And the winner is....

Silver Linings, from Lola-Doodles

Wow! First of all, let me thank all of you who entered! What an overwhelming response to our giveaway. Thank you for taking a few minutes of your time to pick out a favorite colorway and post your comments, tweet or blog about the contest.

Now to the part we're all here for:  I used the random number generator over at random.org and it told me that the winner is.... tessercat! Tessercat has been notified and has chosen "Coffee with Amos" which will be popped in the mail and heading north just as quick as possible.

Dowager's Prize Roses, from Lola-Doodles

Silver Linings

Don't forget - only 3 more days until the Dowager's Prize Diamonds pattern is available for $2.50 at Lola-Doodles Etsy shop. Lola-Doodles will also have a limited quantity of the Dowager's Prize Roses and Silver Linings colorways available in 3 sock bases. Once those are gone, you'll be able to custom order any of her colorways.

Silver Linings

Dowager's Prize Roses

Dowager's Prize Roses

The Dowager's Prize Diamonds - in grey

Photo courtesy of ryllisse

I just have to show you some of the test knit samples of The Dowager's Prize Diamonds. The testers did a fantastic job providing feedback and working out the kinks in the pattern. And they did some amazing knitting and photography.

I present Ryllisse's Dowager's Prize Diamonds (Ravelry project link):

Ryllisse used Knit Picks Stroll Solids, Heathers & Twists in Agate Heather for her size large sock, using approximately 175 yards per sock to fit a size 6 foot. The stitches really pop when the sock is worn!

I love how the cables almost appear lighter in color in the first photo. If you haven't entered the Dowager's Prize Diamonds contest yet, check out this post to find out how to enter.

Photo courtesy of ryllisse

Contest Time!

First off - my apologies for being a few days late with this announcement. I was suffering a horrible migraine over the weekend and was completely out of commission. But enough about me - let's get to the contest!

It's pretty simple. To launch our upcoming joint venture, Lola-Doodles and I are having a contest. But first, what is it we're celebrating?

Dowager's Prize Roses

The Deal
Starting September 1st, Lola-Doodles will be hosting an exclusive yarn/sock pattern combo in her Etsy shop. You'll have your choice of 2 colorways to go with one of my patterns, designed especially for these Lola-Doodle colorways.

What you'll get:

1. Your choice of Lola-Doodles Dowager's Prize Roses or Silver Linings in her Classic, Buff and Twinkle yarn bases.
2. An exclusive sock pattern: The Dowager's Prize Diamonds at a discounted rate of only $2.50.

Dowager's Prize Diamonds

The Dowager's Prize Diamonds pattern will only be available from Lola-Doodles between Sept 1 - Nov 30. After that, it'll be available in my Ravelry shop at the regular price of $4.50.

Once the Dowager's Prize Roses and Silver Linings colorways are sold out, Lola-Doodles will take dyed-to-orders for your choice of colorway with the pattern.

The Contest
We're offering 1 skein of Lola-Doodles Classic Sock yarn in your choice of colorway, plus a copy of the Dowager's Prize Diamonds pattern.

All you have to do is one or more of the following:

• Leave a comment here on which colorway you'd want if you win. Make sure you include some way for me to contact you, either your Ravelry ID or email (which isn't published). To see more colorways Lola-Doodles has to offer, check out the previous sales link under Shop Details on the Lola-Doodles Etsy site.)
• If you're on Twitter, tweet about the contest. Tweets must include my Twitter name (@iammo_25) and a link to this page.
• If you blog, mention this contest on your blog and then leave a comment here with your blog post URL.

You'll get one entry into the contest for each thing you do. So if you comment, tweet and blog - that's 3 chances to win!

Contest starts today and runs until end of day Monday, August 26th. On Wednesday, August 28th I'll reveal the winner, so be sure to check back then.

Dowager's Prize Diamonds in Silver Linings Buff Sock

Dowager's Prize Diamonds
in Silver Linings

Teaser...

Guess which blog is going to be giving away a skein of sock yarn?
Guess which blog is going to be giving away a free sock pattern to go with that sock yarn?

Guess who has partnered up with a certain Indie Dyer, who has appeared in this space before, to create an exclusive yarn/pattern pairing which will be available soon?

Answers:
This blog.
This blog.
Me! Lola-Doodles!

When: Contest details will be revealed Saturday, August 17th. Come back for your chance to win!

As busy as a very busy thing

Whew! You know it's been a busy week when it takes until the next Monday morning before you have time for an update.

Last week was a flurry of activity as I kicked off a secret sock test knit which I hope to submit for publication. At the same time, I have three other sock test knits going on, which you can see over on the Ravelry Free Pattern Testers forum (The Dowager's Prize Socks, The Man in the Brown Sock and Nemesis).

I love the test knit phase of a project. Not only do I get to see a pattern come to life for the first time on someone else's needles, which is a huge thrill. But it's also a fascinating (and humbling) experience in one's own fallibility.

By the time I write up a pattern and put it out for testing, I've spent a lot of time on it. I've knit the socks at least once and often twice. I've done the math for the difference sizes. I use the most recent published pattern as the basis for the new pattern, so that hopefully any typos and errors have already been found and all I have to do is modify some wording, numbers and charts. I check it over more closely than Santa checking his naughty and nice lists on Dec 23rd.

And then other people start taking a look at it and finding the mistakes that my eyes, through over-familiarity, have overlooked. Some are typos. Other things are more basic (e.g., a 58 stitch cast on isn't divisible by 4, therefore you can't do a 2x2 rib cuff).

I hate making mistakes that cause my testers to have to rip out part (or all!) of their work. In fact, I hate making mistakes at all. But as a professional technical writer, I know that writers are not good editors/reviewers of their own work. You get too close to your own work and your brain fills in what it expects to see instead of seeing what's actually written on the page. It's human nature. And I find it fascinating.

I've had a few conversations lately with some of my testers which I think have really upped my game. I love learning from people who have differing view points and ways of approaching a problem. And for that reason I am grateful to all my testers who question my choices, tell me what parts are confusing and make suggestions for improvements.

I'll leave you with pictures of The Man in the Brown Sock and Nemesis. These two socks will be part of an Agatha Christie inspired series of patterns which I hope to launch by the end of August - beginning of September. The Dowager's Prize Socks pattern will be available within the coming week, as part of an exclusive pairing with Lola-Doodles' Dowager's Pink Roses and Silver Lining's colorways. More on that later this week!

Man in the Brown Sock

Nemesis

Last Chance!

Today is the last day to enter the Lola-Doodles Giveaway.  Just read my post raving about her awesome yarns and leave a comment with your favorite colorway and/or colorway name. And remember - if you leave a comment using the Anonymous feature, you need to leave some way of identifying yourself (like a Ravelry name, or some part of your name/email name) in case you win.

I'll use a random number generator Thursday morning to select the winner and announce it here on the blog tomorrow morning. The winner will get to pick a skein of yarn to receive - it doesn't have to be the one you named in your post. After all, everyone's entitled to change their minds and it's so hard to choose among all the lovely colors!

Contest - Sharing the Lola-Doodles Love

I like browsing through some of the main Ravelry forums and checking out the chat threads dedicated to sales, self-promotion and contests. It's a great way to discover new design and designers, accessories and best of all, new (to me) indie yarn dyers.

I'm always on the lookout for new sock yarn to love. A while back I placed an order for some absolutely scrumptious looking sock yarn from Lola-Doodles Etsy shop. I was attracted by the vividly bright colours and delightful names.

Annabel Lee - 100% superwash merino sock yarn

I purchased Annabel Lee, a superwash merino sock yarn for two reasons: the lovely shade of blue and the wonderful reference to the Edgar Allan Poe poem. (Yes, I majored in English.) And just to break away from my love of blue, I added some Dowager's Prize Rose to my basket. (Why yes, I quite enjoy British Victorian-era literature.)

When the yarn arrived, it was squishy soft and just begging to be made into socks. I quickly cast on Annabel Lee for a special project I'm hoping to submit for publication. It's quite full of cables and the traces of black in the lovely aquamarine add some very nice depth and dimension to the cables.

Juniper Wisp: 80% Merino wool
and 20% silk lace yarn

The yarn is absolutely delightful to work with: soft, squishy and with a nice high twist that gives great stitch definition. Pretty much everything I look for in a sock yarn.

Lola-Doodles is run by Temple Trueblood, a true fiber enthusiast, down in the heart of Dixie. In her Etsy shop you'll find lace, fingering and DK yarn that are all hand dyed in very small batches (2-3 skeins each). She also welcomes custom orders, with some of her favorite colorways being the results of customers asking for a particular shade or combination of colors. 

Temple offers a range of different sock weight yarns:

• Classic Sock - a 75/25 wool/nylon blend 
• Buff Sock - a 75/25 BFL/nylon blend
• Posh Socks - an MCN blend
• Twinkle Toes - 100% super wash merino

Lace and DK lovers aren't left out either. Temple has you covered with a merino/silk lace weight blend and her DK super wash merino wool.

Daddy Likes a Little Scandal - Classic Sock

To make a great deal even better, Lola-Doodles offers loyal fans a fantastic discount: After buying 5 skeins, you receive a secret code so that your 6th skein is a whopping 75% off!

The name of her shop comes, in part from Lola the Wonder Corgi  who, along with Amos Lee, her sweet pit bull terrier supervise each batch of dyeing.  

As usual, I do not accept or solicit sponsorships or do paid/in kind product endorsements. I write about stuff that I've discovered and that I enjoy. All pictures are used with permission by Temple Trueblood of Lola-Doodles, but that's the only involvement. She doesn't even know I'm going to do this:

Killer Tomato: Classic Sock,
75% merino, 25% nylon

Giveaway!

Leave a comment telling me your favorite Lola-Doodles colorway name between now and Wednesday, June 26th and you could win that skein! On June 27th I will run a random number generator to select a winner from the comments and have Lola-Doodles ship your skein to you.