Congratulations Jackie Murton!

Jackie Murton has been a huge supporter of Unplanned Peacock over the last year, and it's past time she gets honored as Knitter of the Month!

She talks about her knitterly life:  "Let's see... I started knitting in 1997 while I was pregnant with my first child. At that time I could only knit scarves. After my daughter came along, I put knitting aside for a while. Then in 2001 while I was carrying my twins, I was put on bed rest and picked up my kitting again to beat the boredom. That is when I learned to read a pattern and I knit their christening outfits. A dress for my daughter and a sweater and shorts/knickers for my son. 

I began writing my own patterns last year when I realized I was constantly tweaking the patterns I saw in magazines. Especially changing pieced sweaters into seamless. That is when CRCjaxknits was born.  My first published pattern (and my favorite) was my "Sunburst" hat, knit using UPP Diva Sock in Pumpkin. 

UPP is still my favorite yarn to design with. It's beautiful colors and soft hand make it a joy to work with. Plus, it's durability helps it stand up to constant "frogging" that comes with the designing process."

Here are some of her designs, all of them are available here.

 

 

Java at Sunset out of Sunset Carnival Bulky

 

Java at Sunset out of Sunset SW Sport

 

At Autumn's End out of Sunset SW Sport 

 

At Autumn's End out of Sunset SW Sport


 

Wallflower out of Snakeroot SW DK

 

A Hat for All Seasons out of Botanical Twisty Aran (discontinued)

 

Yarrow Fingerless Gloves out of Yarrow Twisty Sock

 

Sunburst Hat out of Pumpkin Diva Sock

 

 

Bring Home Baby out of Waterlily Superwash Fingering Merino (discontinued)

 

Thanks so much to Jackie for her awesome support, designing with our yarns, providing FREE patterns, and writing patterns for our Fairy Tales Yarn Club!  UPP couldn't do it without you!

 

If you are interested in becoming Knitter (Spinner, Crocheter, Weaver, Felter) of the month, send your finished UPP project pics to sheep@unplannedpeacock.com.  You may win a free skein of yarn!!

 

 

Read more

Knitter of the Month June!

I've been remiss about running Knitter of the Month during spring festival season.  I hope you all will forgive me!  Without further ado, here we go for June!  You can vote from now until Friday, midnight.

Renee Feamster

Sunburst Hat (designed by Jackie Murton) in Rose Diva Sock

Renee runs a darling little yarn shop in her parent's old farm house in Lewisburg, WV.  Taking a trip to the Country Road Yarn House will reward the fiberista with gorgeous views and a nice selection of yarn (including Unplanned Peacock).  

 

Barbara Jacksier

Lazy Katy (designed by Birgit Freyer) out of Maypole Superwash Fingering Merino

Barbara is an avid lace knitter, and she has made a lot of shawls out of Unplanned Peacock.

 

Jennifer Crow

Travelling Companion Shawl, designed by Karen Strauss, Forest Superwash Fingering Merino and Whippoorwill Peacock Sock

 

Jennifer is an accomplished knitter who has helped Unplanned Peacock at shows.  She's been a friend and supporter for years!

 

Time to Vote!

 

Who should be Knitter of the Month?
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Interested in becoming Knitter or Crocheter or Spinner of the month?  Upload your pictures onto our website, or email me photos!   It's easy to do - just find the color of your yarn and upload it onto that page.  You may win a prize!

Read more

Congratulations, Tonya Willett - Knitter of the Month!

 

Tonya in her Forever Scarf out of UPP fingering in a one of a kind color way

Tonya is an amazing knitter.  I've met her numerous times at fiber festivals and yarn shops in NC and she always shows me her amazing new projects!  Tonya has been kind enough to contribute pictures to our site.  Here's what she says about her knitting and crocheting life:

"My name is Tonya, I've been crocheting for about 20 years and knitting for about 10. I taught myself to crochet from a book when I was pregnant with my oldest son, who is now almost 20, a baby blanket that I still have. I always wanted to knit but ended up being a single mother of two boys with a full time job and not much time but I really loved the look of knitting, especially socks. In 2003 I came down with 'Cogan's Syndrome' leaving me completely deaf and bedridden for months. I got myself a book, a ball of sock yarn and some dpn's (this was before the day and age of 'magic loop') and swore at everything for about 2 days and finally produced a sock. (who starts knitting by learning socks from a book? I had no idea what I was doing!) I knitted socks like crazy, drawers full. For me, for the kids, for the neighbors, friends, socks, socks, socks. Then someone said to me 'why don't you knit other things?'. I didn't really have a good answer and that kind of prompted me to broaden my horizons and start knitting everything, also expanding my obsession. Now I knit everything, all the time. I'm only slightly deaf now (I have a cochlear implant), and not bedridden anymore. I  just went back to school in January along with having another son, making for a total of 3, ranging in ages from 4 to almost 20. To say I'm busy would be an understatement but I always make sure I find a little time at least to knit every day and try to get in at least one good knitting day a week to keep my sanity. It is a dream to eventually play around with dying as well but where I live right now doesn't provide me with the area I need to explore that so I will settle for expanding my stash and knitting as fast as I possibly can. Feel free to add me or check out my projects on Ravelry: Tmarie2009.   =)"

