Lots of boxes

Last week I mentioned that Lynda knit two scarves.  Here is the second.

Boho Lace Eternity Scarf from sweaterbabe.com

4 skeins Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk

5.5 mm needles

I had visits yesterday from Mr. Canada Post, Mr. UPS and Mr. FedEx. The store was a mess (Cathy would say that the store is still a mess).

Mr. UPS came with some Rowan but NOT the magazines.  Doesn't he understand??  I talked with Rowan the magazine left South Carolina on Friday so it could be here any day.

Mr. FedEx delivered a huge box of Cascade 220.

Mr. Canada Post had four boxes.  Box one was full of books.  One Skein Wonders-Sock yarn is back in stock along with Knit.Sock.Love by Cookie A.

Box two was Addi Turbos along with a set of Addi Clicks.  The Clicks have been out of stock since before Christmas.

Box three and four came from Namaste.  The Bitty Bag is here.

Black, Lime, Hollywood Pink, Red, Eggplant and Peacock.

Namaste has started a new Mommy line.

Mommy on the Move (M.O.M.)

• This nifty kit includes 1 changing pad and 1 wipes case
• Changing pad features adorable coated canvas print, easy to clean and fun to look at
• Wipes case is clear frosted & PVC-free with Namaste logo
• Coordinate your bag with your changing pad
• Compact design for ease of travel

This Mommy's on the Move! 

COLORS:
Changing Pad: Black, Eggplant, Hollywood Pink, Lime, Peacock, or Red as backing color. All pads come with "Lola" print fabric on changing side.
Wipes Case: Clear frosted. 

MATERIALS:
Changing Pad: Backing is PVC-free, vegan faux leather. "Lola"print is PVC-free coated canvas.
Wipes Case: Recyclable plastic.

SIZE:
Changing Pad: In open position: 25" W x 22" H x 15" L
Wipes Case: 1" W x 4.5" H x 8.25" L

We received four pads-Eggplant, Lime, Hollywood Pink and Peacock. They retail for $25.  What a great gift for a new mother.  The lining of the pads match the lining of the new Bitty Bag.  The lining of the Hermosa is also changing to the print fabric.  I love it!!


Somehow I have messed up the font for this post.  I hate that.  Hopefully after cutting and pasting from Namaste's website the rest of my post will match the top of my post.  I have also messed up the spacing.


While I was writing Mr. Canpar came in with four HUGE boxes of Sirdar yarns and patterns.  I am busy unpacking and will have details tomorrow.

New = Problem

Okay, I had my post started and then stupidly erased it all.  This doesn't put me in a good mood!  Combined with the yucky weather outside (cold, dreary, snowy and icy) I need to find something to put a smile on my face.  Then I started thinking about the great new yarns and patterns coming for spring.  There is a problem though, now I can't decide what I am going to knit!!

For the next few days I am going to preview some of the amazing books and magazines coming for spring.

The Debbie Bliss Spring/Summer 2011 magazine will be arriving in February.  It sounds like a long way off but it is only a couple of weeks.

All the patterns in the magazine will be brand new. No more taking existing patterns and re-printing them.  Debbie has been busy!!

Of course there will be children's patterns.

My sales rep brought me information about the magazine before Christmas and of course I can't find it now. I do remember that there will be lots of Angel as well as Eco and Eco Baby.

American Idol starts tonight.  It is going to be interesting to see how the show goes without Simon.  He could be a jerk some days but mostly he told the truth-if you were bad he let you know.

I haven't been knitting but I think I will try and finish Hitchhiker this afternoon.  There aren't many rows left and when it is done I get to start something new.  :)

More Ruffles

Scarves are going to be big right through the spring and summer. We have a brand new yarn in stock that I will definitely be making a scarf out of.

This is Tul from Katia-a ruffle yarn for spring.  There are 27m on a ball so it is slightly shorter than a ball of Ondas.  If you want a nice long scarf then you will need two balls ($7.95 a ball).  The yarn is 82% Combed Cotton and 18% Nylon.

Very pale, shimmery colours that will look great with anything you are wearing.

Mr. FedEx just walked in with a box of Frill Seeker.  Unfortunately not very many colours arrived.

I have talked with my supplier and they are totally out again.  They will be receiving their next shipment of Frill Seeker in March.

There is good news though. Four brand new colours arrived. Perfect for spring.

