Needle Winner

Happy End of January! Can you believe it!

As I promised I pulled a name out of the hat this morning. The needle winner is SJ . Sarah left a comment on my post "Organization!" on January 17th. Sarah contact me with your selection and address at angelika @ yarn-store.com Congratulations Sarah!!

5 new colors and I've almost got them all on-line. Only Lion and Lamb and Shepherd Bulky left to photograph and add to the web. I had hoped to get them all done, but the days were very busy. Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Worsted, Helen's Lace and as of this morning Shepherd Sport are done.

But it is now time for this worker-bee to take some R&R. Have a great weekend!!

New Colors arrive from Lorna's Laces

Mmmm......another big mess! Reminds me of that other well known movie quote. "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into, Ollie."

The following photographs are pictures of Shepherd Sock.

This color is called Andersonville.

This color is called Montrose.

This color is called Rockwell.

This color is called Satsuma. It is really bright and cheery. I cannot wear this color, but I'm sure attracted to it. In the Lion and Lamb it is very shiny.

This color is called Beverly. I got the Shepherd Sock scripts posted online last night. Today hopefully the I can get the Worsted posted. But if you cannot wait, just call to place your order, or if you have ordered before, just emai me. I've got Shepherd Worsted, Sport and Bulky, Helen's Lace and Lion & Lamb.

This weekend I will pull a name for the needle giveaway. We are heading out Saturday morning for a weekend with our children in Sunriver, Oregon. So I will pull a name early Saturday morning! Thanks for playing!!

Creativity or Total Confusion

If you have not posted a blog comment, don't forget!! I'm giving away your choice of knitting needles up to a $30 maximum value. I'll pull a name the last weekend of this month which is only a few days away. Comment on the blog your experiences of US and MM sizing and how you store your needles, and I'll put your name into the hat! http://www.yarn-store.com/circular-knitting-needles.html

Sunday I impulsively set up my SK280. I wanted to see if I could reproduce this top I have purchased from Cabi that I really like. I'm using Cascade Heritage Sock in Jade, and the bands are Chocolate. I'm into a real "brown" stage. Have been for quite a while now! So my wardrobe is really building up a nice selection of this natural shade. I say impulsively because I have no business starting ANOTHER project. To really test my limits, my band test was a 1x1 and a full needle rib test. I'm a born Brother knitter, and I was concerned that everything would go wrong doing this test on my Silver Reed machine. The machine knitting guardian angel was looking over my shoulder. I found my ribber manual, cast on and the original test was a success.
The thing about machine knitting is that once you know your machine, you can easily pump out one piece per day in less than 1 hour and, if nothing goes hay-wire, you can have a new sweater by the end of the week. One thing that I've learned is that to not expect more than 1 piece per day if your day is a busy one. If you happen to have an easy day, then consider it a bonus that you might be able to knit up another piece. Sunday was my back. Monday was my rib test, and one of the fronts. But if you are pressed for time, everything will go wrong. Machine knitting takes time, concentration and as few interruptions as possible. Mondays are always super busy. Monday's shipments out consist of orders from late Saturday, Sunday and 1/2 of Monday. Not a big pile of orders as compared to some of the more well known on-line stores. But for a 1-woman show, this took me a long time to process. Many duties to do in a single day, but it keeps me from getting bored!

On my "list-to-do" I decided to get my head out of the clouds and get back to getting information up to date. My Figheadh Patternworks Hat Page is now UP TO DATE! I get to cross that small item off my list!

Stay tuned! Lorna's Laces Newest colors are due to arrive in a few days!!

New Colors & New Yarn

Lorna's Laces has announced 5 new colors. To save me a bit of time, and get you the information early, read about it at the Lorna's Laces Blog.

The silk bamboo that was temporarily available last fall was a great hit, and is now a permanent part of the Lorna's Laces Line. Pearl will be available from Angelika's. I will be stocking many, but not all colors. You let me know if there's a specific color you'd like. Pearl is 51% silk, 49% bamboo. 215 yds/3.5 ounces, 5 sts per inch on a US#6 or 7 needle. I know for sure I'm ordering it in in Mystic, our exclusive dark green. I'm still trying to decide what other colors. Suggestions???Don't forget to write me to get your name in the jar for the free needles!!

Free Needles & New Sock Colors

I'm giving away your choice of knitting needles up to a $30 maximum value. I'll pull a name the last weekend of this month. Comment on the blog your experiences of US and MM sizing and how you store your needles, and I'll put your name into the hat!
http://www.yarn-store.com/circular-knitting-needles.html

#9882 Rainforest #9881 Campfire #9883 Wild Roses #9884 Green Opal

Cascade's Heritage Sock Yarn has 4 new hand-dyed colors!! This is a really nice sock yarn. So nice infact, I've a T-Top knit out of it.
1 hank makes a pair of socks.

