Knitting progress

I actually have some knitting to report. The knitting on my Jane Thornley shawl is done. I am now crocheting around it. I hope to get most of it done tonight-fingers crossed.

The past week in the store has been very busy-no complaining-but that takes away from knitting and blogging time.

I have exciting news-we are now carrying Classic Elite yarns. Right now we have three yarns in stock-Alpaca Sox, Premiere and Soft Linen. More yarns will be coming for fall (when I find more room in the store.) Lynda is knitting The Feather and Fan cardigan out of Soft Linen for a store sample.

A new shipment came in today of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Socks. Unpacking all these amazing colours is starting to get to me. I might have to take some and knit it while away in Chicago next week. In skeins we received
-Edgewater
-Pilsen
-Apple Hill
-Huron
-Fresh Stipe
-Irving Park

In kits we received
-Newtown
-Neon
-Pine
-Cranberry
-Pink Blossom
-Turquoise
-Edgewater
-Butterscotch
-Hawaii
-Lilac
-Bittersweet
-Tuscany
-Cool
-Sandridge
-Irving Park
-Charcoal
-Iris Garden
-Watercolor
-Forest

A shipment of Dream in Color Baby arrived Friday afternoon. Unfortunately they are out of the yarn until May so we couldn't get all the colours we wanted. We have about 12 different colours in stock with about 15 more coming in May. Jane finished the shawl and brought it to work today. It is beautiful but I am having her block it once more to make it a bit longer. She was afraid to overblock it but I think the bigger the better.

I have set up an assembly line in the basement for making kits for the Tulip Cardigan. We roll the skein into a ball and then measure off the smaller amounts needed and roll into a smaller ball. We know there must be a better way but can't think of one. We have tried some different things but ended up wasting yarn. The dogs and I are off to roll more yarn.

Socks

I just got the phone call from mom. "When are you going to update your blog?" She didn't see that I did a post yesterday but to make her happy I am doing another one now.

The Knitter's Frolic is coming up on April 26 in Toronto. There is a market on Saturday and workshops are running Saturday and Sunday. We are trying to get samples of new yarns knit up for the show. These are two pairs of socks that Lynda knit for us. Yes, I could have knit them but this way they are finished and I don't have to worry about it.

My pictures came out too bright-the socks are hanging at the front door and the sun is out today. I could complain that I didn't get good pictures but it is amazing to have sun so I won't.

This is Monkey knit out of Baby Boom from Fiesta in the Clematis colourway.

This is Pomatomus knit out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Socks-Tuscany colourway. I love this pattern and seeing it knit in person did not disappoint me.

Jane is knitting like crazy on the Oakleaf Shawl for the store. On Monday she was almost finished the body so I am hoping she will be done by this Monday. We are almost out of the Baby from Dream in Color. I called today and put in an emergency order for everything they had in stock. We have about eight colours coming that will be here next week. The rest of the colours won't be here until May.

The new season of American Idol really started last night. We are down to the final 12. We have an interesting group of contestants. Last night they sang John Lennon and/or Paul McCartney songs. The country singer really needs to go. We taped it and then watched the whole two hour show in under one hour-it is amazing how much better it is when you don't have to listen to Ryan or watch commercials.

Snow

Every day I tell myself that I need to do a blog post and then it is bed time. Korey and I are working on getting new products up on the website. All the Rowan yarns and books should be up now. We still need to get up the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Socks and Dream in Colour yarns. We also have lots of patterns to add.

The snow over the weekend was incredible. I didn't open the store on Saturday. I could have gone to work but would have sat knitting. Instead I spent the day winding balls of yarn for Tulip kits.

Alexis knit a Tulip Cardigan for the store. I searched some of the finished projects on Ravelry and saw some in darker colours. When I handed the kit to Alexis, she was very doubtful but when it was done she loved the colours.
This is my Jane Thornley wrap. All of a sudden I realized that I need to get it finished. I am going to Chicago on March 23 for a conference and want to take it with me. I am now decreasing so the rows are going faster (not quite fast enough though). When the knitting is done I will crochet around the edge to make it neat.

