Today marks the tenth and final week of Jimmy Beans Wool University! We've learned a bunch throughout the summer from how dyes attach to our yarn to where the fibers originate from. Today, we will be learning all about ART!

Art is really a universal language. There's something for everyone! In that spirit, we have some new, take-home lesson kits so you can keep the momentum going at home!

We have to say, bath bombs were probably one of the best things invented in modern times (you could say they're da bomb)! In this kit, Pamper Yourself, we have a class taught by the incredible Julee Mackessy not only on how to make our own delightfully frothy bath bombs, but reusable makeup removers crocheted from cotton yarn! No more tossing your disposable cotton pads when you can make one of your own (that softens with each wash)!

Okay, we admit it, we macra-MAY have a plant problem! Many of the Beans here at JBW have taken such a liking to plants that our countertops and windowsills are getting a liiiittle full! But what do we do when there's no more space? There's no way we're gonna stop buying plants, pfft, no way! In our Grow Yourself class, our wonderful teacher, Gissell Leon, shows us four different macrame knot techniques to make use of our ceiling space by making a gorgeous hanging cradle for our succulents!

Our Bean, Rachel Roden has kitted up a way to sate our creative inner voice by giving us what we want - a solar dyeing class! The Dye Yourself kit uses a mason jar, water, and the power of the sun to teach you how to make beautiful colorways with options included for semi-solids, multicolors, and gradients! You hear that, inner voice? We're gonna dye our yarn and make with it too!!

Each kit comes complete with all of the materials needed to participate in the class as well as written instructions and a video link to follow along with step-by-step to keep an authentic one-on-one learning experience!

DID YOU KNOW?: People have been dyeing everything they could for quite some time! Some people in ancient Greece would even dye their hair to signify what kind of profession they had!

One of the most important items for a painter is their palette. Traditionally made of wood, artists have branched out and now also use materials such as plastic, ceramic, and glass in varying sizes to hold their working paint close by. By using a palette, an artist can lay out the base colors they want to use in their work, then mix and create from there. In doing this, an artist can truly breathe life into their project and create different moods and messages to whoever views it.

Freia Fine Handpaints has taken this idea of an easily accessible palette of "paints" and created the Minikins Palette Packs to give you an array of beautiful 25 gram ombre cakes to "paint" your projects with! Available in both monochromatic shades and a variety of hues, these Palettes are perfect for any kind of accessory, colorwork project, and more! These Palettes offer a range of warm neutrals and cool earth tones to complement anyone's color preferences.

Below, we have a rainbow of kits that use the Freia Minikins in unique and breathtaking ways to get that creativity flowin'. And the best part? Each project only needs one Palette!

DID YOU KNOW?: Colors have been used as a form of non-verbal communication for quite some time. Each shade and tint of a color can be perceived as a different feeling or emotion! Do you know what your favorite color means?

Hand (Dye) Them Over!

One of the best things about art is that it's all unique; no two works are exactly the same! Art comes from the heart and the mind, and people (like our fingerprints) are all different, which naturally translates to our creative works. This also includes what type of art we find enjoyable, like some people liking green while others may prefer red. Art is a place where you can truly be yourself, which may be why we like hand-painted and hand-dyed yarn so much! The individuality of every hank is inspiring (even if they're technically in the same dye lot)!

Some of our favorite brands across the globe are masters of the hand-dye game, giving us unique colors that craft up into marvelous masterpieces. They also make limited runs of colors, which just makes each hank MORE exclusive! Like most of us, we like yarn and long walks on the beach, so Koigu asked, "Why not both?" before surprising us with their latest Collector's Club color, aptly named, Summer Love! Lorna's Laces played it cool and delivered a gorgeous colorway inspired by Glacier Bay, featuring shades from sea to summit! Finally, Madelinetosh took us on a journey to Vietnam to show us the beauty of batik techniques with their hue, Learning about Batiks! Whew! Traveling the world has never been so colorful! The only catch in this mini tour-of-the-world is that once these colors sell out, they're gone for good!

DID YOU KNOW?: In The Louvre, The Mona Lisa has her very own mailbox, and it is chock full of love letters!

Tools of the Trade!

