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New Stuff
This is Qolla from Misti Alpaca. Qolla, a Q word with no U; it would make a great Scrabble word, if it really were a word. But I digress. Qolla is a blend of fine baby alpaca and merino wool, hand dyed in stunning colorways. Worsted weight,
in nice, plump, 218 yard skeins. Very, very pretty, and it's pronounced "coy-ya". See what others are doing with it on Ravelry.
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 Next up is Daisy from Plymouth Yarn. This is a chunky, slightly fuzzy, baby & kid friendly yarn. An easy care blend of nylon, cotton and acrylic, knitting up at 3.5 stitches per inch, it makes for some quick, cute projects. I was able to whip up this little hat in an evening.
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 Whitney, also from Plymouth Yarn, is another child-friendly yarn, but it's also nice for grown-ups as well. Still slightly textured but no fuzzies, mostly cotton with a bit of nylon, Whitney is nice for warm weather garments for young and old. Plymouth recently featured it on their blog, and they included a pattern for a cute, simple bib.
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We're happy to be carrying a couple of fingering weight yarns from Done Roving, a small, hand dying company in Maine. First up is Frolicking Feet: 480 yards of high twist, superwash yarn. Wonderful for socks, baby garments. The colors are stunning. We've got a wide variety of colorways available. Check it out on Ravelry.
Next, we have Fundee Footsee. This time, they've blended the superwash wool with 25% nylon for strength. Fundee Footsee is a little bit heavier than Frollicking Feet, which makes for a pair of nice, warm socks. Put up in generous 4 ounce skeins, one 480 yard skein is plenty for even man-sized feet. See what the Ravelers are doing with it.
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These next two yarns have been on my radar for a while. They are both from Briggs & Little in New Brunswick, Canada. For over 150 years, Briggs & Little have been changing raw wool into yarn, from start to finish. You can read more about them on their website, and they even have a virtual tour, which I found fascinating. Both of these yarns are what I consider "close to the sheep", not over-processed, so you'll find a little bit of plant matter in them. If you're a wool-geek like me, I think you'll enjoy it. It reminds me of where wool comes from, and I like that.
Heritage is a 2 Ply, 100% wool in what I consider a heavy worsted or aran weight. It's an incredible value with 215 yards for under $6.50. Heritage is what I consider a "wooly wool" - you won't touch it and say "oooh, it's so soft", but if you're like me, you'll touch it and say "sheep!". Great for hats and mittens, and if you knit a sweater in it, you'll enjoy it for years and years.
Softspun is similar to Heritage in that it's 2 ply, 100% wool, but this time it's a finer wool, therefore a softer yarn. It's also slightly lighter weight, but it's still considered a worsted, knitting up at about 5 stitches per inch.
Oh, and they've got some free patterns on their website. You might want to check them out.
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The last yarn I'm going to talk about this month is a lovely alpaca in big, plump, 8 ounce skeins. It's Heather Prime Alpaca from Galler Yarns. Each skein has 665 yards of sport weight 100% alpaca. Knit as a single strand, it works up at about 6 stitches per inch, or you can knit two strands together for about 4.5 stitches per inch, so it's quite versatile. The price point is very nice for such a big chunk of Alpaca, and Galler Yarns offers a pattern for a lovely one-skein cowl on their website.
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Last but not least, I just wanted to let you know that I've added some more choices to my selections of needles. I'm now carrying some of the Dreamz circulars & DPN's, Cubics DPN's, and Nova straight needles all from Knitter's Pride. You may want to check them out the next time you're in the shop - one of them might be your new favorite needle!
 
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