Shawl

Here is a picture of my Dawn Shawl that I took last week before I went away.

I just started my third ball today-approximately 15" complete.

Beth and I are almost done our house shopping. We need to get some wine glasses (neither of us drink wine but you can't entertain without them) and a toaster. The last major purchase is a couch for the loft but we are waiting until we move in. Nothing has 'grabbed' us so far. Beth stopped by the house today but she couldn't get in. When she looked through the front door she could see that the granite counter top is in. We are going to make a trip over tomorrow to check it out. I really hope we picked the right colour because it can't be changed now!!!

Mom is nagging me again

Mom is in Myrtle Beach again and the blog keeps her up to date.

Sorry, it has been a crazy week. Beth and I have been running around shopping for the townhouse. We picked out our living room furniture on Saturday-it was on sale too which makes it even better. My bedroom and bathroom is done. Her bedroom is almost done and we need to find towels for her bathroom-of course it is the weirdest colour of green. On Monday we made a trip to the Keeping Room in Dundas to buy some things for the kitchen. Thank you Phyllis, Julia and Emery for all your help.

Do you know how hard it is to get a new phone number with Bell Canada? 45 minutes later I finally have our new number.

There hasn't been much knitting to report. I have picked up the Naturally Dawn shawl while in the store but it has been very busy-I'm not complaining.

After the Knitter's Frolic there was talk about a new yarn company, Dream in Color. I have contacted them and ordered some yarn. It is superwash wool and supposed to be great to work with. Right now they have a worsted weight and sock weight yarn. This is a couple of their colours.

It's Official

Beth and I now own a house. The offer was accepted yesterday morning. I think my parents are more excited than we are. The closing date is June 29 (Beth and I return home from Las Vegas late on the 27th). This is the back yard (my dad is already planning the deck) , front of the house and a picture of my bedroom.

I got my first house warming gift yesterday from Phyllis (the owner of The Keeping Room in Dundas). In class last week we talked about drinks and I said that I like Green Apple Martinis. She brought in two Martini glasses, mixer and a leather serving tray. THANKS!!!

There isn't much knitting to discuss. I have started a shrug that I hope to have done in time for the trade show in Columbus at the beginning of June. I think I am dreaming but you never know. There wasn't enough knitting to take a picture-maybe tonight. I am combining some patterns to come up with it.

My sales rep is coming in today so that I can order the Rowan for fall. More about that tomorrow as well.

Have a good day-enjoy the sun. If the weather would stay like this until November it would be nice.

Thank you Mary

Here are some pictures of our townhouse. We didn't pick the wall colour but are going to keep it for the time being. Because the walls are so tall it needs something with a punch.

Beth and I did our offer yesterday morning with the real estate agent. We have to wait for tomorrow to get the builder's answer. There was a lot of signing my name-sometimes I wish my last name was Smith.

I then ran to Toronto to Diamond yarns to see the new yarns for fall. Rowan is fabulous. I will have more information in my next newsletter about the two new yarns as well as some information on the new books. Debbie Bliss, Elsebeth Lavold and Noro are all bringing out new yarns and great colours to the existing yarns.

Last night a few yarn shop owners got together for dinner at Mary's house. Mary owns Mary's Yarns in Unionville. Ann (Wool-Tyme Kingston), Louise (LK Yarns Halifax), Mary's children Lynn, Emma and Ben, her husband Mark, her employees Kersti and Christine and myself had a fun evening. We discussed the good and the bad of owning a yarn shop-mostly the good. We shared strategies and horror stories. Thank you Mary and Mark for preparing the dinner. Your house is beautiful and the gardens are spectacular!!

Dinner lasted a long time so I stayed in Scarborough last night so that I could go to Estelle Designs this morning. There are some great new sock yarns coming for fall.

I am going to relax this afternoon and watch the Nascar race-thank you for being rained out last night.

Quick post

Just a quick post. Beth and I are off to make an offer on the townhouse. Our mortgage was approved yesterday so things are moving along.

I am off to Toronto this afternoon to see the new Rowan, Noro, Debbie Bliss, etc. Tonight I am having dinner with a group of yarn store owners from across Canada. I think that I will stay in Toronto tonight so that I can see another supplier tomorrow.

Here is my progress on the Dawn Shawl-not much.

Have a good weekend.

More about the house

Beth and I have decided on the townhouse with the large, open kitchen. We went and visited again today and are happy with the decision. Now just waiting for the bank to approve our mortgage. It should have gone through this morning but both of us have had a credit card stolen. Our credit reports are flagged and now head office has to okay it. Maybe tomorrow. If all goes well (fingers crossed) we should take possession by the middle of June.

We spent the afternoon furniture shopping. Nothing was right for what we want-obviously we weren't in the furniture shopping mood. When I came home I went on the internet looking at other area furniture stores we didn't go to. Beth asked me to put the following bedroom sets up for you to help her with her choice.