Here are some of Tonya's projects:


Socks out of Sun Conure


Socks out of Bluegrass


Midsummer Night's Socks out of Lime


Quincy Q Monster by Rebecca Danger out of Winter Peacock Sock



Read more

Congratulations Cat Leonard, December's Knitter of the Month

Cat is a regular and familiar face at yarn shops and knitting get-togethers in Roanoke and Blacksburg, VA.  She's always a friendly face who can teach anyone how to knit.  She's a frequent Unplanned Peacock Knitter!


A Hat for All Seasons, knit from Dragon Twisty Aran


When Cat Leonard was seven years old, her mama taught her to knit and purl.   Then she proceeded to NOT do it for the next 45 years.  She grew up, married her high school sweetheart, raised a bunch of young'uns, and one day found herself with an empty nest, no marketable job skills, and nothing to do but housework.   Yikes!   She had to find something and find it fast to avoid doing all that housework.  Quilting?  Naw.....too fiddley.   Painting?   Hmmm, don't you need talent for that?  Martial arts?   Not with worn out old knees!   She wondered if she remembered how to knit and purl.  A quick trip to Walmart, one skein of Ugly Plasticky Red Heart Yarn (but, of course, she didn't know any better), and a cheap set of Bates Highly Annoying Aluminum Needles (remember she didn't know any better) later and  Cat was in business.   YES! She remembered how to knit.   And YES!  She remembered how to purl.  And YES!  She could continue to avoid housework while diligently justifying a sedentary lifestyle as long as those needles were clickin'.   Happily, her skills improved, she learned how to read patterns, and her taste in yarn and needles reached Rolls Royce levels.  Today, her stash is impressive and her collection of UFO's (unfinished objects) is legendary.  Her favorite item to knit is socks(because that is the only project she ever really finishes), and her favorite yarn with which to knit them is Anything Unplanned Peacock. 

My name is Cat Leonard and I approved this message. :)


Would you like to be Knitter, Crocheter, Spinner, Weaver or Felter of the month?  Simply send me your photos of your completed projects!  We have a contest every month and you could win free yarn!

Read more

Congratulations to Laura Goodman, November Knitter of the Month!

Laura is a terrific knitter and designer.  She has been a long-time supporter of Unplanned Peacock Studio, and she designs patterns as well.  She specializes in detailed lace and cable designs.  You can see her work at Dragonwing Arts and her patterns are for sale on Ravelry.

As you can see from her awesomeness in this photo, which was taken during last year's Unplanned Peacock Open House, she has knitted a lot of things from Unplanned Peacock Yarn!  She is one of the guest designers for this year's Victorian Vintage Yarn Club, and she is planning on returning to design for our 2013 yarn club.  Some of her designs include:


Victoria Socks for the UPP yarn club - Pattern will be for sale in 2013


Nasturtium Mittens done with Nasturtium Twisty Sock - these were from the Herbal Yarn Club 2011


Chicory Shawl done with Chicory Diva Sock - This was from the Herbal Yarn Club 2011


Spring's Beginning Scarf done with Bluegrass Twisty Sock



Aeolian, by Elizabeth Freeman, from Knitty, done with Moss Merino Silk Lace


Tapestry Socks done with Tapestry Peacock Sock for the 2012 Victorian Vintage Yarn Club

You can tell she is prolific AND talented!  Join me in congratulating Laura as UPP's November Knitter of the Month!

Do you want to be Knitter of the Month?  Email us pictures of your finished projects to sheep@unplannedpeacock.com!  The winner gets a free skein of yarn and is featured on our blog!


Read more

November Knitter or Spinner of the Month!

 It's election day!  (no, not that election, we don't talk about such ugly things near the yarn!  BUT I HOPE YOU ALL VOTED!)

It's time to elect our November Knitter of the Month!  Our nominees are:

Jennifer Crow

Jennifer knit up a plethora of darling baby and doll clothes out of UPP!  



Doll Socks out of Twisty Sock in Ultramarine and Peacock Sock in Poppy



Array Baby Sweaters out of Quaker and Kiskadee Superwash DK





Tiny Socks out of Quaker and Kiskadee Superwash DK



Otis Baby Hat out of Quaker Superwash DK
(she got all of these DK projects out of 2 skeins of our DK yarn!)



