recap of Norah's visit

Wow, did we have fun yesterday. It is always so great to see Andra, as she is so full of energy and enthusiasm about life, yarn, fashion, knitting, etc. She arrived first, and soon Norah arrived, with boxes of garments from her Norah Gaughan Collection: Volume One. We had cleared out the back of the shop and had lots of mannequin bodies all naked and waiting to wear her samples. As Norah pulled items out of the boxes, we all "oohed" and "aahed". What can I say people? Yarn and knitted garments excite us! That's why we do what we do.

The coolest thing about the visit yesterday was not SEEING these items in person...though that pretty much rocked. It was getting to try them on. And she had multiples - as in the same garment in both a smaller size and a larger size! We all have different body shapes and sizes, and a lot of times, a certain sweater STYLE may look great on one body type, and awful on another, even if it is sized properly. It's just that the style doesn't work for multiple shapes. The great thing about most of Norah's designs in this book, is that they worked on multiple body types. Believe me! I tried these things on. Kalen did, Michele did, Alex did, Barb did. And many customers did. And we are ALL shaped differently. And a lot of the pieces looked great on each and every one of us. So that was a really enlightening experience for all of us, and for all of the people who tried these things on.

The other really interesting thing is that the sweater that I liked the LEAST in the book, turns out to be one I like the MOST. It's the Aamu (shown below, and thanks to Berroco, Inc. for letting me borrow these pictures):

Yeah, not really one that sells you in the picture. But it is so cute in real life, that Kalen, Michele and I are each making it! I picked red, Kalen picked blue and Michele is doing brown. I started mine last night and am CRUISING on it. Love Pure Merino, love the color, love the pattern.

Andra also made (yes, MADE) me try on the Aune skirt (below.) I was really resistant to it. I mean, come on, puh-leese. I am not a knitted skirt kind of person. I put in on over my jeans, and guess what? It was really cute, and I could totally see myself wearing it! Michele and Kalen also tried it on, and we all fit in the same size and looked great. We might have to make one up for the shop...

So when I finish my Aamu sweater, I think I will make the Anais top (below, in blue.) This is just so cute, with a beautiful detail at the neck and the sleeves. It's made out of Ultra Alpaca Light, and is again, a sweater I never would have considered, had I not tried it on.

The sweater that most of our customers fell in love with was the Manon sweater, below. They had it in two sizes, and it is really flattering on a wide range of people. Not to mention, it's fun to knit! No boring stuff here...

Another one that people loved was the Annikki long sweater coat. WOW.

And the Kaari:

And the Kaino vest:

And the Kukka:

And the Chantal (this was really cute!):

And one easy personal favorite was this Luce scarf. I'm definitely doing a shop sample of this one!

So it was super fun, and my needles have been flying in each spare moment since 5pm last night. Thanks Norah. Thanks Andra. Thanks staff. Thanks customers.

Of course for pictures I was terrible. I got too busy to take any! So Marc took a couple - he and the girls were sitting out front with some apple cider and Barb's yummy pumpkin cookies and molasses cookies. They were watching all of the Hot Rods drive by the shop, as the Hot Rod show was just up the street. Here's one shot (dark, and blurry - sorry!) of Norah and some customers trying things on in the back of the shop.

And here's Andra after the event, taking a well deserved break with Helen, Sophie and me out front.

Today was GORGEOUS! We went to Stowe. The kids and Marc rode bikes on the rec path and went through the corn maze.

My sister and I took an 8.5 mile run. As a reward after my run, I chowed down a Stowe Dog and some lovely onion rings. MMMMMMM. Michele and Kalen and I are running the Leaf Peepers 1/2 Marathon one week from today. Fingers crossed that it will be even close to today, weather wise!