This is my baby sweater out of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton. The back is done and the front is a couple of rows from the neck shaping.
The parking lot at my store isn't very happy. The back has piles and piles of snow filling at least four parking spots.

I stepped away to help some customers and just read through this-it sounds like something a 7 year old would write-sorry. My mind is spinning in too many directions!!

What is with the snow?

What is with the snow? Some of you (ie Phyllis in the Yukon) are laughing because of our complaining about a little snow but seriously, is it ever going to end?

Fiesta Yarn's website has been overhauled. You can now see all their colours and the new yarns including Baby Boom, the new sock yarn. One of my knitters is working in this yarn so we will have a pair of socks for you to feel when you visit the store.

I started another Fake Isle on Saturday afternoon and finished it on Sunday while waiting for the Nascar race to start.

Another box arrived today from Lorna's Laces. All of our Little Can of Paint kits were gone but today's box included kits in
-Poppy
-Bee Stripe
-Mt Creek
-Gold Hill
-Glenwood

In skeins, but not in the kit, we received
-Winona
-Rainbow
-Mt Creek
-Gold Hill
-Watercolor
-Jungle Stripe
-Tickled Pink

Pictures of my knitting!!

The hat is called Fake Isle-you can download the pattern from MagKnits. Sarah was knitting it in class on Thursday night so I decided to knit one over the weekend. It took one ball of Noro Kureyon and half a skein of Cascade 220. It was very easy to do and would make a great class for teaching Fair Isle knitting (it is on my to do list for fall). Beth has decided that since it fits her head I should give it to her.
This is sleeve one of my Noro Silk Garden Lite Cardigan. I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to start anything new but the colour and pattern were calling my name. The pattern is from the new Sirdar Eco Wool magazine. It is a perfectly plain cardigan with garter stitch collar. I started knitting it last weekend while watching the Daytona 500. All my knitting required paying attention and this didn't. (See, you can always justify starting a new project).

I just finished unpacking a box from Dream in Color. This is the Oakleaf 3/4 shawl knit out of their new Baby Lace Weight Yarn. The yarn is 100% Superfine Australian Merino Superwash. There are 700 yards on a 4oz skein. Two skeins are needed for this shawl (pattern is free when you purchase the yarn.)

I received three skeins each of the following colours
-Blue Lagoon
-Visual Purple
-Deep Sea Flower
-Ruby River
-Dusky Aurora
-Lunar Zazzle
-Pansy Golightly
-Punky Fuschia

I am just placing another order with Dream in Color and have ordered
-Spring Tickle
-Flamingo Pie
-Cloud Jungle
We can order any colour, just let me know what you would like.

Attention all sock knitters

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock just arrived!!
We have individual skeins in
-Sweetie
-Childs Play
-Flamingo Stripe
-Tuscany
-Iris Garden
-Bucks Bar
-Baltic Sea (pictured)

And in the Little Can of Pain
-Baltic Sea
-Layette
-Black Purl
-Happy Valley
-Lorikeet
-Pin Stripe

More colours are coming (fourteen to be exact) and we can special order any colour. Dying time is usually 8-12 weeks. See all the colours that are available.

We also received some great sock patterns from Wildhorse Farm Designs. Here is a sample.

I really need to get over my second sock syndrome!!

Winding yarn

Today was Family Day in Ontario. The store wasn't open but I was there winding balls of yarn for the Tulip Cardigan kit. I was there for over 6 hours. A couple skeins were not properly rewound after dying and I had to wind them by hand. Then my ball winder was acting up.

I browsed the pictures on Ravelry for the Tulip cardigan to come up with some ideas for colour combinations. This is 3 shades of blue, a green, charcoal, brown, burgundy and lighter brown/peaches which is the border colour. I started during daylight but didn't get finished until it was dark so the colours don't show the way they should.

