More

Well, here are some pictures of what we have at the shoppe. I knew I liked their patterns, but what a difference it makes when you can hold the garment in your hands.

Mission Falls Trunk Show

You will probably hear this from me more than once, but I believe in synchronicity (coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related). Now, that may not be the right word for what I believe, but I think it is close. I believe that life goes its way and that it all works out and events happen for a reason. For instance, I have wanted a yarn shop for about 6 years, but it never seemed to be the right time or place. And then this summer, it happened.

And now, here it is a new year and six months later. Time for the shoppe to get a new lift, bring in new items. But how fast can we knit? I have been asking my vendors for a trunk show and lo and behold - what have we got? Today two boxes came in and we have a Mission Falls trunk show. We have approximately 17 knitted items to drool over.


They are knitted out of Mission Falls cotton and wool. And I love every piece!

We will have them for three weeks from today. Come on in and fondle. We have the patterns and the yarn to make your own.

I am going to tease you for the next several days and show you what we have.

A New Year

It’s a new year and we are asking for your input. We have been here for six months now and we would like to know what you think.

Are we carrying the yarn, books and patterns you want?

How can we better service what you want from your crocheting and knitting?

Would you like a spinning night?

What KAL's (knitting along) would you like to work on?

Is there another way for us to display our yarns and notions?

Do our hours fit your schedule?

How is our customer service?

We plan on being here for a long time and we want to make sure that we are offering what you need.

Let us know.

I'm SO Excited

The Pointer Sisters and I are one today. I'm so excited as I am partnering with Lost Art from Traverse City. We will be offering a workshop March 7, 8, and 9 at the Bayshore Resort and we will be bringing in Amy Detjen to be our main instructor, along with offering other classes. One of the classes Amy will be teaching is the RibWarmer. See that? Is it not a wonderful vest? I have coveted this vest ever since I first saw it in Elizabeth Zimmermann's book Knitting Workshop. Then when I went to a knitting camp at Schoolhouse Press last spring, I was introduced to a variation of the Rib Warmer called the Bea Arthur. Can't give you a picture of that yet, as I am still working on it, but suffice it to say that it is a longer, more elegant version of the rib warmer. I picture myself as Loretta Young when I finish it.

Anyway, we will have a knitting workshop with classes on the Rib Warmer, Tips and Tricks, and some other great topics. Still putting together the finishing details, but set aside that weekend.

The Amazing Cro Needle and other musings

I love winter and the snow! As long as I am inside and do not have to go any where. Here is what it looks like right now.




David Reidy, on his podcast Sticks and String, talks about the cro needle. And guess what we received today from Addi Turbo? It has a US 3 needle on one end and a C crochet hook on the other end. It is used to pick up stitches and then knit. This is a great invention for knitters.

In the meanwhile we are putting our heads together for a class schedule for this winter. Can't have you sitting home by yourselves. We plan on getting you down here and learning new techniques such as purl stitch texture patterns such as used in guenseys, fair isle color knitting, Norwegian lice and snowflake patterns, cables, lace scarfs, and baby booties.

Gauntlets anyone? They are filling up the netwaves with talk. Go to Knitty.com and look at their pattern for Fetching. We have two examples here - one is made out of Mission Falls wool and the other out of Lamb's Pride Superwash.

Lois' Felted Scarf

See the scarf Lois is wearing? She is my yarn representative for Brown Sheep. She brought in this wonderful scarf that she knitted and felted. She is knitting a new one. And here is the pattern.

Lois’s Felted Scarf

57” x 5” finished

US 10 ½

Lamb's Pride Worsted

CO 170 with 2 strands of yarn. (Make slip knot with about about 6" tail for both yarns)

Knit each row with one strand in garter stitch for about 8” – 9” wide.

Felt.

Use Color grabber by Shout - will keep colors bright. Felt about 6 minutes and separate fringe. Felt another 5 minutes and then pull fringe again. Rinse, but no agitate. Put on Spin cycle.