We always think about the colors we use and what the finished product will look like when everything comes together, but what about the journey there? Our brushes, pencils, and pens (or in our case, hooks), are always strong and reliable, being the unsung heroes of any work of art!

ChiaoGoo brought in their T-SPIN Tunisian Interchangeable Set so we could take it for a... SPIN! With stainless steel joins and pointy ends to really get into your stitches, bamboo has never felt so sweet! Each set comes with 11 Tunisian hooks in varying sizes; four TWIST Red cables, four end stoppers, four adapters, two cable connectors, two keys, and a 5" needle gauge! Everything is packaged in a beautiful zipper case to make travel easier and keep all of your hooks in one place!

CocoKnits is making their mark(ers) with these new and adorably curly Split Ring Markers! Crafted out of a sturdy nylon coated steel, these babies are still flexible enough to nestle into any type of yarn or collection of stitches you need! The rainbow of colors makes these the ideal way to keep track of various stitch work by color-coding each one! They also easily cling to any magnet (did we hear easy travel coupled with the Namaste Maker's Buddy Case or CocoKnits Maker's Keep Slap Bracelet?!).

DID YOU KNOW?: There are two types of shapes: geometric and organic. Geometric shapes have clear edges and can be achieved using various tools while organic shapes usually have irregular and asymmetrical edges and can be found in nature!

Ahem. *Cheesy infomercial voice* Have you ever had a difficult time with your craft? Have you had a burning question about your project that no amount of internet surfing has helped out with? Maybe you just want to drop in and say hello but flying in would be too much of a hassle at the moment. All of these can be frustrating situations to find yourself in but have no fear Jimmy is here!! "Dear Jimmy" is the newsletter's newest column, acting as the perfect place to discuss your crafting nightmares or even to just leave a "howdy!" to Jimmy herself!

DID YOU KNOW?: In the early to mid-1900s, art competitions were a part of the Olympics, complete with medals earned for sports-inspired paintings, sculptures, architecture, music, and literature.

School's Out For Summer!

Our required reading is very colorful this week! On our blog, we're painting the image of "Anne of Green Cables"! Reading through this can help you get all 5 questions correct on your next quiz to get a perfect score of 100%! Doing this puts you in the running to win a fully loaded Namaste Maker's Backpack or Namaste Maker's Train Case! Have you missed a quiz in the past few weeks or haven't taken any at all? You're able to go back and take them ALL! Our last quiz will be next week, and we will be picking our winner on Tuesday, August 27th, so be sure to get all of your answers in before that!!

Have you finished your summer projects yet? By completing one and sending in pictures of your project, you will be entered in a drawing for the title of V.I.P. (Very Important Pupil) and will be featured in the following newsletter's Show and Tell section! Please send in photos of your project by Wednesday, August 28th to be eligible!

DID YOU KNOW?: Everything we know about the primary colors is wrong?! There are two models of primary color: light/additive (red, green, and blue), and pigment/subtractive (cyan, magenta, and yellow).

September is creepin' up on us! Back in May, we announced that Jimmy Beans is participating in the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl. We also may have announced that there will be exclusive tote bags for the occasion, hehe! Due to popular demand, the deadline for getting your preorders in has been extended to, well, TODAY! On the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl website, you can preorder (up to 2) tote bags and select the shop where you would like to pay and pick them up at! These totes, by the way, are enormous! There is enough room to store a second stash in, complete with eleven spots to place your eleven collectible buttons that can be picked up from each location on your journey!

DID YOU KNOW?: Leonardo da Vinci was a vegetarian and animal rights activist. He would often go to markets and buy caged birds just to set them free!

Amy's Polychroma Scarf

Amy has done it again! This super-long scarf is the perfect blend of summery colors with a touch of autumn nostalgia to bundle up in! Using the intarsia method, Amy knit a wonderfully unique and eye-catching wrap using the Freia Fine Handpaints Minikins and their buffet of tiny cakes in the colorway Retro! This long scarf is the ideal project to kick your feet up with and let the colors of your yarn shine! And the best part? Each color in this scarf changes in the same place, making this a low-stress project while still remaining a beautiful work of art. Plus, who doesn't love a little fringe?!