Last weekend’s handspun yarn and book giveaway was great because I learned a little something about a lot of you. Many, many, many commenters mentioned that they didn’t spin but were dying to learn how. (See! I do read all the comments.)
That info inspired me to do another giveaway just for you spinner-wanna-bes. And this one is a doozy. The winner of this giveaway will receive a copy of Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning.
The winner will also receive a drop spindle kit from Silversun Alpacas. I’ve ordered this kit before to give as a gift and it is just lovely. The kit includes a top spindle, 2 oz of white/cream wool Top Fiber roving, which is very easy to start your spinning with, and 2 oz. of hand dyed alpaca and wool batt (soft and fluffy as a cloud) wool Top fiber and instructions.
And, just cause I’m feeling good about getting my manuscript in to my editor, I’m also going to send the winner 4 ounces of MVFF/HVFF cormo roving.
Everyone is welcome to enter- not just newbies! Here’s all you have to do: leave a comment in this blog post telling me about your pet or pets. Are you a cat person? A dog lover? A horsey type? A parrot collector? A hamster aficionado? A tropical fish wrangler? Whatever you are, I want to hear about it.
Since this is a BIG giveaway we’ll keep taking comments through Saturday morning at 10 EST, 3/7/2009. Only one entry per person please! The winner will be chosen at random and announced here on the blog. The winner will then have 7 days to contact us and claim their prize.
Please feel free to spread the word on your blog or in your ravelry groups. I’d love to see us break 300 comments on this one, but I can’t do it without you!
GOOD LUCK!
EDITED TO ADD: Farm friend and shareholder Kathy M has super-generously donated two more drop to add to the giveaway!
We will throw in a copy of the book and a selection of our spinning fibers. Your chances of winning this giveaway just tripled!
{ 311 comments }
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
I have 5 cats, Twizzle, Salem, Leta, Scribble and Dizzy. Twiz and Salem predate my kids and are both rescued cats, Twiz is a tiny little cat with no tail, and is frequently called a kitten despite being 9!Salem is a big softy cat, scared of the kids, and is famous for her silent mieow, her mouth opens, but nothing comes out! Leta came from another cat we had who was sadly poisoned a few years ago, very easy going cat, but has a habit of going out the front door and immediately coming round to the back door to be let in.. Scribble and Dizzy are sisters from the same litter, Scribble was my birthday gift to my self, such a sweet little cat…who sleeps on top of the door, literally along the top of the door! Dizzy went to my friend originally but ended up with us after her other cats didn’t get with her. Dizzy by name dizzy by nature! Utterly bonkers, loves the kids to death and is found in my eldest childs bed at night snuggled up.
Never ever a dull moment, more often than not some one is on a mad moment, either on their own, or with another cat, and they are so loud you can hear them running down the hall!
Love my cats to bits, could never ever live without a cat and this lot are just the best, all different but all totally loving and all mine!
Have always been a dog person. Curently have a Corgi, but have had many in the past. Great giveaway, would love to learn to spin.
I love all animals and have had a menagerie over the years – dogs, cats, rodents of all kinds, parakeet, iguana, and fish. We even had a pet crawdad (crayfish) that lived way past his normal life expectancy. I’m a pushover when the kids want a new pet. We currently have one cat – Callie. She is old and has arthritis so she isn’t as perky or the hunter that she used to be, but we love her.
I’ve been toying with the idea of learning to spin so this giveaway caught my eye.
I have no pets but for a very good reason…..I’m holding out for Alpacas! Any pet that comes potty-trained is perfect in my opinion and the added value of fibre…well, lets just say it would be perfect! Their faces are beyond cute and those eyes…yep I’m head over heals in love! Of course I live in the city so it’s not going to happen any time soon.
So many choices! I’ve never had a pet . . . OK, does a newt count . . . his name was Slimy. My vote for sheep names . . . this is a tough one . . . my idea is to use knitting stiches . . . cable, purl, twist . . . though I must admit, I like some of the other ideas much better. Thanks for offering this contest . . . I’ve been thinking about spinning and wondering if I’d enjoy it. Your prize would be one way to find out!
