The Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's

There were no photos allowed in the Sistine Chapel, of course. But Filbert wanted this shot to prove that he really did have the experience! After visiting the Sistine Chapel, we proceeded through more of the museum and had another Filbert Moment of Fame. Somehow, a squirrel just doesn't seem to be the right fit here. Maybe if he was marble instead of wool?? Nah!

We assured Filbert that we love him Just The Way He Is, and then went across the courtyard to St Peter's Basilica. Another wonderous and unforgettable moment, you can get an idea of the beauty and size of St. Peter's with this Filbert pose.

Simply crossing the street in Rome can be an experience. We happened upon four sculpted figures at one intersection, so (of course) had another photo op with Filbert. Not the quality of the museum pieces, but still beautiful.

We had an early morning flight back to Frankfurt, with a short layover before the non stop return flight to Vancouver. When we arrived in Frankfurt, we of course headed straight for the Business Class lounge. They had a special perk at this airport, by the way. Showers!! So after having a bit of breakfast with a glass of champagne, we felt the need to freshen up before our long flight home. Off to the showers! Here's Filbert, feeling all brand new!!

On the flight home, we enjoyed our Super Wonderful Reclining Massaging Stretch Out and Relax Seats once again. I love Business Class!!! While The Hand and Filbert were having a nap, the pilot announced that we had an unusual view of Greenland out the left side of the airplane. Since I happened to be on the left side of the plane, I flipped up the window shade and snapped this photo of the glaciers. I thought it was interesting that after visiting Italy and seeing stunning man made treasures for a week, it was somewhat humbling to see this display of nature's art. I hope the photo does it justice, it was amazing to see the miles of glaciers from this view!

This post will wrap up Filbert's tour of Europe. From now on, we're back in the daily routine of the yarn shop. But you never know what Filbert might be up to next! Laura has plans to take Filbert on her mini vacation, so watch for updates on his adventures.

I have lots of news coming about new fall classes and yarns, too! Stay tuned...

Ciao,

Becky

Filbert visits the Vatican

The Hand, Filbert and I caught the train from the station near the Spanish Steps and headed off for the Vatican. Here's Filbert, patiently waiting in line, and casting a pretty good shadow for such a little squirrel!

I wore the Dawn shawl knit in the Angel Lace pattern that you may remember from an earlier blog entry. It was a huge hit both in the Vatican and while waiting in line. It is considered poor form to have uncovered arms (or knees - a really nice young couple in line behind us from the Netherlands hadn't thought of this and he was wearing walking shorts - they solved the problem by quickly purchasing a "silk" scarf from a street vendor which he was planning on wearing sarong style!) My thought was what better place to wear Angel Lace??? Evidently it was a good choice, as several people during the day made lovely comments.
In the Vatican Musems, we were simply overwhelmed by the artwork, statues and treasures at every turn. Filbert had dreams of grandeur when we found a pedestal that apparently had a statue in the shop for repairs - he INSISTED on posing for this photo!







Then just around the corner he found another new friend and felt the need to show off again. I think he wants to send this to the Roaming Gnome. I don't know what his friend's name REALLY is, but Filbert wouldn't stop referring to him as Guido.





The Vatican, St. Peter's and the Museums are simply and absolutely overwhelming. There are no words to describe the experience! There are so many works of art everywhere you look, that one almost becomes numb to these amazing pieces of history ... I was amazed that everything is so accessible. People are sitting on benches from hundreds of years ago, chatting near beautiful fountains, and you can literally walk up and touch many of the works. Filbert was on a roll of posing for photos, and we found one more photo op at the beginning of the Egyptian Hall. What a ham!

Becky

Roma, the end of the journey...

We ended our trip in Rome, but it was glorious while it lasted! Rome was gorgeous, but I still maintain Venice as the favorite city and Florence as the second-favorite. While in Rome, we stayed at a hotel next to the Trevi Fountain - here's Filbert at the fountain. He's looking at the beautiful fountain, so all you can see in this shot is his tail.

Here's a shot of the Trevi Fountain, with Filbert out of the way:

We then made our way to the Spanish Steps, and later in the evening found a wonderful restaurant recommended by a couple who were staying in the same hotel. The restaurant had indoor dining as well as outdoor, so we chose the outdoor option, as it was situated right in front of the Pantheon. Dining with a view has an entirely new meaning after this:

Oh, I almost forgot to share the photo of Filbert at the Spanish Steps!

