Green Mountain Madness

Cherry Tree Hill Custom Colorway for Sock Knitters Anonymous

Dear Bloggies:
Last week we took names for a custom colorway we are dyeing for a group on Ravelry called "Sock Knitters Anonymous". The yarn will be sold in our Labor Day Sale with half of the profits going to Donate to S.K.A. On Friday we picked the top ten names and dyed 10 corresponding colorways. We posted small thumbnail photos on Ravelry, but here is your chance to take a look at the larger shots and vote for your favorite. All nine runners-up will be taken to Sock Summit for purchase there one time only. The winner will be saved for the Labor Day Sale which begins Sept 4th.
Please look the colorways over carefully and vote only once. You can vote by the color name as it's tagged now, and tell us which of the ten names your color SHOULD have. (ex. I vote for "Orange Fluff" but we should call it "Melon of Troy")

If you have emailed me privately, I have added you to this blog mailing list so that you may be the first to know. If you wish to unsubscribe after the winners are chosen, you may do so at the bottom, or you might want to stay aboard because all Labor Day Sale information will be posted here over the next few weeks.
Click a picture for an enlargement. Send your vote to cheryl@cherryyarn.com

Is it Orange Enough?	Sweet Marmalade
Vermillions of Socks	Orange Fluff
Walking on the Sun	Inspiration Orange
Melon of Troy	No Rhyme No Reason
Hidden Heat	Orange You Glad We Didn't Say Banana?

Thanks to all who have offered to help at Sock Summit.
We are show sponsors and are featuring indie dyers in our booth. If you are an indie and do not have a booth but want to sell your yarn at the Summit, please contact me privately. We are wholesalers, but after talking to Tina from Blue Moon at length, we have decided to share space with independent dyers whose hard to find yarns hardly ever make it to the retail arena. Most of the yarns you will see in our booth will be available one time only.

So far, we have yarns from Ivy Brambles, Ripples, Unwind, Ancient Threads, 2DI4, Indie Dyer and Fire Lizard as well as our SKA runners up, Possum Sock and Louet Gems. We are also bringing several Dyeing for Glory yarns only for Sock Summit.

Please keep checking back. We will announce the SKA winner later this week. --

Cherry Blossom Time at Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

 Our Belgian mare Emily foaled a few weeks early giving birth to a little filly we named Cherry Blossom after our prize winning colorway.  Full sisters Foxy Lady who is 2 and Gypsy Rose who is 3 looked in on their baby sister yesterday as did half sister Misty Moor who is 2.  Emily has not ever foaled a baby boy with the stallion we use, so we may have to come up with a new colorway.   Blossom has a broken blaze just like her dad.   Although a little undersized, we expect her to grow as large as Emily.

My daughters Indie Dyer and Barrel Girl were there for Blossom's all natural birth in the round pen.  Indie who is contemplating children in the future could not believe that Emily was in labor for 2 days with no drugs or epidural.  Barrel Girl thinks she will stick to barrel racing and leave horse breeding to those who have the stomach for it.

Yesterday my husband spent the afternoon brush hogging trails for us up at our sugar woods.  Indie, BG and I washed all our Handpaint Cotton Boucle through at Cherry Tree Hill and then we went riding for 4 hours.  Today I can barely walk but they seem fine.

This week we plan to finish dyeing the cotton for our Labor Day Sale and start in on some nice Louet mill ends called Kid Mohair Tape and Sherpa Thick N Thin.  There are also some Wool Boucle ends from another mill and Indie is dyeing some of her World of Warcraft colors to sell at Sock Summit.  If any of you are in Sock Knitter's Anonymous, keep posted--we are doing a special colorway for you to benefit your group on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting!

Cherry Tree Hill Needs Sock Summit Help

Dear Bloggies:

With both the Sock Summit and our Labor Day Sale just around the corner, we have lots of news.  First of all, we are sponsoring the Sock Summit in August and are looking for booth help.  Please let us know if you would like to set up, break down or help run the Cherry booth. We need both part time and all day help.  If you like handpainted sock yarn and want to be paid in it, this job may be for you, August 6-9th in Portland, Oregon.

We're just now back from TNNA, where we got to see our yarn on the cover of Laura Farson's new book, "New Twists on Twined Knitting".  The beret and mitts on the front cover are knit with Supersock DK in the colorway Spring Frost, accented by Supersock Slate.  We will have Laura signing books in our booth at Sock Summit and of course the yarn will be available, too.

