Team Knit equals Joy is joining the Ravellenic Games! The Ravellenic Games – a fun way to connect with other knitters and to challenge your own skills. They take place during the Olympic Games but, of course, are not affiliated with those games.  The goal is to challenge yourself to begin and complete at least one project between Friday, August 5 and Sunday, August 21 – and to have fun doing it.
15 events cover just about any type of project you want to make:
Afghan Marathon, Bag Backstroke, Cowl Jump, Frogging Trampoline, Garment Polo, Hat Dash, Household Heptathalon, Mitten Medley, Scarf Hockey, Shawl Sailing, Sock-Put, Sweater Triathalon, Synchronized Spinning, Toy Toss, and WIPs Wrestling.
The Ravelry-wide event awards virtual prizes. Generally these are a graphic you can post on your Ravelry profile page and on your project page. Pretty fun to post those prizes proudly!
We will have prizes in our Knit equals Joy team, too…real prizes like yarn, bags, patterns… come check out the thread in my Ravelry group for more details!
We would love to have you join our team! Â It’s like a giant KAL, and so much fun. Hope to see you there!
So, we are having a summer swap in my Ravelry group, and Paula drew this on the envelope for her swap partner. Maybe it was a simple act for her, but it brought joy to her swap partner and, later, to the rest of us. I hope it brings a bit of light and beauty to your day as well.
A HUGEÂ thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway in my Ravelry group!! It was so much fun, and I appreciate everyone who dropped by, whether it was just for a quick “hello” or to stick around and chat and get to know us a little better!
Congrats to Ravelry user Kepanie, winner of the grand prize! Â Here’s her swag! Â I had sooooooo much fun choosing these wonderful yarns and knitting notions at the 2016 Rose City Yarn Crawl.
Gathersnomoss won a mini-giveaway for these Gobstoppers:
And heatherg7 snagged these Unicorn Tails:
Congrats Becky and Heather!!!
A great time was had by all and I hope you will join us for one of our next great events! Â Coming soon: a fantastic summery swap – sign-ups most likely will start in May – and the Ravellenic Games in August – a Ravelry-wide event, with knitting all during the Olympics, (virtual) medals, fun competition (mostly with yourself) and, of course, in my group, prizes!!!
Hi everyone!  The giveaway in my Ravelry group is still going strong.  There are mini-giveaways going on until we reach 5,000 posts in The Cafe thread.  Current post count: 4,854.
When we reach 5,000 posts, I’ll choose the winner using a random number generator for this prize:
I wrote all about the lovely yarn and goodies here:Â Giveaway Details.
In the meantime, I am giving away smaller goodies that I purchased during the Rose City Yarn Crawl.
CURRENT MINI-GIVEAWAY:
Two terrific Gobstoppers, mini-skeins of worsted weight yarn by the Knitted Wit. Soon I’ll randomly choose a winner for this mini-giveaway and then will start the next mini-giveaway. Come on over to The Cafe and join in!
Just in time for Easter, this See’s Easter Treasure Egg was won by Ravelry user stamura.
Mini-giveaway 3
These awesome Knitted Wit Gumballs, mini skeins of yummy yarn, were won by Ravelry user QueenKally.
Mini-giveaway 4
A wonderful project bag from Happy Knits.  Adorbs!  Won by Ravelry user PLC1.
Mini-giveaway 5
Awesome and amazing buttons from One of a Kind Buttons.  We discussed it in the group and we think the first one belongs on a mug cozy.  Won by Rav user saminar.
I hope you will come check out the group, the thread and the giveaway if you are interested. Â We love to chat about knitting, yarn, and life in general, and we love to have new knitting friends join in the fun.
The last couple of posts have reminded me of some of my favorite projects that I’ve made that weren’t my own designs.  I love this little frog pattern, Ribbit, by Susan B. Anderson.  He was so much fun to make, and Susan’s patterns are always so well written.
Well, this little frog is my way of announcing that we are having a Leap Year giveaway in my Ravelry Group, Carol E Herman Designs.  There will be smaller random giveaways starting this week, with a larger prize when The Cafe thread reaches 5,000 posts.  Drop by, say hello, meet some new (or old) knitting friends, join us as we chat about this, that and everything!  The first giveaways will be some cute notions bags made from fabric based on the iconic PDX Carpet (link to google images for PDX Carpet).  I’ll post pictures of the actual bags and other prizes later.
