So, Lyn has been a knitting speed demon and has knit two, count them, two Eyelet Cardi samples for the shop. One is done in Tatamy Tweed DK and the other in Zealana’s Kauri, a yarn we’ll be introducing in our booth at Stitches Midwest in about ten days. Here’s a picture of Tara wearing the Kauri model. . . .
Lea-Ann and I finally have our Slant On Nature sweaters done. I finished mine over a week ago and gave it to my sister last weekend. She’s a tiny little thing and it will look so cute on her. That’s mine above- I hope she likes it. Check out Lea-Ann below.
 Notice anything odd? Lea-Ann wore hers today… she’s having a hard time 
deciding on buttons so she settled on Knit Klips.  I wouldn’t recommend it. Only Lea-Ann could pull this off… she even tried to go to the post office wearing them. She’s lucky I’m a nice person because I had half a notion to let her go like that but I just couldn’t do it. Can you believe that hers is the same colorway as mine? I took the pics of mine on a lovely sunny day (outside) and the picture of her was taken this morning (inside) which is a very dismal, grey day. What a difference in color!
 On another note I have been steadily plowing through the boxes (did you see the pic in the e-news? Literally a small tower of boxes) and received the new colors of Mauch Chunky– I love this yarn! The colors, the texture. I don’t know why but I really do like the slighty “old” feel to this yarn. It’s soft, but not buttery like the Shepherd’s Wool. Don’t get me wrong- I do enjoy knitting with the SW, but sometimes I want a more vintage feel, if that’s the right term.  I want to get my hands on this so badly I can taste it. It tastes like a pumpkin/mint/rhubarb/kiwi/walnut concotion, with a slight aftertaste of cherries and mushrooms. Go figure.Â
 Will there ever be enough knitting time? – Susan
edit: Okay, so the image of the Mauch Chunky turned out smaller than I had intended but the colorways really are quite nice. Rich and deep. Maybe you should just come in so you can see it. That is the only way to truly appreciate the colors. Or I suppose you could just click on the link above.
I was just on ravelry updating my queue and wanted to upload my stash of Shepherd’s Wool fingering. Since I don’t have a digital camera at home, I thought I’d swipe the photos off of my website. Lo and behold, there were only 14 colors listed of the Shepherd’s Wool Fingering – woah! I know we have almost all the colors in stock so where the heck are they? I bet they came in at Retreat time and just before Susan went on vacation so not all of the “procedures” were followed but that’s okay, they’re there now . . . check it out. This yarn makes a great lace scarf — see the pic above of the scarf Susan knit out of the Lace Knitting learn to knit book (not the official title but too lazy to go look it up, I’ll link to it here. That book has some nice basic lace stitches to practice and it only takes one ball for the scarf.  Another good pattern for this yarn is Shirl’s Mittlets from Cabin Fever. A very versatile pattern that can use many weights of yarn. A nice little celtic cable on the back makes them interesting to knit. This is the pattern I’m adding to my queue for the lime yarn [ssshhhh! a Christmas present for Haley?] and red [for Tara to match her varsity jacket]. I figured maybe I can knit them in my boothes at Stitches Midwest [329/331, not 830 like the map shows] if its slow [please tell me I won't have time to knit!].Â
I’m continually (and slowly) working on a website redesign and update and one of the things I’ve wanted to put online is a calendar of classes that is easy for me and my staff to update.  I think I’ve found it in the google calendar app. Check it out and let me know what you think.  http://www.knittingtoday.com/class.html
- Lea-Ann
 Have you noticed the new category in the left hand navigation menu? It’s called “Knit Happy”; you’ll see it at the bottom of the menu (for now, anyway). Tell you what- I LOVE this stuff. It makes me smile. The logo is so darn cute what with the chubbed up sheep and all. I just received the dipped mugs and am going to have to get one… or more. I cannot decide which color I must have.
 Here’s the catch- we only have the dipped mugs and the gathered tote on the website. In the store we have more styles of bags and some button up shirts. These will not be put online because they were a special one-time purchase to be sold in store only. So, to see the other products you’ll have to pop in to the shop. But lo, do not be discouraged!  We have all kinds of products expected for Stitches Midwest and those will be added to the website as they come in. Look for sweatshirts, shirts, bags and more to be added sometime in the future. In the meantime it is worth a trip in to check out the other bag styles and the shirts. They really are too cool.
So, do you want to Knit Happy? Click here to see the Knit Happy products online.
Susan
From the Desk of Susan: The TNNA orders are beginning to trickle in. If you were here Friday you were treated to a preview of the new Chic Knit and Noni patterns (still hiding under my desk but Lea-Ann will show them to you if you ask!) and the new colors of Silk Garden Sock.  I’ve liked this since it first came out and the new colors are (big surprise) fantastic. However, I don’t see socks when I look at/touch this yarn. I see shawls and scarves. Then, Lea-Ann showed me the Dianna pattern on Ravelry and I realized that this is the type of thing that the yarn has been trying to tell me all along. The Peaks and Valleys Scarf from HeartStrings would, I think, also lood great. A peek into the Jenny Watson books for Noro tell me that I’m not the only one seeing big things out of this little yarn. The Catwalk book has many patterns for the Kureyon Sock, but the Silk Garden Sock is interchangeable, and the Noro Collection Book 3 has six projects using the Noro sock yarns.Â
eta: Susan had to leave before she finished this post so I’m going to go ahead and publish it leaving my own little touch: Dianna, the photo from Ravelry . . . . who else wants to knit this?? Do you have another project you would rather knit from the Silk Garden Sock? — Lea-Ann
eta: 5:12pm EDT, August 1 — after filling existing orders, there are only two unspoken for interchangeable kits. We have alerted the first two on the list and if they no longer need them, we will alert the next in line. We have over 15 people on the list waiting to be notified. May I suggest that if you want to be first in line for the next shipment, you call us at 800-426-5098 and give us your order over the phone. You will then be assured of receiving them as soon as they get here. Lea-Ann
 Our shipment has arrived and we will be filling in store order, telephone orders and sending out the wait list announcements first. Then anyone who wants to can order them. Let me just say I have already found an incredible use for them. I am swatching for Cassidy and I remember why I machine knit stockinette stitch now. My purl stitches are looser than my knit stitches and I refuse to knit eastern uncrossed to correct that. I’ll just machine knit my stockinette stitch thank you very much, but anyways. I haven’t really noticed that the loose stitches are a problem because I usually handknit in the round or I do a textured stitch. Well, I think it might be a problem in Cassidy because there are nice vertical bands of stockinette ribbing. So, I pulled out the interchangeables and put a size 7 on the needle I’ll knit onto and put a size 6 on for the needle I’ll purl onto. Voila!!!  The cases are super handy and we did order extra cases for the “other” interchangeable brands should you want to purchase them. They’ll be up on the site probably Wednesday or so, whenever Susan gets back to work. And, we also have 9″ needle cases that are super cute! I might have to use a set of 9″ needles just because they are so cute! Anyways . . check out the interchangeables category at:
http://www.knittingtoday.com/go.mvc?ID=hiyainterchangeable
 And, check out the 9″ category at:
http://www.knittingtoday.com/go.mvc?ID=hiya9Â for the stainless needles
or
http://www.knittingtoday.com/go.mvc?ID=hiyabamb9 for the 9″ bamboo circular needles. Happy knitting!Â
- Lea-Ann