Woolbearers Fall 2008 Newsletter

On the farm, as autumn approaches, a nightly ritual begins. The sheep leave the safe, cool darkness of the their stalls, and shaking the straw off their fleece, step out into the dusk, heads down against flies, and walk like an Egyptian toward the open field. There, under the rising moon, they’ll find a place close enough to one another for security, but in anticipation of the cool night ahead, give space for air to circulate.

This morning at dawn, I went to the barn to check their water, and seeing me, they hopped up and ran toward me, hopeful for a treat. I reached out to pet them and their wool was wet with dew. It immediately brought to mind warm afghans and cabled sweaters, a fire in the fireplace, chili cooking on the stove. I love the seasons and especially, fall.

NEW YARNS!

We really went crazy at TNNA and you will surely be the beneficiaries of our insanity.

Oasis Yarns – new company for us. We bought their hand-dyed sock yarns – 90% merino 10% nylon in 9 different colorways and their hand dyed silk-310 yards to the skein in 5 colorways.

JoJoland International – Harmony (lace weight), Melody (fingering weight) and Rhythm (worsted weight) in wonderful colorways and great pattern support.

Manos –Manos now has a silk/merino blend and we have all the colorways, lots of new Wool Classica colorways and all the new pattern books.

Knit 1, Crochet 2 – lots of new yarns and patterns. Linus is a wool, acrylic, alpaca blend. Each color has a contrasting line of color throughout. USDK is a dk weight Shetland wool made in the US. It comes in small skeins so it’s great when you want to do colorwork. Ty-dy socks (not in stock just yet) 80%wool 20% nylon, 436 yards -matches the Ty-Dy cotton yarn.

Nashua – Nashua has a new magazine out with lots of new great patterns, new colors in Julia, and we received our first order of Vignette, a bulky superwash, Ecologie wool and new Creative Focus colors

Rowan – We are never disappointed with Rowan’s yarn or patterns. Rowan Book 44 is a must have – there isn’t a pattern that I don’t want to knit. We now have Rowan Felted Tweed, Kid Classic, Purelife Organic Wool, new fabulous pattern books new colors in Tapestry and Cashsoft.

Skacel – Loft Color is Skacel’s “flagship felting yarn”, a bulky 100% wool in gorgeous colors. Bambou soft is worsted weight, 65% wool, 35% bamboo, and knits up on a 7-9 needle. Did you need anymore sock yarn?? We have Trekking, Hand Art, Fortissima Mexico kids, Limbo color superwash, just to name a few of Skacel’s socks yarns.

SWTC – Need therapy? Try Therapi – it’s 50% Wool, 20% Silk and 30% Jadeite and knits like a dream. It will be the featured yarn for Hat Attack – go to http://hat-attack to sign up. Woolbearers will be having a launch party for this game on Tuesday, Sept. 16^th.

Cascade - More 220 colors (can you believe it?), New Yarns - Rustic – a wool/linen blend, Heritage sock yarn in solids and multis.

Punta Yarns – Lava is a wool/acrylic blend in worsted weight – great for baby blankets. Merisoft is worsted weight hand-dyed merino – veeery soft.

Frog Tree – 5 stitches to the inch pure Merino in solid colors and a new tweed alpaca in sport weight

Jil Eaton MinnowMerino - worsted weight superwash. Jil is renowned for her kids patterns. Great colors and she says that the micron count in her merino is one point away from Cashmere. Come and take a squeeze.

Classic Elite – Moorland is a merino/alpaca/acrylic blend in tweedy colors, Summer sox-a cotton/merino/nylon blend sock yarn, new colors in LaGran mohair, Wool/bamboo, Montera and of course all the great Classic Elite patterns.

Kauni – We imported most of the colors of their Effektgarn 8/2. Come into to shop and see the beautiful items you can knit with this yarn.

Brown Sheep – new Superwash Sportweight yarn – 180 yards for under $5.

Tilli Tomas – Sequined lace and beaded lace – beautiful colors.

Muench - Big Baby—bulky acrylic yarn for making great baby blankets in no time

Lana Grossa – Chiara is a nylon/rayon/mohair blend that really shines

JCA/Reynolds - Lopi, Rapture a wool/silk blend, Hopscotch—looks like a “mini-Manos”-superwash yarn – great kids patterns.

Plymouth – We bought Plymouth’s entire Ecco friendly line with great pattern support. Come in to see the Bristol Yarn Gallery trunk show – now through Sept 15. Happy Choices is a new sock yarn that you buy in flat pieces and unravel it as you knit. Woolbearers is dyeing some of the flats and we can’t wait to see it knit up!

Sock Yarn --- more J. Knits, Claudia, Jitterbug, Meilenweit, Trekking, Woolie Bears, Melody, Wildfoote, Sterling – I’m sure we left something out, so you will just have to come in and see it.

ACCESSORIES & PATTERNS

Namaste bags – the new Laguna bag has been a runaway hit. We now have Hiya Hiya needles (20” length circulars among other sizes). New pattern lines includes White Lies Designs and Chic Knits

We are expanding our spinning fiber offerings this year! As well as dyeing hundreds of pounds of wool and processing it ourselves, we are sending more out to be made into your favorite rovings. Check out the ‘green monster’ in back of the seating area for the latest spinning fibers.

In addition to our signature hand dyed Ringspun Romney yarns, this fall we will have a Romney Alpaca Blend available, spun by our friends at Shadyside Farms, as well as a wonderful sea silk wool blend.

Woolbearers is having a Fashion show on Saturday, Dec. 6^th. Come to a buffet luncheon at Charley’s Other Brother in Eastampton and enjoy several trunk shows, including garments from Skacel, Simply Shetland and Plymouth, as well as having an opportunity to showcase your own knitting. Entry information and more details coming soon.

Bus Trip to Stitches – Saturday, Nov 8^th Hurry and reserve your seat! Tickets will be on sale starting Labor Day weekend.

CLASSES

In addition to a variety of classes in beginning knitting, crochet, spinning and weaving, we also have several classes to help you get to that next step, including Introduction to Lace, Fair Isle, and Socks. For the intermediate beginner, we are offering several great classes that are filling quickly, including Knit to Fit, and Finishing Techniques.

We require advance registration, so don’t delay signing up for the class of your choice. Enrollment is limited in most classes.

Don’t forget our Labor Day weekend Sale – most cotton and cotton blends on sale for 25%-40% off!

Suzie & Myra