Crystal Palace Cotton Twirl is a new classic!

If you're like me, you love the feel of cotton. There's something about crisp cotton sheets...a starched white shirt...comfortable cotton socks. Enormous cotton "Grandma" underpants. They just feel good. I'm one of those people who watches the TV commercials for cotton and says, "Yeah...cotton. The fabric of my life."

When I saw -- and felt -- the new Crystal Palace Cotton Twirl I was in seventh heaven. It's cotton with 10% elastic...which I think makes a great combination. Durable. And holds its shape. It has a distinctive texture that provides good stitch definition. Cotton Twirl comes in both solids and prints.

I'm glad to see that yarn reviewer, Barbara Rottman, agrees with me on this one. She gave Crystal Palace Cotton Twirl great marks in her recent review in Knitch Magazine. Barbara suggests you use in for baby wear, summery tops, and comfy scarves.

A ball of this yarn starts at just $4.75 for the solid in a 50 gram ball. If you're looking for cotton that has great elasticity be sure to give this one a try.

Birth Announcement!

This afternoon my Mom sent me an email with the subject line: Birth Announcement! Imagine my surprise when it wasn't a cousin or niece who'd had a baby...but a turkey.

This photo accompanied the announcement in which my Mom stated that she and my step-father, Ralph, were very proud of the newest addition to their family. Yes...Ladybird the turkey has given birth to another two babies. This is in addition to the teenage turkeys she already has. (Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the babies.)

This evening she followed up with a note saying, "We also have a baby rabbit who lies out on the lawn chewing on clover. I think he's hot because he like to lie anywhere I've been using the hose. He's not growing very quickly but he seems to be quite comfortable living in the garden. There was a bigger one that came up the sidewalk to the patio this morning. I think it's because there are no cats and dogs here that they've sort of moved into the yard. We also have 6 Alvins hanging around and Pearl and Earl and Oprah and Stedman and McGuinty, the red squirrel and her baby."

Okay...here's the line-up.

Alvins -- Chipmunks
Pearl and Earl and Oprah and Stedmen -- Squirrels
McGuinty -- Red Squirrel named after the Liberal Premier of Ontario

My Mom forgot to mention Harvey and Lenore, her Ravens, and Rosemary Raccooney and her babies.

No, my Mother does not live in a zoo. But she seems to attract a zoo wherever she goes. I'm jealous. All I've got is a herd of deer who are eating my hostas, several Alvins who are enjoying my impatiens, a garden of groundhogs who love begonias, and a squirrel that comes right up to the window to pluck a leaf off of one of my potato vines and then munch on it right in front of my eyes.

I figure any squirrel that would do that is probably hungry and deserves to eat my deck plants.

I wish I had a cat.

And the winners are...

The delightful Lynda Lagodney...and a knitter who is not mad at me for sending her a blank email, Jolene Roosekrans.

Yes, we've got two winners who will each receive an autographed copy of Nicky Epstein's Enchanting Collection. I figured that I'd better make up for the email glitch by awarding a second prize.

Many thanks to all of you who participated. I'll be holding another giveaway very soon...so keep reading the blog for details.

Hurry! Enter the contest to win an autographed copy of Nicky Epstein's newest book.

You've got only about 7 1/2 hours to enter...and a lot can happen in 7 1/2 hours so you'd better enter right now!

For example, 7 1/2 hours ago I was a perfectly happy middle-aged lady working in a yarn shop. And then my e-mail system went completely insane and started sending emails to people who'd sent e-mails to me about two months ago. Boy, were they ever surprised.

So about 7 hours ago I started writing apologies. I didn't want people to think I sent them blank emails for no good reason. It was for a good reason: I make computer systems melt down.

About 6 hours ago I started working with the email provider to fix the problem. They didn't believe it had happened.

About 5 hours ago, after sending several examples to the email provider, they realized I was telling the truth! They started to take me seriously.

About 4 hours ago I went home for lunch. It wasn't very good, but I ate it anyway. My doctor has put me on a gluten-free diet and do you know what? Gluten is what makes the stuff you eat taste good. It's often a critical part of the composition. Especially in sandwiches. What do you use if you don't have bread? I tried lettuce but it didn't work very well and I had to change my clothes. Oh, what I wouldn't give for just one piece of toast... But I digress.

About 3 hours ago I helped the email provider test the system to figure out what was wrong.

About 2 hours ago they wrote to say that they've escalated the problem. (Translation: They can't figure it out. But now they're admitting it.)

I think it was one hour ago that my cheek turned red and started to hurt again and I realized that the stress of today was making my face break out in shingles. Again.