The next post will finish up with our tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's, then we thud back home to reality and the daily routine. Sigh.

Becky

David and Filbert, in Florence

My goodness, I'm falling behind and can't catch up!! I have so many photos of Venice, but it's time to move on to Florence. I plan on making up an album of Filbert's Adventures as soon as time allows (I clearly need a clone or two!!)

We made ready (with great sadness and regret - if you get the chance to visit Venice, GO! By all means, go there!!) to catch our train from Venice to Florence. Here's Filbert, packed and ready to go:

Upon arrival in Florence, we caught a taxi to our wonderful hotel, the Hotel Degli Orafi. This is the hotel that was used in the movie "Room with a View" and one can easily see why it was chosen. It has a rooftop terrace and bar (which they call an "American style" bar, interestingly enough) with a view from the front of the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio Bridge, and from the back the Pallazo Vecchio and the Duomo. We drank in both the view and something called a Very Berry Martini (which I highly recommend - yum!)

This is the view toward the Palace & Duomo.

In the morning, we headed for the "breakfast room" which was unbelievable! Views from every window, this was a huge room with a fabulous buffet style breakfast...and check out the ceiling! The high point had to be the cappucino. I am a coffee fanatic, and there is NOTHING that I've tasted at home that even comes close. I can now be caught gazing longingly at the $900 espresso machines in the Macy's houseware department. Unfortunately, they are out of my budget. Maybe the $15 stovetop model?? Anyway, see if you can spot Filbert in the photo. He blends in a bit, but you can see his head poking up into the picture just under the nearest chandelier.

Later in the day, we headed for the Accademia Gallery to see Michelangelo's David, and then a visit to the Uffizi to gaze upon priceless paintings and sculpture. A note in one of the guidebooks made an impression - it said that Italy is the home to over 60% of the world's important historical artwork, and that over half of that is located in the city of Florence. What an experience! I would love to go back and spend a month or two!!

On to Rome in the next post...

Ciao,

Becky

On Sunday night, we left Rottweil, and drove back to Munich for a short flight Monday to Venice. Venice is all that, AND a bag o' chips! Beautiful scenery everywhere, famous canals, bridges and architecture, several smaller islands (Murano specializes in glass, Burano in lace) and wonderful restaurants everywhere! What more could you ask for?

We arrived on Monday afternoon in Venice. Our hotel was about half way between the famous Rialto Bridge (shown here behind Filbert)

and the Piazza San Marco, again behind Filbert:

I think he's showing a bit of jet lag, those whiskers are going to need a session with a curling iron after we're back home!

On Tuesday morning, we made our way to the Vaporetto station at Fondamenta Nuove on the north side of Venice for a quick trip to Murano and Burano. Can you find Filbert in the geraniums?

While we were visiting Burano, Filbert crossed paths with the Roaming Gnome! He was apparently also on assignment in Italy:

More to come as we move on to Florence!

Becky

Well, the plan was to blog as we went through Europe...problem with that is that there apparently is not adequate internet service to upload photos from anywhere in Europe. I went into an internet cafe in Venice and wanted to purchase computer time to upload my photo card to Shutterfly, which would then allow me to choose photos, etc. The poor Venetian man at the i-cafe about fell over, offered to burn a disc from the card, and announced that it would take "HOURS, if not DAYS!" to upload my photo card. So I will be posting over the next few days to give you all updates on the trip.

Here's Filbert watching out the plane window as we landed in Munich:

Then it was off to get the rental car, and on to the Autobahn:


(I think the speed limit on the Autobahn was a little much for poor Filbert, but The Hand and I sure had a great time zipping along in our little rental Audi - note that European cars are apparently designed for much shorter people than us, as we both had serious "cricks" in our necks after driving this car around Germany for three days!)

We arrived in Rottweil, as you know from the last blog entry. There were over 600 dogs at the Klubsieger (which is the equivalent of a huge national specialty, drawing entries from all over Europe). Filbert had a great time visiting with his new friends, and enjoying the Bavarian landscape. Here's a photo of the town sqaure - very picturesque!

