a few votes ahead. So the Pirate Hippo pattern will have the smaller mouth, and slimmer arms and legs. The pattern will of course include instructions for the parrot, eye-patch, and belt. I will also try drawing out a pattern for the sword, if I can get the scale right. Then you can just print it, cut it out, and trace it to make swords for your own pirates! I should be able to get the pattern ready by tomorrow afternoon, as I'm sure many of you are eagerly waiting for it to be done. The contest winners will get their patterns first, then I'll list it in both my shops.

This has all been a lot of fun for me, and I will definitely be having more contests in the future. So if you didn't win this time, there will be other opportunities. I hope you all enjoyed my husband's little story about the pirates. All I asked him for was a story involving pirate names, and that's what he came up with. So perfectly silly and funny :)

p.s.

If you want to join the contest and hate pink flowery things, I will consider making you a different prize, simply because I like pink flowery things and wouldn't mind keeping the bag :)

What do you think of my new banner? I've been wanting something different (and more colourful) for a while. I do wish blogger would let me make it the full width, though. Looking at my paintings makes me want to pick up my brushes again, and I just might have time soon. The sunshine in my studio is also encouraging.

happy monday contest

Sit up and pay attention, friends! Here's your chance to win something special for spring. As you can see in the photos, the new pattern is for a hippopotamus! And not just any hippo, but a pirate hippo. Let's hear you all say, "Arrr, matey!"


Here's the deal: leave a comment on this blog post with your vote for the hippo you prefer, and the names you think they should have. If your imagination is up to it, real piratey names would be awesome! In case it isn't obvious, the differences can be found by seeing the photos in my flickr stream (boy and girl). Whichever toy gets the most votes will be the one I write up for the new pattern.


The names will all go in a hat, and I will draw out the winner. The winner will get the lovely spring tote bag shown in the last photo plus a copy of the new hippo pattern. In order to make this work, I need you to include your email address with your comment so I can contact you if you win (feel free to make it more secure in whatever way you like, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out). Voting closes next monday morning (March 17) and I will announce the winner that day.


















Whichever toy is chosen, the final pattern will include instructions for the parrot and basic instructions for the belt, sword, and eye-patch.

The bag is 11" by 13" with 16" handles. My Fuzzy Knits book fits nicely inside, with plenty of room for yarn etc. The fabrics are a combination of linen/cotton and cotton, and the bag is fully lined with beige cotton broadcloth. The patch is hand-stamped in acrylic paint, but I would still recommend hand-washing the bag.


Have fun with the names, and good luck!

surprise

Finding myself with a bit of extra time (because of a couple cancelled orders) I decided to start working on a new toy pattern! I began with the unicorn pattern, but have put it aside for the moment because I decided to try knitting it in the round, and I haven't the right size needles. So there is another new toy in the works! Similar to my other small toys, but a new animal. I have the first proto-type nearly done, but I might make a second with some small modifications.

Once they're both ready, I'll post pictures here, and we'll have a little contest! You get to vote on which version you prefer, and suggest names for the new toys. The version with the highest vote will be the one I write up. The names will all be put in a hat, and the winner will get the surprise I made plus a copy of the new pattern. Sound good?

odds and ends

I know I mentioned something last week about a surprise. Well, it's another little give-away contest. Problem is, I can't think of a good idea for a contest, so until I can think of something fun for you to do, the prize will wait. (this has nothing to do with the prize being so cute I almost want to keep it for myself)

Another things is, if you haven't found me yet, I'm on Ravelry. My user-name is fuzzymitten, and you can find a bunch of my patterns listed under my real name. If you've bought some of my patterns, please add them to your queue or projects. I love seeing what people have knit. Also, I would love to see more ratings of my patterns, so I know which ones people really like, and which ones they don't.

If it hasn't been obvious before, I have a terrible time remembering little things. Like I said I would post instructions to make longer horns for the cow? We'll just ignore how long ago that was, and get on with it.

The horns are knit as I-cord on 4.5mm dpn's
Cast on 5 sts.
Work 5 rows in st st.
Next: k2, k2tog, k1.
Work 3 rows in st st.
Next: k1, k2tog, k1.
Break off yarn, thread end through remaining sts, then secure yarn end.

The bit between the horns is knit on 4mm needles
Cast on 6 sts.
Work 10 rows in garter stitch.
Cast off.

Sew the horns to the head just above the ears. Then sew on the extra bit, putting a tiny bit of stuffing under it as you sew it on. The cow as shown is knit just like the pattern, except I changed colours for the snout.

If you were wondering how I got Wayne's nose to be pink when he's knit from white, it's very simple (but might embarrass a big tough guy like him). Use a bit of light pink blush or face power and gently brush it onto the nose until it's the colour you want. The make-up will probably wash off if you wash the toy, but you can just add more powder after washing.

lucky winner!

There were 11 people who left comments in the last 2 weeks, so you all had a pretty good chance of winning. The lucky person whose name was drawn from the hat by my lovely assistant (Mr. Mitten) is sara!

Could you please send me an email (barbara at fuzzymitten dot com) with your mailing address and the pattern you would like? I will send the pattern as a pdf file, so you can have that right away. If you don't knit, I will include a surprise with the pincushion.

Thanks so much to everyone who left me a nice comment! I hope you all continue to enjoy reading my little blog.

Christmas a little early

rudolph
Originally uploaded by baprime

My new secret pattern is now ready! I decided to enter it in the Holiday Softies contest, so I had the motivation to get it finished a lot sooner than I might have otherwise.

My original idea was for a unicorn/horse, but that wasn't quite in the spirit of the contest, so I decided to make a reindeer instead. I think he turned out very handsome, and he's cuddly too! He is much bigger than my other toys, at about 16 inches tall and 12 inches long. He also takes longer to knit and is more complicated to put together. I have tried to make the instructions as clear and helpful as possible, but I would appreciate any advice from the first few people to make this toy.

The pattern will be available in my Etsy shop as soon as I can get it listed, and in my Lulu shop shortly after that. I still want to make a unicorn and a horse, so those patterns will be coming along in the next couple months.

I know there were a few people that wanted to be on my mailing list for new patterns, but I seem to have misplaced one of the emails. Oops :( Could you leave me a comment on this post, or send me an email, if you would like to be added to the list?