Print O The Waves

Since Nathalie doesn't have a blog, I have to show this off for her. She finally finished the stole just in time for the wedding, despite nearly running out of yarn! She had to send away to several places to get more at the last minute, and she was only 5 grams short! Anyway, it came out great, as you can see in this photo (Click on it for a larger image).

Where to Begin?

I don't even know where to start, I have to much to blog today. First I want to post a photo of the new needles that we have in the shop. How cute are these? They are by Serendipity, which is a company from Rhode Island, USA. Every top is different, and the tips are really sharp. Great for lace.



They come in this cute box which looks as if they are flowers in a garden box.

The next thing is what arrived in the post today, my Hot Socks box. I cannot believe how many lovely things were inside.




I have been dying to see some "Socks that Rock" in person, and here it is in just the color that I would pick! It is so soft and lovely, I just keep looking and petting it. I am debating whether to make socks with it, or a scarf. Jennifer has also included some Eucalan wool wash, another item that I have been wanting to try. The Interweave yarn requirments chart looks great. I have to get it for the shop, it is really handy. I am also going to have some of that lovely hot chocolate later on, I expect it is going to be delicious. Thank you so much Jennifer!!! You have made my first experience with swapping a great one. Here is a close up of the STR in Mist.




You would have thought that my day could not get any better, but then I had to work at the shop. I was not really looking forward to working another Saturday as I was there last week. I could use a few days off, but today was like an all day knitting party. The morning was a bit slow. We had a class upstairs with Nic. Around midday, the "regulars" started coming in. I had to bring some chairs down from upstairs. Here is a photo of one of the less crowded moments.



If you look in the foreground, you can see a little bit of the other table, where some very nice ladies were learning magic loop and working on socks. At some point, Nic went out to get everyone some tea, and then the place really started filling up. There was a point where it was a bit hard to walk around, but everyone was in a very happy mood, so I don't think anyone felt very bothered. This was quite a contrast to yesterday, which was our slowest day on record. Days like today are when I feel like this is what we opened the shop for, and all the work is worth it!

P.S. Sorry the photos are quite small, click on them to see them larger.

News News

Lots of things happening around here. This weekend I had a great day out with Ingrid at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. It was really nice to go with a friend as I went alone last year. We were very organized, and mapped out which stalls we wanted to see ahead of time. We had signed up for a couple of classes, the first one of which we missed due to too much talking. The one we did make it to was with Lucy Neatby. At first I thought it was a bit basic, but then she showed us a really interesting method of casting off which I have to try. It is more like knitting, but you get the same result. We did get a chance to see the knitted Ferrari:



It is quite unbelievable, though I don't know how the woman didn't get bored to death.

I did allow myself to make some purchases. It is a bit hard to do when you own a yarn shop, but here we go:



On the left is some lovely hand dyed Wensleydale roving. Then going clockwise is some handspun, hand dyed silk from a woman in the Isle of Skye. Next is a cotton/linen mix from Knitshop.co.uk. They had some beautiful yarns, and I asked for some color cards for the shop. Last but not least is a skein of Terra from The Fibre Company. Nathalie loves their yarns, and we are thinking of getting them for the shop. I can't wait for her to see this skein in person.

The big news, drumroll please, is that Diane has joined us to work in the shop, and definately fits right in. She is pretty much as mad about knitting as we are, and she started yesterday. Check out her blog.

Gotta run, shop opens in 20 minutes!

Looking Up

OK, thinks seem to be getting better. Believe it or not, we had a bunch of calls from people interested in the job yesterday, and I think we have found someone. We just have to speak with her tomorrow. If you are reading this, you know who you are. More on that to come.
On the shop front, we had two deliveries today. First was Misti Alpaca, which is what we have been waiting for. The bulky is so soft, you can't believe it. It is 100% baby alpaca, which definately makes a difference. The laceweight is lovely as well, but we only recieved 3 colors as the others are on backorder. Then came our Zitron order with new colors of Unikat, which is great for scarves. I made a bit of a mistake on the Trekking, and less arrived than expected, but more will be along in another week or so. Definately a good couple of days

Bad News

I'm sorry to have to announce that our visit from Nicky Epstein next Wednesday has been cancelled due to an illness in her family. That is too bad. I feel bad for her, and I know alot of people were looking forward to coming in to meet her. In other news, we are still on a search for someone to work in the shop. I didn't realize how difficult it would be, it is quite frustrating, but we are hopeful that someone will turn up. I am also getting a bit discouraged on the swap front as I haven't heard from my person. I signed up for my first swap, Hot Socks, am looking forward to trying this out. I have seen so many swap photos onlike, it looks like a lot of fun.
We had a visit today from Becca of Yarnsmith fame. She did a demonstration on how to make her bag kits. It made me want to make one, if I ever finish my Silk Shrug, which is still in progress. We also recieved our shipment of Feza today, which seems to just fly out the door on its own.

P.S I have heard from my hot socks partner. Her email went into my bulk folder by mistake. She sounds really nice, I am really excited now!

Busy Days

I just realized that I haven't written anything new here in a week. I haven't taken any photos either. I did manage to finish the partner to my Trekking sock, so now just waiting for the weather to turn so I can wear them. I am now hard at work making the Silk Shrug from Blue Sky Alpacas. I am doing it in plum, and am plugging along on the back at the moment. I am on inch 17 out of 29, so a little more than half of the back. The nice thing is that its made all in one piece, then you pick up the stitches for the edging. I like no sewing up.


This is becoming quite a popular pattern as Jill and Lesley from the knitting group are also making it. I'm sure Jill is nearly finished, she is quite the fast knitter.

We have been anxiously awaiting our shipment of Lornas Laces, which was due to arrive last week, except that the customs paperwork got lost, and it spent a week in the airport. I believe that it is on its way, I hope! My fear is that it will arrive tomorrow when I am in the shop on my own, Nathalies son is having his adenoids out, not even sure I spelled that right, but anyway. The box is supposed to weigh 74 pounds, which is alot of yarn! I can't wait to see it, but have no idea where we are going to put it. There will definately have to be some reorganizing of shelves this week. Should be a busy week!