Rottweil welcomed all the Rottweilers with open arms - there were small silver doggie water bowls all over town at the shops where the dogs were welcome, and the ADRK (German Rottweiler club/registry) had commissioned several Rottweiler carvings that were scattered throughout the town. We found one at the local bakery:

I'll will post more later as we move on to Venice, Florence and Rome...

Becky

I'm writing this blog entry from Rottweil Germany, and am in the process of uploading photos of the first part of our trip... this may not work, but I'm going to publish this little post as a test... bear with me, and we'll see if this works.

Filbert and I got a wonderful surprise when we arrived at the airport in Vancouver in preparation for the flight to Frankfurt - The Hand had booked Business Class tickets. Here's Filbert and The Hand in the Maple Leaf Lounge, readying himself for boarding:

And Filbert arriving in Frankfurt, just about to board his flight to Munich:

The internet cafe is about to close, and The Hand and I are headed for the nearest Brauhaus (Filbert is too young to have a brewski, so he's tucked safely in bed at the hotel). That's it for now!

Auf Weidersehn,

Becky

Naturally "Dawn" silk & wool shawl

Okay, here's the finished, blocked and fabulous Angel Lace shawl on Laura. It will be in the shop tomorrow, and then will be traveling with me for 10 days! After I get back home, it will be displayed in the shop. Stop by if you'd like a quick lesson in how to add beads to edgings without pre-stringing.

If you've been in the shop in the last few days and noticed that some of our models have gone missing, it's because they are at the NW Washington Fair in Lynden. Laura garnered a bunch o' blue ribbons on her entries, including a Best of Professional Division with her green Stahman Shawl knit from Jade Sapphire Mongolian 2 ply cashmere. If you're going to the Lynden Fair, be sure and stop to have a look at her stunning work!! She done good!

auf Wiedersehen, (practicing, again!)

Becky

Angel Shawl in "Dawn" by Naturally aka Before and After Blocking!

I promised you I'd take photos of the Angel Lace shawl after it was finished, before it was blocked and then again after blocking to demonstrate what a huge difference blocking out your lace will make in a finished project. Ta Da!! Here is the UNblocked shawl:

I put a pencil in the photo to give you a point of reference as to the size of the unblocked shawl. The funny little "spots" that you see along the edges are teeny glass beads that I decided to knit into the edge. I couldn't get a good close up photo of them, but they are small green faceted bead with an iridescent surface...pretty! So now you know - don't despair when your knitted lace looks like something that's been lurking in the bottom of the laundry hamper for days - it's supposed to look that way!

Now here's a shot of the lace after it's been blocked. It looks a little strange because I have it blocked out on two different color towels, so it's a little distracting - sorry. But it's what I had on hand at the time, what can I say?? By the way, note the long pins used for blocking - they are called Blocker Pins, come in a kit that includes a batch of long and short pins, flexible pins (for curves around necklines, armholes, etc.), t-pins for pinning out the solid longer lengths, and even a yardstick! You just run the length of the blocker pin through the edge of your project, apply even tension and use the t-pins to stick through into your blocker board, cardboard, toweling, spare bed (basically, whatever you're using for a blocking surface) and viola! Instant straight edges! Or in this case, when the pins are run through the points of scalloped edging, I guess I should say viola!! Instant Pointy Edges!! They are Worth Their Weight In Gold. Really.

Anyway, here's a photo of the BLOCKED shawl:

Waaaayy bigger - note the pencil in the photo in comparison to the first photo. When this comes off the blocker pins, probably tomorrow, I will take a photo of it on a person and hopefully you will be able to see the gorgeous little angels and the beaded edging. This is Fiber Trends' newest lace shawl pattern, called Angel Lace. I used four skeins of Naturally Dawn, which is a 50% wool and 50% silk laceweight yarn. I wish the computer had Touch-a-Vision, because this yarn is yummy!! The shawl will be packed in my suitcase on Thursday when I get on an airplane and head out on vacation.

The Hand, Filbert and I will try and post photos and news to the blog on our travels!

Ciao (I'm getting in practice),

Becky

Last Thursday Night...

at knitting group, we had "Show and Tell" with Molly, Dena, Rhonda and Melanie. This happy group had gotten together for a wild "Dye Day" at Molly and Dena's, and brought in their finished fiber and yarns to show us all!

