Last Reveal and OFF YOU GO!!

May 19, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader,

I’m so happy to reveal the final prize and open the giveaway! I’m also really excited, because through the generosity of my last benefactor, every will be getting a little something! ^_^

One of the lucky winners will receive a free copy of “The Old Man & The Sea” cardigan by Melissa of Singlehanded Knits fame. This is a gorgeous pattern, y’all. I just finished mine – it’s waiting for a soak and a block – and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The other awesome thing is that you’ll be able to join the Singlehanded Knits Old Man & The Sea Read/Knit Along. Seriously, this prize is basically a ticket to big fun. ^_^

Look at it, though! Ain’t it the cutest!? But that’s not even all! Because Mel is legit actual the nicest person ever, if you’re reading this right now, you’ve just scored yourself a 20% off coupon code for Mel’s Ravelry store!

You can go ahead and use it right NOW! It’s valid until the end of May so get in there quick-quack. Go to her pattern store by clicking the coupon banner above or clicking here.

I mean, sure, I’m happy for any reason to post her cute face all over my blog, but it’s totes legit too! She currently has four patterns and I love them all. <3 <3 <3 They’re all in my to-do queue at the moment. I’m thinking of knitting the Drizzle slouchy hat next as a gift for a friend.

And now…. THE GIVEAWAY IS OPEN, Y’ALL! Yes, it is! Go to the Giveaway page in the navigation bar, or click here. All the instructions are listed there. Have at it! The competition open until next Saturday evening (Australian time), with winners announced on Sunday. So, go check it out!

And truly, especially, thank you so much to all of you who check in with me and follow my crafts and projects and listen to my weirdo adventures (a’la Kate Bush dancing in the backyard etc). Every time I get a comment from you lovely flowers it totally makes my day. This giveaway is a big thank you to you. SMOOCHES ON YOUR FACE. Bit creepy… soz. But, y’know, I think you’re great. ^_~

Which Mel Ski patterns are you going to use your coupon code for? Share below cuz I wanna know!

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All photo credits in this post go to Melissa of Singlehanded Knits. The were used to illustrate the prizes she’s donated and they belong entirely to her.

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A Book Is A Thing I Can Give You, Hurray! PRIZE REVEAL!

May 15, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader,

Before we start, I’ma just give the disclaimer that there is lots of caps lock happening all up in here. What can I say? I’m getting more and more excited about the giveaway. Cue: next prize reveal, aaaaaannnnndddd…. GO!

A while back I bought a couple series of Knitting Daily from Interweave (because I’m a total Interweave and Eunny Jang fan-boy. Not mad.) and one of the episodes featured Kristen TenDyke demonstrating some of the techniques she implemented in her book “Finish-Free Knits”. Picture if you will my shrieking “WHAT IS THIS FANCY YARN MAGIC!? I NEEDS IT IN MY LIFE, I DOES! TELL ME FOR HOW, KRISTEN, PLEASE AND THANK YOU KINDLY TO YOU PLEASE!” while pawing frantically at the screen.* I promptly ordered the book from Interweave. And then Kristen began selling signed copies from her Etsy store. So naturally, I bought myself a signed copy too.

*may or may not have been embellished for dramatic effect but preserves the essential essence of the moment as I recall it.

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And there I was, with two copies. What was a lion of the shy variety to do? Give one to the pretty flowers who read my blog, of course! (Listen up, peeps, that’s you!)

So, if you’re reading this now, you could very well have a copy of this most esteemed and wonderful volume in your own little paws! The giveaway copy is not signed, peeps. That one’s for me. Sorry! I did think about getting another signed one for the giveaway but I couldn’t afford it. Never the less, you’ll still be able to make the most divine and miraculous of creations with NO finishing required other than weaving in your ends. IT’S LIKE WITCHERY WITH YARN. IS THIS BOOK A GRIMOIRE OF FIBER SORCERY? Totes is. True facts.

