Monday, June 15, 2009

~*KaratStix Giveaway*~


Karen Snyders started “KaratStix” in the spring of 2007 with a plan to make tools for knitters and other fiber artists from earth friendly bamboo.
She came up with the name KaratStix as it pulls together many meanings: 1) KARen And Tom STIXrud – Tom Stixrud is Karen’s brother and has been a major supporter/helper/laser machine operator and much more, to help KaratStix become a viable operation 2) Karat = gold and Stix = bamboo and 3) KaratStix sounds like “carrot sticks” and it was Karen’s pursuit of a healthier lifestyle by becoming a “vegan raw foodist” that she believes opened up the possibility of realizing her dream to becoming an artisan.

The designs are all drawn and laid out/configured on a computer in Karen’s studio which is in her home.
She then emails the finished files to her brother Tom who will laser (sort of like sending a print job to a printer only this is a laser and bamboo is the paper) the order onto the bamboo and he’ll give each piece a sanding with a mouse sander to prepare it for the next step.
Karen then picks up (or Tom drops off) the pieces for the order(s) and then colors them with colored pencils if it is a design with color.
After the coloring is done, the pieces are then varnished with a few coats of polyurethane and once that is thoroughly dry, the pieces are sanded and buffed by hand.
She then attaches the hardware if required and the order is then finished. Karen enjoys all of the work, but most of all, the coloring when she can see the finished order finally come together as she imagined it.

Karen is most of all passionate about her customers/friends – she sends a warm thank you for each and every one who has shared so many wonderful stories and become a part of what makes KaratStix not just about an artist creating tools, but about making it possible for knitters to express themselves – as their creativity and their passions are so often the inspiration for the art.You can see more of her work on her flickr here.You can also purchase her tools at yarny-goodness,and Scout's Swag.
In The UK check out Socktopus.

One person will win the socks rule guage keyring and little sock stitch markers pictured above.
There will be 3 ways to enter:

1) Check out Karatstix and come back and leave a comment telling me what you like.
2) Blog about the giveaway and link back to it and leave a comment with the link.
3) You will get an extra entry if someone leaves a comment saying they came from your post of this giveaway on your blog.

Deadline to enter is Midnight June 24th

47 comments:

Turtle said...

i have had karatstix bookmarked for awhile and have loved many of her goodies, i think her bead size gauge is handy as well! Linked to you (as always darc!!)

5elementknitr said...

I think her stuff is fantastic! I really like the kitchener tags.

Anonymous said...

I think the stuff is adorable...especially the Kitchener Tag (who doesn't need help remembering that?!)

Unknown said...

I love the bead ruler gauge. I'm thinking of picking up a kitchener tea tag for a tea/coffee swap I'm in. hmmm

Anita said...

I love her stuff! I already own a WIP tool from her shop. :) I really like the little stitch guages though.

Bubblesknits said...

Love her stuff. :-) I think my fave on her site is the Yarn Stash Kitchener Tag. The Tea version reminds me of Grace and Chan, though.

Anonymous said...

I went over the karatsticks website. I love their stitch gauges! They look so very useful!

vickie said...

darcy you won mmmmallllabrigo and turtle one some bamboo from here
congrats i wanna see pics of that malabrigo
http://knitwithkt.blogspot.com/2009/06/contest-winners.html

smariek said...

I've seen her store before and like what she does. I especially like her needle gauges, especially the ones that feature those extra "oddball" sizes. One of my favorites is the needle gauge she made for Turtlegirl (the rest of the set is pretty cool too!).

I have posted about the contest here:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2009/06/roses.html.

catmum said...

definitely the needle gauges

Susie said...

Have loved all her stuff for a long time now but especially love her gauge markers.

evel dread said...

Totally not your typical accessories! I love that they are made with bamboo! I think I like the stitch tags best ... all of them! :)

Will blog!

Beth Gray said...

Love the stitch markers and the needle gauge. I've seen the WPI measure before and I think that is cool too. And I really like the bead measure tool too. I've bookmarked it to come back again!

KT said...

I think the Kitchener stitch markers are brilliant - I always have to dig out one of my reference books when I need to graft something, and it would be oh so much easier if I had a little tag that I could attach to my needles!

SusanB-knits said...

I came over from smariek knits at http://smariek.blogspot.com/2009/06/roses.html.
Now on to KaratStix to check it out.

SusanB-knits said...

KaratStix has a great site. I love all the tools but my favorite is the Count your stitches stitch gauge

Aik said...

