New color development is an ongoing process here at Brown Sheep. Our latest round of new colors are for our “spring and summer” yarns: Cotton Fleece, Cotton Fine (a blend of 80% cotton and 20% wool) and Serendipity Tweed (a newer line of yarn made with 60% cotton and 40% wool). Although I don’t want to divulge any secrets, the process of selecting new shades was quite fascinating to me–basically, we try to predict which colors will be popular in the upcoming 1-2 years–something that has been extensively studied by people in the fashion industry. We try to include new colors that will appeal to women, men and children as well as coordinate nicely with the existing color palette. These colors will be available for local yarn shops to order beginning January 1:

Four new colors in Cotton Fleece and Cotton Fine: Lentil, Olive Burst, Bering Sea Blue, and Apricot Nectar

Garden Green in Serendipity Tweed

Also in Serendipity Tweed, Tuscan Olive and Heathered Plum

Both Cotton Fleece and Serendipity Tweed knit as a DK weight or light worsted. They also go well together. One of our free downloadable patterns, the Jade Pullover, uses Serendipity tweed for the body and Cotton Fleece for the sleeves. Available here

Cotton Fleece and Fine are excellent for weaving. One of my latest projects was creating a window valance with my favorite (bright!) colors of Cotton Fleece. The yarn is very strong and great for warping.

Woven fabric in Cotton Fleece

Since I’m on show-and-tell mode, I have to share another itty bitty project in Cotton Fleece: these adorable baby mitts designed by Susan B. Anderson. These were a fun little gift and a very quick knit.

Baby Mitts

The pattern for the mitts is available for free:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-mitts-2

Hopefully you feel inspired to make something with our Cotton blend yarns. . . the possibilities are endless! Look for our new colors at your LYS. 🙂