If you're like me, you were getting mighty impatient waiting for Kollage to have their square needles available again. But I guess that's what happens when a company moves their production facility from overseas back to the US- it takes time to retool a factory and make sure that the product is just so before releasing it. I now have Kollage's needles back in stock, so take a look!
Want a chance at winning a set of 6" US 1 double points? Six lucky winners will be chosen from the comments below. Simply tell me about your favorite halloween decorations. Or, heck, tell me about your least favorite decoration- the kind that your neighbor puts up and you want to egg by the time the season is over. Leave me a comment below by mid day on Friday, October 12 and you could be one of SIX winners!
If you're thinking of shopping in person this weekend, I highly recommend it as an amazing array of Madelinetosh is in stock. I have the Merino Light and Tosh DK up on the website now, and Pashmina and Tosh Sock hopefully up by tomorrow. There are restocks of your faves like Tart, Calligraphy and Mansfield Garden Party, and new colors like Stephen Loves Tosh, Wilted Rose and Steamer Trunk. And if you can't make it to the store in person, I've post a short video of it on the SSYC Facebook page.... and that's just half of it!
Also check out the restocks and new colors of Malabrigo Sock and (sport weight) Arroyo. These colors are so wonderful that we're considering a Malabrigo KAL for the near future.
Hmm, I've never tried square needles before... I think my fave Halloween decoration has to be carving the pumpkin, it's so fun now that my boys are older and can help.
Posted by: Brittani t. | October 11, 2012 at 03:07 PM
My favorite Halloween decoration is clear glass candle vases painted with spiders, bats etc. in black paint. Never tried the square needles...hope to be a winner!
Posted by: Lisa Viviano | October 11, 2012 at 03:12 PM
I am really loving the big spiders people are putting on the outside their houses so that it looks like they are crawling up the walls.
Posted by: Emily | October 11, 2012 at 03:15 PM
Jack o'lanterns - especially the ones my kids do!
Posted by: Teresa - Working Traveling Mom | October 11, 2012 at 03:18 PM
My all time favorite decoration is the jack-o-lanterns I carve to set along the walkway to my front door. Most are done with patterns so the flying witch is usually placed closest to the door so it goes with my witch costume!
Posted by: Kay L | October 11, 2012 at 03:23 PM
I loathe the huge inflatable lawn decorations. They are grotesque after dark and are a puddle of plastic during the day.
Posted by: Pat | October 11, 2012 at 03:28 PM
I love the square needles! I'm a traditionalist, and pumpkins, carved and otherwise are the only decorations I need. Unless you can count Halloween fireworks as decoration?
Posted by: Sue | October 11, 2012 at 03:29 PM
I really don't like graveyards and that fake smoke that they pump out of them to make them scary!!! Way too creepy for me because I have way too much sock yarn to be thinking about graveyards! Already too much yarn and not enough time. "Muah, ha, ha, ha, ha....." Hear the ghosties telling you to send them needles my way..."Muah, ha, ha, ha!"
Posted by: Andrea W. | October 11, 2012 at 03:35 PM
My favorite Halloween Decorations were the huge balloons that Mom hung from the overhang near the front door --part of the "TREAT" was to be able to take a whack at one balloon with the stick. If you were lucky, there'd be some change amidst the candy and confetti -- not so luck would be finding the one that hid the water balloon! Our house was a hit for many years.
Posted by: Leslie Fehr | October 11, 2012 at 03:37 PM
Oh, I really don't like the fake spiderwebs. Ewwww!
Posted by: Susan | October 11, 2012 at 03:39 PM
The worst Halloween decoration I ever saw was a manikin hanging from a noose on my neighbors front porch. No treats there, oh no.