I hope you will join us!
knit equals joy
Please note that the giveaway is in the Ravelry group, not here in the blog.
We just finished the Wuv, Tru Wuv Mini Swap in my Ravelry group.  The rules were simple and fun:
Be a member of the group.
Send a small knit, crocheted, or sewn gift, a card and a small treat ($5.00 max) to your secret swap partner.
Participate in the swap discussion at least once a week.
When you receive your package, you must post your thanks as soon as possible and post a photo as quickly as you can.
 You must stitch your project with love. 🙂  (My favorite rule!)
Well, I must say, this swap exceeded my expectations. Â The participants were absolute rock stars! Lovely packages were sent and received, and the hand crafted items were just amazing – creative and beautifully made. Â Just take a look!
I love the adorable sock monkey Carla made!  It’s just too cute and sweet, made in Gnome Acres yarn with a Gnome Acres button. Pattern is Jerry the Musical Monkey by Rebecca Danger.
Torunn, whose knitting talents never cease to amaze me, sent this little guy, a voodoo doll named Valentine, all the way from Norway to her swap partner (SP).  Pattern is Voodoo You Love Me by Susan Claudino, and he’s knit in Knit Picks Stroll.  The cutest little voodoo doll ever!!!
Melanie made this lovely bag, a Valentine Pouch by Lion Brand Yarn, worked in Lion Brand LB Collection Superwash Merino, for her swap partner. Such beautiful knitting!
This heart made by Janie now makes its home in its new valentine-y environment. So sweet and quintessentially February 14!
I was the fortunate recipient of this swap gift from my friend Stefanie.  The card and notebook are wonderfully hand stitched.  Love the initials stamped with bleach on the notebook!  I love this warm and red turban she made for me…stylin’! Pattern is Turban(d) by Amelie Bernier, knit in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Solid in Bold Red.  Also included was delicious chocolate!
Half the fun of the swaps, of course, is preparing the gift for your SP.  I knit two dishcloths for Torunn, using the pattern From My Heart Washcloth by Tabitha’s Heart.  Some conversation hearts, a ceramic button from One of a Kind Buttons, a pretty card and a little Knit=Joy ribbon (thanks, Meg!), and we’re all set!  Made with love!
I loved each and every swap package that was sent. Â Each knitter put her own creative stamp on the theme. Â Each crafted item was stitched with love. Â It was truly a perfect Valentine’s Day swap. Â I am very grateful to everyone for joining in wholeheartedly, and to my friend Jen for doing an amazing job of organizing these swaps. Â The Wuv, Tru Wuv Mini Swap Collage:
From top down, left to right: Dragon by Heather, Ear Bud Pouches by Alex, Egg to Owl by Diana, Pillowcases by Debby, Coffee Mug Rug by Becky, Cupig and Mug Hug by Susan, Sock Monkey by Carla, Tape Measure by Amber, Dishcloths by Debbie, Voodoo Doll by Torunn, Dishcloths by me, Turban by Stefanie, Cupig by Jen, Heart Garland by Missy, Heart by Janie, Valentine Pouch by Melanie.
And I leave you with this adorable mini dragon made by Heather. Â Just perfect in pink! Â And if you read Alex’s blog post linked above, you’ll read the sweetest story about Alex’s daughter’s reaction and this dragon’s new name, Pony Dragon. Adorbs!
We wrapped up the Passport Mitts Knitalong (KAL) in my Ravelry group last month. We had a lovely time, with over 900 posts in the knitalong thread (meaning we’re chatty) and 13 finished pairs of mitts during the six weeks of the KAL.  You can see all the lovely mitts as well as the prizes that were won here, in the FO (finished object) thread.  I hope you’ll hop over there and take a look.
Here are some of the beautiful mitts, photos used by permission. Â Each of these knitters does beautiful work!
