Connecticut Holiday

I've been here in CT for a week. I have to admit that I don't always look forward to the trip, 7 hours on a plane with my kids, then a week of adjusting to the time zone. When we first got here, it was so hot, the past few days it has been raining like it was the end of the world, but today was beautiful. I have been spending my time doing several things, the first one being shopping. The sales here are great, I got a great pair of jeans that retail for $159 for $20, gotta love that! The next thing has been the beach. My mother in law has a house right on the beach, it is like a wonderland for the kids. Here is my daughter holding up a huge horseshoe crab. It looks like something from prehistoric times.



The next item on the agenda has been visiting knitting shops in the area. My first stop last week was at Janet Kemp. She was very nice, and had some yarn that I am very interested in.



Check out the one on the top. It is really unusual in that there is more than one color in each strand. It is really soft, and can be used for sweaters or felting. I can't wait to swatch it up.

Next I went to Knitting Central, which is right up the road from my inlaws house. There I bought a ball of Trekking sock yarn, which I can't wait to try. I also picked up a ball of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes. I have the color cards at the shop, but its hard to tell what its like from that little piece. I really want to swatch it up, but have no ball winder here. I might have to get my husband to help me.

I also visited Knotty Girl. Debi was really friendly. I was interested in seeing the Namaste bags. She had one as a sample, but said the others were on the way. I was not that interested in the pleather bag. It was cute, but nothing that great.

Tomorrow I am thinking of taking a ride to Knitting Niche in Greenwich.

I have also been working on my sock, which I am nearly finished. I had to pack that one due to metal needles, so I started the Silk Vee from Handmaiden on the plane. I'll take some photos tomorrow as its too dark here now.

By the way, did anyone see the article about us in Time Out this week? We were in the consume section under Whats New. Very exciting.

New stuff on the way for the shop that shipped this week, should be in next week or two: ArtYarns-Silk Rhapsody and other yarns. Malabrigo-more colors. Handmaiden-Sea Silk

Finally Finished

It is done. The Lana Grossa top that I have been working on for a while. I finished it well over a week ago, but started the sock right away and have put off finishing. The yarn is called Binario, it looks like two yarns held together, but it is really one yarn. It has a nice shine to it, very good for summer. I might leave it in the shop for the next couple of weeks as its going to be hot and sticky in Connecticut.



I especially like how Nathalie put the Offhand designs bag on the model, she looks great!


Here is another project that I would like to do. It is Tilli Tomas Disco Lights, but the pattern is from the Debbie Bliss Silk book. I have set aside a skein of the loveliest purple for myself. I am going to take my Silk Vee kit from Handmaiden on the trip. I think that will be a good beach project. I can do the scarf after that.



This one is being done by Mary in the knitting group.

Well, I am off on Saturday for two weeks. I will see if I can get the camera to work on my in-laws computer so I can upload photos. I am definately planning to hit the knitting shops in Fairfield County, and there is pretty much one in every town. I won't have to drive too far at all. Hoping to catch a little sunshine and knitting on the beach.

Lovely Weekend

Its been a really great weekend. Eric and I went to the Wimbledon Ladies final yesterday. It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too hot. We met a couple of friends for a picnic on the hill before the match. I have to say that the match was everything you could ask for in a final, 3 sets, and exciting. I was happy to see Mauresmo win. I love that we live so close, being a tennis fan, its a real treat to be able to go. Last night we had dinner at a friends which was very nice, good food and good company.
Today I finally had a day to rest and do nothing, a rarity lately. I am slightly obsessed with my magic loop sock. I love that there is no fiddling around with all of those dpns. Everything is done right on the circular. I turned the heel last night when we got home, though I was still a bit drunk. Today I have been working on it between watching the mens final. I was rooting for Nadal, but maybe he will have his turn next year. Here is a photo of the sock.



