With the last days of summer fast approaching and school starting again it’s time to begin thinking about knits for the cooler weather. Our two newest designs feature Valley Yarns Northfield, my favorite yarn! Not only does the blend of Merino, Baby Alpaca and Silk create an incredibly soft and bouncy yarn with a gorgeous sheen, but it’s also incredibly affordable!

Fiona’s latest design for Valley Yarns is the Irena Pullover with stunningly simple cable and eyelet  details at the neck, hem and on the sleeves.

And Carol’s whimsical First Frost Hat may just be the perfect first lace project!

With a full range of rich colors of Northfield to choose from your biggest decision may not be which project to cast on for first, but which color to use!

If you haven’t participated in the Shop Hop in the past years joining in is super easy, all you need is $5 to purchase your passport and a sense of adventure! The I-91 Shop Hop runs Thursday, June 25th through Sunday, June 28th and you can purchase a passport at one of the 12 shops participating this year, and you still have time to purchase your 2015 passport! We are looking forward to welcoming more than 300 Shop-Hoppers to our store over the weekend.

Why participate in the Shop Hop? At each store you visit your name will be entered in the daily prize drawing. Each of the daily prizes contains a variety of wonderful yarns, patterns, needles and accessories. Once you’ve visited all 12 shops and have your passport stamped just turn it in at the last shop on your trip and you will be entered into a grand prize drawing! On Sunday, there are two drawings: the daily basket and a chance to win a wooden swift and ball winder.  As an added bonus, each shop will have a special knit kit for sale just for Shop Hop! So be sure to hit all the shops during the long weekend and keep your fingers crossed for the daily prize and grand prize on Sunday. Hope to see you then!

Participating Shops:
Green Mountain Spinnery- Putney, VT
Handknits- Brattleboro, VT
Sheep & Shawl-South Deerfield, MA
Northampton Wools, Northampton, MA
WEBS America’s Yarn Store-Northampton, MA
Marji’s Yarncrafts-Granby, CT
Creative Fibers-Windsor, CT
Village Wool-Glastonbury, CT
Country Yarns-Wallingford, CT
The Yarn Barn,LLC-Woodbridge, CT
Knit New Haven-New Haven, CT
The Yarn Basket-Branford, CT

When your remaining days of gift knitting can be counted on your fingers you know it’s crunch time. Our Essential Accessories eBook has five quick and simple wardrobe staples that everyone needs and loves!

The Knit and Purl Cowl, knit in Amherst, offers four different stitch patterns to choose from, stick with one for the whole projects or change it up with textured stripes. The Simple Shawl is just that! An easy triangle shawl knit from the top down in Valley Yarns Huntington. The Essential Fingerless Gloves, knit in Stockbridge are just the thing to stave off the chills at the office, in the car or shopping around town. The Basic Hat from measurements, shown in Northampton, is THE hat pattern to have in your stash. Knit whatever hat size you need in whatever yarn you have on hand with this handy pattern! And the Basic Heel-Flap Sock may be the perfect basic sock pattern, and it shows of the colors in Franklin so beautifully.

Which will you knit first?

A fresh and modern interpretation, the Welcome Home Blanket knits up quick with Valley Superwash Bulky to make a soft and machine washable heirloom in your favorite colors.

Perfect for a warming up a new house, welcoming family back, or bringing new family members home, the Welcome Home Blanket can be knit in different sizes for any occasion. Cheery, unisex colors and the classic feather and fan stitch pattern just feel like home. (HINT: Newborns, graduations, consolations or house warmings)

The Deep Woods Poncho is a fantastic layering piece for chilly autumn evenings and cold winter days. Toss it on over your shoulders for that extra bit of warmth or wear it tucked up around your neck under your coat for super insulation.

Crocheted in Valley Yarns BFL Worsted this top-down, high-necked poncho combines three simple stitches to create a beautifully textured and fluid fabric that hugs the shoulders without being restrictive. The secret to avoiding the pooling that can happen when crocheting with hand dyed yarns is to alternate skeins. Since this project calls for 3 skeins of the BFL Worsted you’ll work with all your skeins right from the beginning, changing yarn at the beginning of each row instead of using skein #1 from beginning to end and then using skein #2  and then skein #3.

The Rail Trail Mitts aren’t just convertible – they’re convertibly convertible! The pattern includes directions for fingerless mitts, full mittens, or convertible mitts that turn into mittens with a flip of its top. The fun colorwork pattern pulls double duty, providing both visual interest and extra warmth and durability.

The rich colors of BFL Fingering will be a hit with outdoorsy folks who need to keep their hands warm. (HINT: Anyone who bikes to work in cold weather)

Berroco has managed to amalgamate the perfect blend of luxury fibers for a fabulous price point. Andean Mist, new for Fall, is a luscious composite of 74% Baby Suri Alpaca and 26% Mulberry Silk. The resulting mix is a softly haloed, slightly shiny, lightweight yarn that would be shown to its best advantage in a soft lace shawl, a drapy cardigan to throw over a tank in the early fall, or a turtleneck in the heart of winter, or a decorative scarf to augment a solid-color top. A generous 164 yards a skein for $8.00 is almost a steal!  Check out this new video on our website for a walk through all of Berroco’s newest creations, this among them.

I love this pattern for a textured cardigan with a striking deep ribbed collar. It would be warm, but not hot, light, but not itchy, and could be worn while snuggling on the couch with a good book, or out to dinner at your favorite restaurant.

What would you knit with this lovely stuff?