Royal Botanical Gardens

Thank you to everyone who posted suggestions for the name of my Color Play Mohair Wrap. I've been reading them as they came in and had some favourites. Beth just read through them all (without any input from me) and we have made our decision.

Royal Botanical Gardens

Congratulations to Linda S. from London, Ontario.

Here is my favourite idea for a name for your lovely wrap. How about "Royal Botanical Garden". This honours a special place, the near to Ancaster Royal Botanical Gardens and the recent Royal birth of Prince George.

Linda, please give me a call and we will discuss the colourway you would like and where I should send it.

Ponchos are coming back. Ann knit this in Faroe Super Chunky from Sirdar. It's super simple-two rectangles sewn together.

Faroe Super Chunky is a beautiful yarn inspired by the timeless landscape, sea and sky of the ancient Faroe Isles. The yarn comes in a range of gently blended colours for women and girls that are perfect for creating cosy, chunky outerwear knits, that will see you through many winter days to come. The yarn is machine washable and will knit to any Sirdar Super Chunky design. There are also lots of Faroe leaflets and a Faroe Knits book with easy quick knit casual designs for women and girls. There are simple cables, cosy waistcoats and pretty pull on hats that will have you looking stylish and warm this winter.

Pattern: Sirdar leaflet 9651
13 balls of yarn on 10mm needles. Gotta love those 10mm needles.

Mr. Roko had his surgery today. Leann said that he is doing well. She didn't want us to come in tonight because it would make it harder for him to stay overnight. We have to keep him quiet for the next few weeks. No jumping into the truck. Beth has to lift him in. No jumping onto the bed so we are moving Beth's mattress to the floor in the loft. Of course the dogs sleep on our beds. :) Mr. Melo is lying on the floor with a very sad look on his face. His little buddy is missing.

Big Brother is taping so we're moving upstairs to watch and knit. I'm still working on Windward. The last bit is taking much longer than I thought. Maybe tomorrow.

Angora Haze

Mr. UPS stopped by earlier today with more Rowan. Angora Haze is here.

Super soft to the touch and beautiful in the knitted fabric, made with angora, wool and polyamide for strength, this yarn will create a garment that will be a joy to wear.

Some days I spend way too much time online. While I was supposed to be doing my accounting this morning (which did get finished) I went onto the Offhand Designs website. Here are pictures of the new fabrics coming in October. I have ordered all four fabrics in Arya which is my new favourite bag. I carry it everyday and it holds lots. It has flown twice as well.

Capacious carry-all with 3 compartments and endless pockets, pouches and tool slots. Room for all of your electronics, books and the central compartment pops open and stays open with a practical hexe frame closure for knitting or just seeing deep into the corners. Versatile handles offer short handles and a luxurious adjustable shoulder strap which extends to wear cross body for heavy lifting.

 Angela

 Eve

 Karen

Sabrina 

It's been a really long day. Beth golfed today in a tournament and was up at 6am and out the door by 6:30. There is no sense trying to sleep through the dogs eating. I got up and finished my HST remittance. I'm a little tired now and getting a bit grumpy. 7:30 is a bit early for bed so I'm going to watch TV for an hour and then hit the pillows.

Surprise Birthday Party

We are just about to complete our 25th year in business. It's a pretty big deal so we've decided to hold a surprise birthday celebration.

Tuesday August 6 - Saturday August 10, 2013

Tuesday August 6 **10-8**

Wednesday August 7 10-5:30

Thursday August 8 10-5:30

Friday August 9 noon-7

Saturday August 10 10-4

Everything in the store will be part of the sale. Yarn. Books. Needles. Kits. Knitting bags. Everything.

Everyone will get at least 10% off their purchase. 

Once your purchases are rung in you will draw and could get a bigger discount. 15%, 20% or 25%. There will be two 50% off coupons available.

No layaways.

No special orders - in stock only.

Phone orders welcome. We can't offer the discount online because I need to manually update the website and I don't know that we will be able to keep the website up to date during the sale.

No refunds. No returns. All sales final.

Some of you have been asking about our Tent Sale. We won't be having a Tent Sale this year but will in 2014.

Windward

I'm home from the hair salon and am supposed to be heading to the golf course. It looks like rain in Ancaster so we've cancelled our round. I'm kind of sad but a bit relieved because there is work that I should be doing this afternoon. Accounting. UGGGG!!!

I've finished the main section of the scarf and am working down the skinny end. The rows are getting shorter and shorter so it should grow faster now.

There will be 2 new books coming for fall from Noro. I don't think we will see these until September but you never know - they could show up unexpectedly.

I'm sitting at the breakfast bar working on my accounting and there is a lot of noise behind me.

Mr. Melo brought his ball in the house. This is a very special ball. Beth read about it online and ordered one. It is a soccer ball that won't deflate. There are many, many bite marks from Melo and the ball is still intact.

It is called a One World Futbol and you can read more about it here....

Our mission at the One World Futbol Project is to make a meaningful impact on the lives of youth around the world through the One World Futbol, a virtually-indestructible ball that never goes flat and never needs a pump. Our goal is to bring the joy of soccer and play to youth in disadvantaged communities so that children can be children no matter where they live.

Mr. Roko is still walking around like a 3 legged dog. His surgery is on Wednesday. He stays over Wednesday night and comes home on Thursday. Beth was worried because the only time he is away from us he is with our parents. The vet said that he will be so doped up for the pain that he won't know where he is. :)

I've looked at my accounting for long enough today and will finish it tomorrow. It's knitting time!!

