The Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop normally happens in April. From August to April, the local yarn stores that participate in the Hop plan, plan, and plan some more. We work with hand-dyers to create exclusive colors in the yarns we choose to highlight. And we design patterns to showcase the yarn. We arrange to donate money to food shelves. And we organize the event to make it the most appealing to a broad range of participants. It’s a long process. But, oh so worth it.

Then, along comes a pandemic. The best laid plans have to be abandoned – including 2020’s Shop Hop. Sigh!

But, guess what? We already had our yarn and patterns, so… Introducing our homage to the 1940s!

The 1940s was a time of war, tragedy, and hard-won peace. Because World War II was such a huge part of the decade, we asked local dyer Trippin’ with Dixi to create colorways reminiscent of army fatigues and the Red Cross.

We chose Trippin’ with Dixi’s Migration base to showcase these fabulous colorways. We wanted a fingering weight yarn, but not the ubiquitous merino. Not that we don’t love merino wool – it’s just that there is so much of it in today’s yarn world. At 3 Kittens, we’re always looking for non-merino yarns to introduce to our customers! And the blend of wool, yak (!), and nylon in Migration is just so luscious, we couldn’t resist. The yarn will be available while supplies last, so get yours while you can! Click here to purchase.

When Laura started thinking about the patterns, she considered what was happening in the forties to influence the design process. For the knit pattern, Laura chose to do a riff on argyle socks. ‘A Short History of Argyle Socks’ on the Joseph Turner website, says –

During the 1940s and 50s, after World War II, the Argyle pattern once again grew in popularity. Beginning in England, the craze spread across the pond to the US, where girls learning to knit would create Argyle patterned socks for the boys they were sweet on.

Because argyle socks are typically done with multiple colors in intarsia, but that just seemed too complicated, Laura decided to create her own faux argyle pattern using knits, purls, and twisted stitches. The resulting Fogyle Socks have a continuous diamond shaped pattern running up the leg of the sock. The stitch pattern is both charted and written out.

During World War II, many of those on the home front wanted to help in whatever way the could. One thing that many people could do was knit or crochet for the troops. From socks to “helmets” to sweaters to vests, people could create useful items to warm and comfort soldiers on the front. Laura used the idea of making “helmets” as an inspiration for her crochet pattern, the Medic Hat. It is a very easy, slightly slouchy beanie made with basic stitches.

Both patterns are available on Ravelry – free through July 15, 2020.

We hope you enjoy our 1940s inspired patterns and yarn!