August Colorway Contest...

...and you will be the inspiration for a new colorway! Here's how it will work:

I want you to send me your beautiful photographs, I'm looking for content and color in the photo, it doesn't have to be a perfect photo technically, you don't have to be a great photographer for this contest!  We here at All For Love Of Yarn will narrow the photos down to the 5 that I think I can produce the most beautiful yarn colorway. Then it is up to you to vote on which one you like the best and that will be turned into yarn, on the base of my choice, that will work best for the colorway. The winner of the favorite photo will win 1 full skein (around 400 yards, either fingering or sport weight) of yarn in the new colorway! This is a sock yarn club listed in my SHOP. (Several months at a time or single months.)

Rules:
Submission of photos:
August 1st through August 15th. Submissions before and after these dates will not be accepted.
Photo Specifications:
One entry/photo per person.
It might be posted on my blog, so don't send anything you don't want the public to see.
Photo must be taken by you, not snagged from the internet.
Photo cannot be of yarn. 
Respectful and tasteful photographs please.
No person's faces please.
I have all rights to accept or not accept any photo for any reason without explanation.
Send photos as an attachment with these specs please: Jpeg format, around 1200 pixels wide. Please do not send links to online photo albums, only attachments. Thanks.
Send  photos to: allforloveofyarn@gmail.com
Include with your email a name I can use on my blog to give you credit for the photo.  

Voting will be August 17th through 28th. I will post the top 5 photos and you will have a chance to vote on your favorite, the one you would like to see turned into some beautiful socks perhaps, or whatever you can imagine!  The winner will be announced before the end of August.

I will dye the yarn inspired by the winning photograph and the winner will receive one skein at the beginning of September, sometime before the 15th of the month.  It will be a fingering/sock weight in either hand painted variegated, kettle dyed variegated, solid, or semi-solid, around 400 yards, my choice.

You may post your photo in my Ravelry group: All For Love Of Yarn! There is a specific thread for August photos.

The Winner is...

...Lilly from Helen Georgia with her beautiful and very inspirational Autumn Path photo. This photo was taken on Lilly's wedding day! What a beautiful place for a wedding and thank you so much for submitting it.  Lilly, you can expect your skein in the mail soon!

My favorite photo was the Bluebird, so you'll be seeing some yarn in the shop like it soon. Since this one didn't capture my eye as quickly as the Bluebird I thought long and hard about how I wanted to dye the yarn for Autumn Path. I have been on a similar path in Russia and thought about how I felt when I walked on it. I remember feeling the bristling of the turning leaves and smelling the fresh and crisp air of autumn. I wanted it be a soft color, like the soft leaves, yet I wanted  it to capture the brilliant colors of the leaves and ground. I didn't want it too contrasting so that it flows nicely in a knitted piece. I imagine walking and seeing the dark ground with most of the color all around me. I went from there and I think I have a beautiful landscape on the yarn! Here is a sneak peak!

 Now, I need your help again! I'm terrible at naming my yarn, it's the worst part of my job actually. So, leave a comment and tell me what you think it should be called! Thank you to all who participated this month;  I look forward to next month's photos! Keep em' coming!

I've decided to keep it's original name, I don't know why I thought it had to be renamed anyway! So, it's called Autumn Path, how could we come up with a better one really? Silly me!
~ Angela

Phat Fiber...

...samples have been sent in for the August box! Well, actually I sent them in a while ago. You can find more information here about the Phat Fiber box. It's always chocked full of fibery goodness for you to play with!  More information about these yarns is found in the pages on the right hand side of this blog.

Resplendence in Mystic Turquoise

Opulence in Golden Sunflower

Nogi in Autumn Smoke

With every purchase from my shop I send out samples of other yarns for you to touch and feel, it could be some of these or I have others of course. It will always be a fun surprise to you! All are available in my shop.

It's your last day to...

