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

  12. Absolutely perfect fall knitting!!! And great Christmas present ideas! Thanks for the chance to win such a lovely prize!

  19. Oh Andee I already HAVE your lovely patterns and have already knit the Outlander this month and am planning to cast on Standing Stones next. Love my Outlander; it’s just perfect in every way. But, er, I’ve never tried the Shibui alpaca …..

    Thanks again for your terrific photos of all the Alpacas. I love your descriptions of them. On photo rich days, even my husband joins me to enjoy your blog. Even from 3000 plus miles away, those winsome characters with their expressive faces just make us laugh and laugh.

    Best wishes to all. Esp. Blue.

  21. A very generous giveaway, beautiful yarn, wonderful
    patterns to choose from — Thank You.

    Lots of inspiration on your ‘Yarn Along’ days, always
    a treat perusing the projects.

  23. I love her patterns, have the Standing Cowl in my queue and just looking for the perfect yarn for it. More than anything I love seeing the alpacas on her blog posts. So adorable!

  24. I recently encountered Alpacas for the first time, and they are such beautiful creatures! And your work is gorgeous, too!

  28. Hi, I’m a knitting beginner. I haven’t knitted much more than shawls and hats but I really want to knit more: I have a little girl and I want to wrap her in beautiful, woolen, self-made things. I would really appreciate starting my first baby jacket with your wonderful alpaca wool. 🙂

  29. The giveaway would be a great Christmas gift for my daughter! I’m not sure if she’s ever used natural fibers or not, yet. Very generous!

  32. I’ve had my eye on some of Andees pattern for a while now and would be super happy to receive the pattern part of the give away. As I’m in Germany I figure mail costs would be high to send the yarn. So if I was picked I would be more than happy to share my give away with someone in the US to receive the yarn (even though I’d of course be happy to receive it too as it looks gorgeous…) So much said. Just a small last thing: Thanks for the give away and keep up the good work with the pattern designing and all those great photos in your blog!

  34. Beautiful patterns and gorgeous yarns! I will definitely look into buying some of the patterns. God bless, Michele F.

  37. I just knit my first project with alpaca and loved it so much I bought more alpaca yarn before I’d even finished! Cast on my second ever alpaca project yesterday and still can’t believe how soft it is 🙂

  39. Love that these patterns work with multiple weights or rough spun yarn! Great ideas for some the alpaca I have in stash!

  40. A friend comes to my house to watch Outlander because she doesn’t get Starz. While I’m not a huge fan of the show, the scenery is lovely, the beards and kilts are lovely, and of course I always LOVE the cowls and shawls and mitts that Claire wears. Lovely autumnal knitting inspiration – thank you!

  41. Gorgeous patterns and fantastic photography. And may I just say that I am coveting those yarns? I am an avid crochetter and knitter. I use mostly commercial yarns but I am looking forward to maybe use more specialty yarns this winter as I make Christmas presents.
    Keep up the beautiful work!<3

  42. Andee,
    I want to thank you for allowing us to visit Arrow Acres during your open house on Saturday. We so enjoyed visiting with your family, learning all about your alpaca family and seeing the farms new baby cria. Your fiber and new designs are beautiful and I look forward to knitting my newly purchased Outlander. Our visit was definitely the highlight of our weekend.

  44. Love the cardigan. And love another Jersey Girl Knitter! I will have to check out the shop next time I am east!

  48. I follow both of your blogs I have never commented but want to say
    Wow How cool … really cool blogs and life stories you share