Green Mountain Madness

Gimping Around at Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:

I was out last week with knee surgery and was unable to write you notes--thanks to all who wished me a speedy recovery.  After one week, I am back at Cherry Tree Hill gimping around.

Wearable Art Classes at Stitches

For those of you inquiring about my class at Stitches:  Please contact me about homework--there is a little bit and I would like to get your yarns and worksheets out to you soon.  You can still sign up for this class--please do it soon so that you have plenty of time to spend on your garment.  We're making wearable art tams and I want to make sure everyone has plenty of time to get their blanks finished before class.

Cheryl's one day Wearable Art Class at Stitches Midwest still has some openings, plus she is teaching the class at Stitches East in October and at retail stores such as Creative Warehouse in Needham MA and The Knitter's Edge in Bethlehem PA this fall. Learn to create wearable art knitwear in just one day. A weekend workshop may be available at Cherry Tree Hill this fall.

Hand-Crafted Doll Kits - They Make You Smile

Dolly Mamas have announced that they are going to make kits from my doll. Here is a photo of her

wearing her wristlets and tam with the actual wristlets shown in Knitter's Magazine. You may recall that I wore the Cherry Tam for years. Now I wear my wearable art Painted Tam, the same one you will make in my classes. I will be bringing the doll, wristlets and tam to Stitches Midwest. The doll kit will be available soon--I believe we are getting the first set of kits.

New Self Striping Fingerpaints Yarn Pattern

We have a new Fingerpaints pattern available called A Little Bit Country, plus you can preorder our next set of 10 colors. These will be available in August and you can preview the colors on our Website.

New Website

We're going to be moving, upgrading and redesigning our Website soon, let us know if there are any features that you want to see, or don't want to see. Contact [email protected] or our Web guy, [email protected].

I'm going to TKGA Manchester in two week if I can walk without my crutches.  Maybe I'll see you there?

Happy Knitting!

Another Winner at Cherry Tree Hill Yarn

Dear Bloggies:

We're just back from TNNA where we showed the finalists for our Yarns on Stage Fingerpaints patterns. The hands down winner is Adrienne Fong with her socks shown in in the colorway Morning Glory.

The pattern is called A Little Bit Country. Thanks for all of your votes both online and at the show. The folks at Yarns On Stage liked it especially because the self striping pattern is sustained even in a wave motif.

Congrats Adrienne. You get $250 and your pattern will be published by Cherry Tree Hill and featured at Yarns on Stage. Anyone who wishes to try the pattern can find it on The Supersock Store.

We're still looking for 2 more designs--send in your projects.

Here are a few more that came in this week. Dunharrow Socks by Owl Chick, Doppler Stripes and Waves Socks by Abrie Smits and Men's Mitts by Essie Biruell.

Were we ever surprised by The Dolly Mamas, who gifted Cheryl with her very own felted doll. Owners Darlene and Lisa specialize in kits of personages such as Lucy Neatby, plus all kinds of other dolls you can knit and felt yourself. The CTH Cheryl Doll is available as a kit, plus Cheryl will have it with her at all of her Stitches Classes.

Speaking of classes, Cheryl's one day Wearable Art Class at Stitches Midwest still has some openings, plus she is teaching the class at Stitches East in October and at retail stores such as Creative Warehouse in Needham MA and The Knitter's Edge in Bethlehem PA this fall. Learn to create wearable art knitwear in just one day. A weekend workshop may be available at Cherry Tree Hill this fall.

Contact us if you are interested.

Happy Knitting!

Another Winner at Cherry Tree Hill Yarn

Dear Bloggies:

We're just back from TNNA where we showed the finalists for our Yarns on Stage Fingerpaints patterns. The hands down winner is Adrienne Fong with her socks shown in in the colorway Morning Glory. The pattern is called A Little Bit Country. Thanks for all of your votes both online and at the show.

The folks at Yarns On Stage liked it especially because the self striping pattern is sustained even in a wave motif. Congrats Adrienne. You get $250 and your pattern will be published by Cherry Tree Hill and featured at Yarns on Stage. Anyone who wishes to try the pattern can find it on The Supersock Store.

We're still looking for 2 more designs--send in your projects. Here are a few more that came in this week. Dunharrow Socks by Owl Chick, Doppler Stripes adn Waves Socks by Abrie Smits and Men's Mitts by Essie Biruell.

Were we ever surprised by The Dolly Mamas, who gifted Cheryl with her very own felted doll. Owners Darlene and Lisa specialize in kits of personages such as Lucy Neatby, plus all kinds of other dolls you can knit and felt yourself. The CTH Cheryl Doll is available as a kit, plus Cheryl will have it with her at all of her Stitches Classes.