(P.S. can we just have a moment to admire the green vest in the lower left corner? Yep, it has a hood. BOOM. I’m kind of obsessed with it, and it’s definitely my next project after I finish the never-ending sweater. I’m going to do a man version.)

In the meantime, you can go and show Kristen some love on her website at www.kristentendyke.com or by clicking the banner below. You can get a bo-peep at all the designs in the book just to whet your appetite, or buy some of her other beautiful patterns. Consider yourself enabled. You’re welcome. ^_~

There’s ONE reveal to go, and then y’all can have at it! Are you excited about the prizes so far?

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The first image is a photo of the book itself. The images of designs from the book were used with Kristen’s permission and are credited to Joe Hancock. The last image is from Kristen’s website.

Giveaway Prize Reveal!! A-wooooo!

May 12, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader,

The prize reveals begin in no particular order, starting now! Are you excited!? Are you giddy with delight? Is your extreme enthusiasm causing you to bleed from the nose!? (If you said yes to that last one, rein it in, Betty-Lou. Bit much.)

First up is…

A SET OF MUSTACHE STITCH MARKERS FROM KNITCUBBY!!!!

Look at ‘em! Ain’t they super properly neat!? When the winners are announced, Brittanny will send a set of these out to the lucky knitter who snags ‘em. And I hope you’ll become a KnitCubby addict like me (check out my review here). I totally adore these stitch markers and Brittanny has become a huge supporter of The Shy Lion, which I’m so grateful for.

So! If you want to win these markers (or any of the other prizes to be revealed), stay tuned for the giveaway details. And a huge thank you to Brittanny of KnitCubby for her generosity Y’all should show her some love by checking out her store on Etsy, here!

All image credits for this post go to Brittany/KnitCubby. These are used for illustration only, and may not be the actual set given as a gift.

Wanna Learn the Magic Ring? I’ll Show You!!

May 2, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader (and now viewers, I guess!),

I finally finished my video tutorial for the Magic Ring technique. Have a bo-peep and tell me what you think!

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out in the end, but it was rocky road! I filmed and scrapped it about five times (I guess one-shot magic like a certain Kate Bush interpretive dance video you might remember is a rare and special thing. ^_~ ). Basically, it’s a pretty awkward technique to describe and show in a way that makes sense. Also, I apologize for the grainy intro section. I was trying a different camera which, needless to say, I won’t be using again unless I have full natural light. But, the point is not to look at my silly mug, and I just wanted to get the tutorial out already, so I let it slide. If it had been the demonstration footage – the important stuff – I’d have scrapped it. I try it make the actual process of doing these techniques really clear but I also try to add a bit of silliness to keep it fun. I hope you get a little chuckle here and there. ^_~

ALSO, I have some neat news!

I’ve reached 300 likes on my Facebook page, and you know what that means? GIVEAWAY TAIMZ! Over the next few days I’m going to reveal the prizes in no particular order – I have some super neat ones lined up! – and then I’ll tell you how to win ‘em! I’m really excited, and I hope you are too. I really schwanna give you some gifties! Hurray!

If you have any feedback or suggestions for future tutorials, let me know! You can post ‘em here or in the YouTube comments.

Invisible Decrease Tutorial!

April 5, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader,

How are you? Happy? Healthy? I hope so! Well, I’ve been messing about in a few different programs such as Photoshop – you may have noticed a bunch of cosmetic tweaks to the site – and iMovie. Oooh, iMovie. D’y'know why? Because I made a video tutorial for you! If you recently downloaded my Sittin’ Kitty pattern, you may have noticed that it called for an “invisible decrease”. Perhaps you’ve not come across that one before, perhaps you have, perhaps you didn’t download Sittin’ Kitty but you could use it for your own crochet shenanigans. Whichever’s the case, if you were scratching your head over it, I’ma show you how! Yay!