Our newest pattern Flirty Tank is knit from Supersock Semi solids in the colorway Burgundy.  It takes just 2 to 5 hanks to knit all sizes.  Both the pattern and yarn are now available for you summer knitting pleasure.  Designers--this is the kind of thing we are looking for in our Supersock Design contest.  The top is actually part of a set call Flirty Tank and Pantaloonies. You can begin sending in your designs in September--we can't wait to see them.

Speaking of September, don't forget about our annual Labor Day Sale which begins Friday September 4th.  We have 200 Goodie Bags to give away to the first 200 customers and someone will win the Get out of Labor Day Sale free card.  This means that no matter how much you have purchased, we will credit you for everything you bought during the sale.

We are gathering high end mill ends from all of our favorite places, such as Henry's Attic, Louet, Kraemer, Brown Sheep, Mission Falls and more. 

Here's a sneak peek at the Handpaint Cotton Boucle we are dyeing.

It's going to be a colorful, bountiful summer--Happy Knitting from all of us at Cherry Tree Hill.

Dog Days of Summer at Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

The Dog Days of Summer are here at Cherry Tree Hill.  With both of my daughters Barrel Girl and Indie  Dyer home, we now have 12 horses and 5 dogs in addition to 2 girls.  Here are the dogs running through the warehouse yesterday after they came back from the groomers.

As you can see, they are all Shelties and most of them are my favorite colorway which is called Tri Color Black.   Mac is a rare Bi Color Black and also the biggest at only 6 months old and Shelby is a Shaded Sable and also very tiny--we hope she is eligible to be registered as a Toy Sheltie.

We built an outdoor rodeo arena this spring which made both Barrel Girl and Indie Dyer happy as they both love to ride.  Barrel Girl brought home her Roan Dun named Peaches and Indie is training and giving lessons plus trying to get our warmblood Rhombus back in rideable condition.  You may recall we call Rhombus "Mr. Bad Boy."

Both girls are dying yarn for Cherry Tree Hill this summer.  Indie has lots of her own yarn for sale and Barrel Girl is trying her hand at handpainted mill ends both wool and cotton.  We are leaving for TNNA today and hope to see many of our favorite stores there.

If you want to check out any of our new yarns, we will be showing Charmed, Suri Semi Solids and Supersock Semi Solids for the first time in the entire range of colors.   Many of you have been asking about our annual Labor Day Sale.  We will finalize the advertising venue and website placement next week--but here's a hint:  Those of you who belong to Sock Knitters Anonymous are in for a big surprise!

Summer Knitting Cherry Style

Dear Bloggies:

We opened our summer issue of Knitter's magazine to find 3 garments knit with Cherry Tree Hill yarns  and colorways.  Find cute beaded wristlets called Wrist Watchers on page 34.  These are knit from just one hank of Sockittome in colorway Caribou Creek.

Again from Sockittome but this time in the colorway Gypsy Rose, find the 4-way Beret on page 45.  Just one hank makes this cute and colorful hat rated intermediate knitter.

Finally from just 2 hanks of Dancing Toes find a great summer tee in colorway Life's A Beach.  This yarn is comes as dye blanks from Plymouth and as you can see is not just for socks.  All blanks are available from Indie Dyer if you want to try dyeing the yarn yourself.  The Yarn Pack is available on Shopatron in the colorway shown.  It takes between 2 and 4 hanks of Dancing Toes depending upon size.

We have been dyeing all kinds of handpaint mill ends for your knitting pleasure.  The last of the Cashmere is done and we finished the Mohair Silk yesterday.  We are dyeing the Merino Silk currently--we are so glad that you like these yarns and so many of you have asked why so inexpensive?  These are mill ends which means they are the end of a run and will not be available again, thus the bargain.

Thanks to our Hot Sox Winners featured on page 23 of Knitter's.  Our new design contest does not close until the end of the year so you have lots of time to enter.  Fire up those needles.

For those of you following Potluck Yarn, Chapter 6 is up, and the featured project is available.  It is Lilac Lily's Going to Market Bag knit from Potluck Bulky and Plymouth Eros.  This bag is magically bottomless in the story, but in real life you will find that although it is roomy, you will need to unload the bag once in while.

Summer is upon us and with that comes all kinds of Summer knitting.  If you have a project knit from Cherry Tree Hill that you would like to see featured in Potluck Yarn, please let us know.

Cherry Blockers and Other Cool New Stuff

Dear Bloggies:

How happy was I to open my package of Cherry Sock Blockers custom made by Chappy's from oak.  They are just so cool that I want you to be able to get them too.  Chappy says that she saved the original cherry cut outs and can make more.  Just email her or go to her website.

