Knitting

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Supporting Independent Artists

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The Winter 2007 Happily Handmade giveaway will begin accepting entries on February 12th. You can only enter the giveaway through the fabulous Independent Artist sponsors. This [tag]giveaway[/tag] is sponsored by a group of [tag]independent artists[/tag] who are promoting their shops with this giveaway.

2/12–3/31: Winter 2007 Giveaway entry period
4/2: Winter 2007 Winners announced!

History of the Giveaway

-Quoted from the website –“The idea behind the [tag]Happily Handmade Giveaway[/tag] began in the Spring of 2004 from a brainstorming session among a handful of indie artists. Each time we organize this event, it grows larger and more successful. During an event, our participating Indie Shops will create a sign-up form on their respective websites where you may enter the our participating Indie Shops will create a sign-up form on their respective websites where you may enter the Happily Handmade Giveaway drawing to win one of these fabulous gift boxes.

You may enter the drawing by visiting one, two, or ALL of the Indie Shop Sponsors. Feel free to enter through all of the Indie Shop Sponsors for more chances to win! Items included in these wonderful gift boxes may vary from clothing and handbags to bath & beauty products and jewelry. While you are visiting our Indie Shop Sponsors, please take a peek at what each talented artist has to offer. You’ll be glad you did”.

The Rules are simple, visit the sites, you may enter the giveaway through each individual Indie Shop Sponsor page. Each sponsor will have their own requirements for entry. It is your duty to complete these requirements as instructed. Please read all the rules on the rules page for more information.

Please help support these wonderful independent artists and you just might win a nice gift!

Have you read?

Knit a Blanket with the Texture of a Ceiling

Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal. 

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles. 

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges. 

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to. 

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho. 

[Photo: Purl Soho]