I talked with the supplier of Triana and Ondas as well.  As of right now they are expecting a huge shipment sometime next week.  The first one should have lots of Triana and then a week after there should be a huge shipment of Ondas.

Way Too Cold!!!

I came to work chilled to the bone.  I was just about to pull out of the driveway when Beth flagged me down.  Her truck wouldn't start.  Of course she had pulled into the driveway so we had to do some maneuvering with my truck to get it close enough to try and boost her truck.  This meant we had to keep walking through a snow bank.  I couldn't find mittens so my fingers were frozen.  My toes are still cold!! Then we lost the keys to Beth's truck.  Yes, we had them outside but they went AWOL.  Beth finally found them-they fell onto the floor between the seats.  We couldn't get it going so she had to phone my dad's company and get someone to come over and try.  Two women are not meant to be trying to do anything with motor vehicles.

Besides Rowan magazine 49 there are many more booklets coming. Here is a sample from two.

Rowan Savannah Collection
12 designs from Marie Wallin in a yarn called Savannah

94% cotton
6% silk
18 stitches=4" on 5mm needles
8 colours

Savannah

Desert

This is coming as a sample for the store.  I love it!!

Wilderness

Rowan Cotton Classics magazine

16 designs from Martin Storey using Handknit Cotton and All Seasons Cotton

Swash in Handknit Cotton

Ripple in Handknit Cotton 

Sandwave in Handknit Cotton

I am really ready for spring to get here!!  Especially after seeing these happy, bright pictures.

Good Luck??

Neither football game went my way last night but I did get some knitting done.  After the second game Beth and I continued watching the Y&R. We are currently at December 27-almost caught up.  Sharon just found Skye in Hawaii.  It was very late or we would have watched the next episode to see Victor show up.  I was very excited to see Tristan Rogers.  He used to play Robert Scorpion on General Hospital.

I found a picture from Vegas that I forgot to post. Before leaving the Cosmopolitan we decided it would be a good idea to use the restroom.  When I came out Beth was looking at this and adding her ticket to the pile.

We had hoped that this might bring us luck but it didn't.  I wonder how much money the casino is going to clean off of the statue every year.

My website has been neglected recently so I spent some time yesterday afternoon and this morning adding some products.  I have also got things ready so that when new products arrive I can add them right away.

While sending information to Korey I came across pictures for a new yarn that Sirdar is bringing out.  Baby Bamboo is a great yarn for babies, children and adults.  You can throw it in the machine with no worries.

For spring we are getting multi coloured Baby Bamboo called Snuggly Smiles Stripes DK.  I am hoping we will see this by the end of January.

Rowan Magazine 49

Today is the launch of Rowan Spring/Summer 2011.  I hope that my order will be arriving later this week with books and the new yarns for spring.

Here are some pictures from Magazine 49.

I liked this pattern when I saw the preview of the magazine and liked it even more when I saw it in person last week.

A Kaffe Fassett design knit in Summer Tweed and Kidsilk Haze.

Ease
Purelife Revive in seven colours.

Hellebore by Martin Storey
Knit in Cotton Glace

From the back.  I really like the stitch pattern.

Bewitch
Fine Milk Cotton.  For some reason I thought this yarn was being discontinued but obviously I got that wrong.

It is time for me to hit Publish.  The tide has turned in the football game and the team I am cheering for is now losing.  I need to go and put all my attention into the game.  Also, if I am going to get my scarf knit then I had better pull it out of my knitting bag.

every last yard

Yesterday mom and dad journeyed back to Myrtle Beach.  They arrived late last night to find out that only half of their house had heat. Fortunately for them their bedroom is in the lucky half with heat.  You might be asking why they would need heat in South Carolina but it is only going to be 6 there today.

While I was away Cathy unpacked two huge boxes from madelinetosh. A mistake was made in my order and a few colours were sent twice. Until now I haven't knit a sample in any of the madelinetosh yarns because it is a wait to get the yarn replaced.  Now we have enough to do a sample in tosh dk.  A box is going out tomorrow to Wannietta-she is almost done her current project and will be calling any day for yarn.  :)

every last yard is a pattern by Amy Swenson (indigirl on Ravelry)

From Amy's website

I’m famous for not buying enough of a given yarn. Sometimes the shop only has a few skeins left. Other times, I’m hopelessly optimistic about how far the yardage will take me.
I designed Every Last Yard to make the most of whatever yarn you choose. A few design features help create more fabric from a smaller amount of yarn. I chose a superwash worsted yarn, knit deliberately a little loose to take advantage of superwash’s ability to grow a little when washed. The lace patterning is repetitive enough to look perfect no matter which row you cast off on.
Knit entirely without finishing details from the neck down, Every Last Yard is completely finished when you cast off that final stitch; no need to preserve yarn for working borders or edgings. Short sleeves or long, hip length or waist length; it’s all up to the yarn you’ve got to use.

