End of winter sale

As spring yarns begin to arrive, we need to clear out some winter items. Starting today, many wool and alpaca yarns are 20% off. This includes Kraemer Bear Creek, Misti Alpaca Chunky, Manos Maxima, and many more. The sale will run through next Sun. 3/16. Come on in and get some great bargains!

Signs of spring

Can you feel the excitement in the air? The first yarns of spring are starting to arrive! Here's a little shipment we just got in from Misti Alpaca.

A lot of people don't realize that Misti Alpaca doesn't just do alpaca. This is Pima Silk Hand Paint, a luxurious DK-weight blend of 83% cotton/ 17% silk. This yarn was very popular last spring and summer, and we're happy to introduce some new colors of it this time around!

 

Meanwhile, we're still seeing plenty of demand for Tonos Worsted. What's not to love about this buttery soft, kettle-dyed, 50/50 blend of baby alpaca and merino? We've brought back some tried-and-true favorite colors, as well as adding some fresh new ones.

What projects are you planning for spring?

Lighten up with Silky Alpaca Lace

This weather is crazy. Hard to believe, but this time last week we were closed because of ice and snow. Today it's 73 degrees and we're thinking about SPRING!

If you're ready to shed your winter layers and start planning some lighter projects, we have some suggestions. Check out these beautiful colors of Silky Alpaca Lace from Classic Elite Yarns.

This 70% alpaca/30% silk yarn is wonderfully soft and airy, making it a great choice for the change of seasons. Here are some patterns designed specifically with Silky Alpaca Lace in mind.

Honeybun by Tonia Barry, a scarf that twists into spirals with a picot edging detail. Its stockinette fabric would make a lovely blank canvas for a variegated colorway.

 

Moonraker shawl by Lakshmi Juneja, the perfect thing to wrap around your shoulders on a chilly spring day.

Dune by Jennifer Dassau, a fitted sleeveless tunic. The smallest sizes only take two balls of Silky Alpaca Lace.

All of these patterns are available at Sheepish through our Ravelry pattern sales program, so you can buy them from us and receive credit toward your Reward Points.

Treat yourself to some Silky Alpaca Lace and you'll be ready to greet spring in style!

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.)

On The Needles: Madison in Seedling Handpaint

It's no secret that we're big fans of c2knits designs around here. But did you know that in addition to their easy-to-knit garments and accessories for women, they also offer a design for an adorable baby dress?

Madison is a cute jumper, sized for girls from 6-24 months old. Its A-line shape extends its wearing life--as your little one grows, she can wear Madison as a tunic or tank! There are three hem design options--ruffle, lace, or colorwork--so you could knit several Madisons and never make the same one twice.

This design calls for a worsted weight yarn and a size US 7 needle, so we thought it would be the perfect way to showcase one of our lovely new organic cottons. This is Seedling Handpaint in colorway 4526, Lava.

Stacy says, "This is my first time knitting with Seedling, and it's really nice. Soft and comfortable, and not at all limp or stringy like some cottons. Madison is a very simple, fast knit. It would be a great option for a quick baby shower gift, or a first garment project for a beginning knitter who's ready to move beyond scarves."

By the way, could we just take a moment to marvel at how perfectly the stripes on those little straps match?

The kicker is, this wasn't even intentional. That just happened to be how the handpainted colors landed.

Hard copies of Madison are in stock now, as are many wonderful colors (both handpaints and solids) of Seedling.

On The Needles: Featherweight in Zephyr

This is a bad news/good news kind of post. Remember this sweater? Two weeks ago it looked like this:

Nearly done!

Well, guess what it looked like a few days after that. Give up? It looked like this:

Yikes!

Fellow knitters, did you just break into a cold sweat when you saw that? It's okay, really. Here's what Stacy has to say:

"Everything was done on Cloudette except for one sleeve. At that point I tried it on and I hated it. The proportions were off, so the belt was waaaay below my waist. So instead of looking cute and tailored, it just looked sloppy. I knew I would never wear that sweater, even if I finished it."

But you know, one of the great things about knitting is that it's one of the few areas in life where you can get do-overs. Mistakes can be undone, and even whole garments like this unfortunate one be ripped out and the yarn re-used. So now it looks like this:

A fresh start!

It will grow up to be a Featherweight cardigan, which is a perfect option for this Zephyr laceweight wool/silk yarn.

Stacy says, "I've made two Featherweights before, and I wear them all the time. I keep thinking I need more of them in other colors, so...green Featherweight coming up! This is something I know will look good and get worn all the time."

Organic cottons from Classic Elite

Yesterday the UPS man brought us two big boxes from Classic Elite Yarns. In addition to about a million skeins of Liberty Wool, we're now stocked up on some of our favorite cottons for summer--Seedling and Sprout.

