What does this yarn want to be?

I have a pretty good idea and it's going on needles today. These three yarns will be used together to create an 'object d'arte'--something non-functional but fun to look at. Yarns pictured: recycled silk, Ozark handspun and Aloo (nettle). I like these three unusual yarns together as they are all made by hand. I'll post in-progress pics.

Update on Habitat for Humanity Throws

One throw was crocheted by Nancy Troup and that has already gone to a Habitat house. Karen Swanson has been working on a woman build house in Winchester and has spent some time with the woman who will own the house. It seemed fitting to send the throw with her to the closing since she will be there. (Even though Karen outsources her crocheting to someone else!)

Yesterday we worked on squares and counted. We’re still waiting for some to be turned in for the black/tan/cream/pumpkin throw out of Tatamy Tweed. We have 16 squares and need 20, but we should have them by the time the rest find their way here.

We have 18 out of the Classic Worsted in orange/olive/yellow. We started some beige to make this a bit more neutral.

We have 9 out of Classic Worsted and Superwash Merino in olive/lime/cranberry/mauve. I know there are more of those to be turned in. We can add some beige to this one too.

Next month, we’ll have a “sewing circle” to get these connected. There’s some great metaphors in that work!

FO - Slip Stitch Cardigan

I finished this sweater today! I'm so excited to have this done and then I realized I don't have a shirt the right color/neckline to wear under it!

You can make the Slip Stitch Cardigan too. It's really a fun sweater to knit as it's engaging, but not difficult. With stitch pattern and color changes, it held my interest. The results are totally worth it.

Trevi Tee KnitaLong

Jill's latest design, Trevi Tee is fabulous.  It's one of those that begs to be knit in every color. We're offering a free KnitaLong for the Trevi Tee on Ravelry.  Haven't joined Ravelry? This is a good reason to do so!

In addition to the KnitaLong, we have specials on the yarn, Mermaid from FibraNatura, a cotton, wool, silk, seacell blend.  All the colors are really wonderful.  

If you live in the Funkstown, MD area, there will be "meetups" to work on the project and Jill is arranging some in the SF Bay area too.  Knit on. . . or better yet, knit Trevi!

How we choose yarn

I was recently asked how I choose which yarns to buy.

First of all, it's really hard! There are so many choices! Jill and I do most of the buying at the needlearts trade shows. That gives us an opportunity to look at lots of yarn and make comparative decisions. We consider patterns we may be designing or want to design, what we think will sell in the shop, and many other factors.

However, yarn we purchase must meet criteria we have for yarns that are sold by Y2Knit. I like to say that every yarn has a story. If there's no story, that is, no interesting facts about that yarn that I can tell customers, then it won't fit on the Y2Knit shop. Sometimes the story is very compelling, other times, it's something simple that speaks to us. Here's some examples:

Brown Sheep: We carry several lines from this Nebraska company. We like BS because it's made in the USA and it's a small family business. We are also very turned on by the fact that BS recently put in a wastewater reclamation process that saves over 18,000 gallons of water per day. That's 90% of the water used at Brown Sheep! Robert Wells, PhD developed this system. When I asked Peggy Jo (Brown) Wells why they did this (at their own cost, without raising prices), she simply responded, "Because it's the right thing to do." That's the kind of people I want to do business with.

Some other companies are more obvious as their Fair Trade, environmental and socially responsible practices are part of what forms the company: Be Sweet, Frog Tree, Himalayan Yarn and Malabrigo come to mind. These companies are providing jobs for primarily women in underdeveloped areas. It's a well known fact that when women are employed and earning money they 1) feed their kids and 2) educate their kids. That's changing the world one person at a time.

So how about Kraemer Yarns that employees about 70 people in Nazareth, PA? The mill runs three shifts and is family and community oriented. This small company has demonstrated ingenuity at moving into the hand knitting business after so much of their industrial yarn business went overseas.

All of the American yarn distributors are providing jobs for people in their communities, from sales reps to warehouse workers. Most of these companies are family run businesses. This is a great industry to be part of!

Serendipitous Ewe Trunk Show

Angela ended up covering up the trunk, but I thought it was perfect for a Trunk Show. This is the worsted weight --the multi-colored is the new colorway, Tuscany. A customer today commented that it has the colors for all seasons. She bought me out!

This was also a popular colorway in the sock and fingering. The semi-solids are rich and warm.


Seredipitous Ewe as sock yarns in 80 wool/20 nylon and a wool/bamboo/nylon blend, which is my favorite. Sock yarns come in semi-solids, variegated and striping.





Another new color is the Blue Footed Booby, first in a series of colors + black reminiscent of bird species. I look forward to a penguin colorway!


Many Serendipitous Ewe yarns can be purchased at Y2Knit. Stop by to check them out!

Where have we been?

We've been very busy getting the new website up and going. Now customers can use PayPal and we think the whole shopping experience is smoother. We've got new events and new products!

Local customers won't want to miss this on Feb 28 from 12-3pm:

This special Serendipitous Ewe trunk show features handpainted yarn by local artist, Angela McNamara.


Crisp cheerful colorways, including the latest colorway, Tuscany, are showcased in wool and wool blend yarns.

Buy 3 of any yarn and get the 4th for half price!

I have been getting lots of knitting done, not so many pics taken. It's too cold to go outside and take a picture!