This week we recieved our shipment of Fleece Artist. The sock yarns are beautiful. We chose some colors that could be used for baby clothes, or other garments as well as socks. We were thinking 4 ply. We also got a bunch of kits, the dreadlock poncho, and the Cat Bordhi mobius scarf kit, which I am dying to make. I'll try and get a photo of some of it this week. I didn't have the camera in the shop the day that it arrived. We also have in most sizes of the Addi Natura needles. If you love Addi, and would like a circular in bamboo, they are lovely. Nathalie had a pair, and everyone in the group wanted to try them, so we thought stocking them would be a good idea.
The kids are now off from school, this week should be interesting! Next week its off to the States.

Sweltering

It is about as hot as it can be here in London. Last night was the worst, it felt like summer in New York without the air conditioning. Thank goodness the shop has it, what a great investment. This week has been a bit hectic. Its the kids last week of school, sports day, birthday parties, and the like. Nathalie has been out this week, shes been a bit under the weather, and has been staying at home to rest. I finished my Lana Grossa top, but have been too lazy to sew it together. Instead, I have started my first sock using the magic loop method. I can't tell you how easy it is. I am so happy not to have all of those dpns sticking out all over the place. I found a great tutorial, which you can check out. It has videos of different methods of knitting in the round. I watched the magic loop one a few times, and voila, I'm off and running with my sock.




The yarn is Lornas Laces Shepherd sock in Icehouse. I decided to do the Jaywalker sock as it more mindless than a lot of others that I considered.

I think I spoke about the Feza yarn last week. It is really interesting, here it is in a skein, and in a close up of a scarf. It would also work as the skirt pattern in Greetings from the Knit Cafe. I am going to try it as one of my next projects.





Someone came in yesterday, and is going to do a belt with it. I don't usually like novelty yarns, but this one is more like the Prism or magic ball yarn. Click on these to see them larger.

Another week has gone by.

There was another article about us in the local Guardian. I would put in a link, but the article did not make it online. It has been a great way to get the word out about the shop.
I am working on a new section for the website, a gallery. The idea is that when you finish your project, you can send me a photo, and I will put it up in the shop, and on the website. As I have not started yet, here are a few:

Here is Felicia from the knitting group with a lovely collar that she made from Silkwoods Contessa thick and thin. She still has to weave in the ends, and sew on a button.



Next is the cardigan that Jill made from the book "One Skein". She used Blue Sky Alpacas dyed cotton. I love the little flowers.



You can now click on the photos to see them larger. I just discovered the wonders of Flickr.

Other news in the shop is that new yarns from Feza, which come from Turkey, should be arriving next week. This yarn is a combination of several yarns tied end to end, great for making scarves, ponchos, or anything that you want to add a bit of excitement to. We can't wait to start knitting with it.

We also have lots of new books arriving every day, lace seems to be quite popular these days, along with socks.

I have updated the class list with loads of new classes for September and October. Upcoming events include a crochet class with Nicky Trench of Rooster yarns. We will also be having Louisa Harding in the shop on Saturday 4 November to sign books, and talk about her exciting new yarns for Autumn. I will have some other events to add to the calendar, keep a watch on the website.

View From Above

We are into our third week now. The group was in today for the usual Wednesday meeting. I think all of the regulars showed up. Here they are in action, though is it a bit bright due to all of the windows.


We have put out quite alot of sample skeins of the yarns that we stock so that anyone who comes in can do a row or two and see how they like the yarns. It is so difficult to know if you are going to like a yarn until you actually get to try it out. This is what is on the table upstairs as well as downstairs.



Here is a view from above. The tables have finally arrived, which makes it much easier to sit in the chairs and knit. Now there is a place to put your pattern and yarn.


There's Ingrid sitting down there having a look through some new books that arrived yesterday, and Nathalie helping someone figure out a pattern, something which she is much better at than me. Thank goodness one of us is good at maths!

We have had some other good blog reviews such as this one that came through in an email yesterday from Katie who came in with a friend the other day. Thanks Katie!

Today we had a visit from Christine of The Big Pink Cookie fame. Nathalies mom found her blog, and we have all been following it. I was hoping that she would stop in, and here she is with her lovely Koigu shawl.


It was really nice to meet her after following the blog. Hopefully we will see her around again.







