Dream Club 2013-14 preview

We're super excited because it's almost time for another season of Dream In Color's Dream Club to start. Last year was our first time participating in the club, and we had a lot of fun with it, and we know many of you did, too.

For those of you who aren't familiar with how the Dream Club works, here's the scoop: each month, Dream In Color sends us ten skeins of a special yarn in a limited edition colorway. When you purchase the yarn of the month, it also comes with an exclusive one-skein pattern that we'll email you as a PDF. We don't know ahead of time what the base yarn, colorway, or pattern will be. The surprise is half the fun!

The Dream Club starts in September and runs through February. Although we can't give you any spoilers about what Dream In Color has up their sleeve for this season, we can share this mood board they sent us, showing their inspirations for the new colorways.

So much beauty!

Doesn't that make you eager to see the yarns? We'll make an announcement as soon as the September shipment arrives!

Kitts and mitts

First, a quick update to let you know that Ruby and Sapphire went to their forever home this week! We're thrilled that they got adopted together--those two little ladies had really bonded, despite not being actual littermates.

Bon voyage, munchkins!

So we're kitten-less for now, but we'll probably be fostering more babies in the future. In the meantime, if you would like to be an animal foster parent yourself, please contact Dekalb County Animal Services. There are so many critters in need, and fostering is a great way to help them without making a lifetime commitment.

Now for some knitting news! We've already told you how much we love Silk Blend from Manos del Uruguay, and judging by how well it's been selling so far, you love it, too. For those of you who haven't tried this yummy yarn yet, here's a little project to entice you.

Salto Mitts, designed by Christine Marie Chen

Stacy made the Salto fingerless mitts as a shop sample in the Briar colorway. This is a one-skein project and a rather simple one at that. If you've never knit lace before, these eyelets are a perfect introduction to lace knitting techniques. The eyelets also help the mitts expand to fit a range of arm sizes without having to resize the pattern. Clever!

This pattern is available through Ravelry's in-store pattern sales program. Let us download Salto for you at the shop, and your purchase will count toward your Sheepish Reward points. Get started on these mitts now, and you'll have a gorgeous new accessory ready to wear when the weather turns chilly.

Labor Day weekend sale

New fall yarns are arriving regularly, and we need your help to make room for them! So...

Brown Sheep yarns, just waiting to go home with you.

Now through Sunday, Sept. 1, all yarns from Kraemer, Cascade, Classic Elite, and Brown Sheep, are 25% off. Out with the old dye lots and in with the new!

Sale yarns include: Perfection, Tatamy, Heritage, Fixation, Ultra Pima, Seedling, Silky Alpaca Lace, Lamb's Pride Bulky, Cotton Fleece, Nature Spun, Burly Spun, and many more. If you're coming to Decatur for the Book Festival anyway, you might as well stop by and see us and grab some bargains, right?

Fifth Anniversary Party

Hard as it might be to believe, it's been five years since Carrie bought the shop (then called Nease's Needlework) from Susan Nease, and Sheepish was born.

Please join us on Saturday, September 7, to celebrate our fifth anniversary! We'll have plenty of refreshments and we've heard a rumor that there might be a karaoke machine. We'll be open for business during the party as well, so you can shop our beautiful selection of fall yarns while you mix and mingle. The festivities will get underway at 6pm and continue until 8pm (or maybe later, if enough people want to hang out.)

We hope to see you all there!  You can let us know you're coming by replying to our event page on Facebook.

Kitten update

Just wanted to share the latest news about our second set of foster kittens. The boy, Stone, went to his permanent home on August 12. His name is Tex now. He's doing great with his new daddies, Tim and Pablo, and their older male cat. Hurray!

The girls, Ruby and Sapphire, are still with us. While we're happy to be hosting them, we'd really love to see them go to their forever homes soon. These ladies deserve wonderful families to call their own. They're just so cute and playful. Take a look....

Vrrrrooom!

Ruby says, "I'm tired of being in foster care. I'm ready to hit the road!" She's such a little beauty, and she loves to purr.

Well, hi there!

Sapphire says, "If someone doesn't adopt me soon, I'll just have to get my own place!" She has tons of energy and keeps us laughing.

Several people have acted interested in adopting them, and some have even taken the paperwork, but so far no one has made it official. Come on, everybody--these are quality kitties! They're about three months old, they're up-to-date on shots, and they've been spayed and microchipped. They're ready to go.

If you'd like to adopt one (or both) of these sweet girls, you can pick up the application from us, or call us at 404-377-6875 and ask us to email it to you. The adoption fee is $75 (per kitten), payable to Dekalb County Animal Services. And if you're not in the market for a kitten yourself, please spread the word to anyone who might want to make Ruby and/or Sapphire part of their family.

New yarns from Misti Alpaca

This time of year is so much fun for us. The UPS man brought us two big boxes of gorgeous fall yarns today!

