Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Happy New Year!

It's been a busy week here in the shop. We've had so much fun seeing customers from out of town! And it's been great to see our local customers who are coming in to the shop with friends and family who are in Vermont for the holiday.

This week Barb and I have been meeting with sales reps every day, checking out new spring yarns. They are also showing us a few new wintery yarns that are available for immediate shipment. We did order some, so in the coming weeks you will see new sock yarns, new kids' machine washable yarns and new novelties, including a couple more ruffle yarns and even a yarn with feathers! (Trust me, the feather yarn is cool... it's not for everybody, but we felt it was unique and definitely worth bringing in for select customers!)

We've had fun sharing projects, too! I brought some projects back from Finland, including my Shadow Shawl:

and a cute little baby sweater I made using the new Berroco Versa yarn. The pattern for this sweater will be available soon.
Emily brought in the coolest mittens today - striped with 2 colors of Berroco Flicker
And even though these would have been nice and cozy with just the Flicker, she took it a step further and added a super cozy lining of Chic Fleece. This novelty yarn is mostly used for furry scarves, but Emily chose it as a liner because it's 65% superwash merino wool. So not only is it super soft and fuzzy (perfect inside a mitten) but it's also really warm. 
What a delight to slip your hand into this mitten, and be surprised by the lining that you didn't know was there!

A sales rep the other day showed us a great felted accessory bag that was knit with Noro Kureyon. It's a really great beginner knitting project and after felting, you attach it to a clear (or colored) vinyl accessory bag, like the ones we sell in the shop.
Shawn is our resident felter here, so I am going to save this for her to felt. Beginners, look for a class on this in the next couple of months!

The other day in the shop we were looking at the Trendsetter Dune yarn. I wanted to make a hat in it but I knew I'd need to combine it with another yarn that had some body to it. Barb and I grabbed several colors of Dune and went over to the Berroco Vintage shelf. There are so many excellent color combinations that you can make with these two yarns. Because the Dune is so gorgeous, we knew that a hat in stockinette would be the best.
The easy rolled brim hat I made reminds me of the old Chinchilla rolled brim hat we had years ago, only this one is kicked up a few notches!

Emily also made up a new scarf up for the shop. It's with the new Knitting Fever Broadway yarn, which has a neat metallic edge on it. It's been very popular so far, especially during this holiday week! 


I hope you are all working on some fun projects this holiday week too!
Barb is working on the Hitchhiker shawl in the Ella Rae Lace Merino yarn. She says it's so fun and addicting! 

And she just finished the Popcorn Baby Blanket out of Berroco Circus and Peter Pan Tinkerbell. This was such a quick knit, and remember there are excellent color combinations for this project. We just had some folks in today who found out their friend just got pregnant. They were picking out projects for newborns. This blanket is just the ticket.

Remember we are closing at 2pm on Saturday, closed all day Sunday, and we WILL BE CLOSED on Monday, January 2nd, so my staff can start of the New Year with a well deserved day of rest. Happy New Year!

1 comment:

Marsha C. said...

I hope you will share a pattern for that beautiful lined Flicker mitten! I have just finished a pair of mittens in Flicker too (pattern from the Berroco Flicker pattern book), and they are gorgeous too, with a pretty lace cuff, but not as warm as the ones pictured here with the furry lining.

Always enjoy your blog postings and your ideas! Thanks so much,