Here's a photo of Molly with her yarn, and Dena with an armload of fiber and yarn - don't they look like they had a great time!?! We really have to stop having quite so much fun on Thursday nights...NOT!

Here's Rhonda with her yarn (we had to drape it over her neck to get her to pose for the photo)

So then Melanie couldn't stand it, and had to run home to get HER yarn to show, too!!

Do you get the feeling that they had a good time playing in the dyepots??!

What fun!! We then broke out the iced tea and settled in for some knitting...

I've been busy with puppies for the last few weeks, but have lots of photos and news to upload. I'm headed out for a 10 day vacation mid August, so watch for photos from the trip. We'll try and find Internet cafes to upload to the blog as we go, but no promises. You may have to wait until we get back home!

Becky

WIPs

Works In Progress... I promised I'd take a couple of photos, and managed to get to it today.

Here's the Bamboo shell in Girlyflage. This is working up really nicely, when it's done there will be a matching shell for Emma, too!

And here's a pic of the Naturally Dawn in the light green. I'm knitting the new Angel Lace Shawl from Fiber Trends. It will be interesting to show you how this compares as it's knit and then when it's finished and blocked. You can see the angels in the shawl already (upside down in this shot). If you look closely you will see the yarn tails where I just now joined the second ball of Dawn. This is a 50% silk 50% wool, and is going to feel so luxurious when it's finished!! This will use four balls total, five if I decide to make it a little longer overall...I'll just wait and see after I get three knit up. There is a lovely scalloped edge on the finished shawl. I'll post more photos as this progresses.

This week has been flashing by (is there a theme to my life, or what? LOL) In between meeting with yarn reps and ordering new products to keep all you lovely fiberistas interested and intrigued, I've also been trying to finalize the plans for the upcoming all breed dog show that I am chairing again. Being the show chairman of a dog show is always interesting...it's sort of a juggling act to get everything coordinated and hopefully moving in the right direction, and then on the weekend of the shows it takes on a life of it's own and there's no stopping it! For those that are interested, the dates are June 30 and July 1, location is the Skagit Valley Fairgrounds in Mount Vernon. We have nearly 1400 entries each day, so it promises to be one of the largest in Bell Vernon Kennel Assocation's history. More info can be found at http://www.barayevents.com/ - just click on "Shows" and then on "Bell Vernon Kennel Association" for details.

I need to go and get a little knitting done, then it's time to trim puppy toenails. I just stopped to think about that. With all the puppies needing their nails done, I have to trim 160 toenails tonight! Yikes! And that's just the babies! Better get to it,

Becky

Summer 2007 Newsletter

Tiny pitched in today and helped get the latest issue of the newsletter finalized and to the printer. I published it to the website this afternoon, and should have the printed copies back tomorrow.

I also thought after 10 years that it was time to change the look of the newsletter, so it's now called "The Wool Street Journal" and has a brand new look. Since we redesigned the website, the newsletter ought to have a fresh look, too!

We have several new classes that should be a lot of fun, including a drop spindle spinning class, a dyeing workshop, some more advanced classes in lace knitting and felting, and a couple of classes featuring how to convert some basic patterns into much more personalized and detailed projects.

It's been a busy week, but I promise to have some images of the Bamboo Girlyflage shell and a brand new shawl up in the next few days...I'm working on the Fiber Trends "Angel Lace" in a new yarn - Dawn from Naturally Yarns. I just couldn't resist it when I opened the box and put it on the shelf. Hey, it spoke to me - what can I say? It's 50% silk and 50% wool, and I know you'll love the drape of this yarn! I ordered it in white, indigo blue, a gorgeous deep red and a pale green (I chose the green for this project). The shawl is being worked on a US #4 Turbo lace needle, and is knitting up very quickly. If you haven't tried the Addi Turbo lace needles, I highly recommend them - that extra pointy-point makes all the difference when working lace decreases!! I'd take a photo of the shawl tonight, but in rushing around to get the newsletter finished I walked out of the shop and left both projects on the table. It must be Monday! But there's always tomorrow...

'Til then,

Becky

Dream in Color

We just got a new order of Dream in Color yarn, and I love it! This is a hand dyed superwash merino yarn, which we're now carrying in two different weights. Smooshy (formerly Gaia Sock) is their sock weight:

and Classy is the worsted weight:

Yummy!! This is super soft and the colors are fabulous. I hope the photos do them justice! I was also going to share a new kit that came in, but they sold out already so I will have to keep you in suspense until the next order arrives...