Posted by: Ali | October 11, 2012 at 03:43 PM
My mother still lives in my childhood home. In the living room, there is a picture window with wooden panes. Each pane is one foot square. There are 10 panes across and five panes down. My oldest brother is 59 years old, and our youngest brother is 55 years old. My mother, at age 84, still fills each one of those panes with a Halloween decoration that we made during our elementary school years. SHE should win those needles, but if push comes to shove, I'll take 'em.
Posted by: Robin Schriefer | October 11, 2012 at 03:48 PM
Oh, I would absolutely love to try these needles! My favorite Halloween decorations are jack-o-lanterns. My least favorite are those witches on broomsticks that are hung to look like they have smashed into a pole.
Posted by: Ashley W | October 11, 2012 at 03:50 PM
Most definitely it's the pumpkin carvings. And then of course it's the roasted pumpkin seeds you get to eat after carving :)
Posted by: Irene | October 11, 2012 at 03:50 PM
I love almost all Halloween decorations. My only dislike is fake spider webs.
Posted by: Sarah W | October 11, 2012 at 03:51 PM
Carving pumpkins. Now that my kids are older, we don't do it anymore. Miss decorating.
Posted by: Suzan Tiemroth-Zavala | October 11, 2012 at 03:51 PM
We love to decorate but my mother has the tendency to pick up the annoying stuff. Lately it's been a motion activated Franky that just plays crazy music non-stop!
Posted by: Angela | October 11, 2012 at 03:52 PM
I love decorating with pumpkins and gourds. Pumpkin carving with the kids was always the best.
Posted by: Anne | October 11, 2012 at 03:56 PM
I have used Kollage needles in the past and love them. And....I'm very pleased that they have moved their production back to the U.S!
I don't usually do Halloween decorations....BUT, I do like the usual 'natural' Fall stuff: pumpkins and gourds, and Indian Corn. I use them both inside and outside the house.
Posted by: Joyce | October 11, 2012 at 03:58 PM
My favorite Halloween decoration is a cross stitched pillow I made several years ago. It has a cute little girl witch sitting on a gorgeous pumpkin, clutching a bag of pumpkin seeds. It feels like autumn harvest and Halloween both at the same time.
Posted by: Nancy | October 11, 2012 at 03:58 PM
I love to carve pumpkins, though that's as much because I can roast and eat the seeds as for the decorative properties. As for other decorations, I like the scary stuff over the cutsie-stuff. I don't like my neighbor's decorations, but that's because they put them up mid-September.
Posted by: Stephanie | October 11, 2012 at 04:03 PM
I think I would have to say throw an egg at a neighbor's house... They go overboard.. err out for the local house decorating contest at christmas... I think its the Lattice they make going over their driveway to look like candy canes that puts it over for me.. and the 10000 bizillion lights.
Posted by: Melissa | October 11, 2012 at 04:04 PM
I really dislike the hanging fake bodies from trees yuck!
Posted by: Veronica | October 11, 2012 at 04:11 PM
My Halloween decorations are up in my office: I have a posterboard black cat on my door holding a Halloween treat bag, orange jack o'lantern lights over my desk, and a number of black spider magnets attached to the (surprisingly few) metal spots in my office. The last is particularly lovely, because if you aren't really paying attention, having a black spider right on the light switch can even cause me to start!
Posted by: sprite | October 11, 2012 at 04:13 PM
My favorite is the Freddy Krueger I made about 10 years ago. I still put him in the yard sitting in a chair with a red spotlight on him. He looks really creepy. I put decorations all over, but he's my highlight.
Posted by: Savannagal | October 11, 2012 at 04:22 PM
I dislike strongly Halloween decorations!! Of any kind. But I do try to smile sweetly and be nice. ;) I love fall, the leaves, etc, but not Halloween. I also like the Kollage square needles... I am anxious to try their new ones. I didn't like the join on my pair - it was too weak & it wore out halfway thru a sock. So every turn was a challenge. But I love the needle part. I am also very please to learn that they brought their production back on-shore. That should be rewarded too. :)
Posted by: Carla in MT | October 11, 2012 at 04:23 PM
I'm with Pat and can't stand the inflatable lawn decorations - Halloween or any other time of the year. I just don't get the appeal....
