Handmaid

Soak has a new product and we will be ordering it on Monday. Hopefully the shipment will be in the store on Wednesday or Thursday.

Luxury hand creme from the experts at Soak Wash Inc. Enriched with Shea butter, olive oil and vitamins A & E, Handmaid rejuvenates skin and protects overworked hands. The directions are simple. Apply sparingly. Rub thoroughly. Get back to it. Designed for knitters, crafters and busy folks who work and play with their hands, Handmaid comes in all your favorite Soak scents.

Handmaid is available in new 3oz (flight friendly) bottles, made from 100% post-consumer resin. The bottle, the formula and the design are great for your skin and the environment.

Following the successful launch of Heel, the industry’s first foot cream, Handmaid will quickly become the go to solution for well loved, crafty, skilled hands. Handmaid is the perfectly priced mini-gift for fall/ holiday 2012. It’s a knitter’s stocking stuffer dream, sized to fit in your sewing/ needle bag, designed so you can enjoy the delicate Soak fragrances in a rich and luxurious hand creme in your craft room, at work and on the go.

There are four scents coming
Aquae
Scentless
Celebration
Lacey

It's knitting time! I recalculated today and I think I only have 16 rows until I divide the body and the sleeves on the Breezy cardigan. Unfortunately I am adding 8 stitches every second row. The rows are getting longer and longer.

Mother's Day Shopping

Mr. UPS brought us a box late yesterday afternoon from Berroco. We have more Captiva.

Captiva’s satiny feel and subtle shine give it an air of sophistication. Created by wrapping a shimmering filament around a smooth cotton blend, this machine washable yarn comes in a wide range of elegant shades.

This is Pern-a free pattern on Berroco's website.

A feminine and warm weather take on the traditional fisherman's gansey, Pern features easy slipped stitch rib, garter details, and a generous hem

When you are on Berroco's website make sure you sign up to receive their email newsletters. These come out every Friday morning with free pattens.

The newsletter that came out this morning had a section on the mattress stitch-if you are having problems sewing together you garments take a look-there are links to videos as well.

Cindy dropped by with a card for me to say thank you for coming to the Around the Bay Guild meeting last week.

She took some embroidery floss and made a swatch in Linen Stitch for the front of the card. Thank you Cindy-it's great!!



This morning Beth and I took mom to buy her mother's day gift. All her plates and serving dishes. Mom wanted white and I found these dishes at Benix.

After I first saw the plates I called mom to ask if she wanted round or square. She said square which shocked me. I thought it was a bit too 'cool' for my parents. Then my dad chimed in. He wanted square plates. 'Don't you know you can get more food on a square plate?' Good reasoning dad.

My knitting is progressing. I think I have 30 rows to go before dividing the body and the sleeves. I divided the last row onto two needles so that I could show the full back. I love the colour.

Golf is on my TV and I'm going to get some more rows in before going home. 

Jane has been busy

The Coat of Many Colours is growing. As you can see Jane knits very fast.

Well...we are finished going round and round. Am now going back and forth. Have started the collar decreases. Getting a bit cumbersome on my lap..but the good thing is, there are less and less stitches at this point. Love the colours and the wool is beautiful to work with. After I finish this one..I may have to make another 

I can't wait to see it. I'm glad that I picked this colour way.

We are expecting the new Kim Hargreaves book Indigo sometime this month. I just called the supplier to see when it will be arriving but they don't have a date for us yet.

They better hurry-we are almost half way through May.

The garments are fabulous.

When I go back through my old Rowan magazines I am still drawn to the garments designed by Kim.

There will be two new Kim Hargreaves books coming for fall
Quirky in August
Enchanted in October

I just spoke with Rebecca at madelinetosh and they are going to get some yarn shipped to me very soon-hopefully next week. Vintage, sock and merino light. Not all the colours of merino light that we are out of but a good start
-badlands
-baltic
-betty draper blues
-bloomsbury
-calligraphy
-charcoal
-composition book grey
-cove
-dalia
-envy
-glazed pecan
-hickory
-jade
-kale
-mica
-nutmeg
-onyx
-persian rose
-rosewood
-terra verte
-thunderstorm

Mark your calendars for the beginning of June. There is a surprise coming that I haven't talked about yet.

From the publishers of Vogue Knitting - the preeminent publisher of knitting titles in the world!