Becky

I can do this!

Okay. Here's the deal. Most of you probably know that my computer skills are what I would consider Somewhat Lacking. But I gotta tell you, I'm feeling better and better about this stuff all the time. I just went in to set up links to all the products that are actually now in the online store, and by golly...it worked! So now when I refer to stuff in the blog you, my friend, will be able to just point and click to see what it is that I'm talkin' about!! It may be a small thing to you, but to me, it's huge. So humor me, okay?

And for those who are already thinking "but what about the stuff you are talking about that doesn't have a link?" Good question. That just means that I haven't added that item to the store yet...but never fear. It shall be done! I am now back at the shop, because Maddie is taking wonderful care of her babies and doesn't seem to need me hovering over her any more. So again, bear with me. I'm going as fast as I can!! (And of course, for those impatient souls among you...if you don't see what you want online, just send an email or give us a call and we'll let you know if we have it and it just isn't in the online store yet).

Becky

It worked!

The transfer of the blog from the website to Blogspot worked, so I will be working on getting those links tweaked so that everything is functional. To return to the Knot Just Yarn site from the Blog, just click on the link in the right column and you'll be right back!
Becky

After The Sale...

Yawn. Stretch. I just woke up after a short nap, because after two sale days in a row I was TIRED out!! I literally walked in the door at home, checked the puppies, and headed for the sofa and naptime.

I'm going to check with The Hand tomorrow on how to connect the Blog to our website, so you will see this all at once on Blogspot. I apologize in advance for putting the entire blog under the first May entry, but thought that someone new coming along would want (or should I have said may want?) to read what has been written so far, such as it is...my thought was that I should transfer everything over from the original. So fair warning, if you don't want to read it, don't. But the last blog entry on this page is Long. It covers what I've written so far for the entire month of May. You've been warned.

I notice that some of the links aren't working yet, so will work on "clean up, fix up" on that. I also haven't figured out how to make the links appear easier to read. Guess it's time for the Help screen.

I have no images of the sale to share with you, because I didn't think my customers would appreciate it if I or Laura were snapping photos rather than working (plus it would probably have been considered rude to walk away from the line up at the counter to take pictures!) I'm also still kicking myself for not taking the time to get a photo of Emma last time she came by the store. She had been sitting in her portable crib (which I sometimes refer to as an "ex-pen"...those dog people among the readers will know what I mean, for the non-dog people an ex-pen is a portable fence that we use at dog shows and at home as a place to corral puppies and dogs...and it drives my son nuts when I call her crib (or to be absolutely PC I think the baby stores call it a "play yard") an ex-pen...but here I go digressing again). Aaanyway, she was playing quietly while Grandma worked on the website and I looked over when she got all quiet only to find that she'd fallen asleep sitting up. Or sort of sitting up, wish I'd gotten a picture...she was in a sitting position from her bottom and legs down, but had gone face down with her head between her feet and was sound asleep! Don't worry!! I did straighten her out and put her on her side for a nap! Guess napping runs in the family.

Becky

I'm trying something new today; I've signed up to link our blog to Blogspot, so that you can make comments and send me feedback if you wish. As many of you already know, I love to visit and always appreciate comments.

I didn't get to the shop at all today, as one of the puppies had a rough night. Therefore, so did I. All is well tonight, though so I'm planning on getting in to town early in the morning to pick up the goodies for the Anniversary Sale. Because, after all, what's the point of a celebration without baked goods and balloons???

I don't know if I can transfer the previous posts and images over to this spot, but will give it the ol' college try after the weekend.

Here's the progress on the Girlyflage Bamboo shell. Not much, I had a repairman at the house this morning to fix the dryer and thought it was about time that I picked up my messy house and ran the vacuum around the living room...but I did manage to get a few more rows done.