Alot of people have been asking about our class schedule. I have a bunch of classes lined up, two in July, and then starting again in September. I hope to have that up on the site in the next day or so. Keep an eye out.

News Worthy

It was a beautiful sunny day here in Southwest London. It has been very busy in my house as my parents are visiting, and my in-laws arrived today as well. It is my BIG birthday this weekend. I have been quite busy with the shop, so haven't been dwelling on it too much. The exciting news today was that we were featured in the local newspaper, The Wandsworth Borough News. They wrote a full page story about us including photos.


I don't think we look too bad considering we felt quite foolish while the photgrapher was there. I'm not sure if it had any impact, but the shop was full of people today. We had our first workshop run by Nic. Then Purly Queen arrived with some of her friends, who seemed to be having a nice time deciding what to make, discussing patterns, and swatching a bit. They stayed for a good bit of the morning, which was nice. We are really happy that people seem to be enjoying the hanging out part of the shop, which is what we really want it to be all about. The tables arrived today, so we will now have a place to put our patterns while we sit in the comfy chairs. I am also working on a new feature, a Wish List. You can come in and fill out the form, which we will keep on file and will list the things you really want, sort of like a Wedding Registry without the china. Then you can send your friends and family in to buy your birthday present and they will know exactly what you want! Nathalie though of that one, and I am off to work on it now.

Week One

I was going to post some photos, but since so many people have put photos of
us on their blogs, I thought I would just point you in their direction.

Our first day was great, lots of people came in who live locally and have been
watching our progress. There are alot of knitters in the area who have been
waiting for a yarn shop. Apparently there used to be 3 wool shops in Putney
years ago. Well, no worries, we are here now.
One of our first customers was Wibbo, who I had met at Olympia. It was really nice to see her again. I think she enjoyed her visit, she took lots of photos, even one of me! I hope she comes back again soon, bring along a project and we can get some coffee!
Our next online review came from the Purly Queen  (I love that name). She seemed to have a good time as well, which was confirmed by her blog entry.

Another familiar face was Yvonne of And all that Stash fame. I am very glad that she enjoyed the air conditioning, as well as other things. We are very happy at the moment with that
investment as I am completely melting at home. Don't think that I haven't
considered sleeping at the shop! I think the first week went quite well, looking forward to the next one. Now that our work is slowing down a little bit, I have my first project in a while, a tank top in Lana Grossa Binario. Hope to get a photo in a few days, you can tell I have been lazy with that one. Oh well, the shop has been keeping me busy.

Finished Product
















Here it is. This is a good portion of the yarn, I'm trying to figure out what percentage. I would say a little more than 1/3. There is quite a bit more that I couldn't fit into the photo. This is pretty much the view when you walk through the door, which is where I was standing when I took it. There are more bookcases to the left of the staircase, and some right next to the door to the left. When you go up the stairs, there is a classroom with seating for 8. The chairs came today as well, and they are quite comfy. The display boxes for the front window came today. We have to unpack those tomorrow and set up the window. Otherwise we are ready to go. The knitting group is coming on Monday for a preview, then the real opening is on Tuesday. Looking forward to this week as my sister and parents are coming to visit as well. Its going to be a very busy one.

A Week To Go


Its bank holiday today here, so the kids and Eric are home. We took a trip to Kingston today, and I was able to get a few things for the shop. I found some nice glass bowls to display some of the yarns, a table cloth for upstairs, and some things from Muji for the desk to display notions. The window guys are coming on Thursday, as are the display boxes for the windows. Hopefully the rest of the furniture will arrive on Friday so people will have a place to sit.
I had some unfortunate news from Nathalie today though. It seems that her little boy has the chicken pox, and they have to come home early from their trip. I'm sure they are quite disappointed. I feel really bad, they were really looking forward to this holiday. I hope the skys will brighten up here so they won't be too depressed!
I hope to have a good photo of the finished shop this week, its pretty much there and ready to go.