(But I do love most other Halloween decorations - just sayin' :)
Posted by: julie | October 11, 2012 at 04:23 PM
Love to see pumpkins, mums and corn stalks! Do not care for the inflatable yard stuff either.
Posted by: Paulette | October 11, 2012 at 04:35 PM
I really don't like all the scary ugly decorations some people use for Halloween. I like to decorate for fall with pumpkins and cute scarecrows and I can leave them up until Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Robin | October 11, 2012 at 04:39 PM
I like the elaborate yard decorations people put out. I don't do it myself, but it's fun to see.
Posted by: Debbie H | October 11, 2012 at 04:51 PM
I would say I like ALL Halloween decorations EXCEPT for those giant inflatable ones!!! My very favorite is the scarecrow my sister made
I have always wanted to try the square needles.
Posted by: Jean Y | October 11, 2012 at 04:52 PM
Oh man, the decorations that make noise/talk/screech when you walk by? I *hate* those! They're scary, or at least loud, and invariably one of my kids flips out when we pass them. :)
Posted by: Tara | October 11, 2012 at 04:54 PM
My favorite decoration in our yard is the "man" my husband & son made out of pvc fittings & dressed in old clothes & topped with a foam pumpkin. We store it in the garage. It still startles me every now & then and I yell at it.
Posted by: Gretchen | October 11, 2012 at 04:56 PM
Pumpkins are always great. Huge blow up characters ... not so much!
Posted by: Anne Marie | October 11, 2012 at 05:00 PM
My co-worker decorates his work station with noise/motion sensor characters, it drives me crazy. Can't say I have any real favorites, I do enjoy seeing elaborate pumkin carvings.
Posted by: Margo | October 11, 2012 at 05:03 PM
I love those foam plug-in Jack-o-Lanterns that are ready to go. I have 3 inside the house!
Posted by: Liz Awsumb | October 11, 2012 at 05:06 PM
I dislike it when people leave their pumpkins on their porch after they've started to rot and attract bugs. And unfortunately we have a number of animals about who like to eat them. But I seeing them all lit up!
Posted by: Alison | October 11, 2012 at 05:09 PM
I really like those tiny little mini pumpkins - especially the white ones! Hate the noisy candy bowl and such. I've been wanting to try the square needles, so thanks for this great contest!
Posted by: kat | October 11, 2012 at 05:15 PM
My husband's jack-o-lanterns, carved to my daughters' specifications, were my favorites. Now that the children are 24 and 27, that tradition has ended.
Posted by: Lynne | October 11, 2012 at 05:16 PM
I don't like when the kids go trick-or-treating and someone jumps out and scares the kids - this can ruin Halloween for the kids because they are now too scared to go.
Posted by: MARY | October 11, 2012 at 05:20 PM
Well this kind of blurs the line between "decoration" and "costume," but when I was a kid the next door neighbor would dress up like a scarecrow and then sit really still in a chair on the front porch-- so he looked like a decoration. Then he would scare the bejeezus out of me when I trick-or-treated. :-/
Posted by: Leah H | October 11, 2012 at 05:28 PM
Favorite Halloween decorations--lighted pumpkins and ghosts, but mostly the tiny first-time trick or treaters who don't really know what it's all about yet!
Posted by: Ann | October 11, 2012 at 05:33 PM
My favorite is decorating with pumpkins, fall flowers and fall berries. I also adore the vintage Halloween decorations.
Posted by: Linda B | October 11, 2012 at 05:34 PM
Oops! Sorry, I just don't get the whole Halloween hoopla!
Posted by: Wanda | October 11, 2012 at 05:35 PM
My favorite "decoration" is candy corn - I love it in bowls around the house (and so handy too!).
