Contest Winners!

Yay, Juliaknit! You answered the four questions right off the bat! I'm glad a true fan of these charming books got in there with the correct answers right away.

Jessie, what a great new name for Etsy! It says it all and in a fun, alliterative way! Etsy should buy it from you as a new tagline.

The Make it, Sell it, Buy it, Love it Marketplace!

Juliaknit and Jessie, please email me and we'll make arrangements for you to choose your free yarn! 

taddiebeeknitting at gmail dot com

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! Your responses were funny and cute and catchy and showed lots of Etsy love :)

Look for another contest in October when the STEAMPUNK boxes drop!

PhatFiber Secret Site Contest!

Welcome to Taddie Bee Knitting! I'm excited to be a first time contributor to Phat Fiber!

I'm especially glad to start with August because of the theme--AFRICA! My family has a special connection to a beautiful country there that will be the focus of TWO contests this week. I will be giving away a hank of yarn to two smart and creative winners   . . . or the same person could win both!

CONTEST #1  Be the first person to answer FOUR questions about Africa correctly and you will win your choice of any hank or ball of yarn in my Etsy shop (free shipping of course).

CONTEST #2  Rename ETSY and I'll choose another winner of a free hank of yarn.

This handwoven basket was made in "The Gem of Africa."

The yarn is from an Ann Taylor sweater, 100% cashmere, 

now available in my Etsy shop

CONTEST #1
FOUR QUESTIONS Be the first person to answer these four questions correctly: (Type your answers in a comment box.)

1. Name a certain country in Africa. Here are three hints:

• My son-in-law grew up there. (ok, not so helpful for most of you)
• A popular book series about a lady detective takes place in this country. HBO also produced a TV series based on these books.
• This country is called "The Gem of Africa."

2. Name the fictional detective who lives at #5 Zebra Drive in this country's capital city (Be very specific; use her given first and last name.)

3. What is this fictional detective's favorite drink? (Use the name that she calls it--not what it is called in America.)

4. In this country's language, the word for money is the same as the word for rain and blessing. What is this lovely word?

Since all those answers can easily be Googled, and since Phatties are so creative, I want to add another contest that offers a chance for some creativity, and that won't necessarily favor the first visitors to the contest.

CONTEST #2 
RENAME ETSY  In the book and HBO series mentioned above, the shop names (and the name of the detective agency) in this African country all have charming, unpretentioous, straightforward names. Names like:

The Last Chance Hair Salon

The Go-Go Handsome Men's Bar

Speedy Motors

The Double Comfort Furniture Shop

Rename "ETSY" in this style, and I'll award a free hank of yarn to the creator who, in my opinion, comes closest to the quirky, fun-loving spirit of these shop names.

The creative and knowledgeable (or Google-savvy) winners will be announced on Wednesday, August 18.

Have fun!

My Phat Fiber Sample on YouTube

I became a new "phattie" this month!!....by contributing for the first time in the PhatFiber sample program.

Phat Fiber Sample Boxes are sold on Etsy. They are a mystery box of samples from independent fiber artists that include artful yarns, bits of roving, small batts, stitch marketers, original patterns, and now . . . luxury recycled yarns from Taddie Bee Knitting! I think I'm one of the very first upcyclers to participate in Phat Fiber.

Phat Fiber bridges the gap between online artisans and consumers hungry to support independent small businesses.

If you go to YouTube, you can see Jessie talking about Taddie Bee Knitting at minute 5:15. 

On this embedded video, my sample is about exactly halfway through the 10 minute video.

August PhatFiber Samples "AFRICA"

I'm so excited to be a new contributor to PhatFiber! It's perfect for me because from each sweater I unravel, I usually have several small balls where the yarn breaks or I have to cut it. My limit is one join per 100 yards, so I've just been stashing these smaller pieces or sometimes even tossing the smaller ones out.

My 50 Samples for the August Box

These samples include sixteen cashmere hanks, thirty wools, and four silk/cotton blends. These yarns came from sweaters like Ann Taylor, LL Bean and J Crew. 

I put each sample in a baggie with a tea bag from Africa
and a tag (business card) that notes fiber content on the back.

I'd like to thank Galia of Galia's Spindle Designs for telling me about PhatFiber! She lives in Israel and makes the prettiest and most unique spindles I've ever seen.

Galia not only told me about PhatFiber, she was so sweet to help me get started--answering many questions and taking the time to give me advice about samples, yarn tags, and other things. Thank you, Galia! 

Each of Galia's lovely spindles are point balanced, tuned and tested.

Galia also makes other beautiful things for knitters at her PurlyPurl Etsy store. I plan to do some Christmas shopping at her store. My friends would love handmade items from Israel and her shipping to the US is very reasonable--only $2 shipping for these stitch markers!

Galia's bamboo stitch markers with heart-shaped rings.
She also makes these as earrings using sterling silver instead! Gorgeous, huh!

July Cashmere Shopping in Lincoln Park

I went to Chicago in early July to witness the birth of my third granddaughter, Kate. 

Welcome good Kate, sweet Kate!

On the way to Kate's first checkup, my son-in-law dropped me off at The Brown Elephant Resale Shop. Proceeds there benefit the Howard Brown Health Center.

Another afternoon, I slipped away to the White Elephant Resale Shop which benefits Children's Memorial Hospital. (That's another thing I like about unraveling--it's such a win-win for everyone along the recycling chain.) This shop is within walking distance of my daughter's house and it's so much fun walking around in Lincoln Park and feeling part of this vibrant and trendy yet classic Chicago neighborhood.

Because Lincoln Park is an affluent neighborhood and because Chicago has such cold winters (my daughter describes them more colorfully), I always find great sweaters there.

Here are my latest finds . . . they'll appear in my Etsy shop in mid-August.

J Crew 100% Lambwool

Drying after hanking and washing.

This punchy pink sweater yielded six 150-yard hanks.

This luscious sweater yielded 450 yards of lace weight cashmere.

I combined three strands to create a
more substantial fingering weight yarn.

Alexander Julian 100% Shetland Wool

The flecks of tweed in this wool are gorgeous.
 I'll have six 165-yard hanks available.

I got a good deal on this cashmere
top because the shoulder seam was torn.

I'll only have one 115-yard hank available
of this lovely turquoise lace weight yarn.

I'm really excited about this Peruvian sheep's wool sweater. I usually don't unravel multi-colored sweaters, but I imagined they could be separated and used to make smaller Fair Isle projects in these same beautiful colors.

I was right!
The colors separated nicely and I was able to create
four Fair Isle kits. Two small kits from each sleeve
and two large ones from the front and back.

It doesn't get much better than this in the unraveling world.
Ann Taylor Cashmere in a fingering weight neutral.
I call it "oatmeal."

I'll have five 150-yard hanks available.