Onto the next event

The Tent Sale is done.  I need to say Thank You to a few people who were instrumental in helping put on the event.  Stephanie and Sally offered their services because they thought it would be fun.  I guess they enjoyed it because they asked if they could help next year.  Thank you to these ladies who gave up their precious time to help.  Then there is my great staff-Jane, Cathy and Sarah.  Jane was in the store holding down the fort.  Cathy came in all week to help sort through the yarn, get it out and then came every day to help at the sale.  Cathy (aka the Neat Freak) was constantly going through boxes and untangling messes.  She kept like yarns together and did a great job of it.  Sarah wasn't feeling well but sucked it up every day to come and work.  She also ran to the store a few times to help out when Jane was overwhelmed with many shoppers.  I like it when there are that many people in the store.  :)

Thank you ladies!!

Now I can get onto the next event-The Knitter's Fair.  I think my shawl will be finished in time.  I have four rows to knit and then my border is done.  This is good for me because I can cut tomorrow.  I know that I said that I would invite everyone to the store to see me do it but I can't wait until later in the week.  Once the steeks are cut I have to pick up over 700 stitches.  Then there are over 60 rows to knit on these stitches.  My shawl will then have a bath in Soak and be laid out to block.  It will take at least four days to dry. After writing this I am getting nervous that it might not be finished.

I finally got a chance to look at the new yarns from madelinetosh.  YUMMY!! These won't be put on the website yet so I am going to list them here.

Pashmina (double knitting weight with 329m on a skein)

madelinetosh pashmina is a 3-ply yarn made up of 75% superwash merino wool, 15% silk and 10% cashmere, a similar fiber blend to the infamous woven pashmina scarves.
this machine washable blend is hand-dyed in small dye lots and knits up to create a soft fabric with great drape.

In Pashmina we have
Lichen-2 skeins
Sugarplum-6 skeins
Hollyhock-6 skeins
Tart-6 skeins
Rosewood-6 skeins

Tosh Merino Light

tosh merino light is a 100% superwash merino wool, single-ply fingering weight yarn.
with a generous 440 yards per skein, one skein is more than enough yardage to complete a pair of socks and two skeins can complete a full-sized lace project.
each incredibly soft skein is hand-dyed in small dye lots. 

We have 4 skeins each of
Fig
Tart
Duchess
Calligraphy
Blue Gingham
Creme de Menthe
Geranium
Bloomsbury
Molly Ringwald
La Vie en Rose

And more Tosh Sock came in the box as well

Teddy Bear

Boxwood

Bloomsbury

Creme de Menthe

La Vie en Rose

Molly Ringwald

Well Water

I am moving upstairs now to knit and relax.  Have a great evening!!

Another quick post

Sorry but there is going to be another short post tonight.  I just got home from the sale.  On the way I considered picking up dinner but didn't think I was hungry.  Guess what.  It is ten minutes later and now I am starving.

Here is a picture of the hall before we started on Thursday-thanks Sally. The front part of the picture is the stage which held a lot of yarn on Thursday. Not so much now.

So now I try to upload a picture and we are back to the easy way of doing it.  Not sure what is going on with Blogger.

Here are the ladies and men who were keen on getting some great deals.

The hall is looking empty.  THANK YOU VERY MUCH.  This means that the clean up tomorrow afternoon will be quick.

Don't forget that we are open 9-1 for the Tent Sale and the store is open from 10-4.

Quick post

I just got home from the Tent Sale and am making a quick post before bed.  It is going to be so quick that there won't be any pictures until tomorrow.

The day was great-many knitters came through.  We had a small (okay really, really big) problem this morning but everyone was great about it.  I dropped the debit machine.  SMASH.  Pieces everywhere.  Of course it didn't work the rest of the day.  We accepted credit cards and I hope to have a new machine tomorrow.  Thanks to all for their patience today.  We did manual credit card slips.  Yes, that machine where you put the card in and then special paper and slide a handle across and back.  This slowed everything down but knitters are very happy, forgiving people.  :)

We went through a lot of yarn but luckily there is still a bit in storage that we will be getting out in the morning.