Stocking up

Its getting down to the wire. There are was so much to do, and we were in a bit of a panic. Then the troops arrived! The knitting group showed up and spent the afternoon sticking bar codes on balls of yarn and stocking the shelves. We were so thankful to them. Now I think that we will be able to get most everything else done tomorrow, with a day to finish some of the last bits before Nathalie leaves on holidays. Next week there are a few things to finish up, and the furniture has to be delivered, hopefully. Here are a few photos of the gang in action.

















Here is Ingrid, aka Tales of the Knitty putting labels on Artyarns.

















Here is another view of everyone hard at work. Sorry it is not the best view of anyone, but you can get the idea of what the wall will look like.
I'm hoping for a finished view tomorrow. We'll see about that!

Home Stretch

I cannot believe I still have no photos to post. I did bring my camera to the shop today, took pictures, and when I got home, there was no memory card in the camera. I promise tomorrow. This week is being spent printing out bar coded stickers, and sticking them on hundreds and hundreds of balls of yarn! We are basically going crazy! The highlight of the day was when we realized that Debbie Bliss, Lana Grossa, Rooster, and some of the Bergere de France already have bar codes, so we don't have to print those out. I will probably have to buy some sort of price gun to tag them though. The place is such a mess. Thank goodness our knitting group friend, Mary Butterworth volunteered some time to help out. I was able to get rid of some of the huge pile of boxes that we have acquired. We really have to finish this by the end of the week since Nathalie is going to Portugal next week, lucky girl. I'll be here though, awaiting the BT man and furniture deliveries. Tomorrow, more tagging. Some of our excellent knitting group friends are coming over tomorrow to help out. I can't believe there are only two weeks to go. Photos to come...

Crazy Days

Today might have been the busiest day so far! First the woman from the till company arrived at 9, then the security installer, then the streamline engineer. Of course everyone needed to get into the same space, behind the desk. I had to run home countless times to get something that I had left there. Needless to say, it is all done, the broadband, the streamline so we can accept credit/debit cards. The security system is in place. We had a training session on the till, which is quite complicated since it keeps track of all the stock and accounting as well. Then to top it all off, it is my 9 year old daughters sleepover party tonight, so I have 7 girls downstairs watching a movie. Will there be any sleep in this house tonight? The best thing that happened today though was that our husbands brought all of the boxes over, so we are ready to start bar coding on Monday. I promise to have photos next time. I keep forgetting to bring the camera when I go over. It is quite a mess now, but hopefully by this time next week, we will be nearly ready to go.

Up and Running

I've been working on the website for about a week straight, and it is finally ready. I had a little trouble posting, but it seems to be working now. Check it out. The fitting is mostly finished, the carpet comes tomorrow for the upstairs, and the furniture arrives next week. I think we will be moving the boxes this weekend, then next week we can start putting everything in place. There are so many small thing to figure out, but I guess that will be for next week. Nic came over yesterday and showed us her lovely scarf kits, which we are definately going to stock. She is going to be running some classes for us, a beginner one, and a really fun one called "Adventures in Knitting", knitting with wire and fun things like that. Anyway, until next time...

A Peek Inside

I went over to survey the progress today. I think they will be done building all of the shelves this week. Then they have to sand and varnish the floors, and hopefully the carpet for upstairs will arrive. Then we wait for furniture. So many things to think about! Here is a photo of what it looks like so far, its hard to tell from this, and some of it is not quite in place yet.



















The latest arrival was a 70lb box from Lornas Laces that arrived yesterday. It was so heavy that Nathalie had to help the delivery man carry it up her steps! The colors are gorgeous. An annoying thing that happened the other day was that we recieved our shipment from Malabrigo, but only one box arrived, I think the other is lost. I am hoping that they find it somewhere, I was looking forward to that one. I suppose it will arrive eventually, even if they have to reship.
In other news, my spinning wheel arrived, and I spent some much needed down time spinning some lovely blue yarn. I'll hopefully have something finished in the coming days and post a photo.
Anyway, I have to get back to work on the website. I am hoping to have more pages up in the next day or so instead of a marker page.
More to come...

Yet More Yarn















It's official, we have a "Coming Soon" sign in the window. Now if I could only find out if we have approval to paint the sign on the top of the building. That is a bit frustrating. If they don't come back to us in time, we'll just have to have something made for inside the window, and do that soon after. There was a bit of progress today, the phone was turned on, and BT called me to say that we are in the directory, how cool is that! The guys worked on more of the shelving today, I didn't get over there to look, but I think it should be done in a week, I hope. Then the fun begins moving everything in. On the other side, a bunch more boxes arrived today. Here is a photo of one of the Artyarns. They are so beautiful. I think we are only waiting for one more company to ship, so I think aside from a few boxes in transit, most of the stock is in.

More yarn has arrived!

Well, the Koigu shipment arrived today. They usually take 9 months to ship their order. We were told that we would have ours in time for the opening, and they did it! I can't wait to go over to Nathalies house tomorrow to see it. She said that the colors don't look like what we ordered, but that they are beautiful. I will have to take some photos of all the yarn, she has a room full of it. I think that our husbands are both getting a bit annoyed, my house is full of sample skeins and books, and hers with boxes of yarn. Hopefully only a few more weeks to go. I arranged to have a sign made today to put in the shop window with "Coming Soon" and the logo, that should be up sometime Wednesday or Thursday. Next comes the website. I hope to have it up and running in a week or two. I used to do websites in my other life before children, so doing a simple one shouldn't be a problem.
Here is my latest flower, made with the Brown Sheep Lambs Pride worsted. They are really fun to make, this one was easier than the daffodil. Next I have to make the leaves. Anyway, hope to have more photos tomorrow.

Stash Yarns

Well I can finally let my secret out. Nathalie and myself are opening a yarn shop. We were sitting in my house knitting one day, and she said "You should open a yarn shop". This has always been my dream, but I was really not prepared to do it myself. After a bit of thought, Nathalie decided to join me, and Stash Yarns was born. We were tired of having to get our yarn over the internet, where you can't see and touch the yarn. Whenever I ordered something, the color was never what I expected, and if I was ready to begin a project, I had to wait for the package to arrive. So it began, calling tons of yarn companies all over the U.S, Canada, and the UK. My house is filled with sample books, it is crazy. Then we had to find a location, luckily there was a place to let right around the corner from my house that was perfect, located right at a bus stop, and very close to the Putney train station. The District line is also not that far away, and it is easy to drive to as well. The lease took quite a while to finalize, but now it is done, and decorating has begun. I don't have any photos of the shop yet, but I'll have to take some so that the progress can be recorded. There is still alot to do, but we are hoping to open around 7 June. Downstairs will be tons of yarn, books, bags, etc, and two seating areas. Upstairs will be the classroom for lessons, and knitting groups. We are hoping it will become a place for people to knit, learn, and hang out. I'm working on the website, so there is not much there yet, the address is www.stashyarns.co.uk
More to come!
P.S. To those of you interested in the daffodil pattern, it will be available at the shop, as well as several others that I am in the process of making.

More Handspun
I have gotten much quicker with the spinning. I think I need a bit of work on my plying, but I suppose it will get there. Here is my first skein, the green one. The lighter green was a bit thick,the darker one was when I started getting the hang of it.


















I then moved on the the rest of whatever merino tops I had laying around, and combined a bunch of colurs to make this pinky/red skein. I think it looks pretty good, though still need a bit of practice. I guess I know what I have to buy this week, my own wheel!


















I am really pleased with the result considering that I hated spinning after I took the class a month ago. Once you get the hang of it, it is very relaxing. My family thinks I am crazy, but whatever.

My other project this week was this flower, how cute is this. I still have to make the leaves for it, that will be next.

First handspun

















I am so excited, I think I have the bug. I borrowed Nathalies spinning wheel this week, and have finished my first single ply. Working on the other one in a darker green now so I can ply them together. I haven't really finished anything else lately. I am working on a multidirectional shawl that I hope to finish soon. I haven't had alot of time for knitting as I was in Florida for two weeks and spent alot of time by the pool and of course, shopping!