Hi. Hello. How are you? I’m 100 percent hungover, so I’m going to need everyone to read quietly today. Last night, my husband and I celebrated our 4-year anniversary, and I might’ve gotten a little carried away drinking these blackberry Moscato cocktail things. They’d bring me this single serve martini shaker filled with deliciousness and then I’d pour it into a glass of Moscato… It seemed like a great idea at the time. You see, my husband and I take turns being the designated driver, he gets Valentines Day and I get our anniversary, but we have this rule that you can’t get boring stuff like wine or beer. You have to use your turn to the fullest and spring for cocktails with silly names or something you wouldn’t normally get.

We’re weird, I know.

And my point for telling you all of this, other than the fact that each keystroke I make is like a tiny dagger into my brain, is that yarn should be exciting. Knitting and crochet is an escape from the humdrum of our lives. And once I’m done telling you who won one of our Coffee Cakes as a part of our National Coffee Day Giveaway, I’m gonna try to escape from this headache with a cup of tea and a quiet afternoon of Christmas knitting. Yay, me!

But also, Yay for you! You’re all winners in my book and I hope you’ll enjoy knitting our (briefly) free download of our Coffee Bean Sock pattern. If you’re on Instagram, tag us @lattesandllamasyarn with your progress pics and stuff. Megan-Anne goes crazy for that stuff. She straight up giggles and shows everyone within and 20 foot radius. No joke.

Before I reveal who won some sparkly gradating yarn, I’m supposed to tell you about our new Advent Yarn Calendars. Honestly, I feel as if Megan-Anne should tell you about them since she is straight up obsessed with Christmas, but whatever. We’re all here now, right? And besides, I did not dig my Christmas wreath out of storage early this morning for you guys NOT to look at the pictures I took to make the listing images.

Boom. Christmas!

Alright, you in the back. Stop yelling. I know Halloween isn’t here yet and you don’t want to see Christmas stuff yet, but this is a pre-order and it means business. Like, POWERSUIT sort of business.

Add 25 days of yarn-fueled joy to your holiday season with an Advent Yarn Calendar! The set includes 24 different 92-yard mini skeins and one 460-yard hank of Vacation Yarn in tonally variegated colorways, all especially hand-dyed to work harmoniously together. Each skein is individually wrapped and labeled for you to open one every day in December leading up to Christmas Day, some of which will include small goodies and a new project bag!

We put together a Neutral Set and Jewel Tone Set to work together with Ambah O’Brien’s ADVENTurous Wrap KAL that begins December 1, 2017, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to make other shawls, hats, or even garments. Pre-orders for the Advent Yarn Calendar close October 27th, and they ship the week of November 13th.

Now do you see why I have to share it now? If you’re still feeling a little sour about it, look at our color-story inspiration board for the Neutral Set. It’ll make you feel better.

I legitimately considered making this the background on my computer. It has everything: a cute baby sloth, coffee, silly llamas, quartz, some rocks. And did I mention the coffee?

The Jewel Tone inspiration board is pretty great too, and I’m sure Megan-Anne or I will enjoy knitting with it (we haven’t decided who’s working with what yet), but I don’t think dragonfly wings, macarons, and old books can stand up to a cute baby sloth, silly llamas, and coffee. Like, I can practically smell that picture!

No, sorry. That’s just the coffee Megan-Anne just put down next to me.

Anyway, I’ve seen Ambah’s finished shawl for the ADVENTurous Wrap KAL, and it’s super pretty. The whole concept is neat and we’re excited to get to be a part of it.

National Coffee Day Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to ‘Show and Tell Meg’, who placed her entry saying:

Ooh I’m digging the Jellyfish Nebula, and I think I would have to make a shawl for my mom for Christmas :)

We think she’ll love it, Meg!

~Jac
UPDATE: The coffee mug was not left on my desk by accident. She made it for me! Aren’t sisters great?