RKG Holiday Party Sponsors

A few months ago, I set out on a mission: recruit raffle giveaways for the Raleigh Knitting Group's holiday party. My goal was to send out 8-10 requests with the hope of securing 5-6 items. When it was all said and done, I sent out eight requests and received eleven prizes! ELEVEN! I wish I could take credit here, but this is really about the generosity of the folks I reached out to.

As one final thanks to our amazing sponsors, I want to share the photos of our excited winners with their raffle prizes. I hope you will all continue supporting these shops that so generously supported the RKG this holiday season!

Yarn Tree Studio, Raleigh, NC

Sassafras Creations

Knitterati Sock Club

Hillsborough Yarn Shop, Hillsborough, NC

Great Yarns/Yarns Etc., Raleigh, NC and Chapel Hill, NC

Downtown Knits, Apex, NC

Cozy, Durham, NC

Color Me Happy Yarns

Admit Ewe Knit, Raleigh, NC

Many thanks to you all, and happy holidays!

Multnomah shawlette

I got three skeins of Melody Superwash from the yarn swap my Meetup group had back February. I was pretty dead set on finding an epic project that would use all three skeins, but the Multnomah shawlette only took about 1.2. The pattern called for 10 rounds of feather and fan at the end (40 rows), but I stopped after 5 rounds. It's a little on the short side, but I like the simplistic look of it. And I plan to wear it short around my neck (and not around my shoulders) anyway, so it's perfect.

I blocked the points out a little more pronounced than what was shown in the pattern. I'm pretty sure that I broke every blocking rule in the book, but it was my most successful attempt yet!

YARN SWAP!

So I've obviously been looking for ways to get my hands on new yarns without actually buying them. I've done a blind swap with Christy and I've even had yarn donated to me by Kyndle :) Last night, my Meetup group did a huge yarn swap. So. Much. Fun. SO MUCH!

There were two rounds where each person's "name" was drawn from a bag and got to select a yarn and then there was the FREE-FOR-ALL! At one point, my bag overflowed with yarn. I got serious taker's remorse and gave some back.

I definitely took more than I gave, but I know that I'll use what I took much faster than what I gave. And if I don't...I'll save it for the next swap!

The goods...
















and here Berger is examining my haul and judging me...

Social Knitting...with Knitters!

I previously declared myself a social knitter, but I never knit with other knitters. I usually knit with my non-knitting friends while having happy hour, watching football or at the movies. My non-knitting friends are always very impressed with what I'm doing and very complimentary. I think they are sincere, but they also may not know if something looks bad, being non-knitters and all. So I'm totally safe.

A friend of a (non-knitting) friend just suggested a Meetup.com knitting group that meets in Raleigh. I've been invited to groups in Durham and Chapel Hill, but that's just too far. Now, now I have something right here at home. So I signed up. I hope I like it. I think that a group could keep me motivated to keep knitting my stash even when I am down to the most boring of yarns.

My first meet up is next Wednesday, so I'll see soon enough if I fit in with the real knitters :)