Armless Coat Pattern for Cold Bronx Zoo Snake on the Lam in NYC

We had a request from a "Guy in NY" who urgently needed a pattern for an Armless Coat. We're no fools. We know who you are!

Okay, here it is. And, yes, we can knit it up for you seeing as how you've got no arms.

Armless Coat Pattern

Materials
3 skeins Caledon Hills Chunky Yarn
Circular Knitting Needles, Size 10

Directions
Cast on 30 stitches
Knit until 8 feet long
Cast off.

Yarnmarket is on Animal Planet!

Isn't this the neatest thing? Our Fabulous Felines yarns have been mentioned on Animal Planet's blog. We're really excited that they liked our yarns enough that they wrote about it.

We've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes on this line of yarns, with Iris Schreier of Artyarns, helping us develop the perfect pussycat colorways. We're looking very hard at a nice, white yarn so we can introduce tuxedo cat colors and the ubiquitous shading that inspires that ever-popular name feline moniker, Boots.

Read about us on Animal Planet's blog...and don't forget to enter your own pussycat by sending a photo and name to: Pussycats@yarnmarket.com

Here's a Plush Passenger!

We often receive funny stories from friends of Yarnmarket. This one really made me laugh. It originated with a Colonel Preast:

During Operation Desert Storm, I was a legislative affairs officer for Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf. Often I was required to transport gifts, sent to him from patriotic Americans, from Washington, D.C., to his home base in Florida. On one trip I "escorted" a four-foot teddy bear dressed in fatigues with a name tag reading "Bear," General Schwarzkopf's nickname. As I boarded the plane, I explained my mission to the flight attendant and asked if she could store the bear in first class. She was honored to do so, and I disappeared into the coach section.

Then, just before takeoff, an announcement came over the intercom: "Colonel Preast, would you please come up to first class? We have an extra seat here for you to sit next to your teddy bear."

This story was passed along to us by Linda Willard, who also sent us this photo of Booker T. Bear, a relative of the bear in the story. Linda cares for Booker at Penn-Griffin School for the Arts in High Point, NC.

When I asked about his eye patch, she told me, "Several years ago some boys from the neighborhood broke into the school. They trashed the cafeteria and the media center where Booker spends most of his time. One of the guys thought that Booker would make a nice gift for his girl friend, so he Bear-napped Booker. The parents of the young lady saw the news report about the break in and Booker's bear-napping. They called the police and said that they thought they might have Booker. Booker was rescued and even got to ride back to school in a police car. He was very excited!"

Linda hopes that Booker and his "adventures" will be a children's book sometime this year. She says the bear-napping is the only adventure in the book that is real. What fun!

Cherry Tree Hill BLOWOUT!!!

Did you know that Yarnmarket's sale site, BargainYARNS, has lots of fantastic Cherry Tree Hill yarns at super duper savings? Yup, we're clearing out everything we can to make room for new BargainYARNS inventory. So hurry and get your fabulous Cherry Tree Hill savings right now!

We've got lots of Alpaca Bulky for 20% off , Cotton Boucle is 38% off , and Harmony which is a fabulous kid mohair, wool, silk and nylon blend is now 35% off! You get 200 yards for $10.38.

Sock lovers will appreciate our big savings on Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarns. We have DK, Potluck and Solids at up to 30% off!

There are lots more to choose from -- Alpine Lace at 20% off, Cashcott at 33% off, Cherry Tree Hill Cherub at 20% off, and Roxbury at a whopping 43% off!

These are just some of the great Cherry Tree Hill values you'll find online at BargainYARNS.com.

REMEMBER -- AT BARGAIN YARNS YOU GET BARGAINS EVERY DAY WITH NO MINIMUM PURCHASE REQUIRED.

Sex in the Snow. Socks on your needles.

Okay, for those of you who don't know about it, Sex in the Snow is not a porn flick. It's a best-selling book about demographics and psychographics, and was written by a researcher who studied Canadians (that's the snow part) and what makes them tick (that's where the sex comes in).

Canadians are, to put it mildly, research hogs. Where else on the planet would books like Sex in the Snow, Pig and the Python and Boom, Bust and Echo be national best-sellers? Where else would you have a government department dedicated solely to statistics? And where else would you find a life-long knitter who has put together a collection of really great knee-high sock patterns and lots of information on how to create them?

Knitting Knee-Highs by Barb Brown, is a collection of 20 terrific knee-high patterns that range from delicate lacework to intricate colorwork patterns. Some of them conjure up dreamy images of Victorian femininity while others are thick, warm, colorful stockings that reminiscent of Viking battles.

I think my favorite pair are the Bonnie Birds Knee-Highs which Barb says were inspired by a design her Ukrainian grandmother had embroidered for her when she was a child. The knee-highs pattern is in pretty shades of blue on a white background -- but if her grandmother was anything like our Baba, I'd imagine the original was in brilliant shades of orange and red.

In addition to the knee-high instructions, the book includes information and directions that are superb. Barb has taken great care to offer helpful advice to those who are embarking on their very first knee-high pattern.

I did a little bit of research about Barb and discovered that she lives in Alberta, Canada. If you haven't been there, you ought to plan a visit to Banff at least once in your life because the scenery is breath-taking. And if you're a skiier...well, take a look at this shot of Barb. I'll bet it was taken in June. (Okay, I'm just kidding. It's warm in Alberta in June. But, I swear, it actually snowed in Calgary on June 6, 2009 and here's the shot to prove it.)

If you want to knit some really interesting and beautiful knee-highs, I really think you'll like this book. I'm going to select one or two patterns to create for Christmas presents. Yes...I do start thinking about Christmas in March. By August I'm having panic attacks if I haven't started wrapping gifts. This is not because I'm such a generous spirit that I can't wait to give people gifts. It's because I'm a reformed, guilt-riddled procrastinator who only recently returned a library book after keeping it 30 years past its due date. (Yes...I paid the fine. Fortunately, it maxed out at $10 but I gave them $20 to cover inflation.)

Whether you're looking for some interesting patterns for yourself, or you want start your Christmas knitting now, I think Knitting Knee-Highs is a great place to start.

Yarnmarket and Namaste Farms made the LA Times!

Isn't this wonderful? Adam Tschorn wrote about our fund raising efforts for the Japanese Red Cross on the LA Times blog.

Please post your bid on our Yarnmarket Facebook page.

Let's help the Japanese Red Cross

Natalie Redding of Namaste Farms has been kind enough to donate a skein of her Hello Kitty yarn, and we're going to donate four skeins of complementary Noro Retro yarn. We're going to put these fine quality yarns together to create a "Japanese Red Cross Kit"

We'll post the Japanese Red Cross Kit on Yarnmarket's Facebook page and ask people to bid on it. The regular value is $109.25. We'll accept bids (just put your bid in a comment) for the next few days (until Midnight on Sunday). The highest bidder will receive the yarn and we'll donate the money to the Japanese Red Cross.

Please visit our Yarnmarket Facebook page to participate!