Oh my goodness! This is truly special to me today, because I get pick my beloved cat Captain up from the vet. He had a biopsy yesterday, to see how far along his intestinal cancer is (hopefully, it is still treatable *fingers crossed*), and had to stay at the vets office overnight. Captain is the sweetest kitty, and has had a lot of medical problems lately, but is still in great spirits, and continues to have a good quality of life.
We also have the rest of our Kitty family, Captain’s brother Max, Mom Isabella, and unrelated brother Rocky. Isabella was a stray, who moved into our back porch while pregnant & had her litter there. We kept them all, & Rocky is a tamed feral that moved into our backyard when he was about six weeks old. He now lives in our garage, & is completely tame.
Then there are the birds…Cockatiels Coconut & Bentley, and Parakeets Sailor & Lulu. Coconut started my love for birds – I rescued her off of my neighbors roof, bought Bentley at a garage sale from people that neglected him for 4 years, Sailor was rescued after being left in an apartment by people who no longer wanted him, and Lulu is my one & only purchase from a pet store, to help Sailor learn how to trust people. He watches me interact with her, and is slowly learning.
Those are my “kids”! They are awesome
We are dog lovers around here.We have a Boston Terrier,Purl and 2 Pekingese Cookie and Babymouse.I am forever vacuuming up hair,but it is so worth it.They are just like our kids,spoiled and loving it!
i am a dog fan!..i love my american bulldog, maggie…i’m not too fond of cats, except we do have one named pearl, and she is a rare breed…not the typical needy cat.
and…i’ve always wanted to learn how to spin!
I have two birds, a cockatoo and a black-headed caique. But at my parent’s house I’ve got three dogs, a cat, and some fish. Plus 7 alpacas and a llama (not so much pets). I’ve had cats, dogs, birds (including chickens), turtles, snakes, a rabbit, guinea pigs (including a hairless one!), hamsters, fish and more fish! The experiences I’ve had with animals throughout my life are some of the most rewarding I’ve ever had.
Wow…I am really blown away by this giveaway! So many good things.
I’m a cat person. I grew up with 3 cats in the house. Our orange cat died a few years back and within 2 weeks a little orange kitten showed up in our backyard. Of course we adopted him!
Hiya! I saw ya in Button Addicts on Rav. To answer your question, I’m more of a dog person. I do like that my cat purrs though, which my dog cannot do, heh.
I am a cat person, but I am lucky enough to have the best dog in the world–his name is Pete & he’s a black terrier mix, 19# or so of solid gold. Every day we go on a tromp around the hills & wetlands of Sonoma Co. and we have a blast together. We have 3 cats: Maisy, Matt & Boomer. Maisy is a weentsy gray girl, maybe 7# soaking wet, but she has every human & animal member of the family wrapped around her pinky toe.
We don’t have any pets, due to allergies and the fact that we’re in the US for the summer. We do all love our squirmy wormies that live in our compost pile here tho, and we feed them often. When we’re in the US, there are plenty of squirrels that raid the birdfeeder, which keep the boys happy. But my favorite animals there are the bullfrogs that come out at night! I love these guys. One we call EoieFrog (cause he somehow looks like our youngest did when he was all pudgy and baby), and he hangs out on our back patio at night, slurping bugs. I can sit and watch him for hours. I LOVE frogs.
I was raised by a German Shepherd named Kelly. We had him from the time I was small enough to get knocked over by his wagging tail until I entered Jr. High School. That year, I lost Kelly and entered puberty and it’s a toss-up which was the more life-changing incident. Once I became an adult (more or less) Uncle Sam kept me moving from place to place for many years, so I adopted a long line of stray cats and left a trail of bird feeders where ever I was stationed. Temporarily animal-less, I am learning how to be a civilian now and teaching my students how to garden organically. I am also teaching myself how to knit, which is the first move toward learning to spin my own yarn, with the next logical step being the raising of animals furry enough to make fabric from. Raising them organically, of course. :=)
I love dogs, although I have had cats in the past. No cats now, cause hubby is allergic. We currently have a very sweet 13 year old husky mix girl, one half Siberian husky, one half nobody knows what.