Frolic

The Frolic yesterday was great. I came home very tired but it was worth it. The day was cool and rainy which helped the crowds. Throughout the day classes were running which gave us some quieter time on the market floor. We had some time to talk with customers and chat/gossip with old friends. Probably half the people coming on our Gone Stitchin' weekend were there so it was nice to catch up with them. When we do the Knitter's Fair in Kitchener the show is much busier so we don't have time to actually talk with customers.

The big question I got from everyone was 'how is the townhouse coming?' Well, we've hit a snag. On Thursday night we went for a quick walk through with our real estate agent. We met her at 5:30 to go over the extras. We wanted her to point out every extra in the unit so we knew what we were missing. Didn't want to take possession and then realize that something we thought was included wasn't there. The breaking point for Beth was about 7. (My class started then but they let themselves in.) The agent told us that they can't guarantee where the electrical outlets would be placed. There would be 4 in a bedroom but if we wanted them in a certain place we had to pay to guarantee this-$110 per outlet. The agent realized that Beth was very unhappy so she made another suggestion. They had some other units that were built that maybe we should look at. These are bigger than what we were looking for but they were done so no surprises on the price. We went over and took a look. The first unit would be perfect but the inside wasn't done. Back to the same problems with upgrades. The next unit had a different layout but I gasped when I saw the kitchen. It was amazing. It is open to the main room-I love it and Beth isn't sure. The model unit was available and it was great except the kitchen was smaller and we are not sure on the layout. We took Mom and Dad back on Friday. They also fell in love with these. I think they are leaning towards the model until. Beth and I debated all the way to Toronto (we set up for the Frolic on Friday night). Beth went and looked at them again yesterday. She moved our reserve from the original townhouse over to these. Now the debate begins. I am on my way to take another look. The first two pictures are of the kitchen that I like. The next picture is from the media room in the model unit. We spent a lot of time watching tv so this room is important to us-our tv will definitely be much bigger. Then the smaller kitchen that has a breakfast nook. My head is spinning right now-decisions, decisions. I am usually a very decisive person-I can buy a vehicle in 10 minutes but this is very confusing. I guess the problem is that a vehicle can be changed in a couple of years and this is permanent.

New project

I had to start a new project today. We received a shipment this morning of the spring yarns from Naturally and in the box was Dawn, a lace weight silk/wool blend. I started this shawl (on the new Addi lace needles) in between reading a book, The Friday Night Knitting Club. So far I am enjoying the book-the story is keeping me interested. There are a few knitting references that are wrong but it isn't bothering me.

I casually asked Blue Sky Alpacas for some garments for the Knitter's Frolic. I really love that company. The garments arrived today and they made sure that the samples were in colours that I have in stock. Nothing is worse than getting a model and then you don't have that colour to sell.

We received a HUGE shipment of Mountain Colors Bearfoot today. I think we might have every colour in stock right now.

Today was a very long day. Beth and I were in the warehouse by 8am to start shipping orders. After work I met with our real estate agent. The builder had done the pricing on our upgrades. WOW. Now we have to sit down and decide what is important. I can tell you that I won't be getting the glass shower. My class started without me. Nobody baked tonight but Phyllis brought donuts. They really love their treats.

Congrats to Kristin-she had the baby today. A girl!!! Okay, I guess my day wasn't that long-I didn't go through labour.

A very busy day

Jane works in the store on Mondays so that I can have some time to rest. That didn't happen today. Here was my day

work on my GST return-which included going through three months of credit card statements to make sure that I have everything entered

pay suppliers

do mail orders

do my tax return-I'm getting a small refund

clean up unread mail

go to the warehouse to find something on the old computer for Beth and pick up some yarn

a quick stop at Walmart-I picked out a coffee maker last week in my travels and it was $170 at two different stores-$149 at Walmart-I didn't buy it but I know where to go when I am ready for it

go to visit townhouse we are looking at-we need to get a list of upgrades to the builder for pricing

have a pedicure and my nails filled (they are very pretty now)

get dinner-can't beat Swiss Chalet

I took a lot of pictures while I was in the townhouse. This could be my favourite-a big bathtub to soak in!!! You can see the edge of the glass shower to the left of the picture.

Home Show

I had the best intentions to be on the road by 10am yesterday, heading to the home show in Toronto. I went into the store to say hi to Sarah and there were customers that I needed to help. I finally made it into the truck, backing out of my parking spot when another customer came in that I needed to talk with. Back into the store and finally on my way by noon. DO NOT GO TO THE HOME SHOW ON SATURDAY. When I arrived at the Direct Energy Centre (on the CNE grounds for those who aren't familiar with the name) there were no parking spots. I ended up driving around for half an hour and then parking at Ontario Place.

The home show was huge but wasn't what I thought it would be. There were about four booths with kitchen appliances and you couldn't get near them. Many of the booths were hardwood flooring and granite counter tops. We have to get these from our builder so there was no use picking something at the show. If you need a garage door, windows, air conditioner or hot tub there are many booths displaying these. If you are renovating your house, the show will give you lots of great ideas. What I really needed was a home decor show that gave me colour and decorating ideas.