Okay, I lied.  I am going to watch Big Brother quickly and then bed.  Sweet dreams all.

Good and bad

We are set for the big day tomorrow. Cathy, Stephanie and I met at the store at 10am to take the last few boxes to the hall. There was no fooling around and we were done by 2:30.  I had no idea we could get everything done that quickly.

This is where the bad part of my day started.  There is a Farmer's Market every Wednesday outside the hall.  It runs from 3-7 and the people need to have access to the hall to use the kitchen and washrooms.  I had to stay all afternoon guarding my yarn.  :)  No one paid any attention to it but I had to stay until they were done for the day to make sure that the hall was locked.  I got home around 8pm which made for a long day.

Let me talk about the good part of my day.  I got to knit for many hours meaning that the shawl is progressing quickly.  There are about 8 rows to go until the top border is done and the cutting can begin.

There is more good to the day.  A shipment arrived from Madelinetosh.

Ten colours of Tosh Merino Light.

Seven colours in Tosh Sock.

And five colours of Pashmina.

Then the bad part of my day again.  I started doing my blog and couldn't upload pictures.  Now there is an extra step to add them.  I am trying to rush because I need to get some laundry done and then watch Big Brother.

One more thing about the Tent Sale.  There are some amazing yarns.  It was hard for me not to take the Jo Sharp Tweed DK in mauve and lime.  Then there is the Jo Sharp Aran Tweed.  Then there is the...  This could be a very long list.

In the hall there is a stage and we have a treat for you.  All yarns on the stage are 2 for $1.

Packing

The packing has begun.  Thankfully mom and dad are home from Myrtle Beach right now so dad is coming this afternoon to move tables and boxes for me.

I really miss my Expedition on days like today.  That truck could hold a lot of yarn!  My Edge groaned at me when I started taking garbage bags out this morning.

Lynda just emailed me with a yarn emergency.  She is knitting Wild Saffron (the same sweater as I am knitting but she is a bit quicker) and needs another ball of yarn. I think I might have sent her the wrong amount. Sorry. There is no sense sending just two balls so her next project is in the box as well.

We are now carrying Freedom Wool from Twilleys.  Super Chunky 100% roving yarn.  I think she can get this knit up quickly.

Cathy came so that I can go and start taking yarn to the Parish Hall.  Just as I was about to leave Mr. Canpar came with three large boxes of Debbie Bliss yarns.
-Debbie Bliss Glen (all colours)
-new colours of Luxury Tweed Aran, Luxury Tweed Chunky, Baby Cashmerino and Cashmerino Aran

The books that came today are
-Glen
-Folk Chic
-Snow Queen

Cathy has her work cut out for her.

Pages

We can now add pages to the blog.  Just under 'A Really Good Yarn' you will see Home and then Tent Sale.  If I have something really important to talk about and don't want it to disappear into previous posts then I will make a page for it.  There will be a page coming for the Knitter's Fair and when I get my class schedule done it will be there as well.

Cathy and I met in the store this morning to get the last of the Tent Sale yarn together.  Cathy finished quickly and then moved onto straightening up the store.  No more bags of yarn on the floor in the Aran/Worsted weight room!  This left an empty basket so Cathy made a nice display.  She has fun playing with things like this.

We then set off to Beth's warehouse where the rest of the Tent Sale yarn is stored.  Of course I get the really high shelves.  We got down many garbage bags of yarn and there is some really good stuff.

My Malthese is progressing.  A few more days and the border will be done. Beth is making dinner so that I can get my mail orders done and then get some more knitting done.

Brendon winning HOH last night was great.  He thinks that he is in control but watch out for Matt's special POV.  It is going to be a good week.

Unexpected Evening

Last night I did something that I haven't done in a long time-went to see a movie.  Beth, Lynda and I talked about a movie on Friday night and Lynda suggested Silver City in Oakville.  They have VIP theatres. These are over 19 (meaning you can get a drink) with very comfy large leather seats.  Beth and I bought the tickets online and then you can reserve your seats.  Amazing.  And it wasn't much more than the regular price for seeing a movie.

