Knitting Bags

I received two emails today about knitting bags.

The first was from Jordana Paige. She has a new knitting bag that will be available in July called Bella. The available colours are Pearl and Black Licorice.


There are new colours from Offhand Designs. These will be available in August-just in time for the Knitter's Fair. Here are the ones that are grabbing me. This might be the first booth I visit on Saturday morning!!


After work I had to run and have my nails done for the trip. On the way I stopped at Chapters to get some books-I spent today outside rereading a book and decided that I would like something new. I bought the new Penny Vincenzi book for which I was very excited. For some reason I went on Chapters.ca to look at her list of books to make sure that this was the newest book and it was online for $10 less than in the store. What's that all about? I guess I will be visiting Chapters tomorrow to return the book.

Just checking in

I have absolutely no knitting to report-the needles weren't picked up over the weekend. Maybe tomorrow I will get some more accomplished on the Dawn Shawl.

Beth and I did some more damage house shopping today. We met Bev up at Vaughn Mills and went through all the furniture stores. We bought our counter stools for the breakfast bar in the kitchen. Unfortunately no couches called our names but we still have a couple weeks left. We also purchased the last of the bedding that we needed. There is a huge pile in Beth's warehouse of purchases-luckily we have big vehicles for move in day.

I wasn't paying attention on Saturday morning and spilt a tea all over my computer keyboard. Of course it didn't work after this so I had to go out and get a new one-this one is wireless which will be nice in the new house.

The office in our new house doesn't have a phone jack. I know, it doesn't make sense but they didn't put one in. I decided to get a wireless router so the computer will work anywhere and hopefully the laptop will as well. I spent hours yesterday trying to set it up but of course the instructions were terrible. After another hour today talking with my internet provider it is working.

Thursday morning, Bev and I are leaving for Columbus, Ohio. The car will be loaded up with Canadian chocolate bars. Debbie Bliss is in love with Oh Henry bars. I introduced her to them when she taught in my store a couple of years ago and now it is required that I bring her some whenever I see her. The rest will be for the ladies from Mountain Colors. They mentioned that they loved chocolate when I placed my first order with them years ago. Now I bring them chocolate that we have in Canada and they don't have. It is a small bribe to get my yarn faster!!!

Spring Cleaning

I spent the day today rearranging. I'm not done yet-this could be a week long process. You will be in for a surprise on your next visit.

These bags are more yarn for the tent sale. This sale will have more yarn than any previous sale. Once Jane is back next week we will decide on the date in August.

Here is a new top that just came in the mail from Lynda. I really liked the yarn (Surfer from Sirdar) when it arrived but customers weren't taken with it. Now that the see it knit up they are really liking it. The yarn has stretch to it which is great for a summer top.

The Dawn shawl is progressing. I have about 9" done now.

I love this weather

As a yarn shop owner I am not supposed to want the beautiful weather that we are having. Customers have their minds on other activities right now-usually their garden. The store is slower now than in the fall but it doesn't bother me. I have spent the last few days sitting outside in the sun and reading. My tan is great!! I am also moving around the yarn in the store. This isn't the easiest task but it will look great when done.

We received a shipment from Brown Sheep this week for new colours in Naturespun Worsted. I am excited about these-they will be great for felted bags.

The shipment of bags from Offhand Designs finally arrived. I now have a problem-which colour do I want? Next Thursday I am leaving for Columbus, Ohio and one of these will be great for packing. Bev and I are going to the TNNA Trade Show to see the new yarns for fall. It is always exciting to see what is new. We also get time to visit with friends that we don't get to see very often including friends from England and New Zealand.

Here is a picture of my Dawn Shawl that was taken on Thursday. Since then I have finished the ball and am onto the next ball.

I have joined the Lace Shawl KAL. It is amazing some of the shawls that these knitters are making. Maybe for my next one. We have some lace weight yarn coming from Prism. They are sending me an assortment of colours-it will be exciting to open the box when it arrives.

Beth and I measured the windows in the townhouse today to order California Shutters. I hate to see what the bill for those is going to be. Holiday Mondays don't fit into my schedule. I need to be able to visit the bank, post office, grocery store, etc on my day off and they are all closed today. I also have house shopping to do!!!

Tonight is the last show for Dancing with the Stars. I know, you can't believe I watch that but this season has been great. I think the final voting will be close.

New Noni Patterns

There are new patterns from Noni-here is a sample. These are ordered and will hopefully be here soon. Rhonda, get your needles ready. I think I will need a Hydrangea bag in mauve.