So, in less than 7 hours I went from being a very happy middle-aged lady working in a yarn shop to a crazed maniac with a bright red face that hurts a lot.

And people wonder why I flee to a monastery several times each year.

Let this be a lesson to you.

Enter the contest to win an autographed copy of Nicky Epstein's newest book, Enchanting Collection, for Aslan Trends right now. Because in seven hours, you could be standing at the door of a monastery screaming, "Let me in!!!!"

And you're not even Catholic.


Oh, yeah...the rules. Send an email to: nicky@yarnmarket.com
Answer the question: What college did Nicky Epstein attend?

You'll find the answer in KnitchMagazine's interview with Nicky.

Today Only! Win an autographed copy of Nicky Epstein's Enchanting Collection

Nicky created this gorgeous Enchanting Collection using Aslan Trends yarns...and she has been kind enough to give us a couple of copies to give away to Yarnmarket fans.

To win the contest, visit KnitchMagazine to read about Nicky and then answer this skill-testing question:

What college did Nicky attend?

Send me an email at this address and you'll be entered into our random drawing. We'll choose one winner from all the correct answers:

Nicky@yarnmarket.com

Hurry! You've got until midnight ET to enter.

Hey! I just won a writing contest at Despair.com

Boy, oh boy...you wake up with a hangover, find out the next door neighbor's dog you're babysitting has chewed your eyeglasses into twisted, gnarly strips of metal and then you go to work where you know you'll never get ahead of the curve.

The next thing you know, you're checking your personal email (on company time) and you see one from Despair.com.

Because you know how funny their emails are, you open it up so you'll get a chuckle out of whatever depressing -- but bitterly witty -- message they've sent.

Imagine your surprise when you realize you've won their contest!

Yes, a couple of weeks ago I submitted my suggestion for a poster with a photograph of a fish within a fish. When I read all the entries, I didn't think I had a hope in hell of even making it to the finalists. I mean, Despair.com is funny stuff.

Well, I was absolutely shocked to see that I'd won. And now I've got to spend my entire $750 prize buying up my posters.

So to all of you on my Christmas gift list...here's a little preview of what you're getting this December.

Be sure to visit Despair.com because their stuff is really good. I wrote about the T-shirt I bought from them in an earlier posting.

And, please...buy my poster?

P.S.
Here's the Despair.com blog item about the contest.

FREE Prize-Winning TKGA Pattern -- Stefan's Dinosaur

This absolutely magnificent pattern was the winner of our 2008 TKGA/Yarnmarket Knitting Design Contest. We received a lot of truly wonderful designs, but this one took our breath away. You've really got to see it and feel it to appreciate the intricate patterns and superb craftsmanship.

Pat McDermott created Stefan's Dinosaur several years ago, and it has withstood dozens of washings (in the machine!) and several years of use. Still, it looks as good as the day it was completed. The pattern uses Tahki Cotton Classic, which is renowned for its spectacular color palette. As you can see, Pat used a lot of stunning colors to create her dinosaurs in a teal jungle background.

Although Pat won the contest almost a year ago, we have only introduced the pattern in the past few days through KnitchMagazine and Yarnmarket. That's because Pat had a lot of family obligations over the past year which prevented her from completing the pattern for us to test. We all know how that goes! One minute everything's going along swimmingly and you find out you've just won a $1000 Gift Certificate for Yarnmarket and the next minute you're so inundated with obligations that...well...knitting's the last thing on your mind!

Well, to the rescue came the brilliant and talented Jennifer Penney, a local knitter who loves a challenge. Armed with Pat's charts and notes -- and the sweater -- Jennifer meticulously recreated the piece to ensure that every stitch was perfect. Jennifer worked tirelessly on what proved to be long, if not very rewarding, process. It was only once we had Jennifer and Pat's assurance that the pattern was exactly the way they thought it ought to be could we post it online for our knitters.


Now, it's available to you for free!

I'd like to thank Pat and Jennifer for all their work to recreate the pattern so we could offer it to Yarnmarket shoppers. We really appreciate your extraordinary efforts and awe-inspiring creativity. I was so delighted with this piece that I showed it to Diane Friedman and Stacy Charles when they visited us a few weeks ago. They were impressed to see what had been so imaginatively created with their Cotton Classic yarn. (Oh, yes...I know what you're thinking. It takes 16 skeins. The sweater Pat sent to us was 10 years old and that yarn held up like new!)

Oh...I'd really like to thank those of you who wrote notes to me to say you were interested in the pattern, and that you couldn't wait to get your hands on it. Well, here it is. Enjoy!