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Just in time for sweater weather, designer Sharon Hartley (@riverroadknits on Instagram) has released her Dark Academia sweater, available now on Ravelry. Knit in my Deep Sock base, this top-down, circular sweater is inspired by dusty libraries, autumn’s chill, and (of course) gothic architecture. The subtle puff of the bishop sleeve adds a bit of flair to the simple silhouette. This size-inclusive pattern comes in 10 sizes, up to a 66.5” bust. I’m offering kits in the original No More Shall We Part with Never Enough Thyme color combo, along with four other haunting options. Bonus, if you are attending the Indie Untangled trunk show, you can see Sharon’s original sample in person.

In other news, if you can’t make it to the Indie Untangled show this year, no need for FOMO. I am taking preorders on my 2022 show color, Mountain Majesty, inspired by the local flora this beautiful time of year on both my Deep Sock and my Neptune Merino DK bases. Register for free and head on over to my Indie Untangled Everywhere virtual booth from October 14-November 1 for a link to my listing for Mountain Majesty.

We just returned from a quick road trip to coastal Maine for a little antiquing, lobster roll-ing and fun in the sun. Now it’s full steam ahead dyeing for the fall shows, yarn crawls and a few special projects. Before I get too far, I really need to free up some space on the yarn shelves so I’ve put nearly 100 different listings on sale. Items range from my lace bases to Sparkle Sock, Deep Sock, Harbour fingering, DK and a few sock-weight fade sets. All sale items are 20% off — no coupon code required, discount taken at checkout. Hope you find something you like!

Summer is the time I most love my home in the Hudson Valley. After the beautiful but bleak colors of an upstate winter, I soak up the amazing range of hues nature offers. I don’t even have to step outside to enjoy our avian friends, as long as the bears leave our strategically placed bird feeders alone.

New colors Grackle and Grosbeak both feature layers of moody tones, with warm and iridescent golds peaking through, overdyed with a brilliant blue. Tadpole Alley is amphibian green in a sea of azure inspired by activity in our seasonal stream in the late spring. Grackle comes on Deep Sock, Neptune Merino DK and may be the most stunning version on Harbour Merino Singles fingering. Grosbeak, for now, comes on Deep Sock and Neptune, while Tadpole Alley needs the subtle sheen of Harbour to really wow.

Moving farther afield, I am lucky to have quick access to the many mountain groups in the area, which prompted me to create Bear Mountain and The Gunks — the loving nickname for the Shawangunks, a mecca for climbers across the Northeast. Built from layers of stone and verdant greens, they both have subtle specks of sunlight and earthy deep brown. In addition to offering these two on Deep Sock and Neptune Merino DK, I dyed up a five color mini skein set in fingering called Catskill Climber.

Perhaps unrelated but still sitting pretty with this new grouping is French Roast, inspired by one of the most important things in my life! Successive dye baths of three different browns makes this a truly rich brew. Available on Deep Sock and Triton MCN DK.

Since I dyed all of these using my favorite technique of laying bath after bath of different colors, it’s not surprising how they fit so well in my existing range, and that I feel like I’ve been dyeing them forever.

When I introduced Caspian — my new Merino, alpaca and nylon fingering — at the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show in October, I was hoping people would love it as much as I do. The response was a definitive yes! so I’ve expanded the range to include 20 colors, with more on the way.

The base is so soft, with a beautiful, subtle halo that enhances the appeal of mellow, dusty colors as well as saturated, old-fashioned ones, so I’ve created more than a dozen of these. It’s equally effective for muted variegated combos so there are handful of those to coordinate with the solids. As if that weren’t enough, it takes speckles like a dream, so I’ve added some of those and even a few combinations of variegated with speckles.

Caspian is perfect for your new spring sweaters and I love how it looks in stranded knitting. It’s just as suitable for cold weather accessories and the nylon content means you can even use it for socks.

I’m not one who makes much of a fuss over holidays, and understand the problematic nature of the one we are celebrating this week, but I do have many things to be thankful for. One of the biggest is that you have embraced my work and let me make a living doing what I love. Being a one-person business is a lot of hard work and pressure, but seeing all the lovely creations that are made from my yarn keeps me inspired and ready every day to keep going!