Vanilla Socks out of Primrose Superwash Merino Fingering

Jennifer has been a booth helper for Unplanned Peacock, and she used to work for Wyrd Sisters Yarn in Roanoke, VA, before moving to Maryland to pursue a career in museum work.  

Sheri Leigh Houghton

Sheri works at the two locations of A Row of Purls in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Whiteville, North Carolina, where she manages the shop with her mother, Barbara Blackmon. 



Baby Sweater made of Snakeroot Superwash Merino.

Laura Goodman

You will remember Laura from our contest last month, but she's a productive knitter and pattern designer!  Here is her latest design (not published yet, will be published in 2013).  Laura's patterns are available for purchase from Dragonwing Arts on Ravelry.



Socks in Peacock Sock

Jackie Murton

Jackie has been designing things right and left with Unplanned Peacock Yarn.  She sells her patterns (including this one) on Ravelry.



A Hat for All Seasons made from Twisty Aran in Botanical 
(Twisty Aran is not on the website - it is being discontinued, but you can substitute either Superwash Merino Worsted or Bulky)

Christy Straight

Christy is an old friend of Unplanned Peacock, and she's a terrific spinner.



Handspun 3 ply fingering weight yarn out of Lychee Merino Top

We have a lot of great entries this month, show them some love by voting for your favorite!  

Vote for your favorite fiber artist!  They will win free yarn and a guest spot on our blog.  
Support all of our artists by purchasing their patterns.  All of these people are working very hard to bring you awesome things to knit and crochet.

Voting will close on Friday, November 9, midnight!  
We have this contest every month, so be sure to send in your entries for December!  Email to sheep@unplannedpeacock.com.


Who should be November Knitter or Spinner of the Month?
 
 
 
 
 
  
pollcode.com free polls 
Read more

Congratulations to Orla Carey, October Knitter of the Month!

photo by Erika Morton

Orla Carey has been crocheting since her mother taught her as a child, but for the last 4 years has been concentrating on knitting.
She is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), which is a medieval and renaissance re-creation group.  She makes bobbin lace, bakes and sews in her spare time.  She lives in the Washington DC area with her two housemates and her cat.  A friend introduced her to Unplanned Peacock yarn at an event several years ago and now Orla collects hand dyed yarn whenever possible.


I have known Orla for years now, although we only get to see each other when I rarely go to SCA events.  Alas, that entertaining part of my life pretty much ended when I started travelling to fiber festivals.  I highly recommend doing things with the SCA  if you are interested in the medieval and Renaissance time periods, or if you have kids that are.  The people you meet are amazing, and you can take classes in almost any craft, taught by experts, for free or inexpensively.

Orla has knitted extensively with UPP yarns.  Here are some of her projects:


Marywarmers knit with Frog Superwash Merino Fingering



Twirl knit with Starling Alpaca Sport


Hand Charmer made with Sun Conure Superwash Merino Fingering


Thanks so much Orla, for making such beautiful projects with our yarn!

If you want to enter into our monthly Knitter of the Month contest, send us pictures of projects you have made with our yarn.

Orla Carey

   

Read more

October Knitter or Crocheter of the Month

Check out the fantastic projects submitted by our knitting and crocheting friends for the month of October!  

The competition is stiff.  
We are so lucky to have such talented and creative people designing and making gorgeous things with our yarn!



Jackie Murton

 

Jackie designed this pattern, and you can buy it on Ravelry.



Sunburst Hat designed by Jackie and made out of Pumpkin Diva Sock









Orla Carey

   

Handschmeichler (Hand-Charmer)  made with Sun Conure Superwash Merino Fingering



Twirl made from Starling Alpaca Sport











Laura Goodman



Tapestry Socks made from Tapestry Peacock Sock 
(only available to our yarn club members).  
Laura designed this sock pattern, and it will be for sale in 2013.









Rohn Strong



Jo-Dee crocheted from Pomegranate Superwash Merino DK





Vestal crocheted out of our Slate Peacock Precious






Wynonna crocheted out of our Wheat Superwash Merino DK

Rohn Strong has designed this whole series of patterns with our yarns.  
You can buy them all on Ravelry as a book, Southern Crochet.






Vote for your favorite fiber artist!  They will win free yarn and a guest spot on our blog.  
Support all of our artists by purchasing their patterns.  All of these people are working very hard to bring you awesome things to knit and crochet.


Voting will close on Friday, Oct 5, midnight!  
We have this contest every month, so be sure to send in your entries for November!  Email to sheep@unplannedpeacock.com.



Who should be October Knitter or Crocheter of the Month?
  
pollcode.com free polls 
Read more
Continue shopping
Your Order

You have no items in your cart