I have been talking about my house for some time and then Jane came in with some news yesterday. If you haven't met Jane, she is referred to as Mom #3 (behind my mom and Bev). Jane works in the store on Mondays and on any other day that I can't work. Jane and her husband have bought a townhouse in Brantford and are moving at the end of August-still close enough that she can keep working in the store. She kept it quite a secret until it was a done deal!!

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.

Small Taste of Fall

My sales rep and I spent hours going through the new yarns for fall and didn't get it all done.

Here are the new shades of Noro Silk Garden for fall. Not the best pictures but it gives you a taste of what is to come. The colour in the top left is off white with a touch of beige. There will be 22 colours in all with the next shipment (including the new colours) arriving in Canada at the beginning of June.

Here is a picture of my shrug. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton. I am using the colour Circus Peanut. You can see the picture from the Nashua magazine-I am using this stitch pattern with the shape similar to the Berroco shrug that I knit. I knit 7" today on it so there could be hope of it getting done in time.

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.

Kaffe Fassett

Here are a couple of updates from the yarn open houses this weekend. You will find more updates in our next few newsletters-I can't put them all here because it cuts down on available newsletter content.

Kaffe has designed a line of sock yarn for Regia that will be available this fall. The price is higher than the regular Regia but the colours are very different. He also has a new magazine coming out called Kaffe Knits Again.

The new Rowan magazine (#42) is great. There is a fair isle vest knit out of Felted Tweed that is so Rowan. The styling is what we saw in Rowan back in the 80's and 90's. Kaffe has two designs in the magazine. There are about ten garments focusing on Kid Silk Haze and Kid Silk Night.

The builder did not accept our offer on the townhouse. We now have a new offer in with him-maybe we will know tomorrow.

It is very early but I am off to bed-tv is bad tonight and Beth has to get up at 5am to fly to Calgary. Of course, this means I will be up at 5am too. I guess I can get some paperwork done!!

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.

Finished the book

The store was in an absolute mess after the Frolic so this morning was spent putting it back together. Of course this means moving things around again. I bagged up some more yarn for the Tent Sale (will be held in August this year) and then washed the floors in the store. After doing this I didn't really feel like knitting so I finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club. The ending was very unexpected. The book was okay but I would suggest waiting for it to come out in paperback.

This weekend my suppliers are having open houses for us to see the new yarns for fall. I will have lots to tell you early next week.

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.

JULIE WAKE UP

This is what I heard Beth yelling this morning. I went running into the kitchen and she says, 'take a look at Roko. It looks like he has a tick on his face. Can you see the legs?' What a way to start the day. I didn't look too closely but told her to call the vet. Leanne (has been our vet for 15 years) took them in right away and sure enough it was a tick. It is gone and Roko is doing well.

Luckily the rest of the day went much better. The store was busy and I got most of the packing done for the Frolic. I did some rearranging in the front room as well that will get finished tomorrow. Knitting class went well. Margaret and I worked on decreasing for raglan sleeves so that it looks neat for sewing. Cathy started the crochet around her vest that she just finished. Janice did a tension swatch. Dee sat and knit-she doesn't talk very much.

Sorry but I don't have any pictures again. I haven't knit in a couple of days. I have progressed further with my reading of The Friday Night Knitting Club. It is still holding my attention so no complaints.

Hopefully I will see some of you on Saturday, please stop by the booth and say hi.

Spring is here

The weather has been amazing the past two days. It's hard to believe how cold it was just last week.

I thought the store would be slow yesterday and I would have time to knit and read. Not so. I have about 2" completed on the shawl-only 63" more to go. The book sat untouched.

Today Sarah worked. I wrote another newsletter-should go out tonight. Also finished up some changes and additions for the website. Korey has some new kits up on the site and there will be more sometime this week. I finished up my tax return, then did Beth's and my parents. Some of you might not know that I studied Chartered Accountancy at the University of Waterloo. The program was co-op so I worked four terms in a Burlington accounting office where I was the Queen of Tax.

Rhonda was in this morning to pick up my Lattice bag. She is going to do the lining for me. Around her neck was the new digital camera. She took some pictures of the dogs-check out her blog. She is going to knit the same shawl as me-even the same colour. Obviously it must be a great colour!!!

I am getting ready to move to the couch for the NASCAR race and more knitting on the Kimono Jacket. The back is about 1/3 done.

Sorry for the uneventful post-I hope to do better next week.

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.