Year-round yarns

Some yarns are best for cooler temperatures, and some work better in warmer weather. With all of the great blended yarns available these days, more yarns are starting to be used year round.

Berroco Maya is one of these yarns. It's a blend of pima cotton and alpaca in a chainette construction. The yarn is really lightweight, and the small amount of alpaca really softens up the cotton. For people with aversions to wool, this yarn has been a great option. 

When Maya was introduced for last spring, the colors were very pale. Gorgeous for spring and summer, but not really colors that will jump off the shelf during the other months of the year.

Last week we ordered our new Berroco yarns for spring and summer of 2014. New colors for existing yarns (like Maya) were also introduced, and on some of these, the new colors were already in stock. Normally we wait to take delivery of new colors of spring yarns until at least January, but because the fiber content of Maya makes it a true year-round yarn, we decided to take delivery immediately. And look how the new colors breathed life into the old ones!

This yarn is often used by our customers as a sweater yarn. Our Niche sweater sample (from Norah Gaughan Volume #12) has been tried on and made numerous times. 

Another popular sweater sample in Maya is the Chuparosa vest from Berroco Book #331. This is a flattering piece that can be worn over any sleeve length, making it great for winter wear.

It's also great for accessories, and our Bajada scarf sample, which takes just 3 skeins, is a fun knit. (Berroco Book #331.)

I grabbed 4 skeins of the new Hermosa Blue and started a new project over the weekend. Can't wait to finish it!

New Safety Measures in Place

We reorganized the Plymouth Encore yesterday, since we've just received a number of new colors. Some of the colors are the new neons, which have been really well received. The first day we got the Neon Pink in stock, a little girl chose it for a sweater before we even put it out on the shelf. The mom didn't love the color, but hey, she told her daughter she could pick her favorite color...

And, this week we've had a work crew outside on the sidewalk. We can't really tell what they're doing, because each time we look out the window, they aren't doing anything at all. Maybe they just get a lot of breaks? 

But it got us thinking of our new neon colors, and how maybe these folks should at least be productive with all this sitting around. Certainly they could be making themselves some accessories for when the air turns colder?

This morning we arrived to find a single cone, but no work crew. So we sent one of our employees out to work safety patrol. We told her it's okay to stay in the shade, but absolutely NO sitting down on the job!

Reporting for duty

We didn't have the proper uniform for her, but we whipped up a quick safety sash (Plymouth Encore neons), badge (tape measure), and topped her off with an eyecatching hat (Manos Maxima). 

We think she'll get noticed.

New Sock Yarn with a Touch of Attitude

One of our favorite sock & shawl yarns is now available with a bit of glitz! Introducing Mille Colori Socks & Lace LUXE by Lang. 

This yarn has always been a great choice for socks - of course - but recently many customers have been using it for shawls and scarves. Here's a Multi Directional Scarf made in shade 53:

The original sock colors are beautiful, and so are the 4 new Luxe shades! These new colors also stripe, but are a bit more subtle than the originals.

Brights are in!

If any of you have been shopping for clothing recently, you've noticed the trend toward bright colors and neons. These colors have also been making an appearance in yarns & other knitting & crochet products, and opening each box here at the shop is definitely awakening our senses after as we head into summer!

Examples? Here's a bunch of the new Manos del Uruguay Alegria sock yarn. They've got a lovely mix of bright & neutral colors. Boy, do those bright ones make a splash!

These Berroco brights arrived the same day as our new Hadaki bags. What a feast for the senses!

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (back), Berroco Vintage (middle) and Hadaki Multitasker Bags

The Hadaki bags are new for us, and they're so much fun! The fabrics are all bright & peppy and are coated so they're water resistant and easy to clean. This is the Hadaki Hanging Roll - perfect for storing all your notions:

This is the Hadaki Multi Tasker - a great project bag:

And the Hadaki Hannah's Tote works as a large project bag, a gym bag, a beach bag, a weekend bag, you name it:

New Manos Shipment

We just received a shipment from Manos the other day with some gorgeous new colors of Serena and Manos Lace. These are two yarns we sell a LOT of, and we always love bringing in new colors!

