Welcome Back

Lynn and I enjoyed our first day of being open for appointments. We are really tired though. I’m not sure why - the day was laid back and all the customers who came in were a dream to work with. 

The hardest part was getting dressed this morning. For the past 18 months we wore whatever we wanted. We didn’t get dressed up because no one was going to see us. Now you have to plan what you’re going to wear.  

More pictures from Camp.

Here are some of the great instructors we’ve had over the years. Jared Flood.

Laura Bryant who owns Prism Yarns.

Kate Atherley - who will be back with us in 2022.

Kim McBrien

Sally Melville

Fiona Ellis

Beth Casey

Josh Bennet

At our last Camp we did group shots. Some of our favourite Andrea Mowry garments. We will definitely do something like this next year. 

The dates for 2022 will be September 29-October 2. More information will be coming later.

We have a chalkboard wall in our mud room. Last week dad and Beth decided that we should be measuring Jackson’s height. In one week he grew an inch and a half. This afternoon we caught him twice with his front paws on the kitchen counter. 👿

I’m working away on my collar. The short rows for shaping aren’t so short anymore. They are increasing 3 stitches every time I turn and it is taking longer than I want it to. I want to cut this week. The good thing is that the sweater has already been blocked so when I cut the cardigan will be ready to wear.

Camp Weekend

This weekend was supposed to be Camp weekend. I totally forgot until I looked at my calendar today. I think I lost track of time while we’ve been getting the store in shape. 

Camp always starts with a stop at Webers.

We’ve been going to Bayview-Wildwood for 20 years. 

Beth and I go up the night before everyone to set up and be ready when the Campers arrive.

Our suppliers are very generous and everyone gets a goodie bag. This is one of our Wednesday night jobs.

Thursday morning we set up a mini yarn shop.

The Campers arrive on Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening we have games night.

I’ll share more pictures tomorrow. I went back through the years and we’ve had amazing instructors.

Did you read Andrea Mowry’s newsletter this morning? If you don’t receive them you can sign up on her website. Today there was sneak peeks at two patterns coming in a few weeks. One is a shawl and I know that I will be making it. When Andrea releases a pattern she sends an email with a coupon code for a discount on the pattern.

Now a bit of knitting before bed. I won’t be up late - we have a big day tomorrow.

Collar

I’m knitting back and forth to create the collar. 

There are short rows but these are easy when you are working in garter stitch. I’m very motivated to finish for a couple of reasons. Boy was it cold out today. I know it wasn’t really that cold but we aren’t used to this temperature. And it will be really cold soon. The other reason is that a brand new colour of Dream State is coming in a few weeks. I think I want to make the cardigan again.

This is Absolute Zero. Spincycle hasn’t photographed the yarn on Dream State yet, this is Dyed in the Wool but you can see that it is going to be a great colour.

The skeins could look like any of these. Yes we will be getting it on Dyed in the Wool sometime this fall.

Fiona Ellis has a new pattern that you can download for free on the Cascade website. The pattern is knit in Cascade 220 Superwash. We don’t carry the superwash but we carry Cascade 220 Superwash Merino.

We have Race Against the Tide taped and Beth has started to watch. I need to sign off and watch.

Sand scuptor teams Race Against the Tide to complete their works of art. As the Bay of Fundy tide comes in, judges decide the winning team moments before everything is washed away!

Finishing a project

I started this cardigan last September when we went to the cottage. 

The knitting has been finished for months and I decided today was the day to get it finished. I’m not sure why - maybe the rain and cold has me planning fall sweaters. The pattern is by Andrea Mowry. I combined her Spark and Spice cardigan patterns. The cardigan is knit in the round and then steeked (the front opening is cut). I decided to pick up the front bands and knit them before cutting. It sounded like a good idea in my head but it took a long time to pick up. I was in the store by myself today and it seemed like a good day to get to it. Sorry Lynn - I didn’t do any real work today.

Photos © Andrea Mowry

My cardigan will be like Spark (above) but with buttons like Spice (below). You can purchase the pattern/patterns on Andrea’s website.

This is the true colour of the cardigan not the top picture. For some reason the main colour doesn’t photograph well inside.

New shawl cuffs arrived today. I will get them online tomorrow. 

It is cold and rainy here. We turned the heaters on and it made being outside with the dogs bearable.

It’s an extremely busy TV night. Survivor and The Masked Singer are starting their seasons. I have all my stitches picked up and I’m knitting back and forth. Perfect TV knitting. I just need to remember that there are short rows for the collar.

See you on Saturday

It was a day of mixed emotions yesterday. The packing table is no longer by the cash desk. This 8’ long table has lived here for 18 months. We’ve danced around it and it’s been in the way but it was very handy. 

I forgot to take pictures before it came down but after much searching I found a picture of dad making boxes at the table.

There is so much room now - Lynn and I don’t know what to do. We have a very small table that we can clear to pack boxes.

We’ve been working on redressing the mannequins. 

For the past 18 months we ran as a warehouse, not a retail store.

To make packing orders easier we had Crazy in bags with the colour numbers displayed.

Snuggly lived on the shelves in bags. This was true for most of our yarns. This week our job is to open all the bags and make the yarn look pretty for Saturday. Sometimes shipments weren’t unpacked. We left the yarn in boxes in the middle of the floor. The yarn needs to be put away. It’s hard to move around the boxes.

There is a shipment coming next week from Madelinetosh with a restock of Tosh DK. We’ve been waiting a long time and are happy to have 16 colours coming. Some are new and some are colours that we are out of. I picked these 5 (Oak, Saffron, Winter Wheat, Dr. Zhivago and Whiskey Barrel) as a possibility for Andrea Mowry’s Douglas Cardi.

Photo © Andrea Mowry

We still have spots available for shopping on Saturday.

Jackson went to visit the vet for a check up yesterday. He is up to 27 lbs. He’s going to be the boss of Boscoe soon.