NEW SILK YARN for the Yarn Store

Took months, but new stock has arrived. I brought in SILK PURSE 100% silk from Alchemy Yarns. I've been looking for a really nice silk and this is truly the nicest one. And it wears so well. I've had to budget, so brought in 10 of the most popular colors. I will be ordering more colors, but am hoping you will tell me what colors you want.

It is a light worsted weight yarn. Truly an ideal weight for the human form. Flattering to all.

It's raining this morning, but I already see blue sky. Typical fall weather on the Oregon coast. See you soon!

Happy Feet!

My slippers are done, and my toes are very happy!! Perfect dressing to wear in a yarn store!

I added 1" in length, thinking my long feet needed it. Wrong!! The pattern, Lorna's Laces Fulled Slipper, as it was written would have been perfect. As it was I ended up needing to open a 2nd hank of Glory and they are truly an inch too long. So even if my feet were even longer, I think the pattern is dead on! I did find 3 corrections to the pattern. Lorna's Laces is making those changes and sending me all new patterns to replace the patterns I currently have. If you understand stocks, the errors aren't bad. But it is a good pattern for a beginner, so I requested these changes. If you already have the pattern, I can send you those notes. If you've ordered the pattern from me, you will be getting a replacement.

In the store today, I am working alone on shipping. After all the shipping is out I'm spending the afternoon with my nieces in Coos Bay. After raising 6 children, who return each summer to keep us young, it gets really quiet over the winter. Not that it is winter, but all summer activities are over and the young ones are back into their school schedule.

Well, talk to you soon! duty calls!

My felted slipper is done

Just finished my first slipper. Didn't want to wait weeks to show you, so here it is.

These slippers are very generous in their size, so if you think you need to go up one size, you don't. Ask me how I know! I thought I should add 1" extra in length. Naw.....should've stay as the pattern instructed. They are just a little bit long. And it forced me to get a 2nd skein of Glory. I'll have to do another pair....mmmm..... charcoal?? oh NO!! Chocolate!!! Despite being a tad bit loose, I'll love wearing them! Here in the Yarn Store, it is ever so appropriate to wear knit, crochet or felted slippers!

You can see the pattern at http://www.yarn-store.com/ The pattern is shown in the colorway Black Purl, but mine is done in Navy.

Jackets, slippers and oh deer!

Has it really been 2 weeks? I was trying to make posting to my blog a Sunday routine.

These 2 children have been hanging around the house ever since our dog went to doggy heaven. Mom is usually closeby. This morning, as I was knitting and drinking coffee the one in front walked up to the front door and was looking in the window. The window is about 3.5 feet wide and 5 feet tall next to the door. He (she??) was looking right in the window at me. I sure wondered what was going thru his mind! This photo above was taken thru the glass door that is located at the corner of my desk, in the store. Sure would've loved to take a photo of him looking thru the front door tho!!

Last Saturday, the 8th, was a very relaxing day at my Fiber Arts Meeting. One of these times, I will remember to take the camera. It is nice to sit at the back of the room and let others run the show. Although, my mouth has a habit of opening up and offering up comments maybe a little too often.

Sunday...oh yea....Sunday the 9th was in the 90s here on the coast. And with our humidity it felt much hotter. But since we so rarely have days like this I was loving every minute of being able to wear my summer clothes and my muscles were really loving the relaxing feeling of the heat. That kind of heat and humidity reminds me of our cruizes and visits to the Carribean and that will always bring a sense of relaxation. But last Sunday, I set my LK150 knitting machine up in the living room, in front of the 2 large picture windows and worked on a little short sleeve jacket for my youngest niece for Christmas. She has a pale-blush complexion and soft red hair. Green is a super color for her. She's 7 years old. The yarn is Cascade Sierra. I have another to do for her sister, who has brunette hair and red is her best color. I was going to use the Chili Pepper color for her, which is a Quatro color in the Sierra line, except that I sold all the hanks on the shelf, so am now waiting to get another order in.

Friday afternoon in the store, which is our Open Table Meeting, continues with smaller groups. Knitters/Crocheters are still enjoying the last days of the summer. Smaller groups is good too, for I am able to sit and knit with them. Friday I worked on my Full Slipper (Lorna's Laces pattern) in Navy. Slippers are so much more comfortable than shoes, and knit/crocheted slippers in the store are totally doable! (PS: The pattern has you cast on and knit to the toe, slightly felt them, then pick up stitches and knit a cuff. I didn't want that ridge under the cuff. So I cast on with kitchen cotton, knit a few rows and changed to the slipper yarn. After slightly felting it, I shouldn't have any trouble picking those stitches back up and removing the cotton. OR!! I can cast on for the cuff, knit the cuff and graft it to the sock. The pattern doesn't do this, but how many knitters actually knit a pattern without changing it!)