Seedling is a soft, worsted weight, organic* cotton with a slightly nubby texture. It's machine washable, so it's a great choice for hot weather garments and baby items--anything that will need to be washed frequently. We have a wonderful range of colors in stock right now:

Left to right, top to bottom: Summer Cloud, Lime Juice, New Navy, Deep Saffron, Evening Primrose, Baby Blue Eyes, Persian Rose, Natural, Horizon, Persimmon, Mint, Steel Blue.

We're also really excited because we now have Seedling Handpaints, which is new for us. It comes in these vivid tropical colors:

Left to right: Bora Bora, Lava, Hula, Paradise, Lei.

Both Seedling solids and handpaints come in a 110-yd hank. Solids are $7.00 and handpaints are $9.00

Sprout is kind of like Seedling's big sister. It's a type of yarn that's somewhat hard to find--a bulky cotton. Like Seedling, it's a nubby-textured, machine-washable, organic cotton. Here are the wonderful colors we have:

Left to right, top to bottom: Lime Juice, Deep Saffron, Chicory, Summer Cloud, Garden Sage, Flamingo Pink, Evening Primrose, Salvia Red, Mint.

Sprout comes in a 109-yard hank for $12.50. It knits on about a size US 10 needle, making it perfect for a quick sweater or baby blanket. If you need some garment ideas for Sprout, we have the new Fun In The Sun pattern booklet in stock as well.

These patterns provide a wide range of sizes, from bust measurement 30" to 51".

*Not sure what exactly constitutes "organic cotton?" Learn all about it here!

On The Needles: Amalthea in Pima Silk Hand Paint

This Pima Silk we got in recently was just begging to be knit into a shop sample. To refresh your memory, these are the colors we got, just to try out this lovely cotton/silk blend from Misti Alpaca:

Three of the four are dyed with subtle tone-on-tone shading, but the one on the left is a Pima Silk Hand Paint in a colorway called April Showers. How would the colors knit up? Would it stripe? We had to find out! So, Stacy's started knitting this little fringed shawlette called Amalthea, designed by Tori Gurbisz.

Wow, aren't those colors gorgeous? Mostly shades of blue, but with little shots of green, red, purple, and gold throughout.

Stacy says, "This yarn is a dream to knit with! It feels so soft and smooth in my hands, and the drape is perfect for a summery wrap like this."

Amalthea is available for download from us via the Ravelry in-store pattern program. You can get her as an individual pattern for $6.00, or as part of a larger eBook (six shawl patterns) called Myths and Fairytales for $16.50.

On The Needles: Cloudette Cardigan in Zephyr

Ever have one of those projects that just will. not. end? This is one of those.

Meet Cloudette. Designed by Claudia Geiger, she appeared in the Summer 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits. Stacy's knitting this in JaggerSpun Zephyr (laceweight wool/silk) in Bottle Green.

Stacy says, "I cast on for this sweater pretty much as soon as I saw it. And that was almost a year ago. It's not the sweater's fault--I just keep getting distracted by other projects! Also, I decided to make the sleeves longer than the original, and now I'm kind of regretting that decision. OH WELL."

Do you have a project that's been in progress forever? What's causing it to take so long?

See us at Stitches South!

If you're heading to Stitches South this weekend, be sure to stop by and see us at the Atlanta Area Yarn Shops booths. Carrie and eight other LYS owners will be set up in the market in booths 133, 135, 137, 232, 234, and 236 (highlighted on the map below).

Click map to enlarge.

We'll have two beautiful kits for sale at Stitches. First up, this is the Crabapple Petals cowl. You might recognize it from here.

This kit comes with the pattern by Lesbian Housewyfe, approx. 250 yards of Serena (alpaca/cotton blend), and 15-20 grams of size 6 beads (via The Bead Shoppe). Seven different colors will be available, so shop early to make sure you get your favorite! (Sample shown in Glacier.) $30/kit.

Next, here's an exclusive pattern created especially for this event by local designer NellKnits. It's called the Sheepish Springtime Cowl and it'll be a great addition to your wardrobe, whether you wear it doubled around your neck or long and loose as shown here.

The Sheepish Springtime Cowl kit comes with the pattern and one skein (220 yds) of Ultra Pima (100% cotton). It will be available in at least eight colors, so again, shop early so you can get the one you want! (Sample shown in Deep Coral.) $15/kit.

The market hours at Stitches are: Friday, April 12, 10am-6pm; Saturday, April 13, 10am-6pm; Sunday, April 14, 10am-4pm.

