Shop Hop prize: Sock package

The 8th annual Atlanta Area Yarn Shop Hop is right around the corner. The festivities get underway on Saturday, Sept. 13. Remember, even if you don't hit all seven shops to become eligible for the Grand Prize, there are many smaller prizes up for grabs--not to mention all the fun to be had!

Each participating shop is giving away three prizes, and here's a look at the first of ours.

This is a great prize package for you sock knitters (and wannabe sock knitters) out there: one skein of Done Roving's Frolicking Feet (480 yds., hand-dyed, 100% superwash wool), one skein of Austermann Step Classic (459 yds., solid color, 75% wool/25% nylon, treated with jojoba and aloe vera for extra softness), and one set of Crystal Palace bamboo double-pointed needles.

The retail value of this prize package is $50.50.

Stay tuned for sneak peeks at our other fabulous Shop Hop prizes. And if you haven't bought your Shop Hop passport yet, come and get it! Just $1.00 is a great bargain for all the fun you'll have supporting your local shops.

Dream Club: October 2013

The latest installment from Dream In Color's Dream Club is another gorgeous autumnal gem. With Everlasting Sock ($26) as the base yarn, the warm colors of falling leaves really pop out in this smoothly-twisted 100% superwash merino.

Everlasting Sock

Accompanying this beautiful yarn, the Dream Club pattern of the month is Sand People Always Ride Single File (S.P.A.R.S.F.) by Claire Ellen. Dream In Color calls these cabled socks, "A perfect match between our wonderfully hard-wearing Everlasting Sock and an entertaining intermediate level pattern."

S.P.A.R.S.F. socks

This pattern might look intimidating at first, but if you have basic knowledge of sock knitting and cable construction, you can make these.

Remember, as a Dream Club shop, we only receive ten skeins of each month's yarn from Dream In Color. It's first-come, first-served, so be sure to stop by and get a skein for yourself before they're all gone!

On The Needles: Vertical Eyelet socks in St. Elias

Socks are such a great summer project, aren't they? They're portable, so they're perfect for taking on vacation. They're small, so you can work on them without being smothered under a big project in the summer heat. And when the weather finally cools off, BOOM, you've already got yourself a nice cozy new pair of socks to wear.

Carole is working on this pair, using the Vertical Eyelet stitch pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks (one of our sock bibles--currently in stock).  The yarn is Pagewood Farm's St. Elias (80 % wool, 20% nylon) in the Bird of Paradise colorway.

Carole had originally chosen a different stitch pattern, but she found it too annoying because each needle started with a purl stitch and it was leaving ladders. We know a lot of people who have a hard time starting a needle with a purl stitch--how about you? Sometimes you can rearrange the needles to avoid that, but sometimes it's easier to do what Carole did and just pick a new stitch pattern!

Notice Carole is knitting both socks at the same time, using two parallel circular needles. For those of you who suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, this technique is a great way to beat that problem--when you're done, you're done. Don't know how to knit on two parallel circs? We can teach you! Give us a call at 404-377-6875 to book a lesson (one hour for $25) that fits your needs and schedule.

Shop Hop prizes, part one

Shop Hop 2012 is right around the corner!  The fun starts Saturday, Sept. 29, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 7.  Have you picked up your passport yet?  They're only $1.00 and could end up winning you hundreds of dollars in prizes!  Each shop gives away three prizes, not to mention the grand prize: one lucky Shop Hopper will win $100 store credit to EACH of the nine participating shops!  

Here's one of the prize packs we'll be giving away.  This basket of sock-related goodies includes:

• Sock Club book by sock guru Charlene Schurch
• The Eclectic Sole book by Janel Laidman
• Laurel Burch zippered pouch with three sets of HiyaHiya double-pointed needles (sizes US 1, 2, and 3)
• Skein of Fame Trend yarn (this also makes a fantastic Wingspan--just sayin')
• Skein of Frolicking Feet yarn

The retail value of this prize package is over $120.  

If you've never participated in Shop Hop before and aren't sure how it works, read more here.  Stay tuned for photos of more prizes....

Done Roving yarns

Now in stock: two beautiful yarns by Done Roving, a small company based in Maine.  We'd never heard of Done Roving until a few months ago, but we instantly fell in love when our sales rep showed us her amazing samples.  We immediately placed an order for fall, and it has arrived!

First up, for all you sock lovers, we have Frolicking Feet.  It's a 100% superwash merino with a wonderful tight twist.  We currently have it in 15 colorways (we started out with more, but a few have sold out already!).  Frolicking Feet retails at $21.00 per 480-yard skein.

Frolicking Feet

Next, we have Natural Ewe.  It's a brand new yarn for Done Roving, and Sheepish is one of the first shops in the country to have it.  Natural Ewe comes in 15 colorways and we have all of them in stock right now. This is a super soft fingering weight yarn that will be perfect for lace projects or whatever else you can dream up.  It's a 100% organic merino (What makes a wool organic? Learn here!) and retails at $14.00 per 300-yard skein.

Natural Ewe

Stop by and treat yourself to these exciting new yarns soon!  We have a feeling they're going to be very popular.