Corrina here with five of my favorite yarns in the shop and some suggested projects and patterns. I've been really pleased over the past few years as I've worked here with the great variety of yarns that Susan has been bringing in. A lot of my favorite brands are now stocked regularly including what is probably my favorite line - Malabrigo.

Malabrigo yarns come in a bunch of different weights and fibers. The Malabrigo Worsted shown comes in  beautiful colors and is perfect for hats and cardigans. I know it's as hot as Hades out there now, but do you remember last winter? Take some time to knit in the cold a/c with some cozy wool and you won't be sorry later.

Another way to get ahead on your winter knitting is with some lovely soft baby Alpaca. We stock baby Alpaca Grande is all sorts of smooshy colors. One skein of this will make up little scarves and hats in no time. Whether to keep yourself warm or get ahead on your Christmas knitting, this stuff can't be beat.

Two free patterns you might use for this yarn are the Snappy Hat and the Ribs & Ruffles Scarf - both of which only use one skein of this yummy yarn!

If you just can't stand to be working on heavy things - even with sub-arctic A/C, knitting lace is the way to go. The Willow Creek laceweight is squishy and soft and comes in the richest colors from Pagewood Farms. We have tons of lace knitting patterns in the store so you can find the perfect project. We even have a lace knitting class coming up.

Another great idea for summer knitting is working with summer fibers. The Classic Silk by Classic Elite is a lightweight summer yarn with a silk, cotton, and nylon blend. Classic Elite even has pattern support for their yarns in their webletter - which features a free pattern every week. A few weeks ago they featured my Mayfaire Camisole, which is a quick and easy summer knit - plus the pattern is free!

Lorna's Laces Worsted is an interesting yarn - you would swear it has silk in it because it has such a lovely sheen. Recently I used it to make up the February Lady Sweater (free Ravelry pattern). But it works up perfect for all sorts of projects - including baby items because it's 100% superwash merino. And I'll be honest with you - I shared this one in my Five on Friday grouping just because I loved the name so. You have to love it - it's called Zombie BBQ! Kimber made up an awesome pair of monkey socks in the sockweight version of this!

Speaking of Raverly - we do have A Stitch In Time group over there and we would love to have you join us! We'd love to hear what you've been knitting with yarns from A Stitch In Time!

Until the middle of September we are happy to have a trunk show from embroidery, quilter and painter Kathy Schmitz. A Little Background on Kathy: she went to school to study graphic design but she was not a fan of the rigid art design school taught her. She prefers a more flowing natural, classic look offered by painting and illustrating. What she really loves is painting pictures of houses. In March of 2002, Kathy started Kathy Schmitz Studio. Kathy lives in a small house in Portland, Oregon with her husband Steve. You can look at all of her very beautiful traditional American designs at her website. We have quite a few delightful embroidery models that you are going to want to come in and check out in person. You can also see them in a photo gallery after the jump.
-Susan