Speaking of classes, Cheryl's one day Wearable Art Class at Stitches Midwest still has some openings, plus she is teaching the class at Stitches East in October and at retail stores such as Creative Warehouse in Needham MA and The Knitter's Edge in Bethlehem PA this fall. Learn to create wearable art knitwear in just one day. A weekend workshop may be available at Cherry Tree Hill this fall. Contact us if you are interested.

Happy Knitting

Help Cherry Tree Hill Choose Another Winner

Dear Bloggies:

We want to thank all of you for your recent Fingerpaints pattern submissions.  We've received all kinds of socks and even fingerless gloves for men.  You may recall we are offering $250 each for five designs that catch our eyes and have already chosen Muffin Top Mitts and Whichaway Socks.  Now we have received another pattern that we simply can't resist.  It's called Moxie Soxie Socks and knit from Name Your Poison by Debbie O' Neill.  Congratulations, Debbie--you are our third winner and you get $250.  We will have your pattern for sale to all by next week.

Now we need your help picking another winner.  One of our new self striping handpaints has been chosen for Yarns on Stage.  It is based on our colorway Morning Glory and will be called Sweet Pea.  Yarns on Stage needs an exclusive sock pattern for this yarn and are trying to choose between two submissions.

 Want to help us decide?  The finalists are Purple Passion Socks  by Tucky Sancibrian and Perennial Socks by Adrienne Ku.  Both socks are shown in the colorway Morning Glory, but only one of them can be featured for Yarns on Stage.  To vote just send an email with Purple Passion Socks or Perennial Sock in the subject to [email protected]. 

We welcome your comments in our Ravelry Group and on Facebook as well.  We will be bringing both socks to TNNA and will let you know the winner next week.

Happy knitting,

Summer Knitting at Cherry Tree Hill

Dear Bloggies:
 
I'm just back from visiting my friend Jonelle Raffino in Arizona. Owner of Southwest Trading Company, Jonelle is writing a new sock knitting book and I'm contributing a colorway and pattern.  While out there, we helped my daughter Cheyenne pack up her horses and dorm room. She is spending the summer vacation teaching riding lessons here in Vermont.

Imagine my surprise when I walked in this morning to find so many new Fingerpaints designs waiting in my office. And I have emails from some of you that more are coming.  As you may know, we have already purchased Whichaway Socks and Muffin Top Mitts and we are seeking out three more patterns.  Send them in--we will be picking another project this week.

While I was gone, I received an autographed copy of Successful Lace Knitting by Donna Druchunas.  One of the projects, called Folk Shawl featured on page 80 was dyed and designed by myself from eight hanks of Supersock DK.  We have the yarn packs and books if any of you wish to knit it.

 
I also received copies of Think Outside the Sox book.  You may recall that I was one of the judges of the Think Outside the Sox contest and a pair of socks knit in Supersock Wild Cherry paired with Green Mountain Madness won the most colorful category.  We have both of these colors available if  any of you would like to knit the winning design as shown in the book.  Or maybe you want to choose your own two colorways.  The design is called Pattern Play and it's featured on page 88.

Copies of my previous books and books that feature Cherry Tree Hill are available at the Supersock Store.  Keep those Supersock designs coming in--we are so pleased to see them.

Happy Knitting,

New Patterns and Coloways from Cherry Tree Hill Yarn

Dear Bloggies:

Well we've bought our first two Fingerpaints patterns — congratulations to Essie for her Muffin Top Mitts and Ann for her Whichaway Socks. They both have received checks for $250 and we have published their patterns.

The Whichaway Socks I particularly like as the patterns is a 2 in 1 design. You can knit the socks whichever way you want--toe up or cuff down--both patterns are included in the design.  Retailers can buy the patterns directly from us and bloggies you can get them in the US from The Superstock Store and in Canada from Patternfish.

We would like to purchase at least 3 more designs that use one hank of Fingerpaints, so keep them coming. We would prefer to buy patterns shown in other colors, so no Morning Glory or Black Cherry, please. There are still 8 self-striping colors to choose from!
 
 In addition, we have 10 more colors of Fingerpaints in the works for this fall.  Here's a sneak peak at the color range. We will be taking pre orders soon!

We're also looking for a large shawl design for our brand new Supersock Lace Semi Solids. This laceweight yarn is completely machine washable supersoft low micron Merino.

You may recall that Debbie O'Neill designed a beautiful Lattice Lace Stole from one of the colorways, Aubergine. Now that we have 30 new colors available in the Semi Solids, we would love to see a design that uses just one hank.  You've got plenty of yarn to work with--almost a thousand yards.  The yarn is only available at a few retail stores so far, plus we've sold all of the first quality broken lots to DBNY.

Happy Summer Knitting--send in those designs!

Maryland Sheep & Wool

Dear Bloggies:

We have just returned from Maryland Sheep & Wool where we basically sold out of everything. The show was very well attended and we saw a lot of old fiber friends.