This uses the new bright yellow and bright yellow/orange combination along with blue, green, red, purple, lime and turquoise. The purple is the border colour.


On Saturday Beth and I went plant shopping. We are having a hard time keeping the humidity up in our house so this is one fix. I see that they are a bit blurry-sorry.


I did get some knitting accomplished yesterday during the Daytona 500. Hopefully there will be pictures later this week. The race had some very boring spots but I liked the outcome. Last night Beth wanted to watch Knight Rider. Of course we watched it as kids so we wanted to see the remake. Bad TV. Then we watched Dexter. A very disturbing show. Now we are watching TV that the whole family can watch-Deal or No Deal. My parents love this show. Dad should be calling any minute from Myrtle Beach telling us that the lady shouldn't take the deal.

Shepherd Socks and more boxes

When I was at the trade show in January I ordered some Lorna's Laces Shepherds Sock yarn. I called there today with a question and some of my colours are ready and are being shipped. Also in the shipment will be some kits in a paint can that include two skeins of yarn and a basic sock pattern.
Lorna's Laces distributes a line of patterns called iKnitiative. I first found these patterns on Ravelry and they will be here with the yarn in a couple of weeks. This is called the Fair and Square wrap that I will be knitting one day (LOL) in Tahki Donegal Tweed and Noro Silk Garden.


My dad has a job here at the store-garbage man. We pile empty boxes outside and he picks them up. He was here the other day to pick up my boxes-unfortunately he had been in South Carolina for two snow storms and the boxes were under a foot of snow. He got out as many as he could and was coming back today for more. Lucky him-we had more snow last night. He brought a shovel and dug them all out. He isn't going to be pleased to hear that I have more boxes again. A shipment of Namaste bags came and not a day too soon. We were all out of the new Malibu and Laguna bags but the store is nicely stocked again. Then the UPS driver came with a large boxe of Rowan.

I wrote this and then got busy unpacking boxes and helping customers. While doing this the UPS driver came back with more boxes-this time from Dream in Color. There were 2 boxes of Classy that included the new colours for spring-the 400 series. These are amazing-I see a tulip cardigan. We also have the pattern for the adult Tulip Cardigan. There are 5 sizes (XS-XL). You need 5 skeins for the XS and S. For the M-XL you will need 6 skeins.

The new season of Big Brother started last night. We taped it but didn't have time to watch it so now we have something to watch tonight. The Apprentice, Survivor and Big Brother-it doesn't get any better. Celebrity Apprentice has been great. The celebrities want to win but they have a career to go back to. The fighting between some of the celebrities has been hilarious.

Kauni

Ravelry is a very bad thing!! About a month ago Janet was in the store and mentioned the Autumn Leaves cardigan by Ruth Sorenson. Of course I orderd the pattern. It is knit in Kauni yarn which was made famous by The Yarn Harlot. The yarn has long colour repeats making for interesting fair isle work. The cardigans are done with two colours-one for the background and one for the leaves. I haven't knit fairisle in a long time but this looks very exciting.

I have ordered the Kauni yarn for the shop and we should have it in a couple of weeks. I wanted to add pictures of the colours but Blogger isn't being agreeable right now so here is a list.
EQ
EP
EF
EK
EL

If you are on Ravelry, just go to yarns and look up Kauni. You will see some phenomenal garments made with this yarn. Some people took old Alice Starmore patterns and knit with the Kauni. Because the yarn is changing colours, you don't need all the different balls like Starmore calls for. Take a look at crazyfiberlady's blog and you will see what I am talking about.

I haven't accomplished any knitting since my last post. Some days work can really get in the way!! :)

Family Day

In Ontario we have a new holiday in February called Family Day. This will be held on Monday, February 18. I didn't think much about the holiday, just assumed that all retail stores would be open. I was told in class last night and by my Canpar driver today that most retail stores are closed so I have decided to close that day as well.

I have been unpacking more boxes this afternoon. A huge box of Mountain Colors Bearfoot just arrived. We should have every colour in stock right now.