Becky

May 30, 2007, part II
I'm going to pop a quick little entry in here so that you all can get a glimpse of the new Bamboo from SWTC. It's called "Girlyflage" and I hope the color comes through in the photo on your monitors. It's pink, white, grey and brown - and it's totally cool! Very soft, and I absolutely love the way it's working up in this shell (the pattern is Knitting Pure & Simple's Basic Shell, which I will put on the website next week if all goes well). Anyway, here it is:

May 30, 2007
Here's what I was planning to post on Friday (May 25):
Okay, it's 8 p.m. on a Friday night, and I'm patiently waiting for puppies to be born. Maddie is tearing up her bedding like a madwoman, panting like a steam engine, and her temperature dropped a degree from last night (which is a sure indication that birth is imminent for those of you who are not Canine Midwives on the side). She's also spending a fair amount of time whirling around to look at her flanks with an expression of "What the heck was THAT" so she's clearly starting to have small contractions. My guess is tonight's the night. I'll post "before and after" photos. The Hand came up day before yesterday and set up a video camera so that I can monitor the whelping box area from my living room. Very cool to have such a technologically advanced friend!! Not only does she do the web development for Knot Just Yarn, but she installs video at my house...
Here's "before"

I have many photos to take of yarn for the online store. The back room is piled up with sample skeins, and as soon as these puppies arrive and are settled I will be back with nose to grindstone. We did receive an order from Southwest Trading of Bamboo and Oasis. The Bamboo order included a new pink and brown/grey "camoflage" color called "Girlyflage" that I couldn't resist. A couple of skeins made their way into my knitting bag, so that I could work on a summer shell while waiting for puppies to arrive. There's also a new color called "Midori" that is shades of bright lime to a deep almost black green. Images of all will be up on the store soon, so watch for them. I'll try and remember to come back and link on the yarn so if you're reading the blog it will take you directly to the yarn page in question.This may be a long night...Becky

...Back to May 30, 2007
It sure WAS a long night!! The first puppy was born at 9:45 p.m., just a couple of hours after I made the above blog entry. There were some complications with the whelping, and Maddie ended up having an emergency c-section at 3:30 a.m. We have 10 beautiful babies, but I have only been to the store for a short time. Laura is doing a great job of holding down the fort, and I should be back in the store on Friday as usual in time to help with the Anniversary Sale! Here's the "after" photo of the new brood:

We're having our Annual Anniversary Sale (10 years!!) this Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2. The Hand is coming to my house to babysit puppies on both days, since these are two of our busiest days of the year. We hope to see you then - the sale is 20% off STOREWIDE, with a few exceptions (equipment, books, videos, classes, etc.). The sale is limited to stock on hand, and does not apply to online purchases...mostly because we haven't figured out how to do that yet! If you do want to take advantage of the sale prices but can't make it in to the shop, you can call us on our order line at 1-888-477-KNIT(5648).
It's sometimes hard to believe that this is our 10th year in business. Those 10 years went by in the blink of an eye! It seems like yesterday that I was organizing shelving and making initial purchases by sitting at a card table meeting with yarn sales reps...now 10 years later and we've been through a move to a new and better location, the ups and downs of market trends, and all the friendships that have been made. Of course, we couldn't have maintained a retail business without the support of you, our wonderful customers. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support over the last 10 years!!
I'll try and get some photos during the sale, and have them posted next week.
Becky

May 24, 2007
Wow! What a week! Last week was a whirlwind - we started out the week with a dinner and awards banquet held at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon that was hosted by the Small Business Administration and Skagit Valley College to honor the Skagit County Business of the Year nominees...and yes, little ol' Knot Just Yarn was honored to be one of the nominees from Burlington!! Here's a pic of the certificate.