It's Been a Busy, Crazy Week

It has been busy in my life this week. I am sure that it has everything to do with it being the week before Christmas. My two daughters came home from MSU and I have been spending time with them. Along with working both of my jobs. The camera is kept at the shoppe, otherwise I could show you pictures of the dining room with its bags, bags, and bags. None of it has found its way up to their rooms. Much easier to keep them downstairs, where we can all walk around them. But it has been great to have my daughters home and they will be gone a week from now and then I will have my dining room back.

In the meantime, people are knitting. Here are some pictures. This is Delores. She has a turtle. It started out as a hat, but she was enjoying her knitting too much to slow down and decrease, so she just kept going. We suggested that she turn her oversized , not decreased, hat into a turtle (that is what I call it). Delores liked that idea and she is showing it off.



This is Marie with her crocheted christening dress. Isn't it wonderful?


Rosalie made this Baby Surprise Jacket out of Buttons yarn. Rosalie has made several of these jackets after taking our class.

Melody made this Fiber Trends felted hat out of Lambs Pride wool. It is sitting on my shawl of La Gran mohair and Elegant Aurora.
Here is Susan's poinsetta crocheted granny square afghan. Again made out of Lamb's Pride.




Dorte's scarf out of Elegant Aurora. Dorte is on her way to Denmark for the holidays, where she was born and raised.


I hope your week was productive.

OPEN 7 DAYS

First of all Betsy offered to work Thursdays and just now Jillian asked to work Tuesdays.

So, from now on, we will be open seven days a week.

WOW!!!!

Apron Project

The other day, Barb Marsh stopped by the shoppe and asked if we would be willing to help sell aprons for the Leelanau Christian Neighbors. In my other job, I work with folks who use Leelanau Christian Neighbors, so of course, I said yes. I am going to let Barb tell you why we are selling the aprons.

"Leelanau Christian Neighbors operates two Food Pantries in Leelanau County. One is located in the Suttons Bay Congregational Church in Suttons Bay and the other one is located in St. Gertrude’s Catholic Church in Northport. During the first nine months of 2006 the LCN pantries dispensed 1,748 bags of food at a cost of $11,017. In the first nine months of 2007 the pantries have dispensed 2,890 bags of food at a cost of $24,946. This is a sixty five percent (65%) increase in the number of bags distributed and a one hundred and twenty six percent (126%) increase in the cost. As the Michigan economy worsens LCN, like other human service agencies, is being inundated by those who are in need. The apron project is raising funds for the LCN pantries. 50% of the cost of the apron is a contribution to the LCN pantries."

So stop by the shoppe and order an apron. It will cost you $27.

Hugs,
Kathy

Staying warm at MSU

My daughter is a new knitter. Here is a close-up picture of a scarf she knitted. She started it here and then went back to MSU after Thanksgiving. I gave her encouragement and tips long distance. The scarf was a present for one of her 28 housemates - two ways of staying warm at school.

Ahhhhhh

Look what I found at my doorstep this morning. Claudia Handpainted Yarn in the Silk Lace. Need I say more?

Paying bills AKA ranting

This will not have any pictures unless I can find one showing me very frustrated. I have finally sat down to pay bills. And of them is my Charter bill. First I see that supposedly someone ordered a movie off of PayDemand. It wasn't me, I was off working that day. My son, Ian, and I decide that it was probably my husband, who says it wasn't him. So I call Charter and they say that it played for 2 hours. Hmmm, I go to Wikipedia and they say that movie runs for 93 minutes. Isn't 2 hours 120 minutes? For $3.99 I am not going to argue, but I do put a block on pay movies. No more. You want a movie, you will have to pick up the phone, figure out which number to call, then go through the process of ordering one. No more accidential getting a movie that lasts 120 mins when it should only be 93 minutes. The bill is still not paid as I am told that to pay my bill on the phone will cost me $8. I love it. I am paying them and I get to pay an additional $8 for the pleasure. So I tell them I am not going to do that and I go to the Internet. The Internet tells me that to pay my bill I have to have a security code, but it does not tell me how to get this security code. I call Charter back and this time I get a nice man that I cannot understand. The little I do understand is that I can go to my local Charter office and they will give me my security code, he cannot give me my security code over the phone. Now, how is that all of the other bills I pay on line do not require this? I have never had to drive to the local office of whatever to set up my account on the Internet. In fact, 20 minutes before I was talking to Charter, I had paid my CellularOne bill on the phone, without being charged $8 for the honor. They took my money for free. I explain that the Charter office is in Traverse City, which is an hour's drive away from my home, it is 8:30 at night and I do not think they are open. So sorry, that is what I have to do. So......no Charter bill paid tonight. I will admit it is my fault that I waited until the night before the bill was due, but they really make it hard to take my money. So, tomorrow I will call my local office and see what they tell me. Really wish that the local cable company had not sold out many years ago to Charter. I do not like losing the local home page to something that talks about things I could care less. In fact, I changed my home page to Leelanau.com. Much nicer, they talk about things I care to read.