What did you think? I think the titles are a bit long, so I might try to make a shorter one. Did you find it helpful? What other tutorials would you like to see? Feedback and comments are super appreciated! <3

What are you up to this weekend? I hope it’s stupendous whatever you do, lovely faces! ^_^

New Amigurumi Pattern! Sittin’ Kitty!

March 28, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader,

I’m SUPER EXCITED to share with you my first pattern! Remember Macaroni the yellow cat from my last post? Well, now you can make your own little kitty buddy! Download it here or on my downloads page and on Ravelry. Or click the pic below!

It’s FREE for the next month! Here’s the deal. I’ve proofread it (though I’m notorious for missing things; I think it’s because I know what I’m trying to say so my mind autocorrects things as I read it back. I’m such a dumbo), and I’ve not had it test-crocheted just yet. I will be having it test crocheted in the next few weeks though, so after a month I’ll start charging a couple dollars for it. So, get into it now, peeps! I’m cray-to-the-azy excited, and I can’t wait to see any kitties you guys make. Feel totally free to email me pics or share them on the Facebook page!

If I find any errors over the next few weeks or while I have it test-crocheted, I’ll update the file on the downloads page. If you happen to find any, check there first to see if there are any new revisions (the revision number and date is in the footer) before emailing. But, if you have the most recent revision and have found errors, definitely email me!

Also, keep your eye on The Shy Lion because I’ll be filming a few tutorial videos (definitely for the invisible decrease and the magic ring technique) so if you’re a bit unsure of things, I’ll have you covered. ^_~

Do you think you’ll make a Sittin’ Kitty? I hope you will!

Macaroni The Yellow Cat!

March 25, 2013 | Raynor

Gentle reader,

I have a new little critter to introduce to you, but first I have a few points of news for you!

1. When The Shy Lion Facebook page hits 300 “likes”, I’m going to do a SUPER TOTES PROPERLY AWESOME GIVEAWAY! I hope I’m not overselling it, but I think it’ll be pretty neat, so if you haven’t “liked” le Lion du Shy on FB yet, you can go do that here (but only if you schwanna, FB ain’t for everyone, I know, it’s cool, we can just be friends here, because you’re neat and I like you!).

2. I added the sprites and this new critter I’m about to show you to my Etsy store, so if you want a little crocheted friend, you can get your Picard on and ‘make it so’ (that was terrible, I’m not mad though).

But, now, I wanna introduce you to Macaroni the Yellow Cat!

I had this yellow yarn which is an acrylic one from – yet again – Daiso (I’m properly addicted, don’t judge me). I really liked it and so I just started crocheting without a clear plan. At some point I decided I wanted to make a cat that could sit on his little tushie, so I sewed his legs on at the edge of his body. I think he turned out pretty great. He’s a little roly-poly, but once he’s settled he sits quite happily.

I’m super pleased with his face. I decided he just had to have whiskers; it’s one of my fave little embellishments to make. If I’m honest, I do have to admit that this particular yarn was a little bit difficult to work with. It was a little sticky and not as cooperative as I’d have liked, which wasn’t so bad when crocheting, but became a problem when I was stitching him together. It was super hard to get the stitches to sit right and be neat. But, I got there, and it was worth it because I think he came good in the end.

He’s about three or four inches tall, and in that third pic, he’s sitting on the spool of thread I used to make his whiskers. I’m so hardcore in love with that thread. I’ll be so upset when I’ve used it all up.

And, if you want Macaroni to come live with you, you can buy him in my Etsy store! Hurray! The other cool thing I have to tell you is that while I was making this little guy, I also wrote the pattern for him! I’ll have it up this week, and it’ll be available here and on Ravelry. Once that’s done, I might film a few tutorial videos for some of the stitch techniques used, so keep your peepers peeped for that!

Do you love cats? Have you ever had a yellow or marmalade one? Feel free to post you cat pics on the FB page! Love me some cat pics!