December 2007 Archives

My husband and I live in the Atlanta metro area, but we are both transplants from the Northeast. My in-laws and my father still live there, which means that every other year, a few days before Christmas, we pack up the dog and the pick-up truck and drive to the great white North for a week of holiday festivities. This week every two years fulfills any longing for cold I ever have, and our trip home is always marked by enthusiasm and relief (and a twenty-plus increase in temperature) when we cross the Virginia/North Carolina border. My roots may be in New England, and for that I'll always be fond of it, but the South is home now. Everything just feels more ... relaxed.

Just before we left for New Jersey, I got a call from Kelly at The Unique Sheep with an exciting offer for Eat.Sleep.Knit to be a third sponsor for their upcoming Seven Deadly Spins Yarn Club! We are really thrilled to be a part of this new yarn club, which gives participants a chance to sample yarns from The Unique Sheep in new colorways and designs created specifically for the club. The club includes seven shipments, one every other month beginning in March 2008. Projects will include a range of yarns, not just the traditional sock club shipments! Sign-ups are discounted to $41.25/month for members who sign up before January 15th. You can purchase a membership in our store or e-mail me directly through the contact form to reserve a spot in the club.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday, and finished all of that Christmas knitting! While I kept my knitting on the light side this year (two pairs of socks, a pair of gloves, a shawl, and a sweater for my husband), I was still knitting down to the wire. The first thing I did when we got home was to pick the Tangled Yoke Cardigan back up - how nice to knit for yourself after two months of knitting for everyone else!

I'm not sure how we've gone so long without updating the blog, but there has been a lot going on in the shop, and a lot going on with holiday knitting, and now the holidays are nearly here. I'm excited to share everything I've been working on, but it will have to wait until after Christmas! In the mean time, there are so many cool new yarns and notions in the shop to tell you about.

First is J. Knits, an independent company run by head dyer Julie in Massachusetts. I had previously only had the pleasure of trying her Superwash Me - Sock yarn, which I can't get enough of. This yarn is soft, and the way it is plied makes it one of the smoothest sock yarns I've ever used. Plus, it comes in so many pretty colors:

We've also added three other great yarns from J. Knits, including my new favorite, Charming:

How cute is the charm? Each skein comes with a different charm, but even without the charm, this is seriously nice yarn! It is 80% lambswool, 10% cashmere, and 10% angora, and it is soft and the perfect weight for knitting a cozy sweater, which of course I want to cast on for and knit as soon as I recover from holiday knitting mania.

Our other exciting new addition is The Unique Sheep, a two-woman company based in North Carolina. We are fortunate enough to have gotten in three of Laura and Kelly's amazing sock yarns in before the holidays, and we'll be adding worsted and lace yarns in the new year. Right now, you can buy Verve (their basich superwash merino sock yarn), Tinsel Toes (a gorgeous shiny 50/50 merino/Tencel blend), and Sushi Socks (a merino/bamboo/nylon blend, for stretchy, soft socks!) in our shop. All three come in some really beautiful colors!

Tinsel Toes

Sushi Socks

If you can't decide which of The Unique Sheep's sock yarns you want to try, the mini-sock kits are a great way to sample these yarns and colors (plus, they are so fun to knit and are the perfect size for ornaments!)

Just as a reminder to everyone, we will not be shipping orders between December 21st-Dec. 28th. Any orders placed after December 20th will be shipped on December 29th so that we can spend the holidays with our families. When we return, we'll have more new yarns to share with you all, including Cluadia Handpainted Yarn Silk Lace, and, we hope, the new 400 series colors from Dream In Color!

One of the surprises we have been working on behind the scenes is finally here - we're pleased to announce that Eat.Sleep.Knit will be oferring handpainted yarn from Noelle's Noodles!

We have a small batch of Aran Merino up for sale right now in seventeen gorgeous colorways. One is an exclusive colorway that Noelle created just for the store that will only be available at Eat.Sleep.Knit:

Handpainted sock yarn and sportweight yarn will be coming soon, but for now go look at all of the pretty yarn!

I've been busy today photo-ing all of the new Claudia colors we've added to the shop and the Dream in Color Classy that came in today, but I wanted to share some news with all of you, knitter to knitter.

Sometimes as a shop owner, you get the kind of information that makes the knitter in you giddy, and this is one of those times. We don't have them in the store yet, but Dream In Color has just announced to its distributors that it is launching a new set of colors, the 400 series, and we got a sneak peek!

They've also launched a new lace yarn! We should be getting Smooshy in the new colors and the lace yarn in all colors as soon as possible, current estimates are sometime this month.

In store news, we've added about a dozen new colors of Claudia Fingering Yarn and we have a few colors of her linen yarn now, which is deliciously crunchy. You can feel in the skein how much it will soften once washed - I'm thinking of testing this out with the flower petal washclothes from Weekend Knitting, and if all goes well, soft but elegant summer top!