I am working on my Feather and Fan shawl this afternoon-maybe it wil be done by the end of the weekend!!

Wrap

Here is the wrap that I talked about yesterday from Jane Thornley. I think this might become an obsession-we will see when it is done. Putting the colours together might be more fun than knitting it. I have so many combinations put together in my head.

I am using

• Colinette Mohair
• Colinetter Giotto
• Trendsetter Dune
• Trendsetter Tonalita
• Trendsetter Checkmate
• Berroco Suede
• Rowan Kid Silk Haze

This is a great way to use up some of the balls you have in your stash!!

Pictures

Some days it is really hard to come up with a title for a post.

What is with the weather? Snow storm on Friday. Beautiful, warm and sunny yesterday. Freezing rain today and snow tonight.

We had a guild meeting last night. Mandi and Jocelyn taught crochet edgings. Many of the ladies were afraid of crochet but came away with a much better understanding.

I haven't had much time to knit but here is the progress on my baby sweater.

I have been unpacking more boxes. This is Baby Boom from Fiesta yarns. Two skeins will knit a pair of socks. They hand dye yarns in New Mexico and the colours are fabulous.

A box from Handmaiden arrived today as well. It was filled with kits for the Storm Water Shawl. The yarn is Sea Silk (70% Silk, 30% Seacell) and the colours are amazing. Each kit has 800m of yarn that can be used for this shawl or any other shawl you want to knit.

While playing on Ravelry I found this amazing wrap from Jane Thornley. Of course I had to purchase the pattern. Jane loves 'free form' knitting meaning the pattern is not written as a standard pattern. For many of us it is a bit of a challenge because we are used to the pattern telling us to do A, then B, then C. The great thing about the shawl is that it really doesn't matter. Of course I had to start it. I am using browns and purples. I hope to bring to work tomorrow and get a picture.

Unpacking Boxes

Rowan magazine 43 is here along with the new colours for spring in Cotton DK, Cotton Glace and 4ply Cotton. The magazine is great!! I will enjoy looking it over tonight.

Berroco has arrived. There are great pattern books and four new yarns (Berroco Sox, Lumina, Seduce and Linen Jeans).
The sweater is called Johnny Boy and is a baby and child's sweater knit out of the new sock yarn.



I have started a new store project. I have been carrying knitting back and forth so I decided to keep one at home (LOL!!) and one in the store. This is a baby sweater from Blue Sky Alpacas knit out of their Dyed Cotton in colour 618 Orchid. The pattern is super easy to knit and the stitch definition in the yarn is great. It will take two balls to make the sweater in an 18 month size.

I'm off to unpack more boxes. Hopefully we have snow in the morning so we can all stay home and knit. :)

Thanks for the kind words

I just want to thank everyone for their kind words about Digger. Mom, dad and Tui are all doing well. Tui is enjoying being an only dog.

I spent a couple of minutes in the store today and the box of Namaste bags arrived. I showed a picture of the Malibu bag a few posts back and this is the Laguna bag. Check out the Namaste site to see all the colours.

I haven't picked up knitting needles in a couple of weeks and I think tonight is the night to start again. I have spent every waking minute in front of the computer writing newsletters and updating the website. I am turning the laptop off now and sitting in front of the tv!!

More arrivals

My Offhand Design bags just arrived. The Punch Bloom bag (brown with flowers) is for me!! That colour is now sold out but rumour has it will come back into stock. The green bag is Martini. This colour is sold out so don't delay if you like it.

There is a new display of Soak Sweater wash on the front counter.

The latest news on spring Rowan and Berroco is that it will be arriving next week.

Korey and I have been working on the website today. There are some new yarns and books added. The updated shade cards look great-as new shades are added to a yarn, we are updating the look of the shade cards. The pictures are larger giving you a better look at the colours.

I was hoping to write more but it is closing time. I am running home for some quick dinner and then back for class.

