Spotlight and Giveaway: Victory Garden Yarn

Hello, beautiful readers! I officially have my computer back, so I'll thankfully be able to post more regularly again. Hooray!

First up on the agenda is a designer spotlight. I stumbled across Victory Garden Yarn months ago during one of my Etsy browsing marathons. It was the cowls in particular that caught my eye. In the lead up to Christmas, I added just about everything in the shop to my favorites list in hopes that perhaps I would find a cowl under the Christmas Tree. Fate, however, intervened.

Every year around the holidays, there's a massive craft show in downtown Seattle called Urban Craft Uprising. It's become my favorite place to shop for gifts. I popped down there with my mother, father and Jason only to find... Victory Garden Yarn! I started chatting with the brains and beauty behind the store, Anna, and promptly decided that I was going to get myself a little Christmas gift in the form of the Snowdrop Cowl (pictured right). I looooooove it. I have a box full of scarves, and this particular cowl is pretty much all that I wear. In point of fact, I was wearing it when Mr. CP proposed! =)

As I fell increasingly in love with my new purchase, I thought it would be amazing to feature Anna and her shop on here. Imagine my surprise and delight when Anna told me that she wanted to host a giveaway on here for all of you, my lovely readers!

Giveaway Details

Prize: A taupe Cosy Rosie (pictured below), and a Granny Hoop!
Duration: The giveaway will be open for one week. Entries will no longer be accepted, then, after Monday, February 20, 2012.

 To enter

Subscribe to Anna's newsletter: mandatory, one entry. I promise you won't regret this; she frequently offers her subscribers exclusive deals, and you will be among the first to know about new additions to her shop! You can subscribe here.
Subscribe to Charming Pumpkin on Blog Lovin': mandatory, one entry
Optional additional entry: Leave a comment down below relating one of the funniest things that has ever happened to you.

Anna has also offered to answer some questions about herself and her shop for all of you. Let me just say that she is absolutely adorable. I mean, just LOOK at the photos in her shop! Anyway, enjoy reading about the lovely Anna, and her yarn-tastic creations!

CP: Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hi Charming Pumpkin friends!  I'm Anna from Victory Garden Yarn, so lovely to meet you all!  I am a made-with-my-own-two-hands obsessed girl who hails from the heat and cotton fields of Central California, transplanted to the cool, mossy climate of Seattle. I've lived in the same teensy apartment for the last eight years with one boyfriend, lots of vintage Pyrex, and even more yarn.  Between running my Etsy shop, remembering to update my blog, and life in general, I dabble in a lot of things: coming up with delicious recipes, taking pretty photos of my canning adventures, playing the piano, hoarding vintage family photographs, taking Polaroids of our latest road trip adventure, and weekend thrift store hops.  Someday I will have a Victory Garden full of flowers, herbs, and vegetables to eat; but for now I like to think I have created a Victory Garden of a different sort, full of hand knit & crocheted curiosities to brighten walls and warm peoples souls.

CP: When did you first know that you wanted to start knitting full-time?

Three years ago I was managing a gorgeous boutique in downtown Seattle--running the shop, doing window displays, running the website, and generally having a jolly old time every day I went to work.  The economy started to tank and the next thing I knew the shop windows were shuttered and I was without a job.  Needless to say, I tried incredibly hard not to have an early mid-life-crisis!  Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a few steps back from the constant rush and stress of searching for another full-time job, and I dove into my back catalogue of personal knitting projects I had been wanting to finish.  Friends saw the photos of my finished pieces I had been posting on Facebook and started asking if I could knit something up for them.  After seeing how happy and pleased my friends were with their new handknits, I started to wonder if I could really play with yarn for a living...  One thing led to another and with a really big gulp, I opened my little Etsy shop and debuted my first design: The Skipjack Cowl!

CP: What's your favorite thing about what you do?

My favorite thing about what I do is knowing that something I dreamed up in my head, created with my hands, and sent off into the world, is keeping someone out there warm and making them happy.  I feel like every single cowl, scarf, and Granny Hoop I make really does contain a teensy part of me (it's true!) and I do get a little wistful every time I send a package off into the ether!  But then I get little email notes and pictures from people telling me how happy they are with what I made for them and I get the biggest feeling of joy.

CP: What are your current favorite pieces?

I am completely ecstatic about my newest piece, The Cosy Rosie Earwarmer!  It is so warm, super kitschy, and really a lot of fun to wear.  My favorite part about it is that you can throw it on even if your hair is 'done' and it won't completely ruin your hairdo.  I'm always grabbing a handful of bobby pins and twisting all my hair up on top of my head, so designing a functional headpiece that wouldn't wreck my 'do was imperative when I was creating my pattern!  I am also constantly smitten with my Wisteria Wrap.  I wear mine all day every day during the Winter (and Fall...and Spring...).  I particularly love it because it's lightweight but incredibly warm, and you can wear it so many different ways: shawl, scarf, shoulder wrap, and--my favorite--wrapping it haphazardly around my neck and splaying the ends out in a dramatic fashion!

Where do you find your inspiration for new products?
I really love the idea of taking somewhat stereotyped crafts like knitting & crochet, and reinventing them in a modern, fashionable way.  The Cosy Rosie is a good example of that: at my recent round of holiday craft shows so many people were commenting, 'Oh, my grandmother used to wear turbans like this, I'm not sure I can pull this off!'  But the beauty of the design is that you can throw it on with a leather jacket, skinny jeans, and your favorite flats and you look completely cute & modern.  I also love the idea of working with materials other than yarn--I'm actually brainstorming a few fanciful ideas for Summer using ribbon!  I definitely get a lot of inspiration from vintage knitting magazines, seeing the fashions in old movies (which I watch a lot while I'm working!), and peeking at old family photographs to see what my grandmothers and great aunts were wearing in their heyday.


Want to see more from Victory Garden Yarn? Check out Anna's Etsy store here, or head over here to her blog to catch up on the latest news!