PlanetJune Craft Blog

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YarnCraft interview and contest

YarnCraft podcast

Note: Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of this post!

YarnCraft, Lion Brand’s knitting and crocheting podcast, will air its 100th episode on September 13th! You can catch up on any episodes you’ve missed at the YarnCraft blog, or listen directly through iTunes.

The YarnCraft hosts, Liz and Zontee, are on a celebration blog tour, and today they’ve stopped at PlanetJune for a chat…

June: When you’re not podcasting, what are your roles at Lion Brand?

Liz: I do the product development at Lion Brand, which means I am in the lucky position of getting to work directly with mills to produce our new yarns!

Zontee: I work in marketing on content and outreach. I edit our various email newsletters like The Weekly Stitch and YarnPlay, oversee our blog (The Lion Brand Notebook), produce the podcast, and develop content for our website. I also work on our programs at yarn conventions and festivals and work with artists and designers who use our yarns, which means I get to spend a lot of time getting out in the yarncrafting community.

June: You’re both very knowledgeable! Has working on the show broadened your knowledge? And what’s your favourite yarncraft?

Liz: Working on the show has definitely encouraged me to learn a lot more about yarncrafting. We have such great guests that all specialize in different areas, so we get a lot of great information from them. And our listeners always challenge us with unique questions, so we have to do our research to bring them the right answers!

Zontee: One thing I’ve learned about teaching others is that it makes you more aware of the skills you already possess and just how difficult it can sometimes be to explain them. Working on the show has made me more appreciative of people who teach crafts and teach in general, because it really is a skill. I don’t think either Liz or I can really pick a favorite yarncraft, since we’re both multi-craftual. I’m just going to say that I think every craft has its strengths and its place in the world.

June: What’s your favorite YarnCraft episode?

Liz: I love all the episodes with Lily Chin because I always learn something new whenever she’s on the show. My all-time favorite tip is taping your swatch to the wall to measure gauge to get more accurate numbers!

Zontee: I like the episodes when we answer listener questions, because I think that they’re the episodes that cover the most varied, and in the end, probably the most useful advice for our listeners’ daily crafting lives.

June: Liz, I mentioned on Twitter the other day that I was having trouble finding good yellow shades for my amigurumi and there was a lot of agreement. Is there a particular reason for the lack of yellow/orange shades of yarn?

Liz: Generally if it’s hard to find a certain color, yarn weight, or fiber, it’s because that type of product has not sold well for retailers in the past. Yellow and Oranges have typically not been strong sellers in yarn. Even though these have been trendy colors in fashion the last few years, a lot of customers are hesitant to wear yellow and orange, or use it in home dΓ©cor. We have a great article on our website about Natural Dyeing with food and spices that produced some nice yellows if you want to experiment and make your own.

June: That makes sense; I wouldn’t want to wear yellow/orange shades either – I’d only use them to make flowers and animals! I’d love to try natural dyeing; unfortunately I’m sensitive to wool and acrylic won’t accept dye – it’d be a great solution for people who can work with wool though.

Thank you, Liz and Zontee, for taking the time to chat with me!

Win Vanna’s Choice yarn and a PlanetJune pattern!

Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn

I love to design amigurumi patterns using Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice yarn. It has more substance than many other worsted weight yarns, which makes for really nice shaping on my amigurumi, and there’s a huge range of lovely muted colours to choose from.

PlanetJune crocheted amigurumi designs made using Vanna's Choice yarn
All these PlanetJune crochet patterns use Vanna’s Choice yarn

Liz and Zontee are giving one lucky reader three balls of Vanna’s Choice in the colour(s) of your choice, and I’ll kick in a free PlanetJune pattern of your choice too, to give you a project for your new yarn!

To enter: just leave a comment on this post, letting me know which shade(s) you’d choose for your 3 balls of Vanna’s Choice if you win (and as you can make at least two amigurumi from one ball, I’d recommend you choose a selection of colours!) and which pattern of mine you’d like!

The contest is not US only (yay!) – you can enter if you have a shipping address in the US or any of the countries Lion Brand can ship to. (If you’re from outside the US you’ll be responsible for any duty and/or import taxes on the prize.)

You may enter until 6pm (EST) on Thursday September 15th 2011. I’ll draw a random winner from all the entries after that time.

Good luck!

171 Comments »

  1. Simone said

    Thanks for this contest and congrats to the winner! πŸ™‚

  2. Rayleen said

    I may be too late, but I’ll post anyway…

    I’d love to receive a bit of yarn in white, charcoal grey and chocolate brown, and I’d make the yeti and his cousin the sasquatch because how could you pass up that sweet little face?

    • Rayleen said

      Definitely too late, and too lazy to check time zones! Oh well, congrats to the winner!

  3. arbitrarily said

    I’d choose the third dinosaurs pattern to complete my collection, and choose dusty rose, dusty purple and dusty green.

  4. Carlyn said

    I would love toffee, cream and antique rose. Fox pattern would be lovely. Thanks!

  5. Carol said

    Whoo hoo! I borrowed my husband’s computer, (we’re on vacation, will return home on Saturday) and was catching up on Ravelry. This is a great article, I enjoyed it very much!

    Colors: Taupe, Linen, Espresso

    Pattern: Aardvark

    Thanks for hosting the contest!

  6. Linda C said

    I’d make the Fruit Bat. Brown, black and white. Love your patterns

  7. I’d like Scarlet, Sapphire and Fern. The animals are adorable…

  8. Melissa said

    Frogs, in Scarlet, Sapphire, and Fern.

  9. Sarah said

    I love the little dinosaurs! I would pick Dusty Blue, Fern, and Honey

  10. Angela said

    Mustard, Honey and Olive (all food colors…LOL!) for Dinosaurs! πŸ™‚

  11. DIANNE STRICKLAND said

    i love all the dinos would choose fern and toffee with a few surprize colors just for fun

  12. tracey hoard said

    Yarn colors: magenta, toffee, & mustard.
    Pattern: fruit bat.
    I love all your patterns…. I already own copies of all your dino patterns. πŸ™‚

  13. kathy pepples said

    Teal lavender and yellow frogs

  14. Megs M said

    Tangerine Mist, Toffee and Aqua. I’d totes make some lil dinos!! I’m a big fan of Vanna & her various Choices πŸ™‚

  15. Jessica R said

    Chocolate, espresso and toffee and I’d make bats. So cute and great for Halloween!

  16. Jillian A said

    Brown,black,white and I would like to make a panda and a monkey

  17. kathy perez said

    I would definitely want to try the Dinosaurs Set One and Dusty Blue, Aqua, and Fern. I think your patterns are amazingly creative and so very adorable!

  18. curegirl0421 said

    I’d use Antique Rose, Fern & Eggplant and make a whole mess of little geckos to hang out on my bookshelf! πŸ™‚

    Love your stuff as always, June…congrats on the interview! πŸ™‚

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