Have I lost MY mind? I have resisted the urge to develop a new addiction but … When we acquired our standard poodle twelve years ago, the breeder told us that everyone in the poodle’s family secretly thinks they are the poodle’s favourite. Actually, I really am Sophie’s favourite.
Don’t tell anyone, but she might be my favourite one in the whole family, too.
Dog lover here. We have a 100 lb. german shepherd/ Doberman Mix. We got him from a shelter (I prefer shelter dogs, why breed more when so many need a home??) He’s big and doofy and great with my kids, esp. my 3yo.
Thank you for this great contest! And what a perfect subject! We have so many different pets from fish to a python, but I suppose the most interesting is that for many years I bred and showed guinea pigs. Yes, there are guinea pig shows! I raised tortoiseshell americans (smooth coats with red, black, white patches), dalmatian americans (smooth white with black spots), and texels (long, curly hair). I don’t raise them anymore but I sure miss the babies that remind me of little lambs!
At the moment, the best I can do for pets is the fish at my boyfriend’s house. We went back & forth about keeping the tank set up, and finally decided to keep it & restock at Christmas time. We lost 2 of the fishies in the post ice-storm black-out, but other than that all are well. We’d love to have a dog (there are 2 who we love in his family, sweet little Toby and strong & beautiful Daisy) and I miss my former sister-in-law’s dog like crazy, but with both of us away from the house for long hours during the work-day, we don’t feel right about getting a dog just yet. Cats are out because of family members with allergies, so for now it’s just the fishies and our dreams of a someday having a dog.
I’m any every animal person, but my own brood includes two Corgis (Clementine and Valentino) and four cats – three are rescues (Noah, Isabella, and Archie) and my four fellow is a big Maine Coon Cat named Dolce. I bet the cats would love to ‘help’ me learn to spin!
God help me if I win this drawing . . . if I bring one more “hobby” into this house one of three things will happen (1) my husband will leave me (2) I’ll have to move out because the “stuff” will overrun us or (3) I’ll have the best collection of hobby stuff in debtors prison. Eeeeeek. Anyhoo . . . Mac is my 9 years-old Westie; we call him Mr. Ears or the Grumpy Old Man. He’s a big ‘ol baby . . . I’ve seen him jump up on the bed, but MUST have help getting up if someone is in the room. He’s a mess. Then we have our second Westie, Gracie, who is affectionately known as our attention whore . . . we brought her home in January, and she’s really a mess. She MUST be the center of attention and demands it at any cost, falling over herself to attain same. Gotta love her. (Note: I want a coffee plant for a pet!!! How divine!)
I’m an animal lover all around!
I have four cats (Reggie, Faye, Arthur and Nora) and a dog named Helen. It’s true what they say – they’re the best friends a girl could hope for.
I am a Hermit Crab mom I have 12 in a 90 gal tank and 4 currently at school playing with the 5th graders. I think they are fascinating but definitely an involved pet. They require almost as much care as salt water fish and tanks. Currently I have 4 species but hope to add at least one more in the next year.
I take my first spindling class in three weeks can’t wait.
Thanks for the giveaway.
i love all types of animals, but am mostly a cat person at heart. i love my fuzzy plump kitty (her name is noodle), but lately i’ve really been enjoying other people’s dogs, especially puppies. i’m not ready to have my own dog, the cats enough work as she’s high maintenance!
We have a dog and a turtle. The turtle was caught in the wild by my son and has a very long story (for another day). However, I have a timely story about the dog and her name. (timely because of the categories for naming the spring babies) When we picked her out we had decided on the name Zoey. The breeder (a music teacher from Ohio State) told us they like to have their dogs register with names referencing composers. After some thought, knowing we would call her Zoey, we sent in her registered name as Zo Zo Ma.
So not only does this comment speak to you of my pets, it also includes my vote for the new baby names – composers!
I am totally an animal person. Those years after I left my childhood pets to go out on my own but before I got my own pets felt a little lacking.