NORO is the preeminent yarn brand in the US and Canada, with global distribution and a strong following. It is consistently ranked most popular brand on knitting blogs and social networking sites. The brand is the brainchild of master colorist Eisaku Noro, who lives and creates his yarn in Ichinomiya, Japan.

NORO Knitting Magazine will contain inspiring articles, both drawing form interesting topics in the knitting world and from Vogue Knitting's wealth of technical knowledge and expertise, as well as the latest news, products and yarn information. The magazine will showcase over 40 original designs, and complete instructions for creating these beautiful knits will be included.

The homeowners meeting last night-there isn't much good to say about it except for the fact that I got to knit for 2 hours. My cardigan is on addi turbo needles. The questions started getting stupid and repetitive which got me knitting faster. Beth gave me a dirty look and said that my needles were clicking very loud.

My rearranging in the store is pretty much done. Garments and yarn have been moved. Now it's time to make up some kits that we are out of. I might knit some as well. The cardigan is not growing fast enough for my liking.

Appearances aren't everything

My MacBook has been running very slow lately so I decided to go through and clean it up. I'm trashing old photos and documents that I don't need.

When I was going through the pictures I found this one of Roko. It is my favourite picture of him.

He looks like an angel. This is why you should never judge someone by their appearance. :)

Kidsilk Haze Stripe and Kidsilk Creation Stripe have a new home.

It is beside the window and the sun coming in makes for bad pictures.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret-Kidsilk Haze Stripe is going to have 6 new colours for fall.

Furniture shopping last night was interesting to say the least. We got the dining room table and the white chairs. Mom and dad didn't want to spend a lot on the furniture for the guest bedroom. We saw two different sets at Urban Barn but mom had picked something out at a different furniture store that was cheaper. I voiced my opinion but was reminded by Beth that it is their house. They asked us to meet them at the other store after Urban Barn. Beth and I walk much faster than mom and made it to the furniture before them. All the way there Beth kept reminding me that it was their house. The furniture was truly awful. When mom got there Beth blurted out that is was ugly. Mom was a bit devastated but we convinced her that the other furniture wasn't that much more and looked so much better.

Beth and I went back to Urban Barn and bought this bed. Much better!

The staff at Urban Barn Hamilton (who were amazing to deal with-looking after everything we needed and answering our many, many questions) thinks our family is truly nuts and they probably aren't too far off. :)

Tonight is the Annual Meeting for the complex we live in. I haven't been to one of these meetings but Beth has. She said it was seriously boring. I will definitely have my knitting with me.

Bigger on the inside

What a beautiful day out there today. It started out shaky. When I woke up it was raining and not too warm. I had to turn the heat on when I got to work because it was freezing in the store. The heat is off now and the sun is shining. I want to play outside. :)

While I was in Toronto on Sunday I picked up more Frill Seeker Precious Metal.

One ball and 10 stitches makes one scarf.

If you use 6-7 stitches then you can get two scarves out of one ball.

Earlier today I sent out a Shawl Yarn newsletter. Today's issue was about Bigger on the inside from Kate Atherley.

If you don't receive the newsletter you can download it here.

Kate will be in the store on Saturday May 26 teaching three workshops. There is still room in all her classes. I did a blog post about it last week but if you missed it click here and it will take you to Kate's classes and the homework she would like you to do before coming.

Tonight we are going shopping with the parents for dining room furniture. Urban Barn again.

This is the dining room table they chose. There has been a lot of discussion over the chairs but I have a feeling that these are the ones they pick. My dad loves shopping at Urban Barn. It is right beside 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. It isn't hard to keep my dad happy.

Day Off

Thank goodness for having Monday off. I have many errands to do today. Boxes are off to the post office. I need to run out and get a new suitcase. I'm flying to Myrtle Beach for the long weekend and don't have a bag to carry on the plane. The zipper broke on the one I had and it was a pain to open. Dad and Beth cleaned out our garage and it went to the dump. My dad isn't one for keeping things. "If you haven't used it in the last year then you don't need it"

It is many hours later and time to finish my thoughts.

My suitcase is from Heys. We have used their suitcases for years and they stand up great. I only bought the carry on but would love the whole set. Of course it is purple!!

Because I am flying to Myrtle Beach the store will be closed for one day. Tuesday May 22, 2012. We will be open on Saturday May 19 and then again on Wednesday May 23.