We're pleased to be adding several Misti Alpaca yarns to our fall line-up this year. We think you're really going to love these.

Misti Alpaca Worsted

First up, here's their worsted weight baby alpaca, simply called Worsted. This yarn is buttery soft and its medium weight makes it a versatile option for our climate. It knits at 5 sts./in. on a US 7 needle. $8.00 per 109-yard skein.

Tonos Worsted

Next, this is Tonos Worsted. It's a 50% baby alpaca / 50% merino blend in amazing hand-painted tone-on-tone colorways. Like the solid worsted, this yarn knits at 5 sts./in. on a US 7 needle. $20 per 218-yard skein.

Misti Alpaca Chunky

Last but definitely not least, we have Misti Alpaca Chunky. Folks, we've snuggled up to a lot of alpaca yarns in our time, but this just might be the softest of them all. And the colors and drape are absolutely heavenly. This 100% baby alpaca yarn will be a great choice for quick, luxurious accessory projects. It knits at 3.5 sts./in. on a US 10 needle. $16 per 109-yard skein for the solids; $23.50 for the hand-paints.

Come in and feel these goodies for yourself!

Sweater weather

What's up with these temperatures? It is still summer, right?

We know this chilly weather is a fluke and there's plenty more heat to come, but this little preview of autumn is a handy reminder that the cooler months are right around the corner. Now's the time to start on some cozy projects to keep you warm this fall and winter.

We're so happy that Andi Satterlund's gorgeous Chuck sweater design is now available as an in-store Ravelry download. Stacy knit this longer version in Liberty Wool (color 7880, Golden Poppy). It's on display in the shop right now, and you can read more about it on Stacy's personal blog.

This pattern has so many features we love--flattering fit, seamless top-down construction, enough cables to keep the knitting interesting, and enough mindless stockinette to keep things moving fast. It's soft and comfy in Liberty Wool, but would also be wonderful in Perfection or Nature Spun.

Remember, if you buy this pattern from us, the designer gets paid, we get paid, and the purchase counts toward your Sheepish Rewards!

Fall arrivals from Manos del Uruguay

Today we received our first shipment of fall yarn, and it's a beauty. Check this out:

Autumny goodness.

That's Manos del Uruguay's Silk Blend, a luscious DK-weight combo of 70% extrafine merino / 30% silk. Some colorways are space-dyed and some are semi-solid, and all come in 150-yard skeins. Space-dyed colorways are $15.00 and semi-solids are $14.50.

If you need some inspiration about what to make from this new-to-us yarn, here are some lovely accessory patterns to ease you into your fall knitting. These are in stock now!

Manyara beret and cowl set.

Salto fingerless mitts.

You need to experience this yarn in person so you can feel how fabulous it is and see the gorgeous hand-dyed colors for yourself. Photos just can't do them justice!

Sneak peek: Gradient

Back in the spring, a sales rep left a ball of Schoppel Yarn's Gradient with us so we could try it. Stacy knit it into the Honey Cowl, and the sample has been living here at the shop all summer, where many of you have commented on how much you like it. That's exactly the kind of feedback we were hoping for!

Gradient is a soft, slightly felted wool single with very long color repeats. It comes in the same kind of ball as Schoppel's Zauberball, but knits at a worsted weight gauge. It's really nice to work with, and watching the slow, gradual color changes is so much fun.

We met with our sales rep yesterday, and based on your positive reaction to Gradient, we ordered it for fall. We'll be getting five colorways, and we ordered extra balls of the orange shown in the sample because it's gotten such a great response. It will sell for about $22.50 per 284-yd. ball. Our Honey Cowl took less than one ball.

We look forward to seeing what kinds of projects you'll make with this gorgeous yarn!

On The Needles: Wriggle Wrap in Kauni

We're mixing it up a little bit with this edition of On The Needles. Instead of showing you a staff project, we want to highlight one of our customers' works in progress!

Wriggle Wrap, designed by Sally Brandl

This is Kris's fantastic Wriggle Wrap that she's been bringing to Knitting Night on Tuesdays. It uses two colorways of Kauni Effektgarn to spectacular, well...effect. The texture is a simple feather and fan pattern that adds wonderful movement to the color changes of the two alternating Kauni skeins.

For those of you who thought Kauni was only for colorwork projects, think again! This would also look gorgeous in Zauberball, which we plan to get back in stock later this fall.

The Wriggle Wrap pattern is available here at the shop via our Ravelry sales program. Buy it from us and your purchase will count toward your Sheepish Rewards!

Make way for fall SALE

Hard to believe, but school's starting back up and autumn is just around the corner. Our fall yarns will begin arriving soon, but we need to make room for them.

This weekend, Fri. Aug. 2 - Sun. Aug. 4, ALL (regularly priced) yarns are 20% off! Come grab some bargains and help us clear out space for our exciting new goodies.