I have forgotten how nice it is in Baltimore at the end of April. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and there was the smell of cut grass and new leaf everywhere.  Thanks to our helpers Aldona, Maggie and Lily.  They gave me enough time to walk around and buy trinkets like homemade soap, pottery and piggy banks.

We brought a lot of Alpaca yarn to the show, including baby alpaca Charmed which we have decided to discontinue. This yarn retails for $20 per hank and we have several patterns. We will be letting it go for $12 per hank on the Supersock Store and also various discount sites. Patterns will be free so get it while you can.

The Supersock Select Lace (Supersock Soft Twist)  seconds sold for $11 per hank which is half price. This yarn will be available on Discontinued Brand Name Yarn 50% off until it's gone. This is a great price on our Superwash Merino sock yarn-don't miss out because we sold out at Maryland.

Happy knitting to you all--it was great to see so many familiar faces.

Cherry Tree Hill Returns to Maryland Sheep and Wool

Dear Bloggies:

Here we are returning from Stitches South only to head down to Maryland Sheep and Wool. Thanks to all we saw at Stitches—the Ravelry Party was lots of fun as was the Fashion Show. To follow us on Rav, just join our Supersock Store group, where all things are Cherry Tree Hill.

This year we will reclaim our booth at Maryland and we're taking every variety of Cherry Tree Hill handpainted sock yarn as well as mill ends and lots of lace. Come see us in the Main Building in booth C21.  We'll be on hand with great deals on our newest yarns including Fingerpaints, our self striping sock yarn. We will also have our new Supersock Lace—this is our laceweight Supersock and you can knit an entire shawl from just one hank, plus its machine washable.
 
At Stitches South, I showed my new Painted Beret and Painted Lace Skirt in the Fashion Show and now it's official. I'm teaching them as a class at Stitches Midwest. The class lists are out—sign up here. If you're not going to the show, but want the pattern or kit for either garment, they are available from the Supersock Store. 

We're coming home to drop our empty boxes and pick up full ones—see you in Maryland!

Supersock Lace is Here at Last!

Dear Bloggies:
 
After much trial and error, we finally have our first set of Supersock Lace yarn available.  As you probably know, this yarn has been in the works since last year, but until now we had been unable to match the  yardage and weight to our desire for high twist yarn.  What we wanted was a soft superwash yarn much like Supersock Select, but with enough yards to knit an entire garment, such as a large shawl.  The fact that  this lace weight yarn had to be superwash was also a challenge.  How would we make it durable but soft, superwash but lace weight and keep the price affordable?

Well, we think we've finally done it with Supersock Lace and we're sorry it took so long.  We have all 34 colorways available in this yarn in limited amounts.  Next we'll try our 30 semi solids, hopefully before this first set of colorways sells out.  We've sold quite a bit of this yarn to Indies such as Indie Dyer and Ivy Brambles.  If you are a handdyer who would liek to try your hand at dyeing this yarn in bulk, contact us.  If you only want a few hanks, the dye hanks are available at Indie Dyer and Discontinued Brand Name Yarn on their White Sale Page.

We have two designs for Supersock Lace, our Painted Lace Skirt and Lattice Lace Shawl, but of course we're always looking for more.  Send us your ideas!  Happy knitting from all of us at Cherry Tree Hill Yarn.

Cherry Tree Hill Discovers Inca Indies

Dear Bloggies:

I'm just back from an enchanting week in Peru where I finally got to go to Cuzco and hike Machu  Picchu.  As promised, I found lots of enticing Llama and Alpaca Mill End yarns at various dye houses, but my biggest find was a group of Indie Dyers who call themselves Inca Indies.  They operate out of a loft in one of the industrial cities, bringing in women from the Andean Highlands to handpaint indigenous colorways on sock yarns.
 
I also worked with my favorite fair trade co-operative to develop 10 new colorways of Fingerpaints, which is my self striping sock yarn--hopefully we'll have samples to show you soon.

 While I was gone, we received another design submission, which I really like.  They are a pair of cabled fingerless gloves called Muffin Top Mitts shown in the colorway Morning Glory, designed by Essie Burrell. I love the way this project shows off the self striping aspect of this yarn.  Essie says that there is plenty of yarn left for a matching beret.  Thanks for the submission!

We are looking at designs all summer and are willing to pay $250 each for our favorites.  If you have an original pattern you think would look great with Fingerpaints, send it in knit on one of our 10 colorways.  We are will to look at any project that uses just one hank of Fingerpaints.  If you need the yarn, it's available online at the Supersock Store or at your local yarn shop.
 
Many of you have asked when I will begin teaching my new handpainted garment techniques.  I have just heard from XRX that they will be showing several of my painted garments, plus promoting my classes at  Stitches South, but will not be offering the classes until Stitches Midwest.  If you would like to take my Painted Beret class at Stitches, please contact Stitches.  In the meantime, both the Painted Lace Skirt pattern and the Painted Beret Patterns are available and one lucky winner will win kits for these at Stitches South.