Sirdar

It's been a lazy Sunday so far except for the half an hour I spent cleaning the hardwood floor. I'm a bit obsessed right now with floors. After church I played on my iPad and knit while watching the Nascar Race and Canadian Open. The end is getting close on Windward. I'm not sure I can get it done tonight but I will have a bit of time in the chair at the hair salon tomorrow. Maybe I will be showing you the finished scarf tomorrow night.

I've shown lots of pictures of the fall Rowan but there are many other yarns and patterns coming too. Sirdar always presents us with great yarns and patterns. From their website

Today, design is at the very heart of what we do. We visit the world’s leading yarn and textiles exhibitions in Italy, Hong Kong and the USA to find inspirational new trends in colour, yarn and design, which we translate into our own Sirdar style – a style that we hope is perfect for today’s hand knitters. Our emphasis is on sourcing good quality yarns and working closely with the best manufacturing partners world-wide.

The shipment of Sirdar yarns and patterns should be here in about two weeks.

Freya is Sirdar's beautifully soft, brushed winter cotton. This gorgeous yarn comes in a range of gentle tweedy colours. It has a 55% cotton, 31% acrylic, 14% polyester blend, which creates incredibly lightweight knits. There is a design collection for women and girls full of the most perfect knits including textured tunics, easy hoodies, long-line cardies and stylish accessories. Freya is machine washable on a delicate wool cycle.

Freya knits to a tension of 14 stitches = 4" on 6mm needles. A chunky weight yarn so there are many, many pattern options available.

Sirdar Snuggly Baby Crofter Dk is a gorgeously soft yarn with an incredible Fair Isle colour effect that appears as you knit. Inspired by the gentlest colours of the Scotland Highlands, Snuggly Baby Crofter Dk is the same wonderfully soft blend of 55% nylon and 45% acrylic as Snuggly Dk, and is machine washable and easy care. This yarn will also knit to all Sirdar double knitting baby patterns.

Four new colours are coming.

Every day customers are coming in to buy interesting baby yarns and patterns. There are lots of babies being born right now. This yarn is great because it looks like you went to a lot of work but you are only knitting with one yarn that keeps changing colours for you.

Big Brother tonight-who's going to be nominated?? It could be a really interesting show and the scrambling will be crazy.

Shawl Pins

Happy Saturday. So far it is a much nicer day in Southern Ontario then it was last week. :) We have power in the store so life is good.

Fabulous shawl pins from Bonnie Bishoff are on their way to us. The pin in the top left was pictured in a Color Play Mohair Wrap earlier this week. Bonnie let me bring it home from TNNA in January. I can't wait for them to arrive because I want them all.

The shawl pins are handmade by Bonnie Bishoff and her husband J.M. Syron. They feature colorful inlays of polymer clay in white bronze and lead free pewter settings. 

Kim asked a great question. "If it falls on the floor will it crack or be damaged?" I've dropped mine on the tile floor at home, more than once, and there are no marks on it.

All 8 boxes of fall Rowan were unpacked yesterday. Unpacked doesn't mean that they are on the shelf yet. :) Kim and I will need to do a bit of rearranging this week to make everything fit.

I've got my eye on a few colours and patterns. Unfortunately these magazines haven't arrived yet or I would have started last night. Maybe that's a good thing. Get a few projects finished first.

Frontiersman from Pioneer knit in Big Wool. Maybe the colour pictured or maybe

#70 - deer. It is a touch greener than the picture is showing.

Then from Autumn Knits there is Matlock. I like the simplicity so that I can wear a shawl or scarf with it. Which colour of Cocoon? There are 4 new ones and any one of them would be great.

I will try and get Rowan to pin down a date on Monday for when these books will be arriving.

I'm home now but couldn't leave at 4 when the store closed. It was raining really, really hard. I could have sat and knit or I could have finished my blog post. Instead I did something much more fun. I washed the floors in the store. Not with the Swiffer but with a bucket and a mop. They were wet when I left and I hope they are nice and sparkling when I get to work on Tuesday.

Now I'm going to do something that really is fun. Sit and knit. Today's knitting is Windward.

Where is it going to fit??

Thanks to everyone who has been posting comments with their colour selections. It is going to be tough choosing. There are great suggestions.

Today is going to be crazy in the store so I'm blogging early.

New colours from Dream in Color in Smooshy with Cashmere and Everlasting Sock have arrived.

In both yarns we have

In Everlasting sock we received

In Smooshy with Cashmere

Mr. UPS is coming later today with the fall Rowan. I'm not sure where we are going to put it.

In books we are getting
-Rowan Magazine #54
-Studio 30
-Studio 31
-Thick 'n' Thin
-Warm and Toasty
-Little Star
-Alpaca Colour

I totally forgot about Little Star

A charming collection of 21 designs for children aged ranging from 3 to 10 years, showcasing the stunning yarn angora haze along with some of our other popular yarns. The designs range from bright and easy to wear casual knits to pretty party wear.

Studio 30 is also garments for little ones.

Folk influences were to be found for both adult and child's wear this season and Rowan Studio 30 offers a capsule wardrobe of knits for every little fashionista! From a cosy 'grandad' cardigan for boys to a pretty cape for girls. Hopefully this collection will have everyone wishing they were young again.

In yarn we are getting
-Cocoon
-Felted Tweed
-Felted Tweed Aran
-Kid Classic
-Kidsilk Haze
-Big Wool
-Thick 'n' Thin
-Alpaca Colour
-Kidsilk Haze Eclipse
-Lima Colour

It's a great day to be a yarn shop owner. :)