Shop Hop prize: Serena

Today we're spotlighting the second of the three prizes we'll be giving away for Shop Hop. (Did you miss the first one? Here it is.)

That's SIX skeins of Manos del Uruguay's luxurious Serena. This kettle-dyed colorway is called Blackberry Ice. Serena is a dreamy 60/40 blend of baby alpaca and pima cotton--which, in our climate, makes it pretty much an all-season yarn.

The fiber content gives Serena a fabulous drape that has made it a very popular choice for scarves, shawls, and light cardigans (Featherweight, anyone?). Although Ravelry lists this yarn as a DK-weight, we like it even better when it's knit at a sport- or even fingering-weight gauge. These six skeins give you a total of 1020 yards, so you'll have lots of project options...

...if you win. But remember, you can't win if you don't play, so don't forget to buy your Shop Hop passport! They're only $1.

The retail value of the Serena prize package is $87.

Free pattern for Shop Hoppers

One of the most fun aspects of Shop Hop is that each participating shop gives away their own free, exclusive pattern to Shop Hoppers. It's always cool to see what everybody comes up with.

Here at Sheepish, we're very proud to carry a number of yarns that have been certified Fair Trade. Our free Shop Hop pattern for 2013 spotlights some of them.

The Fair Trade Cowl makes use of a simple slip stitch pattern to create a wonderful texture that's surprisingly easy to knit. The version shown here uses two colors of Manos del Uruguay Maxima, a super-soft worsted weight merino. The pattern also includes instructions for a bulky-weight version in a single color. Our shop sample of the bulky version (which you can try on for yourself when you stop by during Shop Hop) was knit in luxurious Misti Alpaca Chunky.

Shop Hop starts Saturday, Sept. 28, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 6. We look forward to seeing all of you!

More beauty from Manos

When we got our first fall shipment from Manos del Uruguay a few weeks ago, several of the colors we'd ordered weren't included because they were backordered. Today we received a wonderful box containing these colors:

This is Maxima in (top to bottom) Kermit, Foil and Tigerlily. The Kermit and Tigerlily are brand new colors from Manos this fall. Foil is featured in our Shop Hop pattern (more info on that coming soon!), so we needed to stock up on plenty of it for everyone who wants to make the pattern.

Next, here are two more colors of the extremely popular Silk Blend--Chartreuse and Black. Each of them is gorgeous, but we love them even more together! What do you think of this combo?

Also in this shipment, we have the Minas cowl pattern, designed by Angelia Robinson. This is a crochet pattern! It calls for three skeins of Silk Blend (two of the main color, one of the contrast) and a size H hook. Minas is a brand new design from the Manos Fall 2013 pattern collection.

We're constantly amazed at the beauty of everything we get from Manos del Uruguay. We hope you'll love all these new colors as much as we do!

Shop Hop prize #1

The seventh annual Shop Hop is only three weeks away! Are you as excited as we are?

You probably know about the Shop Hop grand prize--one winner will receive $900 in gift certificates from the participating shops. But that's not the only opportunity Shop Hoppers have to win cool swag. Each shop also gives away three smaller prizes, and even if you only get your passport stamped at one shop, your name goes into the drawing for those.

Here's a sneak peek at one of the three prizes Sheepish will be giving away:

These goodies could be yours!

That's three skeins of super-soft Manos del Uruguay Maxima (100% merino) in the Cotton Candy colorway and a copy of Art Fiber Design's Challah Infinity Scarf pattern. This scarf, designed by Pam Powers, features ribbing, seed stitch, stockinette, and reverse stockinette, creating a medley of wonderfully squishy textures.The retail value of this prize package is $51.00.

Shop Hop starts Saturday, Sept. 28. Passports only cost a dollar and they're on sale now. Get yours today!

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.

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!

On The Needles: Ripples scarf in Alegria

Manos del Uruguay's sock yarn is brand new this spring, and we're very excited to be among the first shops to carry it. The yarn is called Alegria (which means "joy" in Spanish), and it truly is a joy to see, touch, and knit. The first three colors have arrived and more are on the way.

Top to bottom: Glicinas, Botanico, Ceibo.

Alegria is a wonderfully soft, fingering weight blend of 75% superwash merino / 25% polyamide in bright handpainted colorways. The generous yardage (445/hank) gives you plenty of yarn to make a large pair of socks...

...or maybe a scarf! Stacy's working on this one, called Ripples, in Alegria colorway #9741 Glicinas. This is a new pattern by Annelie Wallbom and it's very fun to knit. It's simple, but has just enough details like short rows and an eyelet border to keep you interested. Even better, if you download the pattern by June 19 and use the coupon code serialknitterslys2013, Ripples is available for FREE. (After June 19, you can buy it through Ravelry for $3.50.)

Fall yarns from Manos del Uruguay

This is our favorite time of year at Sheepish--new yarns are arriving faster than we can tell you about them!  Here are two more recent arrivals for fall, both from Manos del Uruguay.

This beautiful stuff is Wool Clasica, a handspun, kettle-dyed, 100% wool yarn.  If you've never knit with handspun yarn before, you're in for a treat.  This yarn gives wonderful texture to your stitches, and knits up at about 3.5-4.5 sts/in. on a US 8-10 needle.  Wool Clasica retails at $17.50/skein for the solid colors and $18.50/skein for the multi colors.  The solids and multis both have the same yardage, 138 yds/skein.

Wool Clasica yarn from Manos del Uruguay

And here we have Maxima, a luxuriously soft kettle-dyed merino.  This yarn is so wonderfully bouncy and squishy!  It's a worsted weight, knitting at 4.5-5 sts/in. on a US 7-8 needle.  Maxima retails at $14.00 per 218-yd. skein, so it's a great value, too.  (The solids and multis are priced the same.)

Maxima yarn from Manos del Uruguay

Stacy knit up a quick sample of the Maxima, using the free Malabrigo Neck Thingie pattern from Ravelry (yes, Maxima is an ideal choice for any pattern that suggests Malabrigo Worsted!).  This is the Arctic Shadow colorway.

Maxima Neck Thingie

If you're not familiar with Manos del Uruguay and their yarns, you can read more about this certified Fair Trade company here. We're proud to carry these products, and can't wait to see what you all will make with them!