Monday, October 3, 2011

The White Rabbit (or a late giveaway)

I'm late, I'm late! But I promise this is worth it. I got back from Seattle on Friday and my age is showing because it took until today to recuperate. I'm going to post tomorrow with my trip shenanigans but I want to get to this month's giveaway before it's even later because I think it's AWESOME.

It has to do with this:

This is a case of the Arctic Hare base, to be specific 110sk of it.

The reason this is significant is that it is the new Arctic Hare base. For those in the "know", I use Kraemer Sterling for my Arctic Hare base. Kraemer recently decided to replace the silver fiber they were using with a silver colored polyester fiber. The price of silver has been fluctuating wildly, and going up and up for so many months that the producer of the special silver fiber could no longer guarantee it. Thus the switch to this poly fiber. This means that production of the yarn should be more timely and they can keep the price the same rather than raising it to reflect the increase in wool, silk, and silver prices.

So yes, the Arctic Hare dyed in September 2011 and earlier is all the old base with the real silver. All the Arctic Hare I will be dyeing this month and onward will have the 2% silver replaced with 2% silver colored polyester. The rest of the fiber content remains the same.

What does this mean for this giveaway? Well, I need to test it out. I have a few underweight skeins of the previous blend left, and I have this whole case of the new blend. You see where this is going, right? I need to dye up several batches to see how they compare. And then I want to give some away so people can see if it's just as beautiful as the old base. I think it will be, but there's nothing like holding it your hands and working with it.

So here's what I'm going to do. I am giving away AT LEAST 1 skein here, and 1 skein in my Rav group. They'll be about 101g, so borderline and not quite underweight but not quite the safe margin I like.

What I would like YOU to do to enter this drawing is comment here (or in my Rav group) with ONE colorway suggestion for this new base (one per location, so if you have two ideas you can double your chances by posting one here and one in my Rav group). You can describe it verbally, or you can link to a picture, etc. Give it a name, and post it any time through October 8th. On October 9th I'll draw a winner for the yarn. I haven't dyed it yet, but it will probably be in Starry Night or Frou Frou, or some other established colorway as yet undetermined. I'll be dyeing it up this week, you see.

Meanwhile, if I pick your colorway idea to dye up in next week's batches, I'll send you a skein of it once it's dyed up. What do you think? I think this is pretty nifty myself. I'm going to say at this point that I will pick at least 1 and no more than 2 of the colorway ideas I get, because I do need to cap this. But I think it's awesome nonetheless. And I'll add here that it's impossible to win more than one skein, just so we spread the wealth a little. So I'll pick the colorway idea(s) I'll use, and then pick the random drawing winners from the remaining entries.

You know you want to do it, right? Have at it, people! And here is the Rav group post if you want to double your chances.

Oh, and don't forget to leave a way to contact you if necessary, Ravelry username is sufficient if your post doesn't link back to your blog, etc.

20 comments:

Right As Rain Creations said...

I love Watermelon as a colorway - a deep soft pink, a creamy almost white, and a mid-tone warm green. Mmm, delicious!

Rebecca said...

I look at Design Seeds a lot because I am shy about combining colours but find others' palettes inspiring... and one I think would make excellent yarn is all the colours in a pomegranate.

Knitmish on Ravelry said...

I am envisioning a skein of this yarn dyed up in both soft and steel grays, with some soft, medium blue running through it. I think I would call it "Dove". Would look great with some silver in it, I'm sure!

Knits with Penguins said...

A gradient of jewel tones sliding from Topaz to Ruby to Sapphire without repeating, would be awesome.
Like the colors in these vases:
http://www.thisnext.com/item/8B8CF36B/E4ECD763/Eva-Zeisel-Vases
Name of the colorway would have to be "Bijoux"
KnitsWithPenguins on Ravelry and Blogspot.

Anonymous said...

Since the first skein of this I ever got was in Nebula, I can't help thinking of something celestial. (Stars on the brain!)

I'd call it Orion and have it be a dark blue, on into indigo, so dark it's almost black -- not in a navy blue way, so much as in the way that you sometimes get black so dark that it turns blue. And very rarely through the skein, you need bigger stars of white and grey to compliment all the little silver stars.

Since I crochet, I tend to think of these in terms of shawls and scarves instead of socks or anything tighter, and I find that kind of very occasional variance is super effective in something big.

lorraine said...

heres my idea.. the colorway name is Glowing Oak.. and its has olive green, plum, burnt orange,red,mustard...an autumnal result with a look reminiscent of an oak tree with its leaves changing :)

cthulhulovesme said...

One of the sites I've visited recently that really stuck out visually was this collection of images of a sulfur deposit/refinery. Particularly image 10.

Lori said...

How about a soft sage/green/sand blend with a shot of hot reddish orange? The name : Flaming cactus.
My ravelry name is fiberflow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47572547@N06/6208387795/

I am very inexperienced with blogs, so have to give a link to my flickr photo.....

Kitten With a Whiplash said...

A gentle stream, playfully tumbling over slate and granite stones. Soft moss and graceful ferns, a weathered wooden bridge. Occasionally a quick flash streaks by - white, orange, white, orange, white. I call it Koi Pond.

http://www.russellwatergardens.com/images/koiponds/10x10side-l.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8PxAtK4Gq60/TmXL8nDPXHI/AAAAAAAAAP8/e5cB4H-6taU/s1600/Natural+Koi+Pond.jpg

sockrat on Ravelry said...

I would like a combination of very very dark red, ruby red, dark purple with some rusty burnt orange (like embers) peeking through. I would call it "Bloodline".

Unknown said...

I love the idea of one called 'Undergrowth'. Deep, dark mossy greens and browns with touches of brighter golden green like dappled light could be lovely for the winter. Yummy. (I'm moorhouse on ravelry)

Elaine said...

I would use this picture I took when visiting Acadia National Park in Maine. Pic was taken at the top of Cadillac mountain. I would call the colorway - "Go Fly a Kite"
I've included a link to the picture

Go fly a Kite

http://flic.kr/p/at88L3



rav ID: Lainer797

Unknown said...

This is the cover of one my favorite books - The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. I think you should do a colorway based on this, and call it The Blue Sword! It has sandy yellows, golds and pale oranges, then shocks of leaf-green and light blue.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8418499@N03/6214293850/

Lindr said...

I'd like to see 'Deep Winter' - a mix of white and silver with blue-gray shadows mixed in.

lindaran on Rav

~Amanda~ said...

http://d30opm7hsgivgh.cloudfront.net/upload/195809128_5s8FEucp_c.jpg

AmandaTx on Rav

Emily said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Emily said...

"Pink Lotus"

Over here.

(Sorry forgot to include idea for colorway name. Doh!)

sally711 said...

How about the colors of a blue spruce-blue green, grey, little brown and maybe a burst of red for the cardinals that sit in it during the winter.

sally711 said...

I forgot to leave a name too...Winter's Haven

Anonymous said...

I love this color combination and I'd call it Choc Ice.

http://www.colorhunter.com/palette/690346

FelicityS on Ravelry