Here is the start of my Spectra scarf. I like the edges.

The Amazing Race was a bit of a nail biter last night. Getting to the mat and having to go back to complete a challenge. I'm not sure what I would have done in that situation. Tears come to mind.

I preview my post while writing it to make sure there aren't spelling mistakes and words that I have left out of sentences. I probably miss some but hopefully I don't. While scrolling down I see that I started blogging in 2005. That seems so long ago. I went to some of my 2005 posts and started reading. In 2005 Melo had surgery and needed to wear a cone. Here is my post from November of that year

Melo made it through his procedure just fine. The only problem is that he wants to lick the incision so he has to wear a cone on his head for the next couple of days. Not a happy dog. Actually Jekyll and Hyde is the best description. With the cone on he cries and cries. Take it off and happy Melo who likes to play.

Time hasn't changed him at all.

Beth and I are home from having dinner with Louise from L.K. Yarns. There is no shortage of conversation when the three of us get together. I'm finishing my post and then going to watch Top Chef. An episode of Season 3 and then the new episode from Top Chef Canada.

Fall Yarns

My morning started early so that I could get on the road to Toronto. The first stop was Estelle Designs. Estelle was the first company I bought yarn from when I opened 25 years ago. They brought us Frillseeker and have many new scarf yarns coming for fall. This is Cameo

There are many more scarf yarns coming but I don't want to spoil the surprise.

It's always fun going to Open Houses because I get to see other yarn store owners that I haven't seen in a while. Mary from Mary's Yarns in Unionville, Louise from LK Yarns in Halifax and Beth from Les Lainages du Petit Mouton in Montreal. These are just a few-there were many more.

Louise and I went from Estelle to Diamond to see more goodies.

Debbie Bliss

Eight new colours of Paloma. I'm liking these a lot. I don't have a Paloma sweater but will be finding one to knit.

 Angel will be available in 12 printed colours.

Winter Garden is a new yarn.  I really like the look of it. I'm seeing lots of new sweaters in my future!!
-8 colours
-30% merino, 30% baby llama, 20% linen and 20% silk
-10 stitches = 4"

There are new colours of Cashmerino Baby, Angel, Party Angel, Riva...

Noro

 Silk Garden has 8 new colour.

 Kureyon has 8 new colours as well. These will work great in my Log Cabin Afghan.

Shade cards for new Noro yarns (there are two) and new colours of existing yarns. Unfortunately they didn't have any pictures of the magazines that will be coming for fall.

This is just a small sample of yarns that will be coming. Normally the yarns start arriving late July and throughout August.

I also picked up a new scarf yarn. Spectra from Rozetti. One ball will make a scarf

Spectra opens into a lacy web with a fun row of bubbles along the edge!

It was many stops ago that I got this yarn-I think there are 6 colours.

I also picked up some colours of Ondas and Triana

Ondas

-purple
-teal/green

Triana

-grey/black
-fuchsia
-green/denim

The next stop was Crate and Barrel. I'm always on the lookout for something that mom and dad might need for their house. I didn't find anything for them but did get some things for me. Then onto Square One for more Lush.

I came home and it was a busy sports afternoon-Nascar, hockey, baseball and golf. I started knitting with the Spectra. Hopefully I can get it done tonight while watching the finale of The Amazing Race. I don't care who wins as long as it isn't Brenden and Rachel. :)

Bright and Cheery

I have been unpacking from the Frolic all week. It should have been done by now but I decided to rearrange the store at the same time. This creates an even bigger mess!

Noro Taiyo now lives at the front door.

As many of you know I have a small Noro problem-I love it. Their colour combinations call to me. I have a cardigan knit in Taiyo and like wearing the yarn. When I was putting out the new colours we received I kept picking ones that I want to knit with.

Summer garments

Top left-Austin Hoodie in Lorna's Laces Solemate
Top middle-Classic Elite Sanibel
Top right-Prism vest kit. I showed this vest a few weeks ago but wasn't impressed by how it looked on the mannequin. Funny story. I saw the label in the back and put that at the top. Labels always go to the top. When I was putting the vest on the mannequin yesterday I saw that the writing on the label was upside down. Weird. Prism sewed the label in their garment wrong. No - they sewed it fine but it goes at the bottom of the vest. Now it is hanging properly and looks much better.
Bottom-Berroco Origami

It is nice and bright when you walk in the front door.
The cardigan in the middle is Rowan Revive and the sweater on the right is Berroco Linsey.