It's framed and in the shop, because quite frankly it isn't every day that a small retail business such as ours gets this kind of recognition! So last Thursday I attended the banquet. We didn't win, but I did get a really pretty bouquet of fresh flowers (and that certificate), and rubbed elbows with lots of business people from the area!
Then the focus was the LYS Tour, which was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Whew!! I really really wanted to get some photos taken of the shop during the tour, but it was so wild in here all three days that we simply didn't get the chance!! Laura was found stretched out on the carpet in the back room at one point on Saturday afternoon, would have loved to have caught her with the camera but no such luck! Thanks to Angela at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, we had champagne and dark chocolate hand dipped truffles, and offered hot and iced tea selections from our teas all three days. The truffles and tea were a definite hit, and we received lots of wonderful comments about the shop and our selections! Can't wait for next year!!
For our pattern of the tour, we offered the Skagit Tulip Booties, which is a design by our own Laura Kelly. We did find an error in the pattern, drat! (Actually, the discovery of the error can be credited to Nancy S. - thanks, Nancy for catching it!) The correction can be found on the Tips and Freebies page of the website. The booties were a hit, and we nearly sold out of all our Dale Baby Ull - but never fear, it's reordered and should be here in time for the Anniversary Sale. That's going to be the next big event, so remember to mark your calendars for Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2! It's coming up fast!! Details of the sale will be emailed and found on our website as we get a little closer...but basically we do a storewide sale with very few exclusions at a 20% discount. Two of the busiest days of our year, even counting the Tour!!
Photos and products are being added to the online store, so keep checking back. I'm going to be busy over the Memorial Day weekend with Maddie, a Rottweiler that is due to have her puppies sometime between today and Monday. I'll post pictures! She is so full of puppies that my vet couldn't count them all during the ultrasound, so keep your fingers and toes crossed that all goes well with the litter. I'll be somewhat scarce around the shop, but will try and post from home.
Happy Knitting,
Becky
May 14, 2007
Great news -- we're all set! The credit card processing and secure ordering is all finalized on the website, and the shipping links are working perfectly. We're adding new items and images as fast as we can...so bottom line is orders are being processed and shipped! Thanks for your patience while we got the last few loose ends tied up. Now the online store is all ready to go (thanks in huge part to The Hand!)
As you might know, the arrival of the new book Favorite Socks – 25 Timeless Designs from INTERWEAVE, inspired us to revive our Sock of the Month Group. This month’s project, “Merino Lace” is a fingering weight sock that features multiple columns of lace that extend from the cuff all the way to the toe. It’s simpler than it looks and loads of fun to knit. (Also a great excuse to try out the new Addi Turbo LACE needles – we just got a new shipment in today). We wrote about the finished sock and included a photo a few days ago….but (drum roll, please!) I actually finished a pair and had to show them off.

Look! An actual finished matching pair – ok so we’re easily amused around here. At least we’re happy.
Oops. We found another error in the chart. Favorite Socks is in reprint, so hopefully the errata will be caught on the next printing…but in the meantime drop us a note for the fix.
As before, the SOTM group meets during our regular drop-in class time on Wednesday morning and Thursday evening and there is no enrollment fee, just buy a copy of the book from us and say “Sign me up!”
There’s a bonus – you get 10% off of your project yarn each month when you buy the book! So a discount on yarn and the corrections made for you ahead of time. What more could you ask?
Laura
May 7, 2007
Monday, and the sun is shinin’ bright! What a gorgeous day!! It was busy all day around the shop, it seemed we were running at high speed the entire morning… I picked up the freshly printed copies of the Skagit Tulip Bootie along with the photos for the pattern and spent the morning gluing photos onto patterns and putting them in sleeves to get them all ready for sale.
As you can tell from this photo, I’m feeling much less frazzled by the website. We are in the final stages of setting up the credit card processing and working very hard to get items listed in the store, plus putting up color card and images. Right now, you can still place an order, but we’re not quite ready to take your credit card information online…so if you do place an order expect a phone call from us providing shipping costs and asking for your payment information. (And please do NOT send us any credit card information by email).

It’s almost 5 p.m. and things have somewhat settled down so thought I’d give you all the most recent report. I have the Skagit Tulip Bootie pattern all ready in their protective covers, if you’d like a copy watch for them to appear in the online store in the Pattern category (or you could stop in or give us a call!) This was Emma’s first modeling job, and we think she did great.

I have a busy day tomorrow, lots of paperwork and meetings. Sue (a.k.a. The Hand) is doing a superb job with the revamping of our website. I’ve heard back from some of you, and do report the positive comments to her. Every day should bring something new, so check back often!
Happy Monday,Becky

May 4, 2007
Stardate Five-Four-Two "Oh Oh" Seven
We've been gearing up for the LYS Tour coming this month. You can find information about the tour on our home page, or by checking http://www.knotjustyarn.com/www.lystour.com for more details. Dates of the tour are May 18, 19 and 20. It should be a fun weekend, and we're hoping to see all our regulars and meet lots of new regulars!
Laura celebrated a birthday yesterday, and we had a little impromptu birthday party complete with cake (Thanks, Pat). It was an interesting cake, and a choice that I've never seen before but think is a very clever idea...this one was one half carrot cake and one half German chocolate (you can see it in the lower left corner of the photo, complete with the German chocolate topping on one side and those little frosting carrots on the other). I had both, of course. I like the idea of not having to choose, plus it's a great excuse to eat two pieces of cake. There were no candles (we didn't want to set off any fire alarms) but there WAS singing!