Rocketry

Rocketry is officially done!! Personally, I like the Tulip cardigan better but just my opinion. Both are very easy to knit-done from the top down.


I just sent out a newsletter and talked about the felted Easter Egg kits we were getting in. Here is a better picture. This is the bright kit and there is a kit with pastel colours as well. The kits just arrived and look great!!

I need a bigger store :)

I was at one of my suppliers in Toronto yesterday and I saw the pictures for Jane Ellison's Noro book for spring. You can see them online.

While I was gone yesterday, Jane did lots of unpacking.
-Jordana Paige bags
-Fleece Artist soft sock/mitt kits (wow-the colours are amazing)
-Sirdar Snuggly DK (a great baby yarn with lots of new colours)

Now I have done lots of unpacking
-Skinny Cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas
-Dyed Cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas
-Cashmere Island from Noro

Mom and dad had to have Digger put to sleep yesterday morning. He started having seizures on Saturday night and his kidneys and liver were failing rapidly. We all shed a few tears yesterday but it was for the best.

Spring Yarn Update

I just unpacked three large boxes of new yarn from Sirdar. The first is Eco Wool DK. There is a great pattern book that goes with the yarn for women, men and girls aged 2-13. Also in the box was Just Bamboo. 100% bamboo in worsted weight with great pattern support.

We just received another shipment of Cascade 22o. This yarn is amazing for felting and the price is great. The complete range of colours isn't available in Canada yet but new colours are continually being added.

Shipping updates
-Berroco should be shipped today and I should have it next week
-Rowan magazines just arrived in the US-shipping should start next week
-Noro Kureyon sock yarn-February 19


While in Long Beach, Bev and I did do some shopping. You can't go to California and not visit Nordstroms. We each came home with two new pairs of shoes (mine are from Paul Green who makes the most comfortable shoes known to man). Thank goodness the customs agents didn't open my suitcase. On the way down it was overweight (luckily I was flying business class and they didn't charge me). Beth came the next day and brought an extra suitcase. When she flew home on Monday we filled the suitcase with everything I didn't need which was mostly clothes. My suitcase had shoes (the four pairs I brought and the two new pairs), underwear, pajamas, two shirts and a pair of jeans. How do you explain that?

Digger update-he isn't doing well. Mom and dad brought him home from Charleston but the vets are giving him a couple of days to a couple of weeks to live. Thanks for all your comments.

I will get a picture of my Central Park Hoodie for you next week as well as Rocketry.

Home Again

I arrived home last night from my trip to California to see the spring yarns. The show is always lots of fun. You meet new people (Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton and Casey from Ravelry) and meet up with old friends (Norah Gaughan, Mags Kandis, Lorna Misener, Brandon Mably just to name a few). I always come home from the trip very energized and excited about the upcoming season. Unfortunately everything I bought can't be delivered today!! I am not a patient person and the new yarns and accessories are great.

There are some great new bags and yarns on the way. I am going to write a newsletter this afternoon (hopefully) showing some of the new that is coming. Here is a sneak peek.

This is a taste of the new bags from Namaste. These should be here within the next two weeks.

I have a preview of the spring Rowan. The yarns and books should be here by the end of next week.

Berroco is also on its way. The new Norah Gaughan pattern book is great.

I placed an order for Shepherd Sock yarn from Lorna's Laces. Unfortunately this won't be here for about 12 weeks.

We landed in Toronto at 9pm and when we got to customs there were at least 500 people in line. It took almost an hour to get through. When I got to the counter the customs officer asked 'Do you have any alcohol?' I didn't have any and said 'No'. No more questions asked. The only positive about the wait was that our luggage was already there when we got through. You would think they could do a better job of scheduling customs agents when lots of flights are arriving. There were 9 flights that arrived at the same time and 10 agents working.