If you are looking for a Charming pattern, our first one is available now.  It is called Charming Jacket and is a very easy top down summer cardigan.  The short sleeves are nice over a tank or tee.  It is shown in the smallest size which only takes 4 hanks but the pattern goes up 3 more sizes.  The model was knit in Serengeti, but you can choose any colorway you want.  Thanks to JoAnne Turcotte for the pattern!

Potluck fans--we are hoping to get the Winter Wheat backpack in this week!   The knitter has called to say it is finished and we will put it up as soon as we get it in.  Look for chapter 6 next, which is all about Lilac Lily and her magical powers of persuasion.  Lily's project is the Going To Market Bag which has already been knit.  The Pattern and the kit will be available soon.

We are spending much of this week on the road at seminars and yarn warehouses around the country.  Next week we will certainly have more goodies to share.   We have dyed many more silk mill ends this week--some are mixed with mohair and some with merino.  All are nice.

We will begin accepting submissions for the Supersock Design Contest after Labor Day.  It's time to think about your projects--we are really looking for one of a kind pieces and they do not have to be garments.  If you have an afghan or throw pillows in mind, so do we!  Also, if anyone can come up with a clever knitting bag or  knapsack, we would be all for these items too.   You may recall that some of our past winners were very unusual.

We can't wait to see what you have come up with, so get your creative juices flowing.  If you are still looking for yarn, we have dyed the first 15 colorways once more and you can find them here.  Looking for old dyelots?  Try here.

More Handpaints from Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

Thanks for all the positive feedback about our new Charmed and Suri Lace yarns.  Patterns are coming--we will have a Charming Jacket knit from Charmed in Serengeti by the end of this week.  Both yarns are available in all colorways and the Suri is available in our new semi solids. If you can't find these yarns, click here or have your local yarn store  give us a call

 

Last week we told you about a nice mill end we had the chance to dye, called Merino Silk.  This week we are dyeing another yarn for the same company called Merino Cashmere.  It was difficult for us to believe that there could be any yarn softer or nicer than the Merino Silk until we touched the Cashmere.  Unfortunately it is a small mill end and as far as we know the Cashmere will be available at only one online source.

We met with Vermont Organic Fiber Company last week and dyed up a batch of O Wool for them in assorted colorways.  Look for this yarn in their 2010 product line.  Of course we never use metals or harsh chemicals,  and the dyes took beautifully.  We hope they like the colors as well as we do.

If you are having a difficult time finding Supersock semi solids for our Supersock Design contest, please know that we have the first 15 colors ready again  and will begin sending out backorders to stores this week.  If you need a specific dyelot, here is where to find all odd lots and orphan hanks from our first run.

We are dyeing to see your original designs with this yarn.  Happy Knitting from all of us at Cherry Tree Hill!

New Yarns from Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies--we have tons of new yarn to share with you this week.

First of all, we have dyed our 10 new colors of Suri Lace.  The yarn is 100% alpaca with no fillers and these are all semi solids that we think would look great in lace patterned scarves and shawls. We would love to see any designs you may come up with and are willing to purchase original lace designs.  To find the yarn online, click here.

Our next new yarn is called Charmed--thanks to Marlene Clifton who helped us name this yarn.  She wins a free hank of it in the colorway Glacier Ice from our ebook Potluck Yarn.  Charmed is now available in all 33 colorways.  It is a worsted weight Alpaca with a shiny binder that will remind you of Oceania.  Each 4 oz hanks has 200 yards of 95% Baby Alpaca with a shiny binder.  We are looking for designs in this yarn as well.  To find Charmed online click here.

Finally we have a great mill end called Merino Silk.  Here it is in a Folk Shawl I'm working up.  This dk weight yarn will be available only in potluck colors and only at a few outlets and the price can't be beat as anyone can buy it for less than the original wholesale cost.   Currently we are selling it to just one online source.  Click here to see the yarn.  It is going out just as quickly as we can dye it, so keep checking back.

Thanks for all of your inquiries about the Supersock Design Contest.  If you are looking for certain colors, please let us know and we will try to find them for you.  We are dyeing the yarn right now and will have the first 15 colors again next week.  To find  stores that have the yarn, click here.  To find orphans and mill ends of the yarn click here.

Happy Knitting from all of us at Cherry Tree Hill!