...vote! Blogger is a little slow to update so I'll give it a day or so before I announce the winner, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be the Autumn Path! I'm so sure that the yarn is in the dye pot right now and it's gorgeous as far as I can tell, it's still wet you know, it changes a bit when it's dry and re-skeined, but usually it gets even more beautiful!! I can't wait to send it out to my yarn club subscribers! I will also have it available as a month to month purchase, but it is in your best interest to subscribe if you think you'll plan on getting more than one month's inspiration. In the long run it will be less expensive since the yarn and shipping are discounted. I understand that many cannot afford to fork out this much money at one time so I want to offer it month by month, too. There will also be other goodies with the clubs and sometimes one of a kind yarns, that are not a part of my usual line up that I carry. For the reason of the yarn club I cannot reveal the final photos of the yarn, just a sneak peak. I'm sorry, but it just wouldn't be fair to the club subscribers and I hope you understand! I do plan on dyeing up some of the other inspirational photos this month, which will be revealed and for sale in the shop. I will have a listing for a pre-order of the August colorway in my shop.  If you want it on a different base just let me know via a conversation at my Etsy Shop. It won't be available again for six months.

It's here, it's here...

...Katya's kitchen has arrived and she loves it! So does David, it will be a great learning to share toy for sure! All of her fun birthday gifts fit perfectly in all the little drawers. She saw the box being delivered this morning and with all the pictures on it she didn't even realize what it was and that it was for her! Daddy took it into the office and put it together while the rest of us picked up and organized the toys, putting some of them away, baby toys and things they are tired of playing with. When I get them out again they'll be just like new to them; it works great!
So, the kids and I went into the bedroom while Daddy brought out the kitchen to the living room and here's a few photos of Katya and David discovering the kitchen! Katya has always loved playing at her friends and her cousins homes' with their kitchens and she is delighted to have one of her very own! It's been a wonderful morning of making pizza and cookies and the pot and pan that came with the kitchen even sizzle and boil! "Awesome" says Katya!

Another birthday...

...this time it's my daughters 3rd birthday and we celebrated all weekend. The big family party on Saturday and just us on Sunday. She absolutely loved her Cinderella cake! It was so fun to decorate it, I did pretty good I think for my first "real" decorating job.

It was a hot sunny day so we spent the afternoon in the pool, Katya's favorite thing to do in the summer! She opened her presents throughout the day, all were a huge hit...kitchen play things to go with her new kitchen (that isn't here yet!) from Mommy and Daddy and her own glass slippers just like Cinderella!

Today we sang Happy Birthday to her throughout the day and played all day with her new kitchen toys, making and eating pizza and cookies, noodles and soup! What a blast it will be when the kitchen arrives! She's gonna love it!!
As my little Cinderella was falling asleep in my arms tonight she wrapped one arm around my neck and said: "You are my best friend." She's only 3....sweet dreams my sweetheart.

Free Shipping...

...today in my shop.

It is my birthday today and it began this morning at 3:30 when my son decided he wasn't tired anymore and climbed out of bed, totted into the living room and began to play. Huh! It's 3:30! After about an hour my daughter woke up, oh great because when they are both awake, they play off each other and we might as well get up, it's no use trying! So, around 5 David fell back to sleep and then Katya and I fell asleep to Fox and the Hound...David awoke again at 8 and we all fell back to sleep until 10! Way to late, we were suppose to be at the water park by then! Needless to say our plans have changed for the day!

When I got up I found this lovely bouquet of roses on the table from my husband, he brought them home from work after I was in bed sleeping. 40 roses! Wow! I don't even have a vase that will hold that many, thus the water pitcher!

Katya and I made her birthday cake (her 3rd birthday is on Sunday), she loves making, well eating cake! It's going to be a Cinderella cake so I had to bake it in a bowl, I just took it out of the oven, it's a bit cracked, but I think it will work -- I hope!

While the cake was in the oven I did a little dyeing! I couldn't not do some today on my birthday, one of my favorite things to do and I've been wanting to do this color combo for a while now! Great shades of green, turquoise and blue! I love it so far, it's steaming now!

I even got in some re-skeining while David took a nap for my updates next week to the shop! I've got some beauties to add! Next up in the dye pot I'll working on the July colorway contest, I'm so excited to do it!!

We topped the day off with a night out on the town...family style! We had some fun at the mall on the carousel and then went out to eat at Red Lobster, I was thirsty for an Alota Colada! (pina colada, but bigger and with a shot of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum..YUM! YUM!

How Sweet...

...it was to see David cuddle up to Pappa to take a nap! He didn't want me, I tried but he climbed off my lap, ran to Pappa and so peacefully fell asleep within a few mintues on his lap! I was a bit envious at the time, but it's so nice for me I will admit!