I love the Yarn Stash! It's so cute!

aikcyhien at yahoo dot com

Sarah said...

She makes such lovely things! I love the day and night stitch markers!

Mindy said...

I love the Count Your Stitches square. I've been eyeing it for awhile. I also like the stitch markers - the Day and Night are so pretty.

Thank you for the contest. Her stuff is lovely and it's great to know the ideas between such a great company.

mindyknits (at) gmail (dot) com

Nancy N. said...

The kitchener tag is my favorite -- it would come in very handy for me!

Mindy said...

I've posted about this giveaway on my blog! :)
A Knit in Time

ikkinlala said...

I really like the Count Your Stitches 2 Inch Stitch Gauge Rule (easier to carry around than a ruler), and I love the Knitter's Rules that also are needle sizers.

Poethead said...

I love the Kitchener Tags! I don't have a blog, but I have bookmarked the Karatstix site. Her designs are fabulous, and I love them!

Georgi said...

I absolutely love the Sock Swap Kitchener tag! I can never remember how to do it exactly right, so I always have to look for the directions just as I am almost ready to declare myself done. This is a great idea.

Vanessa said...

I am glad I stopped in here :) I LOVE the RESERVED pack ( go figure lol)
RESERVED for WhitePumpkinPatch ONLY RESERVED

Hugs
Ness
vanessalbrooks(at)gmail.com

squiggi said...

I like the socks rule gauge.
Although, all of her things are very cute. They'd make great christmas presents

Georgi said...

Hi Darcy, I posted about your contest at http://toknitandwrite.blogspot.com/2009/06/fragments-contest-and-friday-fill-ins.html.

Nicky said...

How lovely! I love the sock guage and the little drawings. Fantastic work !

Suburban prep said...

I like the Count your Stitches Gauge Rule. darling.

Jeannine said...

Love Karatstix! I hope to own some of her pieces in the near future. They are always sold out. The stitch markers and needle gauges are especially cute.

helenlam said...

The Crafter's Rule is definitely my favorite, but all those tags are so adorable!

Cathy said...

I've always admired Karatstix items! I recently bought the special edition pieces she made for The Loopy Ewe.

The stitch markers are really cute too!

Jackie's Stitches said...

I love the sheep stitch markers...cute! 2nd favorite is the kitchner stitch tags.

Debbie said...

My fav is also the kitchener tags -- can never remember it without getting out a book. this would be great! thanks for the contest.

Penny said...

I couldn't get to her etsy site at this time but I did get to her flicker site and my oh my what lovely items she has there. I adore the stitch markers and she sure has lovely sock blockers something I don't have yet. It is really hard to chose with all the nice items she has. I hope to be able to see them on her etsy shop soon.

Penny said...

I posted your contest on my blog http://www.pennypurlsandkittyknits.blogspot.com.
Maybe someone will enter and mention my name. HEE HEE
Penny

Bgstoner said...

I tried to go to the Esty shop but it said it would be back up on the 25th so I posted a link on my blog.
http://fiberhappy.blogspot.com/
I will try again later to see the shop.

noricum said...

KaratStix makes lovely stuff! I love her crafter's rule with the adorable sheep on it. :)

Penny sent me here, and I blogged you at my blog: http://noricum.blogspot.com/2009/06/contest-alert_22.html

cksknitter said...

I like the Sheep to Socks Kitchener Stitch Tag. I just received one of her needle gauges in a sock club shipment today and I love it!
Chrissy at knittoday(at)hotmail(dot)com

WPGGAL said...

I really like that her items are natural and so "earthy", made of wood. I always think of knitting in the same manner. Love your site, have marked it.

Heidi said...

I think I could really use that sock blocker since IM GOING MICRO (lol)

Mandy said...

These look like a terrific idea as a gauge! The more "homemade" products out there the better! Bring back the HOMEMADE! lol

erika~ the inspired mama said...

i love the little crafter's ruler with the sheep! co cute!

WPGGAL said...

Penny send me here. sorry, forgot to mention that.
WPGGAL

GHouk said...

Her stuff is so neat! The shop is closed right now, but I really like the sock needle sizer and mini ruler she had up.

Unknown said...

Hi Darcy how are you I love the kitchener tag from karatstix's etsy store very nice vbarton24 at gmail dot com

Heather said...

I think my favorite thing are the needle gauges. Especially the ones for sock needles (US 0 - US 4), because the sizes are slightly different that a lot of needle gauges I have kinda 'skip' the smaller differences.

I also love the art style that is used against the wood, its so... pretty! ;D