The yarns that found a new home are

-Rowan Revive

-Classic Elite Sanibel

-Classic Elite Seedling Hand Pain

-Berroco Linsey

-Berroco Origami

-Berroco Captiva

There are still a few things to be moved but I am done for today. Melo is doing very well. He spent yesterday without the cone. We didn't put it on him until bed time. He woke Beth up at 7 this morning to go out. I heard them and debated going back to sleep. Instead I got up and was here by 8:30 and continued my moving. I'm tired now so I'm going to open my knitting bag and watch the end of the hockey game.

Tomorrow I will be going to Toronto to see some of the new yarns for fall. Noro. Debbie Bliss. Sirdar. Katia..... I will do my best to get some pictures.

Coat of Many Colours

Jane has started a new project for the store. I asked her to send pictures so that I can share her progress with you. She even wrote out a post for me. I like this idea. Hopefully she will keep taking pictures and writing about the knitting as it grows.

This  

is going to be this.  It is mindless knitting right at the moment. After the initial casting on so many stitches and then making sure it is not twisted..it really is just knitting and purling. Will see how it grows

Melo made it through surgery fine. He came home with an ugly cut up ear and very clean teeth. We left the cone off for a while because he was just lying on the floor sleeping. When he woke up he shook his head which caused his ear to bleed. We put the cone on him which made him very sad. He asked that I don't take a picture-he looks so sad and silly in the cone. We stayed downstairs with him and I had to put my knitting away because he just wanted me to rub his head. Beth is working from home today so that he can relax. Actually, we didn't know how we were going to get him in her truck with the cone on. He has no clue how to move with it on.

Here is my knitting so far.

June 20 is going to be here before I know it. My fingers better start moving quicker if I am going to get this done!

More from Coastal Knits

I haven't shown a picture of the last Gnarled Oak. Lynn finished hers in time for the Frolic and proudly wore it all day-even when it was so hot in the booth we thought we were going to wilt.

Lynn does have button holes but she couldn't find buttons to her liking. We looked in the store late Friday night but we were so tired from setting up that we couldn't find anything/didn't really look. We went with a shawl pin for now until she finds the perfect button.

I love the leaves across the top.

Did you know that there are new patterns coming out called Coastal Kids? These won't be in a book but in leaflet form. I think they are going to be shipped to us next week.

I took Wannietta's work outside to get a picture that is better than what I showed from the Frolic.

Pattern: Wildflower Cardigan from Coastal Knits
Knit in Tosh Pashmina

The pocket detail and edging are beautiful!

Melo had surgery on his ear this afternoon. Leanne called that he was doing well. Beth is there right now picking him up. I can only imagine what a suck he is going to be tonight.

Survivor last night was great. Kat's first mistake was not taking Tarzan and his wife for the reward. Then she made a stupid statement about why she took the people she did. At tribal when she was talking about a blind side thinking that Sabrina was going was priceless. I think that Tarzan and Christina are sitting really good right now. If they keep their mouths shut they could outlive the others as the fighting starts.

I'M GOING TO KNIT TONIGHT!! Sorry for writing in caps but if I say it then I have to do it. :) Who cares that the house needs to be cleaned.

Kate's Coming

Kate Atherley (wisehilda) will be coming back to the store on Saturday May 26.

Finishing 9:30-11:30
This two-hour workshop teaches all the key skills for assembling and finishing your knitting projects: seaming (including grafting), picking up stitches for necklines, weaving in ends, and the advantages and disadvantages of various cast-off techniques. The focus will be very much on making finishing as quick and painless as possible – we’ll share all the cheats and shortcuts we know. We’ll also demystify blocking, and talk about the proper care of your knits.

Kate will be covering cover seaming - mattress stitch, invisible horizontal, and invisible vertical-to-horizontal for setting in sleeves; three needle bind-off and grafting - how and also where and where not to use them. I demo picking up stitches and weaving in ends, and talk about blocking - how and why. I provide expert tips like how to cast off best for easy finishing (loosely, in pattern), how and when to modify patterns to reduce finishing (working the body of a sweater in the round, for example), and how to reduce the stress (e.g. put the shoulders together and work the neckline before you work the sleeve - actually helps you better fit the sleeves).

