Breckenridge Hat, made with Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene.

Lumpy Bumpy Stocking Hat, made with Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene.

Loon Mountain Ski, made with Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene.

Stocking Hat, made with Bo Peep Not Just for Socks Yarn.

It is still winter here, and you can probably tell I have been inspired by our family's ski vacation.  We have several more weeks of this cold weather left before spring is here, so there is still time for your knitters to whip up these new cool hats from Farmhouse Yarns.  Or, they can get a head start on next year's cold weather!  These are really popular among the teens, despite my daughter's silly photo above.  Her friends are actually fighting over who gets which hat after the photos are finished.  One and two-skein projects are really popular right now, too!  Each of these patterns is immediately available, as is the yarn that goes into them.  Let me know if I can help!

As we head toward spring, I have a couple of new designs to present to you (shown below).  Coming in the next few weeks are several new (exclusive to Farmhouse!) designs by author, designer, and founder of Lorna's Laces, Lorna Miser.  And, a couple of men's sweater designs from designer Kristen Hansen, the Knitting Nanny.  I will be sending you photos in upcoming days and weeks as they are available. 

The Twist Stole, by Stephanie Jezierski, is shown below in the Sunset colorway, and takes 2 skeins of Fatter Sheep Yarn.  A super-easy knit, and so elegant! 

The Georgetown Wrap (featured in my last post) is a great way to head into spring.   This elegant and fun wrap was designed by Ellen McClinton of Georgetown, South Carolina, to bear a resemblance of the weave used in the casting and shrimp nets used by fishermen for generations along the creeks, inlets, marshes and shoreline of South Carolina.  The drape of the fiber lends itself to an elegant simplicity and a stylish accessory.  This wrap was a hit at the TNNA Fashion Show in Long Beach CA in January.  It can be worked up with just 3 skeins of Cotton Blossom Yarn by Dixie, or Farmhouse Silk Blend.

Lorna's designs, which will be available in upcoming weeks, feature feminine, flattering tops made with Bonnie's Bamboo, and several baby items calling for Winnifred's Washable and Mary's Little Lamb. 

Kristin's designs feature Farmhouse Silk Blend and Andy's Merino, and I am thrilled to finally have men's items to offer you.

Winter is still here in New England, but I am shipping spring yarns out at a pretty quick clip.  You will want to place your orders for Bonnie's Bamboo, Farmhouse Silk Blend, Cotton Blossom Yarn by Dixie, Mary's Little Lamb, and Winnifred's Washable very soon.  One result of this recession is that most of us in the yarn-producing business are not investing in excess inventories.  While I have dyed up plenty of yarns in all of my varieties, they move very quickly, and sometimes I run out of certain varieties before the next batch arrives from my mill.  So, place your spring orders soon.

I am back at the dyepots and shipping boxes after a very long road trip back from TNNA Long Beach.  Whew!  The show was a little on the quiet side, but we are very pleased with our weekend and also the opportunity to spend more time than usual with those of you who were able to attend and to stop by. 

As I promised, we are announcing a new design that we introduced at the show.  The Georgetown Wrap, pictured below, is an elegant and fun wrap designed to bear a resemblance to the weave used in the casting and shrimp nets used by fishermen for generations along the creeks, inlets and shoreline of Georgetown, South Carolina, the home of the wrap's designer, Ellen McClinton.  The drape of the fiber lends itself to an elegant simplicity as a stylish accessory.  It requires 3 skeins of Cotton Blossom Yarn by Dixie, or 3 skeins of I Am Allergic to Wool.  Why not try it in Farmhouse Silk Blend?  Each of these yarns and the pattern is immediately available.

Another brand new design is Remi the Dog, the adorable stuffed toy pictured below.  It requires just one skein of Fatter Sheep Yarn or Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene.  A very quick knit and super-simple to sew up and stuff, he measures about 6 inches high and 8 inches wide, perfect for the toddler in your family.  Or, why not make a slightly smaller Remi in Mary's Little Lamb for the newborn?  Diane Kapoor, a long-time local fan of Farmhouse Yarns (and friend of mine), designed this little guy just for you.

Need some Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene?  I just picked up another batch from my mill, and is going very quickly.  If you will be needing any of this yarn at all in the next 3 weeks, I strongly urge you to order it right now.  Every time I dye up a fresh batch of this yarn (2,000 skeins), it sells out within 10 days, then I have to wait 4 weeks for the next batch to be ready at the mill.  I have all colorways available at the moment, and I am shipping daily.  Lumpy Bumpy continues to be my best-selling yarn, and the VERY good news is that the price increase I had announced in Decmeber will be delayed.  For some reason, my mill has not yet increased the price they charge me for spinning like they said they were going to do, so I am NOT going to increase your cost until it is necessary.

It's that time of year again.  The holidays are over, but there is barely time to recover from that because TNNA is here!  For me, this is also the time I make that wonderful cross-country road trip to see you all at the convention.  This new year is a bit different than all the others, though.  The politicians are all saying it's time for change.  Indeed, nearly everyone in America is ready for some change.  In 2010, we're going to make some changes here at Farmhouse Yarns that I am very excited to introduce to you all - afterall, these changes started out as suggestions made by you!

You guys and gals have been wonderful to us at Farmhouse over the past 8 years, supporting our growth and making each new line of yarn available to your customers.  Thank you very much for that.  In an effort to provide improved customer service to you, I will be keeping you better informed about what is new at Farmhouse Yarns.  Whether this evolves into a regular newsletter, or simply an email update when I have something new, I do not yet know.  But, I welcome your feedback and look forward to learning from you ways I can offer you more support.  I will not waste your time by repeated emails that offer very little - rather, I will email you only when I have something to offer you.  Let me know if you find it helpful.

From the first day we opened with the original Fat Sheep Yarn, we have increased to 17 different lines of American-made yarns, each and every skein hand-dyed by my sister Bonnie and myself.  As I look forward to 2010, I have decided that rather than frantically driving myself crazy to introduce an entirely new yarn line every season, I am focusing on ways to improve our existing yarns and to dramatically increase pattern support for each of them. As I do this, I will notify you by email when a new pattern is available, and I will include a photo of the design and yarn requirements.
 

Secondly, as inventory of some of my original rustic yarns is depleted, they will be replaced with new, softer versions.  I have already improved the original Andy's Merino Yarn, which is now a much softer yarn than the original.  And, Fat Sheep Yarn has been replaced with "Fatter Sheep" Yarn, with increased yardage and made with merino to give it added softness.  It is the same gauge as the original Fat Sheep, so all patterns calling for Fat Sheep can be made with Fatter Sheep Yarn.  The next yarn that will be introduced will be a new Bo Peep Yarn, which will be much softer than the original.  Of course, I will notify you when it is available.

So, for the first new pattern to show you.  Stephanie's Stole was a big hit at the TNNA Fashion Show the other night, and the pattern is immediately available.  It requires 3 skeins of Trixie''s Loopy Mohair.  If you would like to try it out (and/or try out the Trixie's Loopy Mohair Yarn), let me know.  I can send it out immediately upon my return from TNNA.  Look for another new design next week.

Thanks for your continued support!