After today, only four more days of this 12 Days of Christmas give-away series! It’s been a lot of fun reading all the incoming comments – and a lot more reading than I realized it would be when I conceived this whole plan. I love hearing other people’s thoughts about needlework!
These last five days promise some really fun stuff, so I hope you’re still hanging in here with me!
Today’s give-away is courtesy of Renaissance Dyeing, a company devoted to creating natural plant-dyed wool yarns and threads for needlework. Renaissance Dyeing produces a beautiful range of threads for crewel embroidery. They are a pleasure to stitch with, smooth and soft, and the colors are fabulous! I used quite a few of Renaissance Dyeing’s crewel wools in my crewel rooster project, way back when. It’s a great thread to work with!
The winner of today’s give-away will receive the Elizabethan Range from Renaissance Dyeing. This is a range of 27 skeins of wool, dyed using mordants and natural dyes available in the 16th century. The thread is 100% lambs wool and has a nice soft sheen and good coverage. It is a smooth thread, not prone to pilling. And – we’re talking about 27 beautiful colors here!
If you’ve ever wanted to create your own 16th century bed coverlet covered with Jacobean embroidery, you can start with these.
If you are interested in the whole question of hand-dyed threads the “old fashioned” way, you might take a look at the article on woad dyeing in the south of France that Andie wrote for Needle ‘n Thread last September. It’s interesting stuff!
Renaissance Dyeing also carries some gorgeous knitting kits! I’m not an avid knitter, myself, and nowhere good enough to knit up any of these, but I do love beautifully knitted items! Take, for example, these socks and this tam. They make me want to learn to really knit – they’re darling! Maybe that should be a new year’s resolution! (Along with all the other ones I’m bound to break!)
Give-Away Instructions
Today’s eighth day of Christmas give-away winner will receive the Elizabethan Range of crewel wool from Renaissance Dyeing. Please follow these (simple) instructions to be eligible:
1. Leave a comment at the end of today’s article. If you click on this link, it will take you directly to the comment area, so that there are no mishaps! Comments delivered via e-mail or on other articles will not be included in the give-away.
2. In your comment, answer the following question:
So, do you want this range because you’re a 16th / 17th century embroidery fan? Or just because they’re nice wools in pretty colors? (It’s ok to admit either one – I would personally fall in the latter category, I think!)
3. Make sure you leave a recognizable name either in the body of your comment, or on the “name” line above the comment box. For example, if your name happens to be Elizabeth, you might include a last initial or a location to differentiate yourself from any other Elizabeth that might join in.
4. Leave your comment before January 9th, 2012, at 5:00 am Central Standard Time (Kansas, USA!). All winners for this series will be selected on January 9th, and announced that day here on Needle ‘n Thread. You’ll have to check back on January 9th to see if you’ve won, because the winners will need to contact me within 3 days to claim their prizes.
Merry Eighth Day of Christmas!
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