We got 4 new colors of Manos Lace. This yarn is perfect for the Featherweight Cardigan, the Wispy Cardigan or the Faceted Gems Lace Wrap.

And we got 7 new colors of Serena, and now offer a total of 26 colors (16 semi solids and 10 multis). I just LOVE the combination of these new shades. 

Need a project idea?  Serena is perfect for the Signs of Spring Cowl, the Citron Shawl and the Moore Sweater. 

Stay tuned... our next post will be about the new Manos YARN that we just received. Patience, patience! We are still working on the photographs. It's worth the wait!

Organic Cotton for Baby

You already know we've received Classic Elite Seedling in the hand painted colors, but I wanted to share with you my experience with this yarn.

I'm not a big cotton fan. I always have to go down at least 2 needle sizes to get gauge with cotton yarns. This isn't such a big deal - I mean the number of stitches you are knitting on, whether you are using an 8 or a 6, is the same. But what makes it less-than-enjoyable for me, is the pain I feel in my hands when I'm knitting cotton on a small needle. And now that I've hit my mid-40's I'm feeling every ache and pain. Why give myself more pain if I can avoid it?

But I was in the shop after Christmas and I was looking at some of the new yarns we've received for spring. I pulled a skein of each of the new hand painted Seedlings from the shelf, and was amazed at how soft they were! For some reason, I always thought this yarn had a rougher feel to it. I was so wrong!

We used to sell some similar looking cotton yarns with nubbly textures like this and they were, indeed, rougher to the touch. That must have been what I was thinking about when I was "imagining" the hand of the Seedling. Luckily my imagination has now been replaced with a wonderful reality. This is some seriously smooth and soft fiber.

I pulled a copy of the new Yankee Knitter Baby Sweaters, Hats & Blankets #31 pattern and grabbed 3 skeins of color #4566 Lei. It's fun combination of pink and orange with a hint of avocado green thrown in! From the pattern, I chose to make the sweater: a super simple top down raglan cardigan. The thing I liked the best was that when you finished the yoke, the pattern tells you to work the sleeves FIRST, before the body. What's so smart about this? Well, it eliminates stitch holders, for one. And two? You can work the entire piece on a straight needle. Smart thinking!

I whipped up the size 3-6 month sweater in no time, and was pleased to discover that to get gauge, I only had to drop one needle size. My hands are pain free, too! I started the hat this morning and it should be finished soon.

And... if you like hand paints, there are some great colors from which to choose:

New Year, New Project, New Colors

I hope 2013 is off to a great start for everybody! Sorry for the blog silence - holiday travel this year was hectic and once it was over, it took a while to figure out what state/country/time zone I was in!

When I was at the shop after Christmas I fell in love with one of our latest samples. The Macrame Scarf (find the free pattern through this link) is knit with just 2 skeins of Araucania Lontue, and it's a truly beautiful piece. (Shown below in color: Lime Yellow.)

I love how it's big enough to be draped over the shoulders and worn as a shawl, but scrunchy enough to be doubled up and worn as a scarf. The stitch is reminiscent of macramé, and the fringe is super cool!

The Lontue is a hand dyed blend of linen and cotton and is perfect for year round wear. Our e-newsletter last week featured this piece, and I guess I wasn't alone in loving it! We sold out of all colors of the yarn!

Don't worry, 2 are back in stock (Lime Yellow and Fire Fly) and on Friday we received 2 brand new colors: Olive Blue Denim and Lavendar Olive Violet. All colors are on order and will be back in stock shortly. 

If any of you took advantage of the special price on Lontue last week, and are making this shawl, please send us pictures!

Great News for Cotton Fans!

Just in, Seedling Hand Paints! 

Classic Elite Seedling has been a popular worsted weight cotton in the solid shades for the past couple of years. Now we've brought in 6 beautiful hand painted shades.

Seedling is a machine washable organic cotton with a nubbly texture. The organic fiber is more robust and less stressed by chemicals than non-organic cotton, which increases its absorbency and color intensity. It's popular in garments for both adults and children. 

How fun would this sweater be with a coordinating hand paint shade thrown in?