As soon as I was able to take care of a pet, I got a dog. The guy I had just started dating at the time had a cat but also really wanted a puppy. So, he got one pretty much at the same time as I got my dog. 7 years later, we are married and still have those two dogs (Jack and Tchazo). The two of us, the two dogs and our cat (Luna) were a happy little family until we lost Luna to a year long battle with nasty cancerous tumors. It seems we were meant to be a 2 dog and 1 cat family because a year after Luna passed, we added a quirky shelter cat to our family (Fanny). Fanny has been a great fit for us and keeps the dogs in their place.
I am a cat person and have been since the day I was born. I don’t think I have lived a day without a cat in the house. Right now I have four cats – one of them is turning 20 (19?) this month. She is the most gentle, sweetest kitty in the whole world. Cats Rule!
Right now, I have 6 cats, all rescues or babies of rescues. We have Nerml, the first baby of Esme, who was unfortunately hit by a car soon after, and siblings Mohawk, Wuzza-wuzza, and Oatmeal, who are all white except for patched on the tops of their heads (black, grey, and brown, respectively), and who have the same father as Nermal (Snowball – we caught and fixed him the second time around!) but their mother wanted nothing to do with us. We have Bogie, who my dad rescued from the golf course. He was being fed by the people who ran the clubhouse, but the course was about to shut down for the winter and there would be no more food. We have little Gilligan, who came with his sister Ginger, but she was unfortunately hit by a car before she even started to like us. Gilly is very friendly, though. And our newest addition is baby Siddartha, who we found INSIDE our house, eating cat food out of the bag. He is so tiny and soft and adorable, but is is scared and only lets my dad touch him, because my dad just had elbow surgery so he was home 24/7 while Sid was still new to the house. He has a dislocated hip and needs surgery.
For the first time in my entire life, I don’t have a dog. It is driving me crazy. Our last dog had to be chained unless supervised because she bit a bicyclist when she was little (he kicked her), so our fences have fallen into a bit of disrepair. As soon as we have $ to fix them, we will probably do pitbull or weimaraner rescue. I can’t wait.
I also have a desert skink named Ralph, and he is so well-tempered. He likes to go around the back or your neck and just ride around with you, right under your collar. He is just like a little hotdog with legs. So cute!
“Duke” is an 8 lb. ocherese (dog). He is a sweetheart.
We have two cats, adopted from the SPCA. They were found abandoned in an apartment together, and the theory is that female (Mia) is the mom of the male (Noel) cat, but who knows. Mia is the exact same size as when we got her–7 lbs. Noel has grown from 3 lbs to something ridiculous that I don’t even want to think about (I think 15 lbs… I’m hoping not more).
My husband claims to not like domesticated animals and not like the cats, but it doesn’t stop him from picking them up and talking to them. We talk to our cats a lot. Oh, and we trained them to use the human toilet since we moved into a tiny condo. No issues until we went completely litter free, then Noel decided he deserved a urinal as well, and often uses the tub or sink instead to pee (it could be worse…). And the reasoning isn’t terrible, water goes down the tub, sink, and toilet.
My Roscoe is a special boy. He’s a big black lab mix that needs me because he is afraid of everything. There isn’t a sweeter dog anywhere. I just wish he had spinable hair/fur.
I have no pets. It would be so unfair to any pet as I commute to NYC every day from Hyde Park and also trave too much- that is when I do my beswt knitting. I wanted to be in the contest!
Wow, I’d love to spin some of your fleece! And I’ve checked that book out from the library – it’s awesome!
Please enter me into your drawing.
Debbie in KY
Our grandfur, a pug, doesn’t like me to knit as I don’t pay her proper homage then. She taught herself how to pull out a needle to get my attention. Good thing she is so cute and I can still see well enough to pick up stitches.
Forgot to say, we have 2 dogs that work the farm – Balto and Samson. They’re in charge outside, I’m in charge inside. Works well for all.
Debbie in KY
Meow! Hooray, another giveaway! My kitty says thank you! We love to watch the spinning process.
I’m a dog person, & I have 2 schipperkes. Skips were bred to control the rat population on ships. I decided to adopt a guinea pig (smart huh?) and my female would always run up to his cage and bark at him. But, Patches was tough. He would chew on the bars like ha ha try and get me – let me help you with the bars.