Emma came by the shop this afternoon for a little "Gramma time" but we wore her out with all the picture taking and planning for putting items up in the new online store:

With luck, the online store will be up early this coming week. To start with, it will only have a very few items. Bear with us, and soon you will be able to view and order many of our yarn selections, plus needles, notions, books, kits, equipment...we're only going to be limited by time in getting all the information gathered up and online. I have spent the better part of today taking photos for the website, and at the rate I'm going it will be a good long time before I get everything that I want online. So, basically, you can shop for a few things right now, and then every day there will be new items added - keep checking back!
The Hand went home for a few days to recuperate and take care of her own life, and I'm trying not to mess up all her hard work... so as soon as she's back we'll have more changes and information on the site (including this blog entry, which I'm not going to try and publish by myself - I have visions of disaster flashing before my eyes when I even think about it!!)
Becky

May 1, 2007
Our very first Blog entry, Stardate Five-One-Two “Oh Oh” Seven:
We are very excited around here. We’re also getting a little punchy around here…if you look at Becky's picture on the “Who We Are” page, you may get some idea. “We’ve” been working on the website and online store for what seems like months now. In reality, it’s been about two weeks. I say “we’ve” because “I” have done very little. My hero, Sue Ledoux, has literally moved into the shop and my driveway (she has a motorhome, I’m not making her sleep in a tent!) and has been working diligently and daily on this Major Accomplishment. In case you haven’t met her, she’s very cool. It’s unlikely that you will ever get to see a photo of her, however. Every time I try and take her picture I get something that looks like this:

Maybe we’ll stop calling her Sue and start calling her “The Hand”…but I digress. This is supposed to be about knitting. Isn’t it? So, back to knitting.
This Spring, we received our standing order of Favorite Socks, 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. In the Old Days (or the 90’s, whichever you prefer) we used to work on a Sock of the Month. After knitting a sock every month for several years, the bloom went off the rose and we moved on to Other Things. Well, that all changed when the UPS man brought in the book order! Favorite Socks is a total winner, and we were again inspired to offer a Sock of the Month. You will find details of How It Works in the newsletter. For right now, here are photos of the SOTM progress:

May is “Merino Lace” knit here in purple (my favorite color, if you come back to read more blogging you will soon realize this fact) Fortissima. One big advantage of knitting each sock up in the month prior to it being the official SOTM is that whoever is doing the project is going to find any errors in the printing (and here’s a hint…there was one). That means that you don’t have to struggle and curse with errata – that’s right – we’ve already done it for you!! We’ve called Interweave with the correction, and they hopefully will make changes upon reprint. In the meantime, if you want to know what was wrong (and all our SOTM members already know, so they are one step ahead) just send us an email.

April was “Mock Wave Cable” shown in bright red Fortissima with heel and toe in basic black (I guess Laura was in a Canadian Mountie mood that day). It also had a boo boo in the chart. Again, if you are interested send us an email and we’ll share the correction. I think Interweave will also have the corrections on their site soon, if they don’t already. This one was designed by Ann Budd, and she called back herself about the error. When she was on the phone, I told her what we’d found and could almost hear the click of the light bulb when she looked at the chart!

March was “Embossed Leaves” which was knit in a pretty pink and purple-y (is purple-y a word? It is now) Tofutsies, which is a way cool yarn from Southwest Trading that contains soysilk, superwash wool and chitin. Chitin? Yep, chitin. That’s a fiber made from crab and shrimp shells, and it’s supposed to have ‘natural anti-bacterial properties.’ I don’t know about that, but it sure has some ‘natural silky good to knit with and feels great on your feet’ properties. I can’t wait to get the next order of all new colors – SWTC promises it’s coming soon!
Enough for now. It’s time to go make some more decisions about the website. Check back with us, things are changing daily!!
Cheers,Becky