Now the decision will be the colour which wasn't much of a decision because I chose Tart.

We carry many of Amy's patterns in the store and if there is one you want that I don't have then I can order it for you.

It is time to get back to my knitting.  My goal is to get the Hitchhiker scarf done by the end of the weekend.  Can I do it?  There are four football games over the weekend and many episodes of the Y&R to catch up on.

Amalia

I started this post yesterday morning.  When I got to work it was a busy day-mail orders, updating website, returning phone calls, placing orders...  After work Beth and I had dinner with our parents and then I had 9 boxes to pack.  Somehow I forgot to hit Publish.

It was an early morning for me.  I woke up at 7:30 (I have no clue why) to hear the snow blowers outside.  Our driveway is cleaned for us-part of our condo fee.  It is a real pain when they clean around our vehicles. I got up and cleaned off our trucks and moved them into visitor parking. This way we will come home to a clean driveway.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any mittens so my hands were very, very cold.

When I got to work Cathy had done an amazing job straightening and moving things around.  I think she lives to do that.  :)

There was a box from Lynda with a couple of scarves that she knit for the store.  Scarf one today and the other for later in the week.

This is Amalia from Purl Diving.

Lynda used two skeins of Bearfoot from Mountain Colors in the colour Ladyslipper.

I used a shawl pin from Annie Adams for a different look.

Yesterday afternoon Cathy unpacked a box containing

Triana
Unfortunately we only received
46 Violet
45 Fuchsia
40 Cream
49 Black

This is how much knitting I accomplished while away. You might not think it is much but for me this is a lot. Normally my time away is spent reading.

Pattern: Hitchhiker Scarf (available for purchase on Ravelry)
Yarn: Prism Saki
Needles: 3.25mm 80cm long Lantern Moon Ebony circular

The pattern is easy to follow-great for traveling.

Home Again

After a very uneventful flight we made it home safely from the airport but the drive was a bit scary. The snow is really coming down and there were many times on the highway that we couldn't tell which lane we were driving in.

Our poor cars are already covered.

You can see how deep the tracks in the snow are from my dad dropping us off.

It is late Tuesday night but I am still on west coast time so it is only 8:30 in my world. Much too early to go to bed.  There is already a load of laundry in the washing machine and I figured I would write a blog post.

I have been working on my iPad for the last two weeks and now I am back on my computer. When I look back at my posts while I was away the pictures are looking fuzzy.  If you click on the picture it will enlarge and look much better.

I am going to throw the clothes in the dryer and try going to sleep.  Only a few hours until going back to work and it might take some time to get out of the driveway.  :)

Offhand Designs

It is Monday night and we are watching the BCS game (college football). We went to the show this morning to have one quick walk through and then off to the mall. Nordstroms was happy to see us. :) Two pairs of shoes for me and a pair of boots for Bev. I don't think there will be any time to post tomorrow so I am just getting ahead of myself. We land in Toronto at 8:30 tomorrow night and when speaking to dad he said we might be coming home to a snow storm. Lucky us!!

Here are pictures from the Offhand Designs booth. In a previous post I talked about the changes that Larissa is making to the bags for this season. I was afraid that the straps on the Scottie and Zhivago would be too short to go over my shoulder but they are plenty long enough. The bag was very comfortable when I tried it on.

The lime green fabrics are great. Very bright and cheerful.

These bags are just prototypes. The leather is different colours on this Scottie but they will be the same colour when the bags arrive in the store. Of course I have ordered this colour for myself-there is no way I am passing up a purple bag!!

Love the black and grey as well.

The Offhand Designs booth is always one of the first that I visit and Larissa had great bags again. I wish that she was shipping my bags tomorrow. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Self-Striping Yarn

It is the last day of the show. There are a few booths I need to visit and then it will be time to say goodbye to everyone. After that we are going shopping.

While walking the show everyone asks if I saw anything that was interesting. Here is a new yarn that I am excited about.

