What's New: 9.9.09

The kids are back to school and now its time to get knitting. The weather guru's predict that today may have been one of our last days of summer-like weather (except for the Indian Summer we expect every late September or early October) and we can plan on colder weather and rain this weekend.

That and the fact that there are 111 days until Christmas should prompt you to grab your favorite patterns and start on your holiday gift list. Stop in the store for lots of inspiration and check out all the new yarn. Again, this week and last, both the FedEx and UPS guys were not singing our praises, although the UPS man did have a sense of humor. On Friday, I asked him how many more we could expect since he only brought in 7 on the first 2 trips and he said there were 25 more. Judy and I just looked at each in horror as we could not imagine getting all that yarn put away by Tuesday. He was kidding, but more arrived today and our shipping notices promise more tomorrow and Thursday as well.

Alpaca Cotton is a new yarn from Rowan. This wonderful yarn is a blend of 72% alpaca and 28% cotton. It is fuzzy and shaggy and will shed when you knit it, but both Tina and I say it's WONDERFUL. WHY?

7 Great natural colors. This yarn is light and loft and a pretty quick knit (4 sts = inch on a #8) but it is not bulky. It looks fuzzy, similar to brushed mohair but it has a much lower pile so it DOES NOT ADD BULK to your silhouette. IT DOES NOT ITCH, because the fuzz is from the alpaca not mohair and its no where as warm (for ladies my age) as 100% alpaca because of the addition of the cotton. Each skein is 148 yards and weighs only 50 grams. Compared to other fibers, a ball of Alpaca Cotton goes much further than most 50 gram skeins and produces a garment that weights about half of what most other yarns at this gauge produce (I don't need to add any weight to my frame). I see lots of garments in this yarn because it does not produce a bulky garment that makes me feel warm even when I don't want to. Rowan supports this yarn with great patterns all in one publication. Patterns are sized up to a 50" bust so no need to resize.

Rowan's Lima is also an alpaca blend which I raved about last week. The chain construction on this yarn really deters the alpaca from shedding.

New from Plymouth: Hillside Linen from the Plymouth Earth Collection comes in 5 different natural colorways. It is 80% alpaca and 20% linen; 217 yards and knits at 5 sts = 1". The linen gives the alpaca a firmer knit that results in a new, almost tweed but not, look. This knit if this yarn is perfect for cables and great for men's garments and scarves as well.

Class Updates: The darling "Clara Dress," perfect for any new princess starts on Saturday, as does Learning to Darn Socks. Dawna's Layette sweater starts on Sunday and a new Socks on 2 circulars starts next Monday. Register by phone or online.

What's New?

All Fixation & Cascade 220 (solids and multicolored) have been restocked. All new Berroco yarns are on the floor. New sock yarns include Regia Hand Dyed Effect, Heritage in new colors from Cascade & Mini Mochi. Also new from Regia Is Abs Latex that can be applied to socks and slippers to prevent slipping (templates available, too).

I will try to catch up on what's arriving in the store by highlighting a few new yarns each week. This week's focus is worsted weight alpaca and alpaca blend yarns. Alpaca Grande, and Misti Alpaca are great chunky knitting alpacas, but we are seeing a lot more worsted weights this season.

Frog Tree Worsted Alpaca has always been a staple in our shop and it boasts a great hand and range of solid colors. There are several models up in the store that pay homage to this yarn. It is a great economical knit.

Misti has created a new hand-dyed alpaca & merino worsted. The finish on this yarn combined with the blending of merino and alpaca creates a great knit which in turn produces a garment that is not limp. 100% alpaca yarn is soft but does not hold a stitch as firmly as the alpaca/merino blends. Misti also has a brand new book that contains patterns for all of it's wonderful alpaca and alpaca blend yarns.

Heritage Eco Alpaca from Cascade arrived this past week as well and it is a gorgeous 100% undyed alpaca in a range of 12 colors. It knits at 5 sts = 1" and there are 220 yards per skein. I can't wait to swatch this yarn. Ixchel, a great knitter and wonderful customer, grabbed a hank today and started swatching to choose the perfect pattern. She said it was her NEW favorite. Two free patterns are available on the Cascade website.