I chose The Expendables.  It took absolutely no brain cells.  I could sit for two hours and not think about work or knitting or Tent Sale or Knitter's Fair or Knitting Camp.  Perfect.  Not a Chick Flick but was perfect for me.  I'm not sure I can recommend the movie but there were a few laughs and I didn't fall asleep.

I am going to continue working on Malthese this afternoon while watching golf.  A few more rows and the first part of the border is done.  After finishing the chart I do a purl row and then repeat the chart reversing the colours.

Garments on display

The sample sweaters from Rowan are here.  Beautiful.  They look good in the book when you see them in person you will say WOW.

Swaddle knit in Drift from the magazine Winter Drift.

I thought I wanted this when I saw the magazine but then I talked myself out of it. Now I am definitely going to make this. 10mm needles so it will knit fast.

Frances knit in Lima (pattern from Heartland Classics magazine).  This is the new colour 891 La Paz.  A beautiful red with a purple undertone.

And a close up of the pattern.

The yarn really shows off cables.

Hiker and Rambler are both knit in Cocoon.  The patterns can be found in Rowan 48.

Right now they are sitting on top of boxes but once the Tent Sale is done we can display them properly on the wall.

Purelife Autumn is one of my favourite books for fall.  I am knitting in the new Purelife Renew and didn't consider these two patterns but now that they are hanging in my store I am definitely thinking about them.

This is Winter Aconite.  Lynda please hurry with your knitting because I really need this coat!!!  Deciding the colour is going to be difficult.  Beige, brown or charcoal grey?

Winter Sweet and the Ruffled Scarf are a great combination.

Obviously I need to knit a lot faster to get all the garments that I need for fall.

I am an idiot

So yesterday afternoon I am sitting in the store and working on my shawl. The first few rows of the border pattern were done and now I am into the main part of the pattern-starting at row 7.  The chart is a bit hard to read (how many stitches are in the thick black columns) so I wrote out the first row to make the set up easier.  After the first row is done then it is clear sailing.  I get to the middle of the row and I am perfect with the pattern.  Everything is lining up the way it should.  Then it hit me.  I used the colours in the wrong order.  Open boxes are pink.  My writing says start with 9 pink.  No, I started with 9 green.  There were a few choice words said as I was ripping out 250 stitches!!

Here is my border so far.  I don't even have to look at the chart now. Thank goodness since I obviously can't read a chart.

On Tuesday Jane and I did some straightening and I took a picture but never posted it.  Here is the Cascade 220, Tosh Vintage and Noro Kureyon neatly on the shelf.

This afternoon my Rowan Rep is coming in and bringing me some garments from the new Rowan books.  Happy Dance.  Can't wait to see them.

I'm on the border

We just sent out a newsletter this morning.  If you didn't receive the newsletter but would like to receive them, click on 'Join the Needle Emporium Mailing List' at the right of this post.

Download the newsletter.

That was as far as my post got yesterday morning.  The store was crazy until the afternoon and then I gave myself time to knit.  I need to get my shawl done.  My repeats are all done and I have started the border.  Then to figure out the border repeat.  There are currently 525 stitches on my needle.  No wonder it takes so long to get through a row!!  Once everything was figured out I was good to go while watching Big Brother.  When I got to the 15th stitch on the second row of the chart I realized that I made a mistake on the first row.  The pattern was one main, one background around the row and I did two background at one point.  There was no way I was ripping out over 500 stitches.  I dropped these 15 stitches down and reversed the colour.  A bit dicey but it worked.

Big Brother was great last night.  I am so glad that Kathy did not back down and apologize to Rachel.  Not sure who I want to be sent home tonight. Rachel in the house with everyone ganging up on her will be great!!  She thinks that she has a chance but Matt has that special POV that he can use next week.

Back to the important things. A shipment just arrived from Crystal Palace with four new colours of Mini Mochi.  These tonal colours will work great for lace knitting.

The most recent Knitty has a great pattern called Coquille in Mini Mochi.

Jordana Paige took some more pictures of her soon to be released bag.  I LOVE this colour.

Everyone is asking about the inside of the bag so here are a couple of pictures for you.

I am going to sign off for a bit to watch the golf and get some knitting done-I want/need to get enough done to show a picture.

Here is the picture. Sorry that it isn't better but hopefully I will get a chunk done tonight.

Where is that email?

I am sitting upstairs in front of my Mac.  I was looking for an email I can't find on my laptop and hoped that it was saved on this computer.  No such luck.  I couldn't help myself from logging on and typing away.  It is nice to type on a real keyboard.

Beth and I are going to Long Beach (California) at the beginning of January for a trade show.  What is on the way to California??  Of course we are looking at going to Vegas for a few days.  Or more than a few days if we can swing it.  We need to be in California on January 6th for a meeting but could postpone our arrival until the 7th if we had to.  The show starts on the 8th.  I originally thought we should fly to Vegas on the 3rd and then realized that January 1 the store is closed so why not leave then.  Now I need to find the email from the Mirage with an offer for cheap hotel rooms!!

Yesterday we checked the weather report many times and it said a chance of rain.  One mm.  We thought that it didn't sound like much so we headed off to the golf course.  After finishing the first hole it started to spit.  Not a big deal.  It actually felt nice.  Then it started to come down.  I suggested we wait a minute before teeing off on the second hole and then the sirens sounded. Back to the clubhouse where they said it was looking like rain for the next few hours.  We got our money back and headed to Maple View.  Lunch and a trip to the Coach store.  I didn't buy anything but there are some interesting bags for fall.  Beth is yelling at me to put in the post that she beat me at golf yesterday.  My streak is over.  One hole and she got me by one stroke. Hardly a win!!

Jane and I worked like crazy in the store today.  The Noro Kureyon is now on the shelf in numerical order and we straightened up the Cascade 220.

We received an order from Namaste today but the new bags aren't ready yet. Hopefully they will be here in time for the Knitter's Fair.  This is the Hip Holster.

The Messenger Bag and Hip Holster in black.

Durability meets Style with the brand new Messenger bag from Namaste.

• Constructed of durable, PVC free materials that are animal-friendly and luggage quality
• Laptop tested with interior padding to protect & separate your computer from the rest of the bag
• Adjustable shoulder strap with pad
• Bag expands by up to 3" in width with exterior zipper feature
• Features many extra pockets for organization
• Gun metal hardware accents for a unisex appeal

Beth has asked for a Messenger Bag in Peacock.

Brand new from Namaste, introducing the Hip Holster:

• Constructed of durable, PVC free materials that are animal-friendly and luggage quality
• Dual functions include belt attachment feature & adjustable shoulder strap option.
• Dual compartment design for extra organization
• Gun metal hardware accents for a unisex appeal
• Ideal for airport or city travel, small projects or gadgets, and for people "on the go"

Beth is playing poker and once she is done we will be watching the season finale of Hell's Kitchen.  Beth picked Jay from the start and I picked Holli.  I think Beth is going to win this one.

Ten Done

I'm back.  I got on a roll with my knitting yesterday which meant no blog post. I have finished the ten repeats of my shawl and am ready to start working on the border.  I don't know if you can see it in the picture but there are stitch markers along my work now.  The border pattern has a different number of stitches to it than the main pattern.  If I just start the border pattern it won't be centred so now I have a bit of figuring out to do.

Now I have a problem with the cutting.  I want to invite everyone to the store to see me cut but I need to give you some notice.  I don't think I can get it done for Saturday which means next week.  TENT SALE.  Do I wait until the Tuesday after Tent Sale?  Will this leave me enough time to get it finished for the Knitter's Fair?  Questions like this keep me up at night.

How about Big Brother!!  Rachel is not a very nice person.  She is so mean to Brendon and he takes it, begging for forgiveness like a little kid.  Seriously, get some backbone.  She is going to campaign against you this week and you are confessing your undying love for her.  I'm not sure who I want to go but I'm thinking Rachel.  That whiny voice is like fingers on a chalk board. And those clothes.

I should be working this afternoon but if the weather is nice Beth and I are sneaking out to the golf course.  It could be my last round of the year so I'm not going to pass it up.