Tina at KnitWhits has a cool new yarn coming out this spring. She has done many designs in Noro yarns and decided that she wanted her own yarn.


The dye process is very different. She knits up huge swatches of yarn on a knitting machine and then dyes the yarn. This makes sure that she gets even striping. Then the swatch is ripped out and made into balls. By doing this every ball is striped in the same order. The balls also start and end with the same colour. This makes it easy to have continuous striping.


When I saw the Entrelac hat the first thing I though of was that it would make a great project for an entrelac class. When the yarn arrives I will set a date to teach it.

From the KnitWhits website:
Six mulitcolors with at least 2 coordinating semi-solids for each multi.
Each multicolor ball starts & ends with the same color, making adding a new ball a breeze with less waste!
No sudden color breaks, no "wildlife"
Our yarn is a soft, feltable, single-ply, 100% wool and is made in the USA
These yarns knit up at the popular 4-5 sts/inch gauge, they are interchangeable with other self-striping yarns and can easily be used in any Knitwhits patterns suggesting self-striping yarns.
Our yarn is carefully handpainted in small batches. Some variations may occur between dye lots. When ordering larger quantities we will endeavor to match colors as close as possible.



I have ordered all the colours and we should have them in the store at the end of February/beginning of March.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Knitting Celebrities

I have a few minutes to write a quick post before heading out for dinner with the Lantern Moon crew.

Yesterday I was in the Rowan booth talking with Kate Buller when she introduced me to Sarah Hatton. It is always fun getting to meet Rowan designers who's work I like and have knit.
-Poppy
-Iris
-Valour
-Cora

I would link these to my Ravelry page but that isn't this easiest to do on my iPad.

Every time I saw Sarah yesterday and today she had a big smile on her face. She looks like a fun person to be around!! She is visiting the US for the first time and will be teaching workshops next week. Hopefully we can convince Rowan that she needs to come to Canada.


Elizabeth Bradley has introduced new kits. This is Daffodil from the Blooms Collection.


There are some other pictures from the show but I want to have more time to describe them in detail. Beth is standing at the door yelling that I need to log off and get my shoes on.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday Morning

It has been busy at TNNA. I have placed many orders as well as visited with many people.

I am getting ready to head over right now. When I get back I will write a longer post.

Here are some pictures from our hotel. You can see the Queen Mary in the distance.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Busy airport

Bonus-two posts in one day. Now I don't have to feel bad if I don't have time to post from Long Beach.

It is Thursday afternoon and we are sitting in the airport with free Wi-Fi. Of course we are extremely early. Beth has issues about missing flights. You never know what security is going to be like. Today the airport is empty but last year it was jammed and security took over an hour.

I am sitting watching planes landing. I could do this for hours!! McCarron Airport is very busy. I can see at least three planes in the sky at all times waiting to land.



My camera is in my suitcase (we had to check out of our room long before it was time to leave for the airport and I didn't want to be carrying extra stuff all afternoon) so I had to use my phone. Then email it to myself to download on the iPad. Not the best picture but you get the idea.

I had moved on from my blog post to reading a book. It is almost time to board and I find out our flight is delayed two hours. There are huge delays on flights arriving from the east coast so they bumped our flight to use the plane to fly to JFK. These people have been waiting five hours for their flight. I feel bad for them but I don't want to sit here anymore. My knitting is in my suitcase. Something else I didn't want to carry all afternoon. Why would I need it for a 45 minute flight? How come you always want something you can't have?

Since I have time I am going to include a few pictures I received from Larissa at Offhand Designs. There will be more pictures from the show.






This is what Larissa says about the new Scottie and Zhivago

Offhand Designs introduces it's best line of doctor bags ever!! We are not trying to confuse you... just want you and your customers to be happy! With a few tweaks we think we have finally perfected the Scottie and Zhivago bags!

1) Textiles: Spring 2011 features vintage limited editions that are brighter than ever!
2) Leather Handles: We finally engineered the attachment of our new luscious leather handles.
3) Solid Brass Closures: After fielding many confused customers with our Italian locks, we have returned to a solid brass turn lock on a luscious leather flap! We never had a single question or problem with our closures before and hope to return to the happy silence of content!
4) Hidden Magnets: A magnet was added to to the frame to help keep your bag closed securely... no gaping!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Las Vegas Blvd S,Las Vegas,United States