Monday morning we called home to talk with my dad and he had bad news for us. One of my parents dogs (Digger who is a Sharpei) was very ill. Dad was flying back to Myrtle Beach a day early so that they could get him to a vet in Charleston. He landed in Myrtle at 11:30pm and they got in the van right away for the one hour drive. Sharpeis get an awful disease that stops their kidneys and liver from working properly. It comes on suddenly and there is nothing that can be done. Digger is still in Charleston and they are doing blood work to see if his kidneys are getting any worse. If they can get the levels back to normal then he can come home tomorrow-until then it is a waiting game. Tui (the other Sharpei) isn't doing well without her brother to keep her company.

While I was away a box arrived from Prism with more of their Saki sock yarn. These are the three new colours.




Three new yarns arrived from Noro as well. Taiyo (40% cotton, 30% silk, 15% wool and 15% nylon) should knit to the same tension as Silk Garden and Kureyon. Silk Garden Lite (Silk Garden in a double knitting weight) is a blend of Silk, kid mohair and lamb's wool. Matsuri is 87% cotton and 13% wool. Kureyon sock yarn will be arriving sometime in February.

Beth taped Celebrity Apprentice for me. I am watching it on my computer while writing this. Gotta love Slingbox!!

My knitter finished my Central Park Hoodie last week. I am wearing it today-very comfortable and warm. Wannietta is knitting one for Beth right now.

My batteries are dead!!

I finally finished Rocketry (even sewed on the buttons) and was ready to take a picture but the batteries on my phone are dead. The sweater is cute but is in need of blocking. Rhonda brought the Tulip Cardigan to knitting guild last night. If I was to make another jacket, I would definitely pick Tulip over Rocketry.

We had fun at guild last night. No program, just knitting and talking. I got some rows done on the Leaf Poncho Jacket. The February meeting will be on Tuesday February 5th, 2008. Jocelyn and Mandi will be teaching crochet and crochet edges to the group! If you have a crochet hook that is size G through J (4mm to 6mm) and some spare worsted weight yarn, please bring it along!

Still not done

The Rocketry cardigan still isn't done. I have the first sleeve finished and am about to start the second sleeve. It is very easy knitting-the yarn is great to work with. I think my problem is the sleeves on double pointed needles. My stitches aren't nearly as neat as when I knit and purl. Every time I pull the cardigan out of the bag I put it back. If I was to knit this again I think I would knit the sleeves flat and seam them.

Some anal part of my body has been making me do administrative work. I get in the registrations for the Gone Stitchin' weekend and wait until closer to the date to get everything ready. I am so ahead this year that I am actually scared. Confirmation letters are about ready to be emailed. Paperwork that I will need at the retreat is finished as well. The next three newsletters are written. HELP!!

The next few days are going to be busy-it always is just before I go away. Tonight I need to have my nails done. Tomorrow night is guild meeting. Wednesday night is knitting class and Thursday morning I am on the plane.

I didn't get the sweater done!

My plan of having the baby sweater done on January 1 didn't happen. It didn't get done on the 2nd either. Cathy and I worked in the store yesterday and it was a good thing we were both here. The store was jammed-I guess everyone needed knitting after the holidays. We did more re-arranging to get ready for the arrival of spring yarns. I also did administrative work for the Gone Stitchin' Weekend. The classes have been chosen. If you wish to receive emails about the weekend let me know.

We are starting a section for 'Green' yarns-the big item for this spring. Organic cottons and Bamboos are being shown by many companies. There is a 100% organic cotton from Tahki called Jeans (3 colours-2 denim and one ecru). The patterns are amazing-we are having one knit up now so it should be here when the book arrives. We will be adding more colours of Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton and Dyed Cotton as well. Stella, Naturally's Bamboo yarn, has new colours which are now in stock. This is a 4ply yarn that works well for adults and babies.

A week from now I will be on my way to Long Beach, California to see the new yarns for spring. The weather will be in the mid 50s-I was planning on warmer so I have to do a wardrobe adjustment. The show is always fun because we get to see friends from around the world.

I'm signing off now so that I can finish the sweater.

Don't forget that the new season of The Apprentice starts tonight!!