Haymarket in Whitewater In last week's blog while telling you about the Lorna's Laces contest I talked a little about Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) wool as an introduction to protein fibers. Lorna's Laces Haymarket and 6 other yarns that we carry contain BFL specifically. Yarns made from protein fibers are probably the most commonly used fibers by knitters in North America and Great Britain. Protein fibers are fibers harvested from animals, usually by shearing or plucking their coats. Sheep of course are what most people think of when they think of animals that give us fiber but there are many animals that humans have used for their fiber throughout the ages. Most of the animals from which we obtain fiber have been domesticated for centuries and sometimes bred for certain characteristics....

It's the first week of the Mystery Sew Red Sew-a-long and we are raring to go! The first block design will be from Jimmy Beans Wool's very own Kristen Ashbaugh Helmreich. All About Kristen Kristen Ashbaugh Helmreich lives in Reno, NV and works on the Customer Engagement team at Jimmy Beans Wool where her tasks include social media (Ravelry & Pinterest, yay!) and coordinating the blog, co-writing the bi-monthly newsletters, and designing knitting, sewing and crochet patterns among various other fun tasks. Outside of work, she is the designer behind Marinade Designs (www.marinade.wordpress.com), her own line of knitting patterns that she is hoping to expand in the coming year. When she's not knitting or sewing her own clothes, she is working in her garden, tending to her chickens,...

I know it's not quite September yet and in many places summer is still in full swing, but I can't help but notice the slight bite that the morning air has had of late which means the warm season is winding down. As a knitter, I always get so excited for fall. It's a season of wearing layers and a time to retrieve my hand-knits from their summer home in the cedar chest. A time to think about what new knits I want for the coming winter, and getting excited for tea and knitting beside the fire. I'm not going to lie, I absolutely love fall and winter, and even if it means shorter, darker days, I relish the excuse to stay inside, cook delicious comfort foods and knit to my heart's content. I guess I am a bit of a homebody that way. There are lots of other things I love about fall besides more...

 Last week, I briefly mentioned that Lorna's Laces is running a contest.  To fill you in more on this fantastic opportunity to win free yarn I thought I would tell you a bit more.  First off, let me congratulate Lorna's Laces for having a gorgeous sweater designed by Deborah Newton and knit up in their new Haymarket yarn make to the cover of the new Fall 2013 Vogue Knitting!!! Isn't it just stunning!!! This colorway is 51n Island Blue and that magnificent interlaced cable up the front is applied.  So all kinds of new fun with this project! Also, we just ordered the Island Blue color (it should be here shortly) AND we've created a kit for this sweater as well so you can get started right away!!! There are two chances to win so here's the specifics in their own words...

Now that the Royal Baby Quilt Sew-a-long has wrapped up, we are excited to announce a project that we've had in the works for quite some time: a Mystery Sew Red Sew-a-long! Jimmy Beans Wool is hosting a "block of the month" style Mystery Sew Red Sew-a-long in which the finished product is a red-themed quilt to raise awareness of heart disease in women. Your favorite designers from the Sew Red book will will be submitting block designs of different shapes and sizes, and we'll be releasing block instructions every few weeks. Since the blocks won't all have the exact same dimensions, quilters who participate in this sew-a-long will likely choose to assemble them in different configurations. This is where the mystery comes in… no one will know what the finished quilt will look like until...

Some folks have posted their Royal Baby Blanket FOs over in the JBW Ravelry Group thread and they looked so great I just had to share them here (with their permission, of course.) First up we have diabro's gorgeous blanket using Universal Yarn's Classic Shades. I just love how her blanket turned out, and so does her little friend, Brad. :)  Next we have traceyloanne's blanket. She made hers to give away in memory of a loved one, and this was an extra special gift. I think it turned out just beautifully and I love her fun colors! Katy32's blanket was made for her sister's new baby and she finished it just in the nick of time. Seriously! That little one looks super cozy in her new auntie made blankie! Plus, I love how Katy used up a bunch of Lorna's Shepherd Worsted in her...

addthis_pub = 'laurazander'; addthis_brand = 'Jimmy Beans Wool'; addthis_logo = 'http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/images/headerlogoSmall.gif'; addthis_options = 'favorites, digg, delicious, email, google, myspace, facebook, reddit, newsvine, live, more';   Have you ever wanted to learn to knit how to knit cables, bobbles, twists and knots?  Intimidated to knit a whole afghan? Feeling left out of chances to win a whole sweaters worth of Lorna's Laces yarn by being the first to send Lorna's a photo of your finished applied cable sweater from the cover of the new Fall Vogue Knitting?  I have just the solution for you!  The Great American Aran Afghan Knit-a-long!  This is the perfect project for learning Aran stitches with out committing to large, complicated sweater...

Hi everyone! We hope by now you've finished your squares and are ready to put everything together. Putting this little knit and crocheted quilt together is so quick! It just took a few hours in one evening (and Kristen crochet's slow, really slow.) We went with the crocheted method of putting this blanket together for a couple of reasons: The stack of squares, ready to go! 1) It looks nice and neat across the back of the blanket with your single crochet holding it all together. 2) It goes REALLY fast! Much faster than mattress or whip stitching (in our opinion). That said, if you have a preferred method, you are more than welcome to use it. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Here are the steps we recommend for putting your blanket together: Step 1: Block all of your squares....

It's the final week of the Royal Baby Sew Along!  I hope that you're excited to finish up.  By this point, you should have your quilt top assembled and have the batting of your choice ready to go. We'll start this week with the last detail of the quilt top: the crown!  The crown is done with bias tape edging over a background fabric, and the points of the crown are done with the shiny scraps of Plymouth's Gold Rush yarn.  To get started, you'll need to download and print out the pdf of the crown outline.  You can find the pdf at the following link: www.jimmybeanswool.com/royalBaby/crown One of the circle tops is cut off in our pdf, but don't worry: you don't really need the outline for that part! Once you have the pdf printed, you'll need to cut it out. ...

Hi everyone! Welcome to the final week of squares for the Royal Baby KAL/CAL! After this week, you should have 12 squares to sew together for your blanket. We will cover the construction aspect of this project in our final blog post next week. For now, enjoy knitting and crocheting your squares for week 6! Week 6 Knit Square Knit: Materials: 100 yds of worsted weight yarn US 7 needles New Abbreviations: yf- yarn forward yb- yarn back Directions: CO 47 sts. Knit 6 rows in garter stitch. Row 7 (set-up row): k5, p5, (k3,p5) 4 times, k5 Begin working the following 4 row pattern: Row 1: k5, yf, sl 5 knitwise, yb, *k3, yf, sl 5 knitwise, yb; repeat from * to last 5 sts, k5 Row 2: k5, p5, (k3,p5) 4 times, k5 Row 3: k7, insert right needle under loose strand and knit next stitch...