Thinking Spring... Already!

contributed by Barb

Last Wednesday, I spent most of the morning on Skype with Jill and one of our sales reps looking at new spring yarns. It hasn't even turned into winter here, but we're already looking at spring yarns.

When I came out of the meeting I was sent to the basement. I thought I was being punished for being in the meeting for so long (these sales meetings can be up to 3 hours long) but as I went down the stairs into the basement I realized it was no punishment. It was a gift.

There were three huge boxes from Berroco waiting for me. These boxes contained some new spring yarns and then new colors of existing yarns. It's always so fun unloading new things, and to think Jill and I had just ordered these a little over a week ago. All of the new yarns and new colors of existing yarns will be online this week.

When the Berroco Trunk Show was at the shop, I tried on some garments in the summer yarns from last year. I decided to make a couple of them, but Andra said I may want to wait for new colors for Spring 2013 to be available. That seemed like it would be months, but now just one short month later I can start choosing colors from the new ones and get some projects on my needles.

One of the first items I will be making is the Seabrook Vest – a free pattern from Berroco knit in Captiva. 

I love the new colors we got, but I am having a hard time choosing just one. Help!

Then maybe I'll start a multi-colored scarf/shawl in Weekend.  I love to wear a scarf or shawl during the day, but I get a little over-heated in wool. 

I like the weight of a worsted shawl, and the acrylic and cotton blend of Weekend will keep me from overheating.

Shepherd Sock

Over the past two weeks we've gotten several shipments from Lorna's Laces, and each one had new colors of Shepherd Sock. This yarn has been very popular for socks, shawls and baby sweaters, but unfortunately (for us and for eager knitters!) it can take up to 12 weeks for us to receive it once we place an order.

A couple of weeks ago we were restocking the sock yarns and thought, "Hmm, the Shepherd Sock looks really low! I wonder where our order is?"

We called to check on it and turns out they had more than half of the order ready, but were waiting to ship until they'd dyed ALL the colors we ordered. Since we pay for shipping, we asked them to ship what they had, and they did.

Verve, Robot Overload, Zombie BBQ, Tuscany, Monkey Shines, Winona

And then last Friday we received the remaining 4 colors. So our order's complete... for NOW!

Mineshaft, Unicorn Parade, Watercolor & Icehouse

New Spud & Chloe Fine Colors

contributed by Shawn

Emily and I opened a box from Spud & Chloe last week to find that Jill & Barb had conspired to bring us NEW colors.  The nice bright new colors of Spud & Chloe Fine hanging on the wall immediately got us thinking about pattern possibilities since we just HAD to take some of them home.

I think the Yarndance Slip Stich Mosaic Hat is going to be my choice.  This pattern is stunning when it is done and even though you use 2 colors to create the pattern only a single color is used in each row of knitting. You won't believe how simple it is to create one for yourself! 

Goldfish, Dolphin, Lizard, Dragonfly

I haven't decided yet if I will choose Goldfish and Dolphin, or Lizard and Dragonfly.  What do you think?

Get it while it's hot!

contributed by Shawn

Many of you may recognize this amazingly simple, flamboyant scarf.

And you probably also remember how the Flounce yarn was gone in a flash last season? And how we couldn't get more because the supplier was COMPLETELY OUT OF EVERY COLOR? We waited for MONTHS for our reorders to arrive and we only got a limited amount of just a few of the colors. It was certainly well after the holiday season before we could let customers know it was available again.

Well there are 8 NEW amazing colors available now and we have them in stock! But we have a feeling this yarn is going to be hard to get this again this season especially as the time for holiday gift giving draws near.

So we've purchased other ruffle yarns that are almost exactly like the Flounce. That means we have more supply and more colors! Check out Rozetti Marina, Plymouth Joy and Katia Ondas. In addition to these three we have many other new ruffle yarns. 

Even though we have added new ruffle yarns and increased our stock, we still anticipate another shortage. So please DO NOT WAIT to get the colors you like, or the colors you think your friends and co-workers will ask for as soon as they see YOUR scarf.

These scarves are quick and easy knitting projects (no purling!) and make great gifts.