July 2013 Lorna's Laces Limited Edition Release

You know those postcards. The ones that feature vibrant colors with various state landmarks and bold lettering that says "Greetings From....!" Or perhaps you remember summer at sleep-away camp or on vacation sending letters and postcards home to friends and family that always said the same generic thing, "I'm having fun, the food isn't that bad, and wish you were here!" In any case, summer has been synonymous with vacation for as long as we can remember; which is why we couldn't resist a vacation-inspired color for July! Wish You Were Here features bright and fun colors that embody the theme of many of those postcards mailed to loved ones during summer adventures over the years, especially the vintage-looking ones which we absolutely love.

To make this color even more fun, we are hosting a contest for the months of July and August. If you take your Wish You Were Here yarn on one of your summer adventures between now and August 31st, whether it be across the country, the world, or just the next town over, you could win some FREE yarn! Simply snap a photograph of yourself knitting or crocheting with the July color and share it with us on our Lorna's Limited Edition Fan Club Page, and we'll enter you into a drawing to win one skein of each weight of Lorna's Laces Yarn in our September Limited Edition color. That's over $200 worth of free yarn! In order to share with us, you must "like" the Lorna's Limited Edition Fan Club Page, tell us where the photo was taken, and include the hashtag #WishYouWereHere in the caption. Easy peasy! We'll randomly draw a winner on September 1st and announce it on the Lorna's Limited Edition Fan Club Page. We hope all of you have fun on your summer adventures, whatever they may be!

Wish You Were Here is available in all of your favorite Lorna's Laces yarns including: Haymarket (Lorna's newest yarn), Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Worsted, Shepherd Sport, Helen's Lace, Lion & Lamb, Honor, Solemate, and Sportmate!

We are excited to welcome Blue Heron's Rayon Metallic and Rayon Chenille yarns to our selection! Blue Heron Yarns is owned by mother and son team Barbara Lundy Stone (who is a long time weaver and dyer) and Demian Savits. It's not too often you hear of a mother and son team in the knitting industry, so we just HAD to find out the story. Barbara is the creative mind behind Blue Heron's unique hand-dyed skeins and one day back in 1996, her son Demian decided to photograph and list some of his mom's lovely hand-dyed yarns on eBay (with her permission of course) and see what happened. Soon Barbara's yarns were selling like hotcakes, and they realized that their yarns were certainly filling a niche. Demian then took to the road and began hitting yarn shops up and down the east coast and selling yarn out of the back of his car to eager shop owners. Now, more than 15 years later, Blue Heron yarns can be found in yarn shops all over the country!

We specifically selected two of their most popular yarns for several reasons. One, we have seen these yarns knit up at shows, and they are absolutely stunning, and two, they are like nothing else we have in stock-truly unique in every way! Not to mention, all of their yarn bases are sourced from local US mills. Rayon Metallic is a gorgeous blend of rayon with metallic thread that has amazing drape and silky sheen. This worsted weight yarn is super soft, knits up like a dream, and adds just a little bit of sparkle to your day. We absolutely love it! The Rayon Chenille is as soft as velvet, and looks like it too! Perfect for shawls, scarves, and tops, this 100% Rayon yarn is deliciously soft next to skin, and looks beautiful any which way you choose to knit it up! Both yarns boast generous yardage and are as unique as their origins. We hope you'll love Blue Heron yarns as much as we do!

We have so many wonderful yarns on sale, but here are just a few of our favorites...

Rowan Sale: 40-50% off! A big Rowan sale shipment is always cause for excitement around here! This time, we received select colors of Lima, Cocoon, Colourspun, Amy Butler Sweet Harmony, Cashsoft DK and 4ply, Colourscape Chunky, and Renew to name a few. You'll just have to check out the Rowan sale section of our website to see everything. It's all just too good, especially at 40-50% off!

SMC and SMC Select Sale yarns: 50% off! As if Rowan sale yarn wasn't awesome enough, we also received a shipment of SMC and SMC Select yarns on sale at 50% off! Popular types include Extra Soft Merino Cotton, Highland Alpaca, Silk Wool, Tweed Deluxe, Boston, and On Your Toes Bamboo yarns.

Regia Sale: 50% off! Regia has long made some of the best sock yarn around, and now you can score some of those awesome yarns on sale for 50% off! Items in this sale shipment include Nautica Color, Black and Blue Color, Cotton Horizont and Extra Twist Merino, among others. With some of these great deals, you'll be knitting up socks for the whole family in no time!

JUL Purse Handles and Buttons: 20-50% off! JUL accessories are some of the most unique we've seen in a long time, and we were so excited to see that they were offering sales on some of their older stock as it's a really great way to try out their product! From their removable Pedestal Buttons in Naturals or Resin (which can double as shawl pins) to their leather purse handles, JUL's gorgeous products are of the highest quality and look amazing on your hand knit and crocheted items.

Crystal Palace Yarns Monaco: 50% Off! If you are as sad as we are about Crystal Palace Monaco being discontinued, then you'll love that you can stock up now on this gorgeous yarn at 50% off! Pad your stash with some delightful colors with a little shimmer that are great for scarves, shawls, and tops. At a heavy worsted weight, this yarn can be knit on US size 8 or 9 needles making it pretty quick to knit as well. Be sure to grab some of this fabulous yarn before it's gone forever!

In July, she leaves for Europe for a month touring around Spain, France, and Prague! Visiting friends and just having fun is her well-deserved reward.
In her "off" time, Irene still stays busy: the youngest of four children, she's very involved with her family and had the honor of seeing both of her two older sisters get married this year. She also tends a little family of her own: her four adorable dogs! Yoko the Yorkie, Chuy the Lhasa Apso, Oliver the Pom/Chihuahua mix, and Kali the Pitbull/Lab mix love to accompany Irene on her runs (one at a time, of course) and sit with her while she knits. She's currently working on the Rowan Crystal Gloves (from the Winter Warmers book) and the Madelinetosh Embers cowl - did we mention this lady is a multi-tasker?!