Ah, summer is officially on the horizon, bringing in summer storms, pleasant evenings spent out on the patio, and celebrations involving sparklers, fireworks, and, of course, outdoor barbecues! With Independence Day quickly approaching, we've decided to unveil our newest purl-triotic kit!

Introducing the Jimmy Beans Wool Summer Sparkler Kits! Inspired by the popping colors that pepper the sky during our celebrations, we've put together two colorways that knit up beautifully into the Lightweight Hipster Shawl by Joji Locatelli! Using Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light + Glitter, sparkle the night away with this summery shawl! Each colorway has your choice of either the needles needed to complete the project or a patriotic project bag from della Q! Each offering comes in a reusable vase, making this kit great for the environment as well as your wardrobe, hehe!

The Hipster Shawl is perfect for all adventurous beginners and beyond, featuring a simple garter-stitch background, forming an almost woven-like appearance, broken up by gorgeous, artistic holes and tassels!

It's hot - no really, it's been super hot this past week! You know that feeling when you seem to lose all motivation because you're just sweaty and it's an unpleasant temperature? Us too, it's been super hard to come up with excuses to keep knitting and crocheting here at the Jimmy Beans warehouse because the temperatures soared this past week, and we just want to lay down in front of a fan!

So we made a compromise - why not continue making but with something a little more summer-friendly? Our friends at Malabrigo heard our cries for help and suggested a few of their summertime faves that have blends of lightweight materials, making crafting a little less cumbersome in these coming months, hehe!

Malabrigo Caprino is a sport-weight yarn composed of 80% superfine Merino wool and 20% cashmere, making this pick a no-brainer for those of us who like a little bit of luxury in the summertime! Each skein holds 159 yards of ultra-soft goodness and feels wonderful next to the skin, making this choice ideal for both large garments and accessories alike!

Lookin' for something silky smooth? Look no further than Malabrigo Susurro yarn! Featuring the perfect combination of light, soft, and breezy, this yarn boasts an incredible 325 yards of DK-weight fiber per skein! Expertly crafted from a blend of silk, Merino, and linen, the fabric this yarn makes is not only breathable but feels as great as it looks while being as light as a feather!

Malabrigo also has a 100% Pima cotton option for those of us who think it's just too darn hot to knit or crochet with anything else! Malabrigo Verano yarn is the perfect way to cool off in the sweltering summer months! Each skein holds 205 yards to it, making this worsted-weight yarn an exciting contender for one of our favorite summer strings, hehe!

Strings and Stripes!

It's no surprise around Jimmy Beans HQ that we love stripes. Like, seriously, easy color changes and beautiful colorways always get our needles and hooks excited for more! In light of Independence Day swiftly coming up, we wanted to shine a light on some of our favorite self-striping yarns to spread the joy and wealth around in case y'all wanted to get a little crafty to prepare for the fourth. ;)

One of our favorite self-striping yarns comes in the form of Biscotte Yarns Bis Sock Autorayante yarn! Hand-dyed with love in Quebec, Canada, Bis Sock is a sumptuous blend of 85% Merino wool and 15% nylon, making it perfect for all of your fingering weight project needs.

The Merino wool provides warmth and comfort, while the nylon gives strength to your project, making it last longer and offer a bit of stretch (socks, anyone?)

Time to get a little... Uneek with our self-striping choices! Urth Yarns Uneek Cotton is 275 yards of beautiful, rich colorways that are perfect for any summertime makes!

This DK-weight yarn is crafted from 100% mercerized cotton, resulting in a breathable fabric that softens with each wash! Your next summer top, scarf, shawl, sweater (you name it) will certainly thank you for the pleasure of being made up with this option!

Get ready to pop, lock, and drop it (but not a stitch) with Bamboo Pop Socks! This yarn is springy and sproingy, making use of its blend of bamboo, cotton, and PBT. It's also a great alternative for those of us who have allergies to wool!

This option also doubles as a great juggling yarn, so you can impress your friends with all of the unique skills you have, hehe! Elevate your next pair of socks or funky cardigan with this crazy ball!

Bam! Boo(m)! Pop!

