Monthly Archives: December 2013

How many time have you been working on a project and rummaging through your project bag hoping to find just one more stitch marker or a darning needle? Well if you’re like me, not at all. Why? Because I have my very own tool tin! What’s a tool tin? Well, it’s a great altoid-tin sized container that contains everything I might need for a project.  I actually put my own together, but I’m going to replace it with something much more festive. A tool tin from The Sexy Knitter herself!

When I anxiously approached Sarah Wilson to see if she might possibly be interested in giving away a tool tin, she enthusiastically agreed. She was SO enthusiastic about it that I didn’t hesitate to ask if she might be interested in designing a special JMF tool tin. And I’m so glad that I didn’t because we collaborated to come up with not one, but TWO awesome designs.

First there is this tool tin with this adorable picture of FDR, the first lamb born on the farm. FDR with this sideways ears was the inspiration for our logo and it’s a cropped verion of this photo that you see when you visit our blog. It’s hard to imagine that this adorable lamby sired Dakota and Delaware in 2009!

The other tool tin features everyone’s favorite goat, Hannah! Hannah is a favorite because she’s friendly. Maybe even TOO friendly at times. She was a bottle baby and she’s not at all afraid of humans. She’s always expecting a hand out. Susie says that she looks like Julia Roberts, if Julia Roberts were suddenly a goat. I especially love this photo because this is one of the pictures I took on my farm visit in October, and it’s the tool tin that is on its way to become my newest knitting accessory.

Now, what exactly comes in these adorable, altoid-sized tins? All of this:

That’s a stitch holder, cable needle, double ended crochet hook, three different needles, five star stitch holders, measuring tape (which Sarah will try to make green or blue to go along with our logo colors) and a pair of snips that fold up! On the inside of the tin lid, there is a small magnetic strip so those needles stay safely in place. Brilliant, I tell you!

Now, if you’re not enamored of our little lamb or goat image, there are 41 other tool tins that you can choose from. But really, what’s wrong with you? These are the most adorable creatures that have every graced the earth!

If you’re a crocheter, she also makes tins that have stitch markers with lobster clasps, and I can’t think of any reason why she wouldn’t change them out in the JMF tins.

And in case you think that this is all that The Sexy Knitter does, she is also an accomplished designer (with a design in Hitch, which we’re giving away right here) and there are several of her patterns available in her etsy shop AND on Ravelry, so be sure to check out her work!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

We’re so thrilled that The Sexy Knitter is giving away one of her FDR tool tins!

And to sweet the pot, we’re also giving away a hank of Sabine in color #18 Clementine and a Sabine 2013 booklet featuring eight patterns by Tabetha Hedrick!

To Enter, go to The Sexy Knitter and check out her tool tins. Come on back and let us know what your favorite image is. I understand if you’re a little biased, but feel free to mention something other than the awesome ones that she created for us!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Thursday, December 12th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 13th for the winner!

The Sexy Knitter is also giving away a Hannah tool tin in our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t forget to enter there, too!

COUPON
And to sweeten the deal, The Sexy Knitter is offering a 20% off an order of $20 or more! The coupon code is JuniperMoonFarm and is valid through Saturday, December 14th. So make sure that if you’re sharing this with your friends and family you stress the importance of ordering soon. (Or just go ahead and order right now. You won’t be sorry.)

I am not a big jewelry wearer. I like the look of jewelry and I always wear it when I get dressed up because it makes me feel pretty, but I’ve never gotten in the routine of wearing jewelry every day. However, if I got one of these awesome pieces from Sassafras Creations, I think I would be converted. I’ve been a big fan of Sassafras Creations for a long time, even before I learned how to knit. She makes beautiful, inspiring jewelry and other things by recycling knitting needles and crochet hooks and picking only a reasonable number of pieces to share with you was really difficult!

This Needle Chain Link Necklace is one of my absolute all-time favorites. I love the different sizes and colors of the rings. I love seeing the aluminum on the inside of the needles, I love the toggle is made from a needle tip. It’s just adorable! This one is the 17″ length, but it also comes in 21″ length.

