New: Transitions yarn

Do you love yarns with loooooong color repeats? Are you a fan of fingering weight? If so, you'll be very excited about Transitions.

From Done Roving, the fine folks who make the popular Frolicking Feet sock yarn, Transitions is a pre-wound, 480-yd. cake of fingering weight, superwash wool. Each colorway has four transitions of color based on the Frolicking Feet colors.

The cake comes in this handy clear bowl so you can see all the beautiful colors, while still keeping your yarn clean and contained. The bowl has a hole to dispense the yarn through, so it sits still while you knit. Clever!

The fine gauge and long color repeats make this yarn an ideal choice for shawls. Done Roving has some stunning examples up on their web site. Hurry in to the shop and grab this great yarn for yourself, soon--people starting buying it straight out of the box before we even had a chance to price it or add it to our inventory system!

By the way, that box also contained our fall shipment of Frolicking Feet. Lots of new colors here, in addition to old favorites. Come and get 'em!

Cozy up to Hand Paint Sock

Many of you who were here for Shop Hop were excited about the multi-colored yarn we used for our shop sample.

Detail of our Shop Hop shawl.

Those pretty, artistic colors are courtesy of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock. The colorway used in the shawl is called Treasure. We have quite a few other fabulous colorways in stock as well. See?

So many pretty colors!

Hand Paint Sock is a delicious blend of 50% superfine alpaca, 30% merino wool, 10% silk, & 10% nylon. It comes in a 436-yd. hank (which, course, we'll gladly wind for you on our ball winder when you purchase it here).

Misti Alpaca has plenty of pattern support for this yarn on their web site. Sock-wise, the color changes of this yarn are really best displayed in simple designs like these.

Maybe the softness and fine gauge of HPS make you think about items for the little ones in your life. The Misti Alpaca web site offers this cute set for ages 1-5 years.

For those who think this yarn might be a bit too luxurious for socks or kids' stuff, how about using it in a pretty scarf? Lisa Bruce's Favorite Scarf Ever was designed with HPS in mind. It's a free Ravelry download and takes only one skein.

Need more ideas, for this or any other yarn?  Come on in and we'll help you brainstorm! :)

Stock up on solids

For a while now, we've been noticing that people are buying hand-dyed or kettle-dyed fingering weight yarns just as often for shawls as for socks. The color changes of those yarns lend themselves beautifully to a project like Hitchhiker or Ripples.

So what about you sock knitters? This winter we're focusing on bringing you more solid color options in addition to the variegated yarns we continue to carry. A few days ago we introduced you to American B.R.A.N.D. Now let's take a look at a few more great solids we've added to our inventory.

Austermann Step Classic: 460yds, 75% superwash virgin wool, 25% nylon, w/Aloe Vera & Jojoba Oil, $19.00/skein.

Brown Sheep Wildfoote: 215yds, 75% superwash, 25% nylon, $7.00/skein.

Fortissima Socka: 230yds, 75% superwash virgin wool, 25% nylon, $7.50/skein.

You can make a whole pair of socks from one skein of Step. The smaller skeins of Wildfoote and Socka are great for those times when you need smaller quantities of multiple colors for stripes or colorwork.

We also like the fact that Socka comes in all these great "manly" colors for the less-colorful sock lovers in your life.

Solids are such a great way to show off intricate textures. Add some of these yarns to your stash and you'll be prepared for that next gorgeous cabled or lacy sock pattern that catches your eye!

American B.R.A.N.D.

As you probably know, we strive to be very aware of where our yarns come from. Whenever possible, we prefer to deal with U.S. companies or foreign companies that have been certified Fair Trade. That's why we're really excited about a new yarn that arrived this week: American B.R.A.N.D. (Born, Raised, And Naturally Dyed).

This fingering weight yarn is 80% superwash wool and 20% nylon--perfect for socks. The wool comes from U.S.-raised Rambouillet sheep and is spun and dyed in the U.S. as well.

The colors really distinguish this yarn from any other sock yarn we've seen. The dyes are all derived from natural materials such as flowers, nuts, and roots, giving American B.R.A.N.D. a uniquely organic color palette.

This is a new product for us, so for now we're testing it out by stocking just one skein of each of its 12 colors. If it proves to be popular, we'll continue to carry more of it. So, please give us your feedback! We really think you'll like it.

The price for this all-American, naturally-dyed yarn is a little higher than some sock yarns ($30), but we believe it's worth it. With 440 yards per skein, you'll have plenty to make a really special, gorgeous pair of socks (or maybe a scarf? cowl? small shawl?). Carrie made a tiny sock with the sample skein the company gave us, and loved working with it.

Stop by and experience American B.R.A.N.D. for yourself!

New: Hand Paint Sock

Ooooh, it's so exciting when a new-to-us yarn arrives. We're very happy to introduce you to our latest addition, Hand Paint Sock from Misti Alpaca.

Colors currently in stock, clockwise from far left: Tilt-A-Whirl, Reggaeton, Northern Lights, Manu, Eiffel.

We're crazy about this yarn. The colors are great, obviously, and it's also wonderfully soft. The fiber blend is 50% alpaca, 30% merino wool, 10% silk, and 10% nylon. Hand Paint Sock comes in a 437-yard skein for $23.00. The label recommends hand-washing.

While Misti Alpaca calls this a sock yarn, don't limit yourself by thinking of it only in terms of socks. A quick browse through its Ravelry project pages will give you plenty of inspiration for scarves, shawls, mitts, and other great items to make with this wonderful yarn. Let your imagination run wild, and have fun!

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.)