Posted by: Susie | October 11, 2012 at 05:45 PM
My boys are grown and I'm trying to cut down the clutter in my house (more room for yarn stash!) so I don't decorate much anymore. My favorite is the black shirt I machine embroidered a few years ago with a ghost, pumpkin & picket fence. The caption reads "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun." I'm working hard on getting socks made out of the "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun" sock yarn from the Halloween kit!
Posted by: Jane | October 11, 2012 at 05:49 PM
My favourite decorations are the artistically carved pumpkins, some people are so talented. Like others I hate the spider webs! I already have a set of these needles and love them. Since I always have several socks on needles at one time I could definitely use another set.
Posted by: Bobbi | October 11, 2012 at 05:58 PM
I'm really not into Halloween decorations myself. I do love fall decorations though. Pumpkins, corn stalks, and the like are definitely better than ghosts, spider webs, and all those blow-up pumpkins.
Posted by: Debby | October 11, 2012 at 06:00 PM
I'm one of those folks that has been impatiently waiting so I'm thrilled you have them in stock. maybe I'll win :)
My favorite halloween decoration is "billy big mouth bass" it's a fish skeleton on a frame that has a motion sensor that plays George Thorogoods "bad to the bone" when you step in front of it. It gets everyone in the family every time.
Posted by: Lisa | October 11, 2012 at 06:13 PM
I live in Australia and Halloween is not a tradition here, but I do love the carved pumpkins when they are backlit with a candle. Just superb.
Posted by: Karen | October 11, 2012 at 06:14 PM
i'd egg the spider/spider web decor put up, if i could stand to look at them to aim. i'd like to win a set of square needles and give them a try; thanx for the chance to do so.
Posted by: ritainalaska | October 11, 2012 at 06:15 PM
We don't actually have Halloween decorations here, but I've always wanted to put a zombie-crawling-out-of-the-ground statue in my front yard...
Posted by: Kiki | October 11, 2012 at 06:29 PM
I would egg the ghoul holding a bloody knife that is at a house down the street. Too scary for the little kids in the neighborhood.
Posted by: Jill | October 11, 2012 at 06:32 PM
I definitely hate all the Halloween flags our neighbors put up. One isn't bad, but they literally have 10 different flags up in their yard!
Posted by: Andrea | October 11, 2012 at 06:48 PM
My Halloween decorations are all the indoor variety, and my favorite are green taper candles that look like knotted witch fingers. The green is just the outer layer -- the inside is red, so as they burn, it looks like they are dripping blood. Halloween is the best!
Posted by: Gloriane | October 11, 2012 at 06:52 PM
My favorite is the traditional pumpkins and in the thumbs down category would be the giant fake spiders and webs!--yuck!
Would love to try the Kollage needles, thank you for the chance!
Posted by: sharon | October 11, 2012 at 06:56 PM
I love the pumpkins, either carved or not. Would also love to win a set of the Kollage needles. I've never knit with needles which aren't round.
Posted by: Yolande T. | October 11, 2012 at 07:00 PM
I like pumpkins best - real, fake, carved, painted, plain, any size. They make me feel like a kid again.
I just got a set of Kollage needles to make mittens and I really like them. Sharp points make it easy to do k2tog and ssk.
Posted by: Anne | October 11, 2012 at 07:08 PM
Oh my goodness - LOVE the two sets of square needles I have - but don't have 1s! My favorite are black cats. They can be cute, scary, companions for witches and have been around forever!
Posted by: Sue | October 11, 2012 at 07:09 PM
My favorite was the house that had the big monster who had a bowl of candy in his lap and when the kids came to take a piece said, one piece, scaring them because he spoke.
I have not square needles and if I win, will splurge on some yarn to go with them.
Thanks.
Posted by: Diane | October 11, 2012 at 07:20 PM
We have a real skeleton, life size, that we put in a lighted window on Halloween. The skeleton wears a long, dark cape -- appropriately spooky!
