The Rocky Road Crochet Stitch Challenge Link Up

Battle of the Stitches Round 1 eBook

It's been a year since our FIRST EVER -  Battle of the Stitches Crochet challenge.  Wow!  That went fast!!  Were you there?  Do you remember all the crochet designs from the challenge?  We used the Rocky Road crochet stitch with Mother's Day for our theme and our challengers came up with some pretty amazing designs that they would love to either give or receive as a Mother's Day gift.

One of the wonderful things about this challenge is that the creativity just starts to pour down on the designers an in every challenge, there have been a BUNCH of patterns designed afterwards using the same stitch.

The Stitch, Sneak Peeks & Games, Oh My!!!

Are you as excited as I am to see the designs this round???  While it's not quite time to see what our challengers have designed, it is time for a peek at what they are working on!

Our theme for Round 4 is "Love is in the Air".  Our challengers have been tasked with choosing a type of love to focus on (romantic, family, pet, sibling, child, friend, etc) and design something that portrays that love.  As with every round of Battle of the Stitches, they were also given a stitch to focus on.  This stitch needs to be their main stitch.  Other stitches can definitely be used, but, they cannot overshadow the main stitch.  What stitch goes better with the love theme than the love knot?  :)

The love knot, or Solomon's Knot, is lacy and flowy...and intimidating.  It can be, anyway.  And, if you've ever searched the stitch, it's rare to find it used for much more than a shawl/wrap.  The wraps are beautiful, but, the purpose of Battle of the Stitches is to push the stitch, and ourselves as designers, outside the box and show that these stitches are versatile, and that a group of designers can work along side each other and use the same stitch and theme and come up with designs as unique as they each are.  The eBook for Round 4 will be released on New Year's Day and will include at least 14 patterns (from our challengers and a couple bonus patterns from our Admins) all using the love knot stitch, and a photo tutorial to show you how to make the love knot as it has been used for this round.

So, how about a little sneak peek at what our challengers have been up to?  Below, you will find their peek photos numbered 1-12.  Let's have a little fun for some nice prizes, shall we?  We have two games to play and two prizes up for grabs.  First, we want to know WHAT you think each design is.  And, second, we want to know WHO you think designed it.

Two people will be randomly selected as our winners.  Each will win a copy of the Battle of the Stitches: Round 4 eBook when it is released on January 1, 2015 (Happy New Year to you!).  The first winner chosen by random.org will receive the yarn winder pictured below.  The second randomly chosen winner will receive a copy of The Crochet Answer Book pictured below.  Awesome prizes, right?  I'd love to have either of these, myself!

And, don't forget to check out the Battle of the Stitches website for your chance to win one of several pattern kits being given away throughout Round 4 and beyond!

Now, on with the games! To enter, comment on this blog post.  Number from 1 to 12.  Next to each number, tell us what you think the design is and who you think designed it.  You have until the end of the day on December 21 to make your guesses (one entry per person).  Winners will be selected on December 22, 2014

Our Challengers:

Melanie Padron -
 3 Boys & A Ball of Yarn

Donna Knox - Articles of a Domestic Goddess

Sonya Blackstone - Blackstone Designs

Stacey Williams - Busting Stitches

Christine Norris - Chris~Cross~Crafts

Kate Wagstaff - Crafting Friends Designs

Rebecca Goldsmith - Desert Diamond Crochet

Lisa Egan - Pink Snail Boutique

Samantha Bagley - Silverdragon Crafts & Critters

Sheri Weber - The Country Willow

Jaqualyn Walker - The Crafty Geekette

Michelle Ferguson - Two Brothers Blankets

Round 3 Design Reveals and Fan Favorite Voting

Each challenger was asked to create a design using the Braids and Cables crochet stitch and Winter Wonderland theme. We love the texture that this stitch brings to each design and it is Perfect for winter items.

What do YOU think of when you hear "Winter Wonderland"?  I love the snow (as long as I'm inside snuggled up with my blanket, yarn and crochet hook)
It's such a beautiful site to look out at the fields and mountains around me after a fresh downfall of snow.  That crisp clean air and sparkly white blanket of untouched snow is just amazing!
 I also enjoy watching my kids play in it and build snowmen or snow families. 

Now that you've tried to guess what each sneak peek could end up being,  head over to the Battle of the Stitches website and see how you did.  All 12 challenger designs have been revealed and the voting has begun.  Go vote for your favorite and be entered to win a copy of Round 3's magazine issue to be released October 1st.  All of these designs in 1 great place  - it's a Must Have!

Round 3 Sneak Peeks: Guessing Game (and giveaway)

Yesterday, in case you missed it, we revealed the sneak peaks of each design in Round 3 on Facebook.  Now that you've seen them all, it's time to make your guesses. 

 

Below, you will find them all numbered 1-12.  In a single comment on this post, number 1-12 and tell us what you think each design is.  You have until Tuesday at 11:59pm CST to comment with your guesses.  On Wednesday, September 24, 2014, we will randomly draw one winner from the comments to win a copy of the October 2014 volume of Too Yarn Cute eMagazine Battle of the Stitches: Round 3, Winter Wonderland edition! 

Be sure to thank Too Yarn Cute for sponsoring the prize.

 

Ready.....Set.....GUESS!!!

Giveaway: Will you get the KO?

It's time to battle it out (enter) for more fan prizes!

• Our first prize is brought to you by The Silk Drop.  This beautiful skein of sport weight Mulberry Silk yarn in Jewel Tones is approximately 52g-53g (approx. 187-190 yards).  I could totally see this as a beautiful cowl or fingerless gloves! 

  

  1 skein sport weight Mulberry Silk in Jewel Tones from The Silk Drop

• Next up, Little Luvies Shop has donated this cute Hello Kitty Amigurumi Pattern Book.  Who do you know that would love a crochet Hello Kitty or Hello Kitty friend?

And, last, but definitely not least, Crafting Friends Designs would like you to enjoy one of her favorite crochet stitch pattern books (definitely one of my favorites, too)!  This book includes 300 different stitch patterns with written patterns and charts for each.  There are so many to choose from, you'll definitely have a hard time deciding which to play with first!  The winner will have their choice of the hard copy or Kindle version of the book.

To enter:

1. Follow Battle of the Stitches on Facebook.
2. Follow The Silk Drop on Facebook.
3. Follow Little Luvies Shop on Facebook.
4. Follow Crafting Friends Designs on Facebook.
5. Comment on this blog post telling us who you are rooting for to win BOTS Round 3.
6. Complete all other entries through the Rafflecopter widget below.

One winner per prize, one prize per winner.  Entries will be accepted until 9/28/2014.  Winners will be announced in a very special blog post on 9/29/2014.
We want to give a HUGE Thank you to all of our Sponsors! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway