Saturday, April 24, 2010

Wow! April!

Ok, so it just seems like we fell off the planet...(being this close to the edge of the continent it certainly seems like it COULD happen). But, really, we are here and doing well. April has been an incredibly wonderful month.

The high spots: Blue Heron and Spud and Chloe trunk shows were a great success. If you scored some of the Blue Heron while it was here and love it, let us know and we will make sure there are other Blue Heron Trunk Shows in the future. It was wonderful to have a variety of different fibers and colors in the shop for a visit.

Spud and Chloe yarns will continue to be in stock in full force. The samples we had have gone back to Blue Sky, but we still have the patterns and yarns available. The blog on SpudandChloe.com is seriously fab. Worth a look there for more inspiration and cool free patterns from Susan Anderson. We think "Tuck" is fab- he's a knitted turtle that can tuck his little turtle parts into his shell. Very cool, very cute and very quick to knit.

New shop sample are flying off the needles. Britt finished the Scoop Neck Tee (Knitting Pure and Simple Pattern #283) out of Classic Elite "Summer Set" (she started before the move, so it's been in progress for a while...) Simply wonderful! The yarn is a beautiful, it's a blend of cotton, alpaca, polyester and lyocel. Easy pattern with some simple shaping to make it femine if desired.

Other recent items off needles include a host of baby hats in Jeannee DK. Jeannee is a new yarn for us. It is the replacement to Wildflower DK that we loved for ages, but has been discontinued. The upside of the Jeannee is it has a cool name (even if there is an extra "e") and it is a great cotton/ acrylic blend. Machine wash, tumble dry, easy care and great colors. Several people have started summer tees out of it and it is really wonderful. Great yardage and a great price 135 yards for $3.99.

We have had a great time with some new and revisited Mango Moon yarns. Bali Sky, a shop favorite recycled rayon, has been knitted into a new Summer Cotton Bag carried with a strand of Cotton Fleece to add some color and structure. We received a fab sample from Mango Moon in the last shipment and had to investigate the "Silk Ribbon". It is a silk blend, really lovely varigated colors with good yardage and price (75 yards for $12.50). I knitted a skein into a great little wristlet with an i-cord handle and it is super cute. Another great evening project that looks fab and is fun to knit.

We have finally found a spot for all the new Classic Elite to rest. If you haven't seen "Classic Silk" come in and take a look. It is really wonderful. Classic Silk is a beautiful blend of 50% cotton, 30% silk, and 20% nylon. The blend highlights what we love about silk yarns, hand and drape, and solves the problem of knitted items keeping their shape after wearing. I'm not sure what we are going to sample out of it, but there should be something fun in the works shortly.

The other new Classic Elite yarn is "Pebbles" a wonderful cotton/ acrylic blend. Great fiber! It has a really cool texture and washes beautifully, knits at about 5 to 5.5 stitches to the inch. It could be baby or kid yarn or grown up yarn for a really wonderful summer sweater. We have about a dozen great colors and at $5.75 for 110 yards it is not going to break the bank.

The space is settling in wonderfully. I've even had enough time to dig in the front flower beds and get some pretty stuff planted. The hawthorne is blooming a lovely pink, the Knockout Roses are setting buds, the bush daisies are settling into some good dirt and I'm nearly done digging out the end of the weeds. It's starting to look like somebody loves this place!

Inside has settled and we are busy getting the last of piddly chores finished. The basket of mystery items under the counter was finally purged this morning. Where do you put the odd electronic cables that have no purpose. I gave myself permission to toss them. Hopefully they are not important! Dave put handles on the kitchen drawers- such a deal- and hung the newly recharged fire extinguishers. Purrl is happy, Britt and I feel like we can finally breathe and every day brings new and wonderful people through the door. Life is truly good.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Yeah, but what about the YARN???

After much ado about the move, and the cat, and slatwall- FINALLY some news about the cool stuff at the shop!

Blue Heron! Wow- cool stuff. We are thrilled with the assortment of fibers Demien at Blue Heron put together for a trunk show. The yarns in this shipment are here for a limited time only, so if something sounds fab it might not last! New fibers for us include Beaded Wool, Beaded Wool Metallic, Egyptian Cotton, and Silky Rayon Twist (this is some really fab stuff- wonderful for a shawl or wrap in a simple feather and fan pattern). There is also a great additional assortment of Rayon Metallic in a host of new colors. Britt is drooling over "Soft Green"- who says you can only own one really great Rayon Metallic tee shirt. We also have a nice variety of Bulky Rayon Chenille, a fiber many love, so worth a look.

A new Blue Heron yarn that we are really excited about is Sock Plus. 420 yards of dk weight superwash, perfect for socks or lightweight garments ($27). I love it already and have stashed the first of what is likely to be many skeins. The color that I had to have is "jellyfish"- a mix of raspberry, greens, periwinkle and light pink. "Manta" could be the new theme color for Knitting Addiction, perfect in purples and teals.

There is a table brimming with Blue Heron, but it is here for a limited time. We have several colors in each fiber and enough to do something fun, so if you love these fibers, now is the time to get in and get your fill.



Another good reason to hop in is the Spud and Chloe trunk show. This one is really an extra bump of great samples. We have the "Tea Party Cardi", "Camp Hoodie" and "Wave" sweaters, along with some great leggings and sock patterns. We will continue to carry Spud and Chloe, but the extra samples are a fun temporary addition to what Britt and I have knitted. We went nuts over some of the new free patterns on
www.spudandchloe.com. If you love the yarn, the blog and freebies are a bonus.

Britt is thrilled, the best part of her day is new flooring in her office. Thanks again to Dave E. and Louie. They make it look so easy. A little more paint and we can officially call it "home".

Hope to see you here soon.