If you aren't going to Stitches and/or you want first chance at one of these kits, stop by the shop before 6:00 today and you can get one before Carrie loads them into her car. :)

On The Needles: Hoodie in Tatamy

Maybe we should call this one "On The Hook." For those of you who think crochet is only good for baby blankets and doilies, take a look at this....

Click to enlarge

Carrie just started this Lightweight Hoodie To Crochet, designed by Val Love for Dovetail Designs. The yarn is Tatamy in color 1718 (black). Yes, we've been hitting the Tatamy DK pretty hard around here lately. What can we say? We love this yarn.

Carrie says, "I need a black cardigan and I couldn't find exactly what I wanted in knitting, so I decided to branch out and crochet. I'm using a bigger yarn than the pattern calls for, so I'm using the directions for the size medium and it should come out the right measurements for the size large. I did a gauge swatch first!"

Want to try making this project yourself? The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF through our Ravelry in-store pattern program!

On The Needles: Miyoko in Tatamy

Doesn't this sunshine get you excited about knitting some cute projects for spring? (We've heard of people who knit only in the colder months, but those folks are missing out on half the fun!)

Here's the Miyoko top from one of our favorite designers, Cheri Christian of c2knits. Cheri specializes in topdown, seamless garments, and we love not having to sew separate pieces together. When the knitting is done, all that's left to do is sew in the ends and voila--the garment is ready to wear.

Stacy is working on Miyoko in Tatamy DK, color 1720 Cherry. Here's what she has to say:

"A lot of our customers have already discovered how wonderful Tatamy DK is for blankets and baby items, but I wanted to showcase the fact that it's also ideal for summer garments for adults. The cotton/acrylic blend makes it very easy care, and it comes in a great range of colors. Miyoko has such an unusual construction, I thought it would be fun to knit, and it is! The ruching down the front is a really cool detail that's actually pretty simple to do."

Ravelry patterns for you

Since enrolling in Ravelry's in-store pattern sales program a few months ago, we've been very excited about how many of you have been taking advantage of this service. For those of you who aren't aware of it, or just haven't tried it yet, here's a little recap about how the program works.

 

Here's the Cowl Shell that Stacy recently made for our shop mannequin, Epiphany. If you'd like to make this top yourself, here's what we do:

1. You tell us you want it.

2. We buy the PDF via Ravelry.

3. A copy of the PDF goes automatically to your email account and, if you wish, to your Ravelry library.

4. When you check out at the register, we ring up the pattern like any other purchase. 

Ta-da! 

There are several advantages to buying Ravelry patterns from us this way. Designers earn a higher percentage from in-store sales than from normal Ravelry sales, and the shop also earns a percentage. And, unlike when you download patterns yourself at home, when you buy them from us, those purchases count toward your Sheepish reward points.

Of course we still stock hard copies of patterns in the shop, but being able to sell Ravelry patterns is HUGE for us, because this means our customers have almost 30,000 patterns to choose from--way more than we could ever physically stock in the shop. Settle in with your favorite beverage, browse the Ravelry selection, and next time you come in to Sheepish, bring your list!

On The Needles: Crabapple Petals in Serena

This week's work in progress is a lacy little confection Carrie is test knitting for Ravelry designer Lesbian Housewyfe.

The pattern is called Crabapple Petals. It's a luxurious, drapey cowl that features a simple lace pattern and some beads to add a touch of shimmer. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay's Serena, a dreamy blend of baby alpaca and pima cotton, in color 2318 Glacier. We're expecting our spring shipment from Manos--including many gorgeous colors of Serena--any day now!

Carrie says, "I thought this pattern would be a great way to show off how soft and squishy Serena is. Stay tuned: Crabapple Petals will be available for purchase soon!"

By the way, these beautiful silver-lined beads came from our friends at The Bead Shoppe in Avondale Estates (in the same complex with Our Way Cafe). The Bead Shoppe is a magical wonderland of color and sparkle, so if you're a jewelry maker or just a bead lover, be sure to visit them for your bead needs.

On The Needles: Cowl Shell in Ultra Pima Paints

This week's On The Needles is a study in handpainted yarns.

As we posted recently, one of our all-time favorite cotton yarns, Ultra Pima, now comes in handpainted colorways as well as the solids. Stacy's working on a sample garment for our shop mannequin, Epiphany, to wear for spring.

The pattern is the Cowl Shell by Myrna Batten. What a great addition this would be to any warm weather wardrobe! Wear it alone on a hot summer day, layer it under a blazer for work, or pair it with a light cardigan for those chilly movie theaters.

You can buy this pattern from us through Ravelry's in-store pattern sales program. It only costs $5.00, and it's a great way to support an indie designer and your favorite local yarn shop!

