Tiny Owl Knits Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway.
We have our 3 Winners.

Congratulations
Andrea of That'll Do Farm - Bo Peep Scarf Kit
Caryn - The Beekeeper's Quilt Pattern
Allison - Orchid and Fairy Lights Pattern

The Answers!

1. In what city did Stephanie first try to get her start as a singer, but inadvertently got her start as a knitwear designer? Nashville
2. Which Tiny Owl Knits' pattern is inspired by a Harry Potter movie? Parseltounge or Snake-a-licious

3. Finish this sentence.."Lion and tigers and Oh My ____, oh my! Bear
4. Inspired by the famous German brothers who wrote fairy tales which cozy capelet and gauntlet set is easily knit in the round? Grimm's cottage
5. And which sweet hat pattern was named for a fairy tale written by these famous brothers? Free Rapunzel!
6. These naughty little men of the forest my turn out to be helpful instead, which pattern celebrates these bearded little men? Gnome Homes

If you subscribe to my Newsletter or follow my blog than you already know in August I started adding the delightful patterns of Tiny Owl Knits, but I never officially introduced her. This giveaway celebrates her arrival to Sandrasingh.com and her wonderful and often whimsical knitwear designs and there will be 3 prizes! Winner #1 will receive her Bo Beep Scarf pattern and 2 balls of Karabella Boise yarn to knit it in, Winner #2 will receive her The Bee Keeper's Quilt pattern and Winner #3 will receive her Orchids and Fairy Lights pattern.

Bo Peep Scarf

Stephanie loves to work her magic by playing with shape and color and is often inspired by nature and even Harry Potter from time to time! Her colorwork designs include these animals a robin and it's nest on the Robin Wrist-ees, a loveable bear's face on Oh My Bear, a resting fawn on her Fawn Poncho, the Lamb Cuffs and a kitten's face on her Meow Mitts.

Robin Wrist-ees

Oh My Bear

Fawn Poncho

Lamb Cuffs

Meow Mitts

Her tribute to wild life doesn't stop with colorwork, her Deer with Little Antlers and Cupcake Kitten hats are as precious as her Hopsalots bunny slippers are darling!

Deer with Little Antlers

Cupcake Kitten

Hopsalots

But this playful designer has a sophisticated side as well, as seen with her cabled Snake-A-Licous-Sweater, Wooldland Hoodlet and Orchids & Fairy Lights and Parseltongue hats and the lacey Forest and Frill cardigan.

Snake-A-Licous

Woodlet Hoodlet

Orchids and Fairy Lights

Parseltongue

Forest and Frill

Stephanie has even created a line of Knitting Supplies Storage to help you organize your knitting needles. Gnome Homes neatly store your double points while Fairy Castles is a clever place for your double points and crochet hooks and both are portable and will fit easily into your knitting bag. Discover her designs for yourself, once you begin exploring, you'll never want the fun and fashionable designs to stop!

Gnomes Homes

Fairy Castles

Stephanie took some time out of her busy schedule to answer some interview questions for us. But before we get to know her better I want to take a moment to talk about one of her most popular and magical pattern, The Beekeeper's Quilt. Stephanie is joyous when discussing this special quilt and when you see it you'll understand why, and when you start to knit the hexipuffs its constructed of this joyous feeling quickly becomes contagious!

The Beekeeper's Quilt

Every knitter and crocheter has an interesting story about how and when they learned, please tell us about yourself and your story.
Quite a few years ago, I was living in Nashville, TN trying to make it as a singer. I didn't really have a job and I was desperate to make ends meet and feeling a little low when a friend of mine said "You need to come to my yarn shop! That will cheer you up!"