Joyce made two pairs, one for her daughter and another for herself, using Berroco Folio. Â She took a couple of pictures at the family farm:
I love this photo Heather took of mitts she was making with Lorna’s Laces Honor, in the colorway Gobsmacked (how perfect is that for a colorway name???):
Meg used Rowan Felted Tweed DK, in the colorway Scree. Â I also used Rowan Felted Tweed for my mitts, and loved the lightweight yet warm fabric it created:
Blue was a popular color for these mitts, and the other major contender was orange. Â Jen made beautiful mitts in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in the colorway Candied Yam, perfect for these pictures she took around Thanksgiving:
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Alex made mitts in both of the popular choices, being the top finisher with three completed pairs of mitts!  She made two pairs in Ella Rae Lace Merino DK in Orange and a pair in Classic Elite Yarns Inca Alpaca in the Navy Heather colorway.
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Melanie made this stunning pair of mitts using Lion Brand LB Collection in White. Â It is amazing how white and natural yarns make cables pop. Â She bound off in pattern, which makes the top edge look like pearls. Â It’s not written that way in the pattern. but it is a wonderful modification.
Melanie wrote the following when she posted her finished mitts, and allowed me to share it here:
I completely love these mitts. Carol, this pattern is so classy and tasteful and beautifully written! I used Lion Brand 100% superwashmerino that I can only order from their online store. I ordered quite a bit of it several years ago, so this beautiful pair was knit from stash. The yarn shows awesome stitch definition, which is a perfect match for these mitts. The only problem I have is that I decided to make these for a friend… And now I want to keep them.
Thank you so much to everyone who participated. Â Your work is lovely and inspiring!
As a follow-up, my friends Leanne and Martha requested a hat pattern to go along with the Passport Mitts.  We are currently testing the Wayfarer Hat, and the pattern will be available soon.  The hat is written with the option to make it as a close-fitting beanie or to modify it for a slouchier fit.  Stay tuned!
Something big is happening on Ravelry, the 3rd annual Indie Design Gift-a-Long! Â The Gift-a-Long (GAL), a collaboration of 335 independent knit and crochet designers, features a week-long sale and a knit-a-long/crochet-a-long (KAL/CAL) through the end of the year. Â There are tons of prizes, for ongoing games throughout the GAL and, at the end of the GAL, random winners drawn from among those who have posted pictures of their finished objects.
All 335 designers are here. Â There’s one post per designer – most posts include a photo indicative of the designer’s style, and each post has a link to the designer’s Ravelry page.
This bundle shows all the sale patterns.  The sale ends November 27, 2015 at 11:59 P.M. EST.
I love this infographic! Â It’s amazing the amount of effort, talent and enthusiasm being poured into this event!
Picture copyright Cheryl Chow; used by permission.
I think these mitts are a lovely design, and I love the muted colors Cheryl used.  The pattern is clearly written and the mitts look to be a fun project.  I can’t wait to go hunt through the stash to find the right yarn.  Also very cool, Cheryl is another Pacific North Westerner, hailing from North Bend, Washington!
Knitting friends, I hope you’ll come check out the Indie GAL. Â It’s lots of fun and is a wonderful way to meet some new designers.
These are my patterns which are on sale through 11/27/15 11:59 P.M. EST as part of the GAL (see details, here), and they’re also prize-eligible patterns:
Passport Mitts, my new design, is now available on Ravelry. Â This pattern was originally written as an exclusive design for Tangled Purls’ Passport program. Â The exclusivity period is now over and so I am able to offer the pattern for sale to everyone.
The mitts are long and elegant with details that make them a great additon to your fall wardrobe. Â They make a perfect project for your holiday gift giving! Â The pattern is written in two sizes.
To celebrate, I am offering a discount to readers of this blog.  For 20% off the $4.50 purchase price through September 30, 2015, use the coupon code PMblog20.   Click here to purchase the pattern now, and enter the coupon code at checkout.  You do have to belong to Ravelry to purchase patterns, but it is free and easy to join, and it is an amazing website with a huge database of patterns (among other fantastic features)!
We’re also having a knit-a-long (KAL) in my Ravelry group starting October 1st. Â A KAL is great fun. Â We discuss our progress, ask questions, post pictures – and at the end, there are prizes. Â I’ve found some gorgeous yarns that will be the KAL prizes. Â Winners are chosen from among the finished projects randomly. Â We truly have so much fun! Â I hope you will join us! Â You can sign up for the KALÂ here.
Some of the Prizes:
Thanks for letting me share my latest design with you!
knit equals joy 