My whole shop will be on sale, 20% off all items, from Friday November 25 through Tuesday November 30. If you aren’t in the market for some yarn this week, I hope you will find another independently-owned business to support on Small Business Saturday.

To sweeten the pot, for Giving Tuesday, Lisa of Indie Untangled will be donating 5% of all her sales to Camba, an organization that provides programs in economic development, education and youth development, family support, health, housing and legal services to people in her hometown of Brooklyn. Better still, if you forward her an email order confirmation of any purchase from my shop from 11/26 through 11/30, I will donate 5% of that purchase and she will make a matching gift to Camba as well. You can send your order confirmation to [email protected] and we both thank you in advance!

The trees are almost bare, the night temps in the Hudson Valley are dropping to the 20s and 30s, and if you’re anything like me, you are approaching your knitting or crocheting with a renewed motivation. It’s the perfect time of the year for me to roll out a new assortment of Sanctuary, my 100% Merino, non-Superwash 4ply worsted. Its plump, round construction makes for great stitch definition, so it’s perfect for cables, complex stitch patterns and stranded colorwork or mosaic knitting. A good soak and blocking renders the fabric pillow soft. I love it for sweaters, hats and mittens, or any other cold weather gear.

The natural finish on this yarn means that dyes penetrate slowly, which lends a soft, smooth look to variegated color ways and a subdued muted finish to tonals. I introduced several of my most popular multis that premiered in the past year along with 15 semisolids.

Time to curl up with your favorite hot beverage and settle in for the long months ahead.

How it started… I just wanted to knit a Stripes! Sweater by Andrea Mowry. I started pulling colors from the wall of yarn and even though pulling nine skeins for a sweater is no big deal – plenty more where that came from! it was bugging me just a little. And the gears started turning.

‘Tis the season of colorwork sweaters, gift knitting and all the accessories. I know I’m not the only one who has looked at a pattern and was a bit put off by having to buy full skeins knowing I’d only use half… or less. Coincidentally, I had some 50-gram skeins of my Neptune DK base on hand, left over from a special project and the next thing you know, 15 colors were dyed and added to my shop.

It’s the same 100% Merino Superwash wool as my regular Neptune skeins, in 116-yard/50-gram skeins, so you can mix and match with the 100-gram skeins. Half the yardage and half the price. Let your color impulses go wild!

In other news, I’m starting to add new fall colors to the shop every few days. New favorites in Rambler and Rocky Road which both pair up with the warm, cozy goodness of Honeycomb.

One of the benefits of running my own business is that I can sometimes choose to do things just for the love it. My biggest indulgence is offering not one, but three different lace weight bases. Out of fashion these days, it is not going to pay the bills, but I feel good knowing that the lace knitters out there can still feed their habits.

I’ve dyed some old favorites as well as some of my newest colors from other bases.

Harbour Lace is my Merino singles base which works up beautifully in both shawls and sweaters. It’s perfect for those shawls that are a combo of garter stitch and lace patterns. The soft halo gives a sumptuous feel but the superwash finish really helps prevent any pilling.

Siren is an 80/20 Merino/silk 2ply. Each ply has a tight twist, plied together a bit loosely making it perfect for showing off complex lace patterns that are light and airy, with a soft sheen from the silk.

Yakima Lace is my favorite of all. A Merino, silk and yak blend spun as a single, its natural light silvery brown color adds dramatic depth to its after-dye color, the silk adds an iridescent sheen and the singles construction plus the yak down adds a subtle halo. I choose really saturated colors for this base and they really shine.

My annual Lazy Summer Lace sale is my tribute to you and my thank you for letting me dye these favorite bases. All colors in all three are 20% off until August 16. No code required, discount will appear at check out.

In other sale news, my LaMer base (40% Merino, 40% llama, 20% nylon) is going bye-bye, not by choice. Sadly, I can’t get any more. Happily, I’ve found a suitable replacement that will make its appearance at the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck trunk show in October but I have to make space for it on the shelves. Happily for you, this means you can purchase what’s left at a deep discount, I’ve marked down the remaining eight colors in stock to 50% off. A great deal for this super soft base with a beautiful, subtle halo!