Now I did a fair bit of crochet when I was little, but knitting wasn't on the horizon for me. I didn't understand how the stitches went from one needle to the other and I wasn't even keen to find out. When we walked in the door I felt like I had just landed in Narnia! The walls of wool were so much to take in, I just wandered around picking everything up! We sat at a big round table in the middle of the shop and I began to crochet a little hat with some pale blue mohair I had found. Before long I started helping an older woman next to me pick out colors for a scarf. She was laughing and we got up to look in the mirror. We were trying on some store samples and I found some wool for her that looked perfect. I hadn't noticed at the time, but the shop owners had been watching me. I didn't know that they were in desperate need of a crochet teacher, and that the woman I was laughing with in the mirror hadn't been seen smiling in the shop, ever. When we sat back down, one shop owner said, "Do you want a job?" I said, "YES!" and she said "Ok, then come over here, you'd better learn how to knit!" I learned then and there and by the next week I was in the deep end, helping women with sweater patterns! It was baptism by fire and I've never looked back.

How did you get stared designing knitwear?
It was natural for me to start making up little things once I learned how to knit. When I'd come in with a creation, people at the shop including the customers would ask about it. They would ask for the pattern. The idea of writing a knitting pattern for someone else almost made me feel ill! I didn't really do things conventionally, and I had no idea how to explain what I had done. I was really scared of the whole idea, so it started slowly. One of the employees, Robin Smith, started helping me. She would write down what I had done and we would give the patterns away for free. After a while of working with patterns at the shop and seeing how Robin worked, it began to get loads easier. We had an incredibly busy shop and I spent every minute of my time there familiarizing myself with pattern styles and also with people's learning styles. I learned what kind of questions people ask when they are following a pattern. So even now when I am writing patterns, I almost hear the customers in my head asking, "So do they mean 4 repeats AFTER that? or just a total of 4 repeats." I always try to answer those little questions. I like to take the extra step to clarify before we move on.

What is your design philosophy?
I have to design things that make my heart spark. If it doesn't make me totally excited, than it's not good enough for me. I don't really want another finished object to sit in my drawer. I want it to be that one thing that I love to grab and wear, or that makes me laugh or smile. So I try to design with that thrill in mind. For me the process comes to a full circle when I see the pictures of people wearing my finished objects and smiling. Then I know that I have completed the process and its time to go back to the drawing board and do it again.

Who or what inspires you the most in your design process?
Vintage finds, flea markets, the runways, animals, nature, cold weather, and mostly, a room full of wool just waiting to be knitted up!

What direction do you see yourself heading in as a designer?
The only thing I know is that I'm not going to stop or give up. I'm pretty confident I will always do what I do. I'm getting excited for the book I've got planned. After that, it's more needle clicking, and more of the feeling I get when I put a pattern online and click "PUBLISH." It's one of the best feelings in the world!

Please take a moment to enjoy Tiny Owl Knits' designs!
Garments

Grimm's Cottage

Accessories

Rosy Wristlets

Knitting Supplies Storage
Fairy Castles

The Bee Keeper's Quilt

There will be 3 winners for this giveaway for Tiny Owl Knits' Bo Beep Scarf pattern and 2 balls of Karabella Boise yarn in color #64 Mauve, The Beekeeper's Quilt pattern and Orchids and Fairy Lights hat pattern, all patterns will be emailed to the winners. Winners will be announced on Nov. 4th.

Enter this Giveaway: Solve these 6 riddles about Stephanie and Tiny Owl Knits. Post a comment below stating you've emailed sandrasingh@sandrasingh.com with the answers. Please don't post the answers here!

1. In what city did Stephanie first try to get her start as a singer, but inadvertently got her start as a knitwear designer?
2. Which Tiny Owl Knits' pattern is inspired by a Harry Potter movie?
3. Finish this sentence.."Lion and tigers and Oh My ____, oh my!
4. Inspired by the famous German brothers who wrote fairy tales which cozy capelet and gauntlet set is easily knit in the round?
5. And which sweet hat pattern was named for a fairy tale written by these famous brothers?
6. These naughty little men of the forest my turn out to be helpful instead, which pattern celebrates these bearded little men?