But Nancy from Sassafras Creations makes more than just jewelry. One of the other things that she makes is key rings from the end of knitting needles. I used to have a key ring level on my keyring, which was awesomely useful and made sense in the backstage theatre world. But it broke, right about when I got this job and I haven’t replaced it. One of these key rings would be a PERFECT replacement!

I do a LOT of writing on scrap paper. Scrap paper is all over my desk and I’m constantly digging through it. (I need to get it organized, but that’s a post for another day.) I would LOVE it if I could write my notes with one of these amazing Knitting Needle Pens! Supply is very limited because only certain kinds of needles fit the pen parts.

This Totally Tubular Necklace is right up my alley. It’s a little art deco, a little organ pipes, and a lot of awesome. I love that it radiates!

Many of us knitters partake in a bit of wine sipping on occasion. Like when we need to tink back, or dropped a stitch, or have some friends over, or need to steek… so what better gift than Wine Glass Charms, which will help you keep your wine glasses apart from Maggie’s! No more looking at lipstick marks to tell whose glass is whose!

Crocheters, you didn’t think that I was going to leave you out, did you? Crocheters need jewelry, too! And Sassafras Creations didn’t forget you, either. Check out these adorable Crochet Hook Earrings!

And you can show off your hooking pride with this Susan Bates crochet medallion necklace! This is one of those pieces that those in the know will think is totally cool and those not, well… They probably don’t deserve to be your friend, anyway!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Sassafras Creations is giving away one of these awesome Needle and Felt Balls Ornaments! Wouldn’t this look great on your tree? In fact, there are a number of Christmas-themed items in stock!

We’re throwing in a ball of Tenzing in color #6 Mystic Purple and all 8 of our Tenzing pattern Leaflets in The Karakoram Collection!

To Enter, go to Sassafras Creations and pick out some stuff that you find awesome. Come back here and tell us about it! There is so much I didn’t show you that I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to US residents only and is open through Thursday, December 12th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 13th for the winner!

Sassafras creations also donated a pair of Christmas tree earrings to our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t forget to check that out as well!

It’s no surprise to us that we have one of the best Ravelry groups around. The crafters in Juniper Moon Farm Virtual Flock have shown kindness, humor, dedication, and silliness time after time. Both Susan and I feel so lucky to have these women in our lives. There are members that go back almost all the way to when Susan first started the CSA and there are plenty more that have joined along the way.

In fact, I started becoming vocal in the group when Susan first started the  lambcam. I would stay up late watching the cam, looking for pregnant ewes that were about to give birth and I and the other members would keep Susan company (and awake) between late night birthing checks. Then I’d retire for the night and the early morning crew would soon be in to pick up where we left off. We call ourselves the Aunties because we care so much for the animals and we were like worried aunties waiting outside the delivery room door for the good news of another healthy birth.

It was through the Ravelry group that I got to know Susan and Juniper Moon Farm and what ended up landing me the General Manager position here! People are amazed when I tell them that I became General Manager because I started talking on a knitting forum, but when you get to know this group, you realize that it’s made up with people from all walks of life (although we do have a surprisingly large population of librarians).

The common theme with this group is kindness. From Sunshine Aunties to offer a bit of cheer to a group member who’s having a hard day, to offers to send a few yards of yarn so someone can finish that last row on her blanket, to people sending in beads and buttons from all over so that their JMF cowl can have a bit of everyone, or even doing a BFF Cowl Swap, these women buoy each other up in the hard times and remind each other than they can do anything. I love it when a quiet member pipes up with some helpful information on a topic, or requests a little mojo for a hard moment. I love to see how the other members jump in with hellos and welcomes.

I’ve made some wonderful friends through the Ravelry group that I never would have made without it.

So to say thank you for being a Ravelry member, and to celebrate how close we are to 2,000 members in our group, here’s a bonus giveaway!

We’re giving away a ball of Marlowe in color and our 8 pattern leaflets from The Alban Collection!

How to Enter

If you’re not already a member of our Ravlery group, join now. Come back here and leave a comment telling us a favorite memory of friendship. Please include your ravelry name. You must have made at least one comment in the group. A great place to start is the welcome thread. Or if you have made something using our yarn, post in the Show Me the JMF Goods thread. It will be a great ego boost as everyone is sure to ooh and ahh over it! I hope that if you’re new, you’ll find us irresistible and stay!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to US residents only and is open through Thursday, December 12th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 13th for the winner!

Don’t miss out on our Grand Prize Giveaway or any of the other 6 giveaways that are currently open!

I LOVE books. Susan loves books. We both love knitting. So what could be better to get for Christmas than some knitting related books? And who better to get books from than Cooperative Press? Founded by Shannon Okey with the goal of producing books that big publishers wouldn’t because they wouldn’t sell 50,000 copies and paying writers fairly, Cooperative Press is a jewel in the crafting community. They’re always ahead of the curve and producing new material that you’re sure to love.

Like Hank and Gracie Save the Day! This is a charming story written by a yarn shop owner Stacy Klaus and illustrated by her young niece Molly Wade about Hank and Gracie, two West Highland Terriers and how they prevented a terrible tragedy.

Gracie and Hank Save the Day is a story book, but it also includes four patterns, information about West Highland Terriers and how to donate hand-made blankets to hospitals! This kind of giving back to the community is no one-hit-wonder. Stacy Klaus’ yarn shop in Austin, Texas called The Knitting Nest (and you’ll see how that fits into the story when you read it!) supports several do-gooding enterprises, including making scarves for the Special Olympics and Project Linus. (Which reminds me. We’re getting close to the Red Scarf deadline! Don’t forget!)

Here’s a page from the book, showing Hank and Gracie inside the yarn store looking out on the world:

Katya Frankel knows kids. And she knows how to design some beautiful things. So it’s no wonder that there are 24 fantastic patterns available in Head to Toe: Kids’ Knit Accessories.

In fact, there are a number of patterns that I would love to have up-sized for myself! If fact, I have small enough hands that I might be able to make Back Hand Hitch to fit me! Wouldn’t it look great in Tenzing?

Around these parts, we love Tabetha Hedrick! She designed our Sabine 2013 patterns, so it’s no wonder that we adore the Subversive Socks pattern book that she edited (and designed some socks for). This is NOT your typical sock book. These socks have a bit of a naughty mouth, so if you’re offended by some swearing, then you shouldn’t click here to see them all.

We love that these socks have a hidden message that only you need to know about, so if you work for a place that isn’t quite as fun as Juniper Moon Farm you can remember all day that your socks say “Bite Me” so that you don’t have to.

Let’s talk about dishcloths for a second. Knitted dishcloths seem to be one of those items that people either adore or just simply don’t understand. The charm in a knitted dishcloth is its scrubbing power and the bit of luxury that it gives. Dishcloths are GREAT for working out stitch patterns. So if you want to play with a stitch pattern and see how it works, knitting a dish cloth is a great way to learn.  Deb Buckingham features 15 more dishcloth patterns in her newest book, Dishcloth Diva Knits On.

Dishcloths, when paired with a pretty soap, make fantastic presents. They’re fast, fairly mindless, and pretty. This is a perfect last-minute gift idea and with so many patterns to choose from, you’re sure to find a pattern suitable for anyone on your list. Blanche is one of my favorites:

Every once in awhile, Susan and I will see someone come out with an idea that flat out makes us jealous. We wish desperately that we thought of it because it’s just such a good idea! Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock is one of those ideas. Edited by Stephannie Tallent, Hitch features 29 patterns and it’s fun to look through them to figure out which movie inspired each pattern.

One of my favorites is Three Second Kiss by Becky Herrick, which of course is named for Notorius and Hitchcock’s use of dialogue while kissing to get past the censor’s 3 second rule.

GIVEAWAY

Cooperative Press is so kind as to giveaway one digital copy of each of the above titles! So we’ll pick five winners for this giveaway! These prizes total almost $70!

To Enter, go the to ravelry page of at least one of the titles (linked above) and favorite a project that you would like to make from the book. Then come back and let us (and any family or friends reading along) know which book you would like to win!

To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Thursday, December 12th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 13th for the winner!

Cooperative Press is also giving away a one year subscription to Knit Edge in our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t forget to enter there, too!

And if you just can’t wait for Christmas, the books can be purchased directly through Cooperative Press.