Posted by: Merna | October 11, 2012 at 07:31 PM
My favorites would be child carved pumpkins and a shrink art skeleton. My least favorite would be all those huge blow up ones out there
Posted by: Sheila | October 11, 2012 at 07:49 PM
I love my Pumpkin. This year my Grand daughter and Grand son gave me a pumpkin from their stash. I am looking forward to showing them it carved when we talk on Skype.
Posted by: Jeri Nicklau | October 11, 2012 at 08:01 PM
When my kids were little, they loved the motion-activated ghost we had.
Posted by: Therese | October 11, 2012 at 08:02 PM
My favorite is a black cat that lights up in different color. I used it for many years and gave it to my vet a few years back. I visit it in her waiting room annually--I like to think I found my cat a good home.:-)
Posted by: Martha | October 11, 2012 at 08:05 PM
There is a house I drive by every day that decorates their yard for the month of October so it looks like an old abandoned and Halloween scary graveyard with skeletons, etc. They add something new every year so you may have to look at it more than once to find the new item. After Halloween it all disappears.
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 11, 2012 at 08:07 PM
One of our favorite decorations is a witch that cackles while stirring her pot! It is a hoot!
Posted by: Terri | October 11, 2012 at 08:21 PM
Well, technically they are not decorations, but I would say that sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins with orange icing would be my favourite halloween 'decoration'.(They decorate the plate...while they last)
Posted by: SarahH | October 11, 2012 at 08:21 PM
I HATE decorations that my husband got before we were married. The most detested is a cowboy skeleton, complete with insects crawling around its innards. Yeesh!
Posted by: Elaine | October 11, 2012 at 08:29 PM
Worst decorations ever: plastic blow ups.
Posted by: Allise | October 11, 2012 at 08:31 PM
Mini pumpkins with black pipecleaner legs :)
Posted by: April | October 11, 2012 at 08:38 PM
I can't think of any i don't like. So I guess I love all of them. lol
Posted by: Gale | October 11, 2012 at 09:02 PM
I love the fancy carved jack o lanterns that some folks do. Mine turn out really dumb but my kids always thought they were great!
Posted by: Leslie Taylor | October 11, 2012 at 09:04 PM
Pumpkins are the perennial favorite, aren't they? I remember the excitement of trick or treating when I was a kid, the smell of leaf piles burning, etc. But you can't burn leaves now. And I think some of the items now are too gruesome for little kids (and some big ones). So my favorite? Pumpkins!
Posted by: Sally Chrisman | October 11, 2012 at 09:35 PM
My favorite Halloween decorations are leaves on the ground that trick-or-treaters shuffle through on their way from house to house!
Posted by: Teresa | October 11, 2012 at 09:46 PM
Carved pumpkins with lights inside.
Posted by: Vicki | October 11, 2012 at 10:02 PM
The best Halloween decorations (and costumes)are homemade/handmade, preferable with kids and parents planning and working together.
Posted by: Jan Walsworth | October 11, 2012 at 10:28 PM
The fun things I am seeing are the blow-up cats that move their heads from side to side and the witches that pop up from inside the pots!
Posted by: blogless grace | October 11, 2012 at 10:37 PM
I love classic jack-o-lanterns, except when they are smashed all over the street.
Posted by: Tara | October 11, 2012 at 11:28 PM
I'm not a huge fan of Halloween decorations, but I do like the traditional jack o' lanterns.
Posted by: ikkinlala | October 12, 2012 at 12:06 AM
Square needles! I love them but not the Halloween sounds that scare young children.
Posted by: Barbara | October 12, 2012 at 01:49 AM
i love my skeleton that hangs on my front door. he's at least 4ft tall!
Posted by: nicky | October 12, 2012 at 02:22 AM
It's gotta be the pumpkins and jack o' lanterns. I love looking at the creative designs that people carve.
Posted by: Marian Skupski | October 12, 2012 at 05:42 AM
My favorite decoration is a ring of sheet ghosts that look like they are holding hands around a fire!