Cornflower Shawl

Last year Marijke was visiting her cousin in Kitchener and they made a road trip to the store. They came in again today and Marijke brought some knitting to show off. She lives in Denmark and loves to knit Christel Seyfarth kits.

Here she is in the Cornflower Shawl.

Marijke has knit many of the kits and answered a few of my questions about the finishing.

And the pattern close up.

Absolutely beautiful. Now I want to get home as quickly as possible and work on my shawl.

Wannietta and Joan came for a visit this afternoon. Wannietta is looking great!! She was perky as always-she wore me out with her energy :)

New Aran

I was playing on Ravelry and came across a great pattern from Jane Thornley.  It is called Green Before the Gold and is a free download.  Think Tent Sale.  You can buy one ball each of a bunch of fun yarns and make a WOW garment.

Some days writing a blog post comes very easy and other days it is extremely hard.  Today is a hard day.  The computer has been set aside all afternoon and I have been making kits and knitting.  Wild Saffron needed some attention.  I have 51 rows left to finish the back.  Just over a month until the Knitter's Fair!  I need to get working on both my knitting and the booth.

Tweed yarns are hot this season. Naturally brings us a New Zealand made tweed yarn in aran weight. Aran Tweed is a roving yarn with twist applied. It is soft against the skin with all the warmth of merino wool.

There is a great pattern in the new book for a cabled cardigan with interesting shaping.

And from the front.

Now it is time to move upstairs and knit.  I am into the tenth repeat on Malthese.  I think this will be the last repeat and then the top border.  This means that cutting could be happening next week.

Special visitor

There was more rearranging today because we received a big shipment from Naturally yesterday.  I have almost everything where it needs to go.  I was all set to put it in today's post but now I have pictures of something better so there will be yarn pictures tomorrow.

I also started a newsletter.  Hopefully it will be ready to go out on Monday.

Jan and Hannah visited today from Niagara.  We normally don't have dogs in the store but it was so hot out that I couldn't let Hannah stay in the car.  

She came in to lay on the tile floor and was very happy.

What a beautiful dog!!

Ms. Canada Post came in with a parcel from Ann. Here is Ayako (a KnitWhits pattern) finished.  Fabulous.  The colours of Noro Silk Garden show up so well in this design.

My knitting is not progressing as fast as I would like it to. Wild Saffron stays in the store but there hasn't been any store knitting this week. The Malthese Shawl is at home but the rows are getting very long. This weekend will be spent knitting or I won't meet my deadline.

Post take two

I started a post this morning and have been adding to it all day.  Big problem with that.  Every time I left the post and came back the layout got messed up. By the end I had pictures overlapping pictures and pictures overlapping text. What a mess. I then tried copying some of my text into a new post. That didn't work so I hit delete and am starting again. I guess someone was trying to tell me that what I was doing wasn't very good and it should be thrown out.

Not much knitting was accomplished last night because a little thing called a nap got in my way.  I was so tired when I got home from work that there was no way I could keep my eyes open to knit.  After the nap I got back to my shawl.  Eight and a half repeats are now complete.

Ms. UPS came in this afternoon with a box from Rowan and in the box was the new Rowan Studio 19.

Rowan Studio 19 by Grace Melville is inspired by the fresh pastal shades seen up and down the Spring Summer 2010 catwalks. Light weight, floaty layers in sherbet shades and lace are this issues key themes, created in Kidsilk haze and Siena.

There are some really cute designs in the book.  I am on my way home and will not be adding any pictures until I get there.  No more messing up!!

When I got home from work Beth had already started dinner.  Thank you very much!!  Now I can start adding the pictures-my fingers are crossed that it goes better this time.

Two pictures are added and I can see trouble ahead.  All was good until I started adding captions to the photos.  I am about to add the third one and now my toes are crossed along with my fingers.

Bag things are happening again so I am taking out the captions. The pictures did not go back to where they belong and the process to make it right is very long so I am leaving them where they are hoping that you can read everything that I have written.  If words are missing please don't worry.  There wasn't anything important.  :)