2015 Prize Baskets: Louet North America

In case anyone was wondering, I’ve been staring at a blank page for nearly twenty minutes, trying to decide what to write. I have a million things to say about Louet and their donation to the Geek-A-Long’s participants this year, but I can’t share most of them with you.

CURSE YOU, SPOILERS! /shakes fist in the air

https://www.instagram.com/p/-4D0kUny6V/?taken-by=jac_attacking

Alright, so I wasn’t even supposed to share that picture with you guys, but I couldn’t help it. (You should’ve seen the special shade of red Megan-Anne’s face turned when she saw it.) Honestly, it’s been killing me to keep my mouth shut about the 2016 Geek-A-Long. We’re coming back bigger than ever with some crazy new… things that I can’t talk about yet.

Ugh. Just trust me, okay? Trudy Van Stralen, the founder of Louet, is basically my favorite human being this holiday season. She made my Christmas wish come true back in September and someone please close this laptop on my fingers, so that I’ll stop typing about it!

Deep breath.

Okay, let’s get down to the reason why we’re all here today. FREE STUFF. But before I tell you about Louet’s donation to the 2015 prize baskets, let me give you a quick reminder about the rules:

We’re raffling off four prizes again this year and in order to be eligible to win one of the three prizes, you must post a picture of your completed 2015 blanket to the Ravelry GAL group by January 31, 2016. The blanket must contain 24 of the 48 squares released in 2015, be joined and edged. Just like last year, the fourth prize will be raffled off for just being a member of the group. If you’re not a member, however, it isn’t too late to join and get in on the fun! You can find everything you’ll need to know about the Geek-A-Long on the FAQ page.

Louet North America is more than just gorgeous spinning wheels, weaving looms, and fancy carding machines. They also provide a selection of yarn! They offer three different lines, containing natural fibers from around the world: Euroflax Linen, GEMS, and their most recent addition PolarKnit.

They sent us two skeins of their GEMS in Navy, Eggplant, Terra Cotta, and Willow for our future Geek-A-Long prize winners, as well as the Matterhorn knitting pattern to test drive it with. GEMS is 100% Super Wash Merino and comes in a variety of weights with a tight twist to minimize pilling.

Also, I seriously can’t get enough of that green. I am intensely jealous of whoever ends up with the “Willow” colorway. I’m on green kick right now and it would be a perfect addition to my collection.

About Louet North America

Trudy Van Stralen is the founder of Louet North America and remains the driving creative force behind its continued product development.

Trudy developed a reputation in the hand dyeing community in the mid 70’s. Trudy dyed with nature’s palette,(natural dyes) creating wonderful color ranges of wool fleece, mohair fiber and yarn. She sold her dyed fibers from her small shop, in the same location that Louet North America now calls home.

Trudy had learned to knit at a young age during the post WWII years in Holland, and in the 1970’s, as a fiber artist, dyeing wool and yarn, she taught herself to spin and weave. Trudy created woven garments and was a contributing source in Handwoven and Spin-Off Magazines in the early 1980’s, as well as spinning and selling her handspun yarns at her store – Hilltop Wools.

Trudy taught her craft of hand dyeing across North America, in workshops through out the 1980’s. In the late 1980’s, Trudy wrote a book on hand dyeing entitled, Indigo Madder and Marigold, a book that is used by many as a resource for hand dyeing with natural dyes.

In the late 90’s Trudy began creating hand knitted garments and patterns, bringing her back to her roots, growing up in Holland. Trudy often jokes that she knits in “dutch”. Today, Trudy continues developing knitting patterns with her team of knitters and designers. Trudy also designs new yarns for Louet North America.

So keep watching as we continue to develop wonderful new additions.

Thank you for your generous donation to the Geek-A-Long participants, Louet North America! You can find Louet on their website, Twitter, Facebook, Ravelry, and Instagram. If you’d like to view the other Geek-A-Long benefactors and prizes, you can find them here.

~ Jac
Goodbye, everyone. I’m probably going to explode before this Sunday. It was lovely getting to know all of you.

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If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year! No contribution is too small.