Posted by: Lee | October 12, 2012 at 05:51 AM
I really like jack o lanterns and bats with friendly faces. I'm not a big fan of the graveyard that a neighbor has and leaves up until Thanksgiving or later !
Posted by: Rebecca P | October 12, 2012 at 06:34 AM
The carved pumpkins are my favorite. I also love fall leaves here in New England - all the reds, yellows, oranges and browns.
Posted by: Sarah | October 12, 2012 at 06:58 AM
Jack-o-lanterns! And, thanks for the chance @ the square needles!
Posted by: Pat | October 12, 2012 at 07:58 AM
I love Kollage needles. I no longer decorate for Halloween (this will be the first Halloween I don't spend with the grands 😥) but we have a neighbor in the next block that has some very cool decorations. They have cellophane or some kind of cutouts (I can't tell really how they to it) that turn the front if their house into a giant cat face using the upstairs windows). Also the husband is a sculptor (I think) & has made a giant blacke metal spider. Really - its about 3-31/2' tall & about 5-6' long & wide. They keep it off to the side of the house but right at the front. So it isn't right in your face but you get quite a start when you first see it!
Posted by: Donna | October 12, 2012 at 07:59 AM
My favorite decorations are the ones that are obviously and painstakingly homemade, especially ones that are done with/by small children.
Posted by: Alanna Donohue | October 12, 2012 at 08:02 AM
Stuffed scarecrows with hanging ghosts and of course creepy music being played make a wonderful setting on the outside porch. Thank you
Posted by: Linda Grothe | October 12, 2012 at 08:15 AM
My favorite is definitely the skeleton band by neighbor put up this year. Looks like a typical garage band, with hats and dark glasses and some sporting ties. Very fun!!
Posted by: Cyndy Landers AKA the Yarnwitch | October 12, 2012 at 08:17 AM
My favorite Halloween decoration is a ceramin pumpkin that is lying on it's side and sleeping. My mom got it for me when my oldest was just born Oct. 6th.. he is now 24 and I still get it out!!
Posted by: natalie | October 12, 2012 at 08:39 AM
I'm a traditionalist. Gotta love the jack o lanterns for Halloween. We put up a fake spiderweb one year, but it stained the limestone on our house, so never again!
Posted by: Becky | October 12, 2012 at 08:52 AM
My favorite is any and all jack o lanterns! I have been known to have multiple!
Posted by: Kate s | October 12, 2012 at 10:09 AM
I think puking pumpkins are the funniest!!
Posted by: Debi | October 12, 2012 at 10:13 AM
My favorite Halloween decoration is a clay jack o lantern I got when I was stationed in New Mexico.
I am new to knitting and would love to try those needles.
Posted by: Susan | October 12, 2012 at 10:24 AM
I just hate the ugly skull that the neighbor hangs up on their porch every year - yikes!! I'm more for the cute-sy Halloween decorations myself, like friendly pumpkins, scarecrows, etc.
Posted by: Marylu | October 12, 2012 at 10:37 AM
My least favorite Halloween decoration is my son's life size grim reaper on his front porch.
Took about 10 years off my life when I turned around and thought someone was looking in at me! And not a good looking someone at that!
Posted by: Mary Brown | October 12, 2012 at 11:06 AM
I like to put a pumpkin and a scarecrow by my front door. Scary decorations aren't my favourite.
Posted by: Maureen | October 12, 2012 at 11:09 AM
We don't really do Halloween here in the Uk. I don't think we've ever had any decorations.
we do have fire works on Bombfire night. It's to remember the 5th of November when a plot was found to blow up the Houses of Parliament when the King was visiting the parliament. We have bobbing for apples, and toffy apples and bombfires with roasting sausages and cooking jacket potatoes, and fireworks.
Posted by: Susan | October 12, 2012 at 11:25 AM