Seeing fall already?

I'm just back from vacation, and really, it's still early spring in my opinion. But I'm already seeing reps for fall! Yesterday I received a preview box from Berroco... full of pattern previews and new yarns. Ooooh laaaa laaaa is about all I can say. The patterns are super (as are the yarns!) and I'm not going to give anything away, because it really wouldn't be fair to tempt you like that! After all, it's months before this stuff will be available in the store.

But I will say that people of all ages, both male and female, will be VERY pleased with what's coming.

In the meantime, let's focus on spring and summer. If you're on our email list, you know that we just put three yarns on sale. (If you're not on our email list, you should be!) That's right, three of our favorite cotton yarns (one is a blend!) are 20% off now through Wednesday, May 6th at 5pm EST. They are:

• Berroco Pure Pima
• Cascade Cotton Rich DK
• Mirasol Samp'a

These are sport/dk weight yarns, and we have some great patterns for spring. Come on in and get a new project started!

This sounds complicated...

It happened again. I bought more sock yarn. We got a great new bamboo blend sock yarn in the shop - Lang Bambus. It is a self patterning yarn and one of the colors is reds, oranges, and yellows...so the Bambus went home with me and now I have two sock projects even though I do not normally knit socks...

But now I am knitting socks again...

In the past I've been frustrated by small double pointed sets of needles so I decided to teach myself knitting socks on two circular needles. Since I sometimes have trouble with second sock syndrome, I also decided to teach myself knitting two socks at a time...on two circular needles.

And as if that weren't enough to learn, I also decided to teach myself knitting socks from the toe up...two socks time...on two circular needles. (This way my socks will match and be the exact same length!)

Of course a bonus of the Bambus sock yarn is that reinforcement thread comes with it (in the exact same color and pattern as the yarn). It sounds like my sock problem may be getting out of control.

So far I've managed a seamless toe cast on. I've practiced this twice because at first the toes were much too pointy so I started over. Now they're more square, but I'm not going to frog again. When I look at my other socks they are not that pointy either so I think these will be fine. Now I just need to come to grips with the afterthought heel - I've never done that before either!

Sometimes shell collecting is more important!

Sometimes you really need to shut down. And not only halfway, but completely. So that's what I've done for the past 10 days. Barb, Shawn, Michele, Polly and Emily are all handing things beautifully back at the shop. I am so lucky to have such a great staff - thank you guys so much!

So it's been a week full of sun, sand, surf and lots of other fun activities. Tomorrow is our travel day, and then it's back to reality.

Knitting? Hmmm. Not much. I have only done a bit on my Pure Pima sweater, as you can see here.

I've spent more time collecting shells. Can anyone identify these? (Lightning Whelk, Altantic Slipper Shell, Auger, Shark's Eye, Angulate Wentletrap, Common Bubble, Banded Tulip, Lace Murex, Top Shell....)

Contradictions

I always tell people I am not the biggest fan of small needle knitting. I often explain that I never finish a PAIR of socks because by the time I've finished one I just can't seem to motivate myself to cast on for the second one. I also like to knit with addi turbo needles so all those beautiful skinny little yarns with their slippery amazingly tiny fibers and I usually end up in a fight when I try to use the yarn and needles together.

But I CAN knit with small needles and I HAVE knit pairs of socks before. Truth is, it just usually isn't my thing. So why then, have I started casting on for projects that are knit on small needles with skinny little yarns?

It all started when a couple of skeins of Koigu - the last two remaining of a colorway - begged to come home with me. I HAD to take them because we needed more room for the fifteen or more new Koigu colors that came in. (That's what I am telling myself anyway.)

I love the colors in these two skeins and found reinforcement yarn that will blend perfectly. Yes, now I'm complicating things and adding even skinnier yarn to the project.... I'll be digging out my Yankee Knitter #29 - Classic Socks for the Family pattern soon.

One of the new colors of Koigu is now desperately trying to get my attention. I am trying to be strong. Because if I am not a big sock knitter, how could I possible have more than one project at once?!

Crochet Lesson #1

The girls were delighted (well, Helen was!) to find a crochet hook and some chunky yarn in their Easter baskets on Sunday. After the hunt for Eggs in the yard, we sat down and started our lesson. Helen has been asking me to teach her for months now, and so she was thrilled to learn. Sophie didn't really want to participate - the lure of word games on her new handheld were more exciting, I think.

Boy was it hard to teach them! They had a lot of trouble getting down the actual holding of the yarn. The hook motion wasn't the problem, it was really the tension of the yarn leading to the ball. I've never taught anyone to crochet before. I just learned it myself from a book, so I don't think I was the best teacher. We perservered (Helen more so than Sophie) and by the end of the day I came into the room to see this:

Here's Helen on the phone with her nana. Note the headband holding the phone clip... truly hands free so she can crochet. She's gotten a lot done and is now enthusiastic about it, since she found a comfortable way to hold the yarn. This is a TRUE smile!

And here's Sophie. That little peach thing that she appears to be sitting on, is her yarn. Hook, nowhere to be seen. Probably under the couch. And yep, the word games won. She might be trying to hide from me under those shades. It's okay, I'm onto her.

Vacation is just around the corner, and the crochet will be a nice project for the plane trip. I've just packed a little knitting project for myself. I chose a gorgeous shade of Berroco Pure Pima... I've been lusting after this yarn ever since I swatched it months ago. I LOVE it!

And I am making the Jessica sweater in the Nashua Handknits Sprout booklet. It is SO adorable, and will be perfect beach knitting.

Keep the Squares coming

So we've extended the deadline for the afghan squares - you now have through the end of April to contribute to our charity knitting project. We have a bunch, with a bunch more promised! Let's see if we can squeak out TWO blankets to donate!!

Addition to this post: look what just got dropped off today - from Betty R of Burlington!

Thanks Betty - we ALL loved your squares!

Keep an eye on the sale page...

So inventory is over, and while we were counting things last week, we identified a number of items that we decided to mark down. If you check the sale page of our website, you will find some really good deals. They'll go quickly - in some cases it was 1-3 skeins left, but the discounts will be DEEP, so buy it before it goes!

We do have some great bulky silk, too, from Tilli Tomas. It's called Simply Heaven, and it's easy to see why they gave it that name. There's quite a BIG discount on it. And great colors...

And it's not just yarn... there are some Offhand Designs bags, and some other larger items.

Now, back to unpacking all the yarns that are coming in. We sold so much during our sale that we'll be unpacking for weeks!

New Koigu & Offhand Designs!

So yesterday was gray and it poured all day. By the time we were driving home it was really snowing, and this morning there were quite a few accidents... did you Vermonters get tricked by the recent nice weather and take off those snow tires too early?

Anyway, as depressing as the weather was, we did have some items arrive that really brightened our spirits! We got a big box yesterday from Koigu, with 15 new colors of KPPPM... and each color is fantastic. I'm already drawn to several of them... might have to take a Koigu project on vacation next week.

We also got our Offhand Designs spring bags... I have to say, this fabric selection this season is my favorite! I can't decide which one I like better. I'm usually drawn to the greens and earth tones, which make Rosamond, Rumplestiltskin and Jack the favorites... but Ariel - a new blue - is quite eye catching!

I brought in two new bags this season. One is smaller - the Suki Bag:

And the other is large - the Maude:

These are available in most of the fabrics, and we can get them for you, even if we don't have them in stock.

We also sell so many of the Circular and Deluxe needle cases that we added the Traveluxe Case.