Rowan is here

I am in the middle of unpacking 7 boxes of Rowan yarns and magazines. So far I have opened the boxes of magazines. Rowan 44, Colourscapes Chunky and Cocoon. They look great.
I will post about them later tonight.

needleemporium.com upgrades

The last couple of days have been busy. The Open (golf tournament from England) was this weekend and TV coverage started at 7am. Of course I set my alarm to get up and watch. I did get some knitting done on Edie today.

Korey (my web guy) surprised me yesterday with some upgrades on the web site. Take a look at the Cascade 220 page. For most of the yarns the shade card now shows up on the front page of the yarn. You can put in the quantity you want to buy right on that page-no more jumping between pages. I will be going into work tomorrow to update some of the quantities-somehow these got messed up in the upgrade.

The new Rowan hasn't shown up yet. I have been told that it has left the US. I am hoping it will arrive tomorrow while I am at the store but I can't stay there all day because I have a dentist appointment. If not, we should have it on Tuesday. It will be on the website the minute it arrives in the store.

This is the new Fiona Tote from Offhand Designs. Cosmo Bloom, Ebony and Ivory and Punch Bloom.


A new episode of Big Brother tonight which means some more time to knit.

Busy with new arrivals

I have been trying to sit down since the beginning of the week to write a post. The store has been busy (no complaints here) but it doesn't leave much computer time. I also golfed this week. My game was much better.

This is a new clutch from Offhand Designs called Stella Bella. Each side opens to hold your knitting and accessories.


The new Rowan hasn't arrived yet but we are hoping any day. Unfortunately Rowan's website hasn't been updated yet to show the new magazine and yarns.

I haven't picked up my knitting needles in a week. Maybe tonight. I have been tired at night so I have relaxed in front of the TV. I know that I can knit in front of the TV but laying down was very enjoyable. The first few episodes of Big Brother were great. Brian thought he had the game won and the others caught on quickly. Canadian Idol was a disappointment this week. I don't think they did David Bowie justice. I didn't watch the results show last week so I wasn't aware of those that didn't make it through. It was disappointing to see who was gone.

Now I am going back to rearranging the store. I need to find room for the new yarns that are arriving.

NEW, NEW, NEW

The tent sale went well but we are all tired. I came to the store today to find many, many boxes of things to unpack.

The new patterns from KnitWhits just arrived. I showed Edie earlier in the week. I just started the armhole shaping. Edie takes 2-4 balls of Noro Kureyon and 2-3 balls of Kureyon Sock. There are five sizes available on the pattern.

This is Raffaela-knit out of Silk Garden. There are five sizes available on the pattern and the jacket takes 9-13 balls.

Fall Berroco has arrived. You can preview the magazines and yarns on the Berroco website.

I'm leaving for home soon and hopefully a good night sleep. Have a good weekend!!

Jane Thornley

Here are some Jane Thornley patterns you can download. You will find lots at the tent sale to go with these patterns.

Noro cardigan and tent sale preview

My mom's surgery went well. She did come home from the hospital on Friday night. She is ordering us all around so she must be feeling better!!

Edie is a new pattern from KnitWhits. The copies to sell in the store should be arriving any day. The jacket is knit using Noro Kureyon Sock and the matching colour of Noro Kureyon. The sock is knit on 6mm needles and the Worsted uses 10mm needles.


I am using colour 188 for mine. I am about to start the armhole shaping. (When I am done this post I will sit down and watch Canadian Idol and do a few more rows.)
Cathy, Beth, Dad and I got all the yarn moved into St. John's Parish Hall today. It took a few trips but we got it all done.

The hall is huge so there will be lots of room for people to move around and look at yarn.
When going through the boxes and bags we found lots of ribbons and fancy yarns. These will work great with Jane Thornley's patterns. You can buy them on Patternfish (the pattern website I talked about a couple of weeks ago).

Rearranging

I had some time last week so I decided to rearrange the store again. This is the front room. Colinette Ab Fab afghans hung on the wall but the kits are no longer available in Canada so I took them down.
Merino Otto is now in the front room along with some great garments designed by Jane Slicer-Smith.

I hope you enjoyed Canada Day. Dad, Beth and I golfed. My game was much better but my body still hurts.

Mom goes in for surgery in the morning. Her surgeon (who has done major work on her for the past 20 years) hopes that it is a simple hernia operation and that she can come home on Friday. One day in the hospital will be a first for mom.