Whistle. Boom. Pop!

Picture this: You're outside, it's nice and warm, there's a gentle breeze, and you're kicking back with your project! You've had a popsicle (or three) and a refreshing beverage to keep you cool in the summer heat. We're huge fans of cookouts and barbecues in the summertime and love the thought of sharing them with you!

To celebrate summer quickly approaching, we're starting up new projects using Universal Yarns Bamboo Pop! This warm-weather staple is made from a beautiful blend of bamboo and cotton, making a breathable fabric that utilizes the strength of the cotton and subtle sheen of the bamboo - it's like the ultimate win-win yarn! Bamboo Pop also provides excellent stitch definition, suitable for knitters and crocheters alike!

Projects On The Mend!

We have to admit that we love a little too hard at times, and when that happens, our favorite socks, hats, scarves, and sweaters begin to wear down. It's not our fault that those projects look good on us and feel even better on the skin! Wear and tear on our favorite garments and accessories just goes to show how much we love something, and there's nothing wrong with that (aside from the side effect of sadness that comes with it).

With the new Katrinkles Darning and Mending Loom Kit, you'll never have to agonize over whether to throw a garment away again! This kit provides you with all of the tools you need to mend your favorite pair of socks, along with instructions on how to get started!

Crafted from Katrinkles' classic use of birch wood, this kit contains a darning loom, heddle, elastic tie, tapestry needle, and instructions. Go forth and mend away!

Time works strangely for us sometimes. January felt like it lasted a year, May felt like it lasted two weeks, and now we're already in June - can you believe it?! Though we can't be too frustrated with that because with each week that blurs by, we're brought closer to the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl! This year, we're really excited to start it up again, especially since it'll bring a sense of normalcy back to our lives. It's been a long time since we've seen a bunch of you and we can't wait to see you again so we can chat about all things knitting, crocheting, and, well, yarn in general!

This year, we're kicking things off early with a pre-crawl Make-Along! If you have a Ravelry account, check out the official MAL thread on the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl Ravelry group!

Both (you read that right - both!) knit and crochet patterns will be using fingering/sock-weight yarn in either 1 or 2 colors, with each shop (including ours) using different yarns to show off just how unique you can make a design feel to you!

For knitters, we recommend purchasing the pattern from Justine Chenel's Ravelry page and picking up an Emerald Bay Shawl kit, which uses Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light.

For crocheters, we recommend picking up the pattern from Michon Chandler's Ravelry page and purchasing a Meandering Up Mountains kit which also uses Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light.

Next, visit the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl's Instagram page and check out the story highlight titled "MAL 21" to peep what others are doing for their own projects! After all of that is said and done, you can take part in the official "Cast On" Zoom on June 15th at 5:30 PM PST to join in the fun with other like-minded makers who are embarking on the same journey as you! This Zoom will be hosted by Heather from Heathered Yarn Co & Laura from Pioneer Yarn Co. This isn't a requirement to join the MAL, but we do urge you to join!

If you choose to join in the Zoom calls, the SNYC will be hosting two more meet-ups along the way, offering chats and help with your projects. The mid-way check-in Zoom will be on July 20th, while the final Zoom check-in will be on August 17th. Both will take place at 5:30 PM PST. Each Zoom meeting will also double as a giveaway.

If you're feelin' social (no pun intended), post your progress pics to Instagram and tag #SNYCMAL2021 so we can all chat and see your progress! We highly recommend finishing your shawl in time for the Yarn Crawl in September so you can easily identify who else was super excited for the event, hehe!

Marin's Florencia's Shawl

We were surprised by a friend the other week who came in with this beauty! Marin Melchior (AKA MarinJaKnits) dropped by to show off her amazing knitting skills and boasted about how she used Madelinetosh Tosh Merino yarn to create her gorgeous shawl - so naturally, we asked if we could take pictures of it!

Loosely based on the Pi Shawl principle, this semicircular wrap has different panels of lace, all tied together with a neat I-Cord edge! The best part about this shawl is that it's available for purchase from Marin's Ravelry page and you can customize it to use one color or multiple!