I sent out an email newsletter yesterday about some yarn that we will have on sale starting on Tuesday. These include in stock yarn of

• Rowan Big Wool
• Rowan All Seasons Cotton
• Rowan Biggy Print
• Rowan Cotton Braid
• Rowan Cotton Rope
• Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk
• Rowan Yorkshire Chunky Tweed
• Rowan Yorkshire Aran Tweed
• Needful yarns Kelly and Kim

If you didn't get the email, send an email to me (julie@needleemporium.com) and I will forward to you. Most of these are priced at 50% off.

I'm off to watch The Amazing Race and then The Apprentice. I really miss Rob and Amber!!!

Kristin-we're anxiously waiting for news.

Growing up isn't fun

Yesterday we took mom and dad to see the townhouse we are looking at. No one ever said that Beth and I are dumb. We took them to another (cheaper) townhouse first. Of course they liked the more expensive one better!!! The problem was that my dad kept adding things to the list of what we want. He would say, 'you really should have this because it will be too expensive to add it later.' Thanks dad. Unfortunately the price is continually rising with our extras so now we have to sit down and do a really good budget to see if it is possible. Shoe shopping will be out of the picture for a while.

This is one of the saddest parts about growing up. Beth and I own a 2005 Mustang GT. It is only driven in the summer (5000km) and is stored in our warehouse for the winter. We are going to have to sell it to pay for furniture. Very sad but part of getting old.

I went furniture shopping last night. I wanted to have some idea of how much we will need for the essentials-a couch and a bed would be nice. So far I have been to four furniture stores and nothing is grabbing me. I want my bedroom set to be very plain. I don't want to offend anyone but this furniture isn't for me-and there is a lot out there that looks like this. When you have slept on a futon for 10 years, picking out a bedroom set can be overwhelming.

I didn't work on Kilcar over the weekend. The thought of more finishing was just too much. I did work on the Kimono jacket. I have a new pair of plaid (not ugly plaid) dress pants and the colour of the Kimono jacket is perfect. I want to get it done quickly before the warm weather arrives. Is it ever arriving?

Another finished project

I wore Patrick today-my body is so happy. I think I will wear it to church tomorrow morning as well!!

This scarf was almost complete and then set aside (it took me less than 30 minutes to finish it last night). I decided that it would be great for showing off shawl pins at the Knitter's Frolic so I pulled it out last night. There are many patterns for multi-directional scarves but you can find the one I used here. The pattern was easy to follow-even a new knitter can do this scarf. It is knit out of Noro Silk Garden-I used 3 balls of colour 211. The shawl pins are made in British Columbia.

I now have 5" done on the ribbing of Tempest. Maybe I will have it done for Sarah to model on Saturday. Tonight is Survivor and CSI and tomorrow afternoon the Masters so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

How the heck do you choose appliances for a house? I know what I want but we aren't getting the $8000 commercial range or the $6000 fridge. I stopped by a Hamilton appliance store and it was very confusing.

Time to grow up

We received a shipment today that will excite lace knitters. It is 100% silk, lace weight yarn that has 1100 yards on a skein. It almost makes me want to knit a lace shawl. Unfortunately I have too many projects ahead of this so maybe I will send to Wannietta. This is from Claudia's Handpaint yarn. Claudia doesn't have the silk on her site yet but you can see the colours. Here is a list of what we received.

• oops
• midnight
• caribbean blue
• toast
• blue fields
• desert dusk
• boot camp
• stormy days
• chocolate cherry
• walk in the woods
• blue terracotta
• butter pecan

We will have this with us at the Knitter's Frolic.

Beth and I have decided that it is time to grow up. We are going to buy a house and move out of the apartment above the store. The apartment has served us well but after 15 years it is time for a change. You've seen the beautiful yellow floor in the kitchen. Because our house is over 200 years old, it is missing some things that many take for granted. NO CLOSETS. All the ceilings in our apartment are sloped so we can't even put them in. NO SHOWER. Again because of sloped ceilings we only have a bathtub-and not a nice new soaker tub. It is old and short-you can't lay down in it. I have a couple of requirements for the house-master bedroom with ensuite that has a tub and separate shower, walk in closet and a great kitchen. It isn't easy to find all these in the same house. We found a great house within walking distance of the store. The yard was great for the dogs, the main floor was beautiful and then you went upstairs and it was just like our apartment-sloped ceilings. I started to look at some of the new townhouses in Ancaster. I wish I could just wave my magic wand, have the perfect one and have it really cheap!! There is one other problem-none of our furniture is going with us so it isn't just buying a house but furnishing it from scratch. When our apartment was built the front window was left out to bring all the furniture up by scaffolding. The only way to get it out is to chop it up. I guess the only way to look at this is as an adventure-hopefully it ends soon!! I am not a patient person and once my mind is made up to do something I want to do it now.