Busy at the shoppe

It has been busy at the shoppe this week. On Friday, Susan brought in this vest. It is from the Simply Shetland 2 book.
Kathy is modeling the back for us.






Susan also made up this hat for us in a gorgeous blue color from ShiBui Knits Highland Wool Alpaca.



















Yesterday, Melody went to an open house given by Pat McKean. She sent her over to us and here is part of what we bought. Her pins and shawl pins are on the left of the shadow box. On the right are our pins from Romi.















Kate brought in her dog, Archie, with his knitted coat.














Along with her finished shawl made out of qiviut.
















Then Amy came in with her mom and brother and here is the knitted hat with flaps that Amy knitted out of Naturally Tussock Worsted.















And in the meantime, Melody added inside lights to our shoppe.

Power outages, shawl pins, and books

Remember I said that I was going to keep a log of how often the power went out? Well, two days after that it went out again for about 4 hours. Then on Tuesday ago, it went out at our house at 10 am and came back on at 7 pm. I was at my job in Leland, and we lost power around 12 noon and who knows when it came back on. At home, my husband built up a fire in the fireplace and took a nice long nap under the down comforter. At the office, we have a generator that kept part of the building going - the part that has the bathrooms and furnace. So guess where I stayed? I went through my piles of paperwork (it does need to be weeded out every now and then), but went home at 5 pm. My son and I picked up a friend and we went out for dinner at the Happy Hour. Which was nice. I stayed warm, had good company, and stayed happy. By the time we got home, the power was back on.

I tried to find a picture of what it looked like Tuesday and this is the closest I can come - a picture of Fishtown, in Leland, taken by our neighbor, Keith Burnam. Keith runs the Leland Report and if you have not visited his site - go there now. He has amazing pictures. He verifies my feelings that wherever you go in Leelanau County, you find beauty.

Just want to remind you that we have a Wish List and Gift Certificates. Come in, fill out a card, and list everything in the shoppe that you would like. We have the lavender products (soap, potpourri, lip balm, lotion, and spray) from Leelanau Lavender Breezes, funky jewelry, shawl pins, books, baskets, along with books, patterns, and yummy yarn. In fact, check out some of the shawl pins that just came in.

After you have finished filling out the Wish List card, send your family and friends in for gift giving ideas. Friday, December 14, from 5 pm until 8 pm is set aside for the men to come in for holiday shopping.

Below are several books that have just arrived at the shoppe. Interweave Press updated the Harmony Guides and they are worth having in your library. I had the chance to quickly skim one yesterday and not only do they show you different stitches, but they also intersperse the pages with quick tips. Come on in and check them out.

Another book we just received is Indigo Knits. Lots of sweaters, some throws, and other great knits using denim yarn.

Thanksgiving Sale

Those of you who are reading the blog will have a sneak preview of the sale for this weekend. All socks will be 30% off and all books are 20% off. We will also have some yarn on sale for $2. a skein. There - that should be an incentive to stop by this weekend.

Here are some samples of what we have in books:




















And, by the way, have a Happy Thanksgiving and drive safely. My 2 daughters are coming up from Michigan State tonight and tomorrow and I hope that all is well for them. And for me - as I am driving into Traverse City to pick up my 20 yr. old baby - today is her birthday and she is leaving East Lansing before her sister. Catching a ride with another student. And of course they are calling for snow and my snow tires are not on yet.

Hugs.......