Fun Summer Treat...

...the best yet Orange Julius...with ice cream! I love an orange julius and ice cream so why not make an ice cream orange julius? I loved making these on hot summer days when I was a kid; I'd spend most of the day care free and swimming in the back yard with my 5 siblings. Those were the days! This morning I took the kids to the water park for kids day and an orange julius sounded so good when we got home! Katya slurped hers up so fast and said this is so good Mom, I need more!

Ice Cream Orange Julius
Fill a 6 Cup blender 1/2 full of vanilla ice cream, not too tightly packed, but not too loose either.
About 6 ice cubes or so.
Almost 3/4 can frozen concentrate orange juice.
About 1C milk.
2-3 T sugar.

Now, I always just make this up as I go along and taste and add, taste and add. We like to drink ours,  not runny, somewhat thick, but still drinkable, straws would be fun, but I didn't have any.

You may need to add a little more milk, better go less you can always add more after you taste it or it's just too thick to blend.
Enjoy! ~ Angela

Blogger Troubles...

...apparently I'm not the only blog having trouble with the polls, they are not updating right now. I have looked into this and will continue to do so! Keep on voting, one person said her's updated at the end of the day, so we'll see what happens, thanks for hanging in there with me! 

Top 5! Photos...

...are in! I just couldn't wait another day to post these! I also couldn't just pick only 3! Here are larger photos of all those you see above in the same order. Have fun voting! Remember voting closes on July 28th at 12 midnight CST.

Congratulations to the top 5 photographers! They are listed in no particular order, it was a hard choice. I would love to use them all for inspiration in my dyeing adventures, if only I had all that time!  Thank you to all of you who submitted a photograph; it was a delight to see them all! ~ Angela

#1. Disney's World of Color Show by Cheryl

#2. Blue Bird by Eskimimi (Ravelry name)

#3. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona by Kim

#4. Autumn path in Helen, Georgia by Lilly

#5. Cruiseship in Autumn byWhit2Pearl2 (Ravelry name)

You asked...

...I have given! Here's the link to most of the photos in the July contest. I was only able to upload a certain file size for now, I'm very sorry if your photo didn't make it this month. I'm not promising I'll be able to put them on Flickr every month for various reasons. I have all of the photos on my computer and each and every one of them will be considered for the top 3! Thank you for your understanding! ~ Angela

Good summer...

...fun! The kids and I went to the county fair this afternoon after Pappa went to work (we all went yesterday to the donkey races and ate some good ole fair food) and we loved the "petting zoo". David was fearless and stuck the food right in their mouths!  Katya a bit more fearful to let them eat out of her hands, but in the end they didn't want to leave!

  Katya loved riding the pony, no fear here!!

And Momma loved the Alpacas...oh so soft!!!

Come join us on...

...ravelry! I've created a group and you may join us here if you like. I've created a thread to post your photos that you submitted for the contest. I know July's is almost over, but you'll be able to do it for next month for sure.

Thank you to all of you you sent in a photo, they are all inspiring and I wish I had time to turn them all into yarn! If I do I will post the photo and the yarn for you all to see!

Voting starts on Saturday, the 17th of July. It's going to be a tough decision! If yours doesn't get chosen and you think it's good, enter it again next month, I'd love to see some of them back again and I'm excited to see others as well.

Good luck to you all! I'll have some help in deciding on the top 3, more heads are always better than one!

~ Angela

July is almost...

...half over already! It will be time to choose the top 3 photographs for my monthly colorway contest! It is going to be a tough decision, all of the entries are really good and inspirational! There are a few days left to enter the contest, so get your cameras out or go through your images and send me a photo that you think will make beautiful yarn! You don't have to be an experienced photographer for this contest;  it's not the quality, but the color content that I'm looking for! Scroll down a few posts for more details because on July 17th you could see your photo as one of the top 3 to vote on! Good Luck! ~ Angela

It's my birthday...

...this month and we are celebrating all month long in the shop. Keep your eyes peeled for surprises -- things could change any time! 

For every skein of yarn purchased during the month of July you will be entered to win a skein of yarn!

Be sure to enter the photography contest (post below this one). You could wind a skein of yarn with the inspiration coming from your photograph! Good luck!