Stripes for small folks

We know many of you have been busy cleaning out your closets to get ready for our Stash Sale. You're finding plenty of yarn you want to get rid of, which is great! We look forward to seeing it all.

But occasionally you come across a little something in your stash...there's not much of it, and you don't know what to do with it, but you're just not ready to part with it, either. (You know what we're talking about.) Here are a few solutions to help you use up those small quantities. These patterns are all available here at the shop via our Ravelry sales program.

Flagstaff by Taiga Hilliard Designs is a pretty little unisex baby sweater that calls for just 250-360 yards of fingering weight (hello, random skein of sock yarn). The "color work" is actually a very simple slip stitch pattern, so you only work with one color per row. This sweater is worked seamlessly from the top down--we love that!

Fond of You by Jenny Wiebe uses double moss stitch to liven up a basic sweater shape. With sizes ranging from 6 months to 12 years, you can make countless versions in various sizes and color combinations. Perfection Worsted would be ideal for this project--it's machine washable and we currently have 55 colors to choose from. Or use some oddballs from your stash--even the biggest size only calls for 400 yards of each color. (And nothing says you couldn't do it in more than two colors!)

Oxford by Chelsea Berkompas is an adorable garter stitch vest "designed especially for little men with big style!" Only 330-440 yards of worsted weight (Perfection again, anyone?) is all you need to make this in sizes up to 24 months. Finding cute patterns for boys can be a challenge, but this one definitely fits the bill.

Do you have a favorite pattern for using up small amounts of yarn? Let us know about it!

Colors of summer

A lovely shipment arrived from Misti Alpaca this week. Take a look at these delicious summery colors.

"Alpaca for summer?" you say. "Yuck, that sounds hot!" But not all of Misti Alpaca's yarns are made from alpaca. What you see here is our warm weather favorite, Pima Silk.

Available in semi-solids and hand-paints, Pima Silk is a luxurious DK-weight blend of 83% cotton/ 17% silk. Each skein has a generous 327 yards for only $21.00.

Need pattern ideas for this gorgeous yarn? For the hand-painted colorways, we're huge fans of Tori Gurbisz's Amalthea. It only took one skein to make this lovely scarf, which many of you have seen on display in the shop.

For the semi-solids, how about one of these cool summer tops from c2knits? Clockwise from top left: Sophie, Gypsy, Miyoko, Daphne.

All of these patterns are available here at the shop through our Ravelry download program.

Another happy adoption

The last of the city kittens went to his forever home today.

Little Raleigh (new name: Granite) got adopted by Denise and her boys. We're so happy for them all! And frankly, we can't believe Raleigh was the last of his litter to get adopted, because we think he's just about the handsomest kitten in the world. :)

This now makes 26 kitties we've fostered and adopted out on behalf of Dekalb County Animal Services in the past 13 months. We're very proud that we've been able to help so many wonderful critters find loving homes.

We'll be taking a brief summer vacation from fostering, but expect to see more foster kittens at the shop around the beginning of August. In the meantime, if you're looking for a new furry friend, check out the special Independence Day packages at DCAS: throughout the month of July, it only costs $17.76 to adopt a cat, and $30 to adopt a dog!