New sock and shawl yarns have arrived in the store. Don't forget to ask about them on your next visit.

I'm not sure how much I will get to write before the tent sale. I have a garage full of yarn to organize.

Canada Day

I hope everyone is enjoying a day off. I thought that I would be able to write a nice long post with pictures but no luck-my dad called and wants to go golfing. He has finished his work in the basement and has nothing to do today.

The basement is looking great. The floors are in and the baseboard is done. We convinced him that we wanted white wood trim like the upstairs. In his words-it was a bitch to do but it looks great. Hopefully the painters will finish this week and then the bathroom will be done next week.
Have a good day and I will do a real post when I'm back in the store.

It's Here

It's here and looks great!!!

Patternfish

A friend of mine has started a new company that sells knitting patterns online, Patternfish. Currently there are almost 900 patterns in the data base. There are search criteria so that you can find a pattern easier, for instance, men's, v-neck with cables. You will find out of print patterns from Reynolds (old Norah Gaughan designs like this one), Naturally, Twilleys, Style Craft and Classic Elite as well as new patterns from Cabin Fever, Phoenix Bess (a 15 year old designer who has a book coming out next year), and a Sally Melville exclusive.

You can now browse for patterns in the comfort of your own home, download the patterns and then bring them yarn shopping.

If you are a pattern designer, please contact Patternfish about having your patterns on the site.

Della Q

My first shipment from Della Q just arrived.
This needle case will hold 12 circular needles. There is also a zippered pocket. Made out of 100% silk it measures 8.5" x 8.5" when tied.

For the last two years I have looked at these while at TNNA. I really liked them but didn't order because the numbering for the needles was in American sizing. They are now available with Metric sizing.



Four colours are available. Shown in Green Stripe. Also Available in Blue, Fuchsia and Yellow Stripe.

Revisiting an old friend

I know it has been a while since my last post. I stayed away from the computer last week and did some knitting. I worked on my shawl for part of the week and then picked up Lizard Ridge again (I had to try out the new colours of Kureyon).
This is 217-Earthtones W, Teal Yellow
This is 233-Deep Blue, Olive

Yesterday I went golfing. My body is very sorry today. It has been almost 2 years since I played-my game was awful but we had fun.

Some of you signed up to receive the emails about new sock and shawl yarns. The first went out on Friday when a shipment came in from Lorna's Laces. There are many new colours of Shepherd Socks and six colours of Helen's Laces. If you were having troubles signing up, please send me an email and I will add you to the list.

I have started pulling books off the shelves for the tent sale.
-select Rowan Magazines $20
-select Rowan smaller magazines (for individual yarns) $15
-Nashua magazines $8

Customers have been asking when the new yarns will be arriving.
I just talked with Berroco and their yarn and books should be here by the middle of July.
Rowan is supposed to be shipping on July 15 so we should have the magazines and yarns the following week.

Work in progress, new yarn, coming soon

I am going to start sending out two new newsletters for the store. The first will announce the arrival of sock yarn and the second shawl yarn and patterns. Those receiving these emails will have at least a 24 hour advance warning before the yarn is put in the store or I mention it on my blog. Just click on the 'Join The Needle Emporium Email Mailing List' to the left and enter your email address. You will receive an email asking you to confirm the areas that interest you.

I really wanted to start a new project but decided that I had to get some of my other projects finished. This is the Dawn shawl that I started quite some time ago. I am about 30% done.



Lorna's Laces is bringing out 4 new colourways for fall. This is Helen's Lace in the new colour Ashburn. The new colours should be here in about 6-8 weeks. I was given this skein so that I could get it knit up in time for the Knitter's Fair. I have the pattern picked out but I have to finish my Dawn shawl first.




Rowan Colourscapes is a new collection of chunky single-ply Shetland style wool. There are eight different colour variations available which were created by Kaffe Fassett.

Fall Rowan Preview

I am back in the store today. There will be lots for me to do. A shipment of the Noro arrived yesterday. The new colours of Kureyon and Silk Garden are here.

