Is the summer gone?

It's September 1st and I have some time in between customers to blog. It has been almost 2 months and it feels like it was just last week since I last posted. What's been happening? We have met new folks, knitted items, brought in new yarn, patterns, book, and notions. Just the ordinary things that a yarn shoppe would do. Yet, it has been extraordinary.

What has made it that? It is the fact that we have become a part of the amazing fiber community in this area. We have learned from the folks who have come in and we have challenged them to continue trying out new ideas. It has been a wonderful experience for all of us.

Here is the Bendig family - 3 generations knitting away.


Joanne DuFour visited us from the UP. She is a spinner and lace knitter extraordinaire. She won Best in Show at the Allegan Fiber Fest in 2007 for her handspun alpaca lace shawl. I was able to see it and it was elegant. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of it (was in too much awe). But I do have pictures of other items she brought.

Hand spun alpaca and a lace shawl.





Then we have Susan Pandorf.


Susan designs shawls and we are carrying three of her patterns: the Cherry Country Shawl, Moroccan Day/Arabian Nights stole, and It is our hope to have Susan come and do a lace beading workshop for us. She has such wonderful patterns.

Susan and Jill went out and added some puppies to their homes. Meet Timmy and Lucy. (that is my daughter Kristina modeling a hat and holding Lucy)




Kate knitted a cute little cape made out of the recycled yarn. This is her design. And if you like her ideas, check out her paintings at the Tamarack Craftsmen Gallery in Omena.



This hat is Robin's Egg Blue Hat. I found it through Ravelry. It was a fun and quick knit (which I needed this summer). I used one skein of Cascade 128. My daughters saw it and both claimed it. So, I guess I will have to do a one for each of them, maybe, for Christmas.



And here is another one skeiner. This used one skein of the Pecan Pie colorway from Farmhouse Yarns. It is their silk, cotton, wool blend called Silk Blend. I will admit that I never thought of myself as a poncho type person, but once I finished it and put it on, I loved it. For this hot person, it is perfect for those over air-conditioned rooms.




Peg made the Sausalito sweater out of cotton fleece. It looks great on her!


The Bea Arthur ribwarmer. I just spent 20 minutes on Ravelry trying to see if someone else had posted a Bea Arthur and was not successful in finding one. I originally wanted to make the ribwarmer and actually knitted one up as a sample garment. I took it with me to Meg's workshop in May, 2007 and then saw the Bea Arthur. No question - that was what I had to knit. And here it is, almost finished. I am working on the I cord. And then I will block and voila! It will be done. Look and drool.


Susan found this and we ordered the yarn and the pattern. It is the Sea Lettuce Scarf by Lucy Neatby and it is knitted in Bonnie by Louet. Susan wanted me to display her finished product like this

and because I am left handed and therefore always contrary, I wanted to show it to you like this.


Either way, it is a fun scarf.


Next project on the way is the Criss-Cross Jacot Scarf. Susan is knitting this out of the Elegant yarn Fantasy. It is a favorite color combination of mine - browns and blues. (See what a great thing it is to own a yarn shop? You have some say about the samples that are made.)



Then we went to the Fiber Fest in Charlevoix and saw this.


Lorilee from City Knitting in Grand Rapids. Many moons ago, before shoppe, I was in Grand Rapids and as all good knitters do, I decided to stop by and visit a shop that was new to me. When I walked in I was greeted by the question of whether I had my knitting with me. When I answered that I had it out in the car, they invited me to sit and knit. And ever since then, I have considered City Knitting a home away from home. I also found a Kathy who knew a Kathy that I knew. (are we confused yet?) So, if you are ever in Grand Rapids, make sure you head on over and visit with them. And oh, bring your knitting. And don't tell her that I am jealous that she is having Jared Flood.

Here is what Melody did at the Fiber Fest.


Ain't she cute? She modeled the top she knitted.



Amazing how fast it all went.

Have a great fall.

New neighbors and old

We have new neighbors. Martha Ryan opened Martha's Leelanau Table Cafe. She started serving breakfast and lunch on Thursday, July 3. What we are hearing is the the food is good. Martha wanted to open over a month ago, so we are excited that they have finally opened.



Across the street is North Country Grill & Pub, owned by Barry Boone. Susan and I had their onion rings and North Country Burger today for lunch.

Jill had their Toasted Vegetable Panini. Mmmmm, good. I am a sucker for onion rings that were not frozen. These folks could spell trouble for me.

Anchor Cottage opened up several months ago. Cute items inside. I love their La Source by Crabtree and Evelyn.
Then our massage therapist put her sign up outside the building.


We got a new sign that says YARN. That seems to work better than just OPEN. This summer is proving to be busy for us.

4 Degrees of Seperation

This is a story about the connections we have in our world. Meet Vicki.

She is from Kalamazoo and came into the shoppe this morning. We started talking (I am very nosy and love to hear where folks are from, why they are in this county, and so forth). Vicki told me she is a beginning knitter and her involvement with knitting is more through her friends. Come to find out, she is friends with Rams, who is friends with the Yarn Harlot, who is friends with Megan of Lettuce Knit, who had Franklin at her store on WWKIP. You can see another picture of Vicki on The Panopticon blog. Go to his entry dated June 19, 2008 and you will see her in the 3rd series of group pictures, 3rd row and also further down with the group picture of the scarf. Needless to say, I read the Yarn Harlot and Franklin. So this was rather fun for me - having the connections through Vicki go back to folks whose blogs I enjoy reading.

What we did for WWKIP

The weather cooperated. It was sunny and the temperature was in the 70's. Just right to sit outside and sit and knit and spin and dye.

There were donations of a dog kennel, money, and blankets for the animals at the CherryLand Humane Society.

Waiting for Susan

We received more inventory this past Wednesday. One of the boxes we knew Susan would really want to see, so we waited until she arrived to open it. The others we went ahead and opened.


Here is a pattern from Amy Anderson. It is called Peekaboo.



This binder is full of new patterns. Here are some of what we received. We have not carried these before, but they look like a line that we will keep updated.



This is a box from Scotland. This box is waiting for Susan.


Ah, Susan has arrived, now we can open it. It is the Thistle purse from Alice Starmore.


Check back in several weeks and we will show you the finished product.

What's knittin'

Some more pictures of what folks are churning out with our gorgeous yarn.

Opal yarn knitted into a baby cardigan and hat by Jill.

This is a cabled cardigan knitted with ShiBui Baby Alpaca.

Look at what Pamela did with the sleeves - added ribbon. What a nice touch.

The Spinner's Shawl by Fiber Trends knitted with Cotton Fine by Susan.




Cotton Fine knitted up in a singlet and jacket.

This is the Tomten Jacket from Knitting without Tears and Opinionated Knitter. It is knitted with Lamb's Pride worsted. Susan added an after thought pocket on the right side.

Ashley made her first hat. And Aiden is the recipient.

Another bun warmer by Susan with the Euroflax Linen. It just makes me think of something out of my grandmother's sideboard.