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.

Lucy Neatby double knitting patterns

Are you looking for a new challenge? Are you one of the many who became mesmerized by Carrie's Winter Games Challenge scarf? Then check out these recent additions to our pattern inventory!

Pretty cool, huh?

These are some scarves designed by Lucy Neatby that utilize the double knitting technique. On the top row are two different versions of the Paintbox Scarf, and on the bottom row the Bubbles Scarf and the Plaid Scarf.

With double knitting, you're creating two different fabrics at the same time. For example, on the Bubbles scarf shown above, one side appears as a white background with colored bubbles, while the reverse side shows a colorful background with white bubbles.

These patterns all call for Kauni Effektgarn yarn. We have a little bit of it in stock right now, and more skeins of the multi colorways, solid black, and solid white will be arriving in April. The patterns are all currently in stock.

Intrigued, but don't feel confident enough to try this technique by yourself? Carrie would love to teach you how! Call us at 404-377-6875 to set up a lesson.

Sheepish Winter Games Challenge starts tonight

Is everybody ready? Tonight's the night! (If you don't know what we're talking about, or need a refresher about how this works, read this.) NBC coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony starts at 7:30pm. Of course, the ceremony will actually already be over by then. The time difference makes it tricky, but just use your best judgment. This event is pretty much on the honor system. :)

What are you all doing for your challenge? Here's a look at what your friendly Sheepish staff will be working on.

Carrie plans to dive headfirst into this double-knit colorwork adventure: The Null Hypothesis by Katrina Elsaesser. The Ravelry description says, "A six-foot long double- knit scarf with a non-repeating Mad Science themed pattern - but you don’t have to be crazy to knit this (or do you…?)." Hmm...we'll refrain from answering that question for now!

Meanwhile, Stacy will be tackling a spinning project. She started spinning this wool circa 2008 (!), with the idea of using the resulting yarn to knit a cardigan. She didn't get very far before life got in the way and the project got pushed to the far back burner. It's time to get back to this longstanding UFO and finally make it happen.

Let us know what your Winter Games Challenge project is! You can show us your progress by posting photos on our Facebook page.

Dream Club: February 2014

This month marks the final installment of the 2013-14 Dream Club. We hope you all have enjoyed it as much as we have! The Club will start back up in the fall.

February's yarn is a pretty pinky red that will brighten up these drab winter days and carry you into spring. The base yarn is Perfectly Posh Single Ply, a luscious fingering weight blend of 70% Wool, 10% Mohair, 10% Silk, 10% Cashmere. 360-yd. hank/$30.

The pattern that accompanies this month's yarn is called iLuv Ruffles. It's a keyhole scarf by Jessica Correa, who frequently designs for Dream in Color.

This scarf has a unique in-the-round construction and would be a great opportunity for those of you who've been wanting to try the Magic Loop technique. A perfect Winter Games Challenge project, perhaps?

Trendspotting: laceweight neckwear

Lately we've noticed many more people getting interested in knitting with laceweight yarn. For years, we had a few customers who would knit shawls in elaborate lacy patterns. Everybody else seemed too intimated to try such complicated projects, or just hated the idea of knitting with anything so fine.

But things are shifting now, thanks to some great patterns that have been popping up calling for laceweight yarns. These designs look sleek and modern, and because many of them are knit at a (relatively) bigger gauge, they knit up faster than you might expect.

If you fall in love with a skein of luscious laceweight while you're shopping (or if you have one in your stash), but don't know what to do with it, take a look at some of these projects for inspiration.

Gradiente by Jocelyn Tunney is a stunning scarf that uses a US 8 needle and three strands of laceweight held together. It subtly blends three different colors, 440 yards each. We have a sample of this in the shop, and everyone who sees it goes crazy for it!

Citron Grand by Hilary Smith Callis features a simple ruching technique to create textural interest. Knitting the laceweight yarn on a size US 8 makes a wonderful drapey fabric. You can knit this wrap in a variety of sizes, using anywhere from 435 to 1445 yards.

Arnhem Loop by Silke K. is a bit more of a time commitment because it's knit on a US 2 needle, but the result is so chic, it's worth it! This cowl is knit flat on the bias and then joined at the ends to create a long, luxurious loop. It calls for about 880 yards of the main color and 440 yards of the contrast.

Melanie Berg has designed a trio of fabulous striped wraps using laceweight yarn and a size US 4 needle. Left to right: Assante (650 yds MC, 325 yds CC); Aviendha (450 yds MC, 300 yds CC); and Miara (650 yds MC, 325 yds CC). The patterns are available individually or you can get all three as an eBook called It's All About Stripes. Really.

You can buy all the patterns mentioned in this post through Ravelry. Better yet, let us download the PDF for you at the shop, so you can receive credit toward your next Sheepish Reward coupon!

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!

On The Needles: Garter stitch scarf in Frolicking Feet

Sometimes a yarn is so beautiful, you want to let it do all the talking. No fussy stitch patterns, no fancy shapes, just 100% hand-dyed gorgeousness.

This garter stitch scarf Rocio's making is a perfect example.

Stunning, right?

Rocio fell in love with this skein of Frolicking Feet in colorway 13, Southwest Gem. This sock yarn isn't just for socks, obviously! Rocio wanted to make a scarf, but not one that had to be saved for special occasions. With 29 stitches cast onto a size US 8 needle, Frolicking Feet makes a wonderfully drapey fabric for a scarf that will go with many kinds of outfits when the weather gets cool. Knitting every stitch lets the yarn be the star.

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.)