Found out last weekend that I have 12,000 shopping cart scripts that are old on my web site. And they stopped working! So for 48hrs, no one was able to place an order. YIKES !! My shopping cart people were able to make a patch to make them work, but they told me I'd better get started replacing them all. So one by one, I'm working on the web pages. IF anyone has told you a webstore is easier than a brick-n-morter store, they have never done both! I have both. It is MUCH easier to open a new box of yarn, make a pretty sign, knit a fun swatch and arrange a new display, than it is to build and maintain a single web page just for that yarn! Oh well. Would I change my profession......uh duh NOPE!!

Back to work! Hope you have a great week!

Memorial weekend-quiet and calm!

This was the view from my deck Memorial Day weekend, Sunday morning. Just so beautiful. The day ended up in the 70s. Surely rates a top 10 for Oregon Coast weather. What you see is North Tenmile Lake......just a corner of it. It continues on like fingers. On the left is North Lake Campground. I think that campground has been there for more than 40 years.

Alot of company was on our property this weekend. but it was all relatives of my daughter-in-law and friends. They camped on the low part, next to the lake. They had a great time. John (husband) was in heaven running all the youngsters around the lake in the boat and laughing at the jokes that the young adults come up with. If that doesn't keep you young, nothing will!

Another great achievement this weekend is the completion of my zippered, hooded jacket. This pattern is the "sandy jacket" in Bonnie A Franz's book Double Exposure. This took about a year and a half to knit. Here is a picture of the version in Bonnie's book:

I took all of yesterday off and finished that sweater and took my nieces to the Harry Potter movie. (Wore my new sweater in that air conditioned theatre!!) Also worked on a Kid Seta scarf I'm hand knitting and a short sleeve jacket for one of my nieces on my LK150. I'll take pics of those later and post them here.
In the meantime, orders from the website are pilling up and I need to get started working.
It was a great weekend and if the fog lifts, today will be a great day too!

Felted & Fishing

Yesterday was a very warm day here, and as usually happens it is followed by a day of clouds and maybe even rain. Like Yarn Harlot I am also "quite bitter about having some of those precious days taken from me". Summer on the Oregon coast can be very cool and I enjoy the heat and long summer days.


As I promised, here is the picture of Beate's completed bag. It is Fiber Trends Gelato Bag, but she knit it deeper.
Came out really cute, didn't it.


Beate learned to knit in high school and she says she hadn't knit since then. But I don't believe her. She's probably been knitting in secret!! Her work is beautiful.


She started a 2nd bag, a larger tote bag in brown, cream, tan and red for her sister Claudia. She promised to send me a picture from Germany.




Also wanted to share the pictures of how my brother, Jim, utilized the Ashland Sky circular knitting needle storage bag.
From a large bulky fishing tool box to this small storage unit. He's thrilled and insisted I take pictures. He took many Ashland Sky brochures back to his fishing buddies in Seattle.


He tells me that in the bag is mostly trolling flashers such as the Cannonball Troller from Vance's Tackle Co, Ford Fenders and even some mylar Smile Blades from Max Lures.
He suggest not putting hooks into the bag, since the bag is mylar they could rip the bag.



Today is Friday and on Friday afternoons, here in the store, we have open house knitting/crochet/whatever from 1-3.
Sarah my helper and I hurry through the shipping on Fridays so that the class table is clear and chairs are all set out.

Ta ta for now!

Finished 1 project!

I cannot believe how time flies. Here it is the 20th and it has been 10 days since I posted.

This past weekend was full of family again. My husband's family was here. Well, part of it. And it is so big that even part of it is alot of people. His brother-in-law, Ernie Manders, is a Marshfield High School Inductee to the Marshfield High School Hall of Fame and there was quite a ceremony on Saturday night. We have 3 tables full of family and friends attending the ceremony. Ernie and Sandra, his wife, currently live in Pittsburgh.

I did take last Sunday afternoon off to do some knitting. This picture is me (left), my cousin Beate from Germany (center) and my Mom Gisela (right). I'm working on the hood of my zippered jacket from the book Double Exposure by Bonnie A Franz. The hood is now complete and waiting to be blocked before I assemble it and attach it to the jacket. All that remains is stitching in the zipper, which I find is a challenge. I either stitch it in too tight or too loose. Zippers don't stretch, but the knitware does. So I never am quite sure just how much to stretcht the knitwear. Beate is working on Fiber Trends Gelato bag in Cascade 220 pink with a strand of Lorna's Laces Glory. We felted it last night. I'll try to get a pic of it before she leaves. Mom is working on a baby blanket out of Cascade 220 Superwash using Oat Couture's Prairie Blanket pattern.

FINALLY completed John's neckdown henley. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in my exclusive colorway "Camelot". Raglans are not the best armholes for most people and he's no exception. But raglans are very comfortable and he loves to watch movies in his "media" room and this will keep him warm in the winter. His old sweater was so bad, I could hardly stand for him to walk out of the house with it. This is much more exceptible.

Today will be a busy day. Shipping this morning, of course, and I have appointments to tend to in town this afternoon, and a final dinner at Mom's. My brother is leaving to go back home. And soon after Beate is on her way to visit friends in Virgina before she goes back to Germany.