I like cats, but I’m allergic. Of course, after I adopted the guinea pig I found out I was allergic to him also. I managed until he went to heaven. No he didn’t go to heaven via the dog – old age did.
I love all animals. Since everybody is talking about their cats i will mention the two here. There are two males who dropped in last October with their mom who left them here and so they have a home here forever. One is solid black named Scooter and the other who i thought was a female for awhile is named, Maizie. I just kept the name it fits him. He is a tabby color. They are sweet and i love them. Raven
I don’t have any pets right now, unless you count my husband… he sure acts like an animal sometimes…
I have a cat who thinks he’s a dog, but he opted to stay with my parents on 150 acres of prime hunting land…
I learned to spin a couple of monthe ago, and I would love to learn more. I have a cat, named Tusse, and he is really fond of the wool I use for knitting. I’m not at all thrilled about he playing with my yarn.
We have 4 dogs – Bea the elderly Doberman, Mitch the totally odd English Bulldog, Sadie Mae (“The Boss”) the Miniature Poodle, and Scylla the manic Labrador/Poodle. Add to that Goosey the Goose, Dutch the Rabbit, and the 4 nameless parakeets. I’d have more if I could.
What a great giveaway! I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.
We have three Newfoundlands (one of which had three puppies 5 weeks ago). They are big sweet dogs and their puppies are sweet too. My favorite dog is the Weimaraner, we used to have one. I miss him a lot!
I’ve always wanted to own sheep or goats or alpacas and make my own yarn. I think it is great that you are able to have your farm and raise animals.
Thanks for hosting a giveaway!
Grace
I have a Russian Blue Cat named Slate (named for his color). Slate loves to watch me knit as well as sit on my lap while I knit. I would love to learn how to spin and have been thinking of buying a spinning wheel in the near future….
I am a city mouse with the heart of a country mouse. I grew up in St. Louis MO with many various pets as a child. I don’t see myself as a dog OR cat person as I love them both equally but for different reasons. Currently I have two cats (no dogs for lack of a yard). Trixie is my old snuggle grouch who is about 12 yrs old and a very unique American Bobtail. The source of Trixie’s grouchy attitude is < 1yr Dotty who is a stray short hair tortoise shell that I found under my neighbors porch when she was about 8 wks old. I recently bought a share of the spring harvest for my sisters 30th birthday and thought it might be nice to have my own piece of fuzzyness to play with : )
Have we got critters!?!?!!?
Sadly, we lost one of our beloved cats a couple of days ago. Poor girl had multiple surgeries for breast cancer and was doing well until Tuesday when she began to have trouble breathing. We (the vet included) think that a tumor got inside her ribcage and was pressing on the lungs.
But we still have two cats, one very personable Coton de Tulear pupster, two adorable hamsters, 5 hermit crabs, a tank full of guppies and two ponds full of fish, frogs, etc in the back yard. And we love each and every one of them.
Thanks for your blog – I really enjoy it.
Four cats and one dog, all rescue. The cats Ozzie and Harriet came first and then Marshall and Francis (very large tuxedo Maine coon cats) were rescued from a litter left in an apple orchard. Ivy the very small yorkie terrier (the boss) is our newest addition some say shes like poison but I think she grows on you, therefore her name!
Holy lotta comments!
I am so distracted by that picture of fiber I forget what I am even supposed to talk about……….oh yeah, I like fish. That’s the only kind of pet I can have right now and I have a beta. I would really like a small dog though-like a bichon frise (I think I spelled that right) they are so cute and wonderful.
I love all animals to death but absolutely feel that a house is not a home until there is a cat or two in it. I wish I could do more to help all the people having to give up their pets right now. My heart hurts for them!
Rebecca
I don’t have any house pets due to allergies, but i am anxiously anticipating the arrival of our bullfrog to our little pond in the spring.
Most people who know me know that I’m completely and utterly obsessed and in love with my 4-year-old black lab Oscar. He’s a great snuggler and kisser!
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
{ 1 trackback }