Cascade has many new colors in the lines I carry. Not only does Heritage sock have 4 new colors but also Fixation, Cash Vero, Sierra, Kid Seta and Pima Tencel. There's much work in store for this yarn store owner!! Not only making room on the shelves but also to add to my shipment flyers and the web site!!

Still working on my boy's neck down pullover. Neckband is done and I'm working my way down the chest. Instead of knitting last night, I got hung up on Amazon looking up and listening to music of the 70s. There aren't too many really good rock bands today. David Cook is pretty good, but I keep going back to the 70s and 80s. Have about $100 in that shopping cart!! I will have to transfer much of that to the "wish list" for later purchases.

Until next time!!

Organization!

Another quick post. I just finished a total revamp of my circular knitting needle pages. Over the years my stock has grown to include quite a few lines, and I stock every single size. Good seller or NOT!. While my stock increased, I continued to cram them in on only a few pages on my web site. Finally, I was able to replace those slow loading pages with 23 new pages. I stock 23 different circular sizes. But here's the problem. How to divide the needles. So I remembered what the standard request is when someone needs a needle. Knitters usually say "I need a #7 needle". After they are focused on the size they want, they then decide the brand. So I decided to start by dividing the needles into sizes. Then I ran into another snafu. A snafu that has bugged me for years. US Manufacturers cannot agree completely on US sizes. On a risk, I decided to not divide them by US sizes, but rather by millimeter sizes! I bring you:

Select the page for the needle size you need. Thank You !! Be Careful! Not all manufacturers agree what makes a US size. I select my needles based on millimeters.

1.5mm (US#000) 1.75mm (US#00) 2.0mm (US#0) 2.25mm (US#1) 2.5mm (US#1) 2.75mm (US#2) 3.0mm (US#2) 3.25mm (US#3) 3.5mm (US#4) 3.75mm (US#5) 4.0mm (US#6) 4.5mm (US#7) 5.0mm (US#8) 5.5mm (US#9) 6.0mm (US#10) 6.5mm (US#10.5) 7.0mm (US#10.75) 8.0mm (US#11) 9.0mm (US#13) 10.0mm (US#15) 12.0mm (US#17) 15.0mm (US#19) 20.0mm (US#36)

I keep promising, so here I go. I'm giving away your choice of knitting needles up to a $30 maximum value. I'll pull a name the last weekend of this month. Comment on the blog your experiences of US and MM sizing and how you store your needles, and I'll put your name into the hat!

Cascade 220 Superwash

Just a super fast post to share this new color card for Cascade 220 Superwash.
It is a 6 page pdf, full version of the Cascade 220 Superwash colors. It is print quality and will take 1-3 minutes on a fast connection to download to Acrobat Reader.

Happy New Year!!

I had hoped to post yesterday, but got started on revamping my Lorna's Laces Catalog. When the juices say go, you go! Working with the software InDesign is great, but trying to work in good graphics and professional sounding text is a challenge for this high school graduate. After alternating between paper work and putting my feet up, at about 4 o'clock I got wrapped up in that job. By 7 it was done. But the blog posting gets delayed another day.

I'm working away at that boy's sweater. It is slow going as my normal knitting time, in the evenings, no longer exists. My part-time help is out sick, and may possibly not return. So I'm working 2-4 hours each evening to keep up. Janene would keep the yarn sample sheets printed, sampled and fully stocked, pull and box orders, check in and put away freight and keep the store shelves stocked, as well as keeping things neat, dusted and vacummed. She did a lot of work that was really important to me. Besides having a sunny attitude she is easy to work with. I do hope she will be able to return.

I'm kept busy with administrative chores, phone and email. Cascade keeps me hopping too. They've got new colors in Cash Vero, Kid Seta, Pima Tencel, Sierra and Fixation. That means adding items to inventory . . . 1 for each color. Adding each color and its script to the web site, along with the color card from Cascade. Web work takes much more time than you'd think!

Do you get the KnitSimple magazine? In the Winter 08/09 issue, which I just received, on page 41 is the perfect vest. Why? It is simple. Has shaping that is easy to adjust to where my waist is. It uses Shepherd Bulky which is not only in my stock, but will knit up fast. I like the shoulders. The armholes are increased so the shoulder seam drops off the edge of the shoulder, but the added band keeps it from flaring. The garter ridges adds shoulder width, which will make waists and hips look smaller. I'm thinking of doing mine in my exclusive color Mystic.

I did take some time for brainless creative instant satisfaction and make some soap. It is the simple melt, frangrance and color soap. But it is fun and the house smells good for hours.