The trip to TNNA was great. Seeing old friends and meeting new people is always fun. And the yarn!!! Most of my ordering was done before the show. The show is a great place to see garments knit up and find accessories (bags and shawl pins) that we don't have here. I did damage in four booths

Namaste
-the new bag called Newport looks great.
-Peacock (the new seasonal colour) is a dark teal blue. The pictures on the Internet don't do the colour justice

Offhand Designs
-there are six new fabrics for fall which I have ordered in the different styles. These won't be in the store until September

Prism
The colours available from Prism are some of the best on the market. It is amazing to see a whole booth with these amazing yarns hanging-it really makes you want them all.
-Gossamer is a new lace weight mohair.
-new colours coming in Lace Wool
-new colours coming in Saki

Lorna's Laces
There are four new colours for fall. I ordered these in Shepherd Socks a couple of weeks ago so that I could be first in line. At the show I added these colours in Helen's Lace. You might see a trend happening here-lace and sock yarn. More and more customers are coming into the store looking at the lace yarns so I have decided to give you an amazing selection.

While reading some discussions on Ravelry I saw that pictures of Rowan 44 had been posted on the Internet. Since they are being shared by others, I figured that I would share them as well. Sorry that they aren't bigger but now you can drool until the magazine comes out. This is Rowans 30th anniversary issue and the designs are fabulous. They remind me of the designs from Rowan books 1-6 that made me fall in love with Rowan.

I have been told that the release date on the Rowan is July 15 so we should have it a few days after that.


















The four garments on the right of this picture are knit out of Kaffe Fassett's Colourscapes. This is a chunky, self-striping yarn. There will be a magazine with about 10 designs dedicated to this yarn. I loved the look of the yarn and the colours.

Heritage Days

We arrived home safely on Tuesday night. I will post on the weekend about some of the great yarns and accessories that were ordered at the show.

Heritage Days is this Saturday in Ancaster. Normally Wilson St is closed from Rousseaux (right by the store) to the other end of town from 10-11am. This year the road is closed from 10am-1pm. A parade runs through town but doesn't start until after the store. There will be a police officer at the corner of Rousseaux and Wilson but I don't know if they will let you down the road to the store. You might have to park at the corner and walk. Sorry for any inconvenience-the signs were posted while I was away and I just saw them yesterday.

Gotta run. I have errands to do but I wanted to let you know about Saturday.

Opal Sock Yarn

New colours of Opal sock yarn should be on the way to me as you are reading this. I tried to make the picture bigger but this is as big as I can get it.

Lace Cardi

I finished the cardigan at 5:20 this afternoon. All sewn together, all ends sewn in and I added a crochet edge. Sorry-no time for pictures. It is now in my suitcase ready for the trip.

We are leaving early in the morning. Hopefully the hockey game doesn't go into overtime again tonight-I need to get some sleep.

I will have lots to post about when I get home. Have a good weekend-enjoy the warm weather.

Tent Sale

You might want to make some notes before coming to the sale.

We will have back issues of some Rowan magazines available for great prices. Bring a list of the magazines you already have. Also, take a look at Rowan's website and see if there are any issues that interest you.

All Lantern Moon knitting needles will be 50% off.

Namaste

I just received an email from Namaste to announce their newest bag. It is called Newport (the middle bag). I will be seeing the actual bag this weekend. I knew about the bag because it has been advertised in a trade magazine but I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag too soon.

Peacock blue is the new seasonal colour (and will be available in all 3 bags). I hope to have these bags in the store in a couple of weeks.

My day has been crazy. Up at 8am for the workers (who didn't show up). I did some work here at home, did some running around and then went and helped Beth at the warehouse. I came home because the electrician was supposed to be here at 3 but now I find out he isn't coming either. Now it is off to Suds to have my truck washed and cleaned out inside and then to the nail salon. Unfortunately all workers are supposed to be here at 8am tomorrow.

I'm liking knitting lace

The time on this post is correct. It is 8am!! We are waiting for the drywallers to arrived and finish the ceiling in the basement. I can't wait for the renovations to be done so I can go back to sleeping in until 9.

I have been diligently knitting to try and get my cardigan done. We are off to Columbus, Ohio on Thursday for a trade show and really want to take it.

It does look longer on the mannequin than in the picture. I add two extra lace panels before the armholes and one after. Since the mannequin is smaller than me it hangs really long on her but it isn't that long on me.

Since taking this picture I have finished the first sleeve. The front and backs are knit and then joined with a 3-needle bind off. The sleeves are then picked up and worked down. The sewing will be a piece of cake.
Dad and Beth are putting down the sub floor in the basement.

My dad is a blur because he is moving so fast.

Tomorrow is dad's birthday. We are just going out to dinner with their friends-not another big party.