Stacy says, "I wanted to experiment with this handpainted yarn a couple of different ways to see where the colors would land. I started at the bottom, knitting every round from the same ball of yarn. As you can see, large pools of colors began to appear. After a few inches, I started alternating two skeins of yarn, knitting two rounds with each. While the colors are still pooling a bit, they're much more mixed now and create much less of a dramatic swirling effect. Next, I'll try switching skeins every round. I expect that will break up the colors even more. Depending on what you like, you can get a lot of different looks with handpainted yarn.

"The Ultra Pima Paints are every bit as wonderful to work with as the solids. The yarn is soft and has a subtle sheen, and the colors are beautiful. This is my go-to yarn for spring and summer garments. And I can imagine any of the Paints, especially this Pastel Mix I'm working with, making a really cute Baby Surprise Jacket." (We have the BSJ pattern in stock, by the way....)

On The Needles: Party Dress in Cotton Fleece

This installment of On The Needles should really be called OFF The Needles, as Carole actually finished knitting this project moments this photo was taken. But she hasn't woven the ends in yet, so technically it still counts as a work in progress. :)

This is Phoebe's Party Dress, from Joanna Johnson's adorable book Phoebe's Birthday (in stock now). Carole made it for her granddaughter, who is turning three this week!

The yarn is Cotton Fleece in color 220, Provincial Rose, which turns out to be very hard to photograph accurately. In person, it's a warmer pink, as seen here.

Carole says, "I love this yarn. In fact, I'm looking at the Cotton Fleece color card right now, thinking about making a sweater for me! I need a summer sweater...."

What's on your needles? Tell us in the comments, or post a picture on our Facebook page.

Ultra Pima--now in Paints!

Cascade's Ultra Pima has been one of our favorite cottons for years, and now we're excited to be one of the first shops anywhere to carry Ultra Pima Paints!

This yarn is so new, it's not even listed on Ravelry yet. But it's here at Sheepish and waiting for you to be one of the first to try it.

Like Ultra Pima's solid colors, Ultra Pima Paints is a DK weight, 100% cotton that knits at 5.5-6 sts/in on a US 5-6 needle. The silky sheen and drape of the pima cotton make this yarn perfect for spring and summer tops, but it would also be a great choice for shawls, baby blankets, fancy washcloths...any project that benefits from a soft, colorful yarn. Oh, and did we mention it's machine washable?

 

Just look at these colors! Clockwise from top left: Autumn Leaves, Carnival Mix, Pastel Mix, and Iris Mix. We have a shop model in the works so you'll be able to see how the color changes knit up.

Ultra Pima Paints retails at $12.50 and, like Ultra Pima solids, comes in a generous 220-yard hank.

Kraemer cottons for spring

Yes, it's time to start planning those spring projects. Here are a couple of new yarns to get you inspired. They're both from Kraemer (the folks who make our super-popular Perfection yarn), and are made in the U.S.A. like all Kraemer products.

Tatamy Tweed Worsted

First, we have Tatamy Tweed Worsted. This easy-care cotton/acrylic blend will be a great choice for warm weather garments, baby items, blankets...you name it! We love it because the tweed flecks are small and spun right into the yarn, so it doesn't have that linty look that many tweeds have. Tatamy Tweed Worsted comes in a nice range of colors, from neutral to pastel to bright.

Tatamy Tweed Worsted in Rubber Ducky colorway

Here's a little blanket Carrie made for Mariele's baby doll. It's so soft and cute. And when it gets dirty, it can be tossed in the washer and dryer--HURRAY! This yarn comes in a 180-yard ball for $6.50.

Tatamy DK

And this is our wonderful selection of Tatamy DK. Another machine washable cotton/acrylic blend, this one is a bit lighter (calls for a US 5 needle) and doesn't have the tweedy flecks. Carrie is making a market bag out of it and she reports that she really loves working with it. The colors have a lovely depth to them--stop by and see them for yourself! Tatamy DK comes in a generous 250-yard ball for $6.50.

More cottons will be arriving in the next few days....

Springing forward with Wanda Nell

Hi, everybody! It's been too long. Winter has been a busy time for us. December 2011 was our best month in the history of Sheepish! We're so grateful to all of you who helped make that happen.

We kicked off 2012 by taking the plunge and getting a new point of sale system. It's been quite a process, entering all of our inventory into the database, but overall we're very pleased with our new system.

With these big milestones behind us, we're ready to look ahead and get back into the habit of blogging!

What's everyone knitting for spring? Stacy recently finished the Wanda Nell Cardigan designed by Jennifer Hagan (Figheadh Yarnworks). Take a look:

The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn and size 4 (US) needles. Stacy used Smooshy from Dream In Color.

We have the Wanda Nell pattern in stock, along with plenty of others for cardigans, tees, and tanks to get you ready for spring!