On the Road Again

Dear Bloggies:

We have done 3 shows in the past 10 days and are so happy to finally be home.   Stitches South was last week and this past weekend we attended both Maryland Sheep and Wool and NENA.  We hope to stay home for a few weeks before driving out to Arizona to pick up our two girls and their various horses and dogs, because TNNA is just around the corner.

Barrel Girl is bringing her barrel horse Peaches home for the summer and Indie Dyer is spending the month of June plus going to TNNA with us.  In addition to building an outdoor arena, we are also getting new yarns ready to show in our booth.  Look for Suri Alpaca in 10 new shaded semi solids plus our new alpaca sweater yarn all 33 colorways.  Although our Supersock Semi Solids are mostly sold out we are dyeing the 30 colors once again.

Indie yarn will be available at Cherry Tree Hill all this summer plus look for Unwind, Fire Lizard, Ancient Threads and more.  Barrel Girl will be trying her had at dyeing--we have wonderful Merino Silk and Merino Cashmere mill ends for her to try.

We met up with friends from NENA and also characters from our ebook Potluck Yarn.  Here is Esmeralde modeling her Possibles Bag on the road to Bainbridge.  Chapter 5 is up on Potluck Yarn and free to read.  Name our new yarn and win a hank for free.

Our Supersock Design contest is well under way.  If you need help with yarn or the guidelines, we are more than happy to help you.  We have two new Supersock patterns for your knitting pleasure.  Choose from the Mirabella Dress by Debbie O'Neill or the Pantaloonies by karena Schmidt.

 Happy knitting from all of us at Cherry Tree Hill.

Stitches South Cherry Style

Dear Cherry Tree Hill Fans:

We just returned from Stitches South and what fun it was!  We had no idea the fashion show dinner would be adorned with hand knit center piece flowers worthy of an art show--here's the one that was at our table. Atlanta was certainly hospitable and we look forward to returned as sponsors of the show again next year.

As promised we are sending out links to all of you who asked for information.  As we  are wholesale only, we cannot sell to you directly, but we can help you  find all Cherry Tree Hill yarns and promotions.

The 2009 Cherry Tree Hill Design Contest

If you want to enter to win the $1000 first place prize, we have design guidelines plus a list of stores carrying our 30 new Supersock semi solids on our homepage.  Click here to find either an online store or the store nearest you.  During the show, both Yarn Garden Knit Shop of Georgia and the Knitting Garden of Florida decided to join the contest.  Here I am with Virginia of The Knitting Garden in Florida.  Welcome!  Please note that only one store per state will be allowed to carry the yarns as they are a little hard to get.  If no store in your state carries the new semi solids, you can always get the yarn quickly on Shopatron.

How to find Kits for Garments you saw in the Fashion Show

We showed 2 kits from Knitter's Magazine, the Wavy Baby from the Spring Issue and an upcoming garment from the Summer Issue.  Wavy Baby was kitted by the Knitting Emporium at Stitches and is also available on Shopatron. 

We also showed the Mirabella Dress by Debbie O Neill and Skye's Traveling Cloak from Potluck Yarn.  The dress will be available from Indie Dyer and the Cloak is already on Shopatron.  Patterns are available on Pattern Fish. The Mirabella Dress is now available as a pattern and a kit.

Potluck Yarn

To read Cheryl's new book for free before it is published, click here. You can sign in for free prizes.  We have already given away the first 4 garments as kits plus the patterns to people on the mailing list.  Join the mailing list to win the next set of kits and patterns.  The Prologue plus the first 4 chapters of the book have been put up and are available to read for free, plus you can check out our Potluck News and Feedback pages. We hope you like the redesign of the site.

To find the hard to find patterns and books

Most all of the patterns and books you saw in our booth are available at Yarn Market or on Shopatron, even the hard to get Rings of Supersock which sold out at Stitches South.  You may recall that Krazy Knits had the Tumbling Triangles Ruana and the Baby Doll Tunic. If you saw something at Stitches that you still have a question about, please email us.  At Stitches, The Yarn and Fiber Company had a nice selection of Merino Lace plus Oceania in all colorways.  Both Mass Ave Knit Shop and Indie Dyer carried the new semi solids and Discontinued Brand Name Yarn had a great selection of our mill ends and discontinued sock yarn. Beacon Yarn had lots of our sock yarn and plenty of their own kits made up with it.  They also carried every single pattern we had at the show until they ran out.

It was nice to meet all of you--maybe we will see you at Stitches West? Happy Knitting from Cherry Tree Hill!