Homework
Two 4 inch squares of stocking stitch worked with 4 or 5mm needles and worsted weight yarn; scrap worsted weight yarn in a constrating colour.

Materials
bring any projects that need finishing, homework swatches, and a blunt-tipped darning needle

Continental Knitting 12:30-2:30
Want to knit faster? Are you ready to tackle colourwork? Knitting continental style - with the yarn in your left hand rather than right - is the key to speed, and also helps you enormously with colorwork. Suitable for knitters who are confident with knit and purl.

There isn't any homework for the course but Kate would like you to bring
4.5mm needles (straight or short circular) and two colors of scrap worsted weight yarn

Finishing 3:00-5:00 

The cost for each workshop is $30.

Please note:
Class size is limited
You must pay the class fee in advance, either in person or over the phone
Fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Kidsilk Creation Stripe

Last night I taught at the Around the Bay Knitting Guild. We had a great evening. If you live in the Hamilton, Dundas, Ancaster area then you should think about joining the group. The ladies are very passionate about their knitting. All skill levels are welcome!

This morning I ordered Rowan for fall. I really like the patterns. Very Rowanish. If you have some of the early magazines then you will understand what I am saying. Lots of fair isle. Lots of tweed. Great use of colour. Felted Tweed was used in lots of garments. That is a very good thing. The yarn is great to knit with and even better to wear. There are new yarns for fall and new colours in the existing yarns. I wish I could show pictures and tell you more but for now this it. As soon as I get the go ahead I will post more. I will say that I am excited about Rowan magazine 52 and the mini magazines coming.

Any day Mr. UPS should be bringing a box with new colours of Rowan Kidsilk Creation Stripe. You can make a scarf in under an hour.

A net, tubular construction made from the best selling yarn Kidsilk Haze which is 70% super kid silk Mohair and 30% silk

Sorry that this hangs over a bit
When the picture is smaller you can't see
the colours.

Still no knitting to report. Last night Melo got the bandage off his head again. I was afraid he was going to rub his ear on the carpet and get it bleeding so he sat with me and I rubbed his head. He was very happy. Tomorrow they are doing surgery to get everything cleared up.

Beth and I (okay, my dad) decided that it was time to paint our house. We moved in 5 years ago and it is time to get rid of the builders beige walls. I have gone through 100 pages on www.design-seeds.com to get some colour ideas. Right now I am thinking about my bedroom. My bedding is purple. Shocking. Do I want purple walls? Maybe dark teal. Works great with purple. Maybe a dark grey. These are just a few of the many combinations that I like. Take some time and look at the great combinations that they are showing.

The ladies will be here soon for knitting class. I'm not sure if they are going to do any knitting but I am. :)

New Sock Stand

As I was straightening/rearranging the store today I decided to change the look of the blog. I can't tell you why it had to be done today but something made me do it.

I have a new stand for sock yarn. Here are some very bad pictures. I was trying to be quick-I need to learn to take my time.

Shepherd Sock

Spud and Chloe sock. The colours are now in numerical order. Some days I can be very efficient.

Tanis Sock.

The rest of the store is still a mess. Less than yesterday though. Jane came in and helped me. Thank you Jane-looking at the boxes was driving me nuts. Tomorrow things should be back to normal.

Tonight I am speaking at the Around the Bay Knitting Guild. I'm going to do a workshop on Linen Stitch. Once you do a few rows the technique isn't too hard.

Poor Melo had to visit the vet twice yesterday. In the morning they took his bandage off and looked at his ear. They put the bandage back on and within half an hour Melo got the bandage off. We tried to put it back on but no luck. He got to see Leanne twice in one day. At 9:45 last night (the time is very important) Beth started going through the house looking for rubbing alcohol. Roko had a tick. There wasn't time to be looking. The drug store by our house closes at 10. I took off to get what we needed. I put rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and kept dabbing the tick. Then we are supposed to be able to pull it out. It wasn't going anywhere. We decided to leave it until this morning and take Roko to see Leanne and have her pull it out. Small problem for me. The rubbing alcohol started to take the polish off my nails. I wasn't happy. I put top coat on them to try and make them look better until I can see my nail guy. No knitting for me for fear of getting the top coat on my yarn. Roko saw Leanne this morning and the tick is gone.

It's time to run. I need to drop my computer off at home before heading to Dundas.