small things

AndeeKF Fiber Arts and Photography {giveaway}


Today’s giveaway is from Andee, whom you might know from her blog, Match the Pictures.  She’s been a regular part of our Yarn Along here at Small Things for as long as I can remember.  I am very pleased to be sharing this space with her today!


“My name is Andee and I am a wife and a mother of two sons. I have a huge passion for the Fiber Arts. I have been knitting and making my own patterns for the past 15 years. I grew up on a farm with horses and I loved the lifestyle of living on a farm. About five years ago my parents no longer had any horses or ponies and they decided to fill their pastures up with alpacas. I was so excited when the first alpacas came to the farm. I couldn’t wait for the day when I would be able to start using their fiber to knit with.


Each Spring we shear the alpacas and send their fiber to a small fiber mill to have it processed. Some of the fiber is spun into yarn, some is processed into roving (which we spin ourselves) and the rest is turned into rug yarn. We have the fiber processed per alpaca or alpacas. Sometimes we blend similar alpacas’ fibers together so we can get more yarn in a certain color. All of the yarn is tagged with the alpaca’s names and sold in our farm store.


I have learned over the years that each time we get the fiber back from the fiber mill it varies in thickness. I wanted to design some patterns that would work well with the yarn from the small fiber mills as well as for handspun yarn. People who come to the farm are so excited to purchase yarn from our alpacas and always ask what they can make with it. This inspired me to create some knitting patterns that would work with varying weights of yarn.


I was also inspired to make knitting patterns after falling in love with some hand-painted yarns. I have found different Indie yarn dyers that make amazing skeins of yarn. I have found myself falling in love with the color of the yarn and couldn’t resist purchasing it. I enjoy designing patterns for these types of yarn.


I started publishing my patterns about a year ago and I have been overwhelmed with the support I have gotten from knitters, yarn companies and yarn store owners. I plan to keep designing patterns that work well for Indie yarn dyers, hand-spun yarns and fiber mill produced yarns. I do also enjoy working with commercial yarns, but my passion is for the specialty yarns.


Because I love yarn and knitting so much and I want to immerse myself in the fiber arts as much as possible I also work part time at Chelsea Yarns in Colts Neck, New Jersey. I help customers select yarn, I help them with their knitting projects and I offer lots of encouragement. It is the type of LYS where people come together to knit, appreciate yarn and a place where many customers make lifelong friendships. It is a wonderful environment and I’m very happy to be on the Chelsea Yarns team. I must admit one of my favorite parts of working there is getting to wear my hand knits!

3-AndeeAll of my patterns can be purchased online in my Ravelry Store. They can also be purchased in person at Arrow Acres Farm or Chelsea Yarns.

 

3-Andee1If you are in the Monmouth County, New Jersey area and want to meet me and the alpacas I will be at Arrow Acres Farm this weekend (Directions HERE). We are having an Open House for National Alpaca Farm Days September 27th & 28th. It is an educational weekend for the public to come and meet our alpacas and learn all about alpacas and the fiber arts. I will have samples of all my patterns on display as well as the patterns available for sale.”

For the giveaway I am offering a copy of my Outlander & Standing Stones E-Book which contains both my Standing Stones pattern and Outlander pattern.  To the same winner I am offering three skeins of Shibui Baby Alpaca yarn in the colorway Mineral, which will knit up wonderfully as an Outlander Cowl or a Standing Stones Cowl.  In addition, I am giving 10% off my knitting patterns on Ravelry until October 5th at midnight EST using the code “SMALLTHINGS”.

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post. 

***Comments are closed and the winner is Amber who commented, “Ahhh!! I love alpaca fiber! Pick me! Pick me! ;)”

Thanks, Andee!

 

knitting patterns

Reader Interactions

Comments

  9. I would LOVE to win, because I frequently read her blog (because I enjoy the beautiful pics of the alpacas so much…) … Would love to go there tomorrow to meet the alpacas – what a shame they’re so far away from Germany….so I could at least touch their wool at home! Please… That would be wonderful!

  15. Ohhhh…I follow Andee’s blog and love her designs. I would love to visit the farm this weekend, but i live in Wyoming….kind of a long trip for the day! Hug an alpaca for me.

  16. I am impressed with your patterns and the lovely pictures of the alpacas. I am pretty sure I will knit ‘Outlander’ as I really like shoulder cowls.

  19. What beautiful patterns! I am looking forward to the coziness of knitting this fall and winter and what fun it would be to have some new patterns!

  24. I would love to win Andee’s patterns and lovely yarn! I have been wanting to knit them! Thanks for the chance!

  27. Oh I wish I was in New Jersey to visit the farm! Thanks for the introduction to Andee and her company! And also for a chance to win this great giveaway!

  28. I love hearing about crafters so passionate for the well-made and the hand-made! Thanks for sharing, and for the chance to win!

  29. Lovely yarn. And I love her story. How fun to be able to work so much with something you are passionate about.

  30. I’d love for this to keep me busy during the new fall crisp mornings, and then be able to snuggle up in them!
    Beautiful!

  34. Simply beautiful What a talent for color and design! You have inspired me to take more knitting challenges.

  36. I love how you choose your patterns to bring out the best of the yarn. We are lucky to have some great alpaca farms in our area and I love the different colors and textures from the individual alpacas.