KNews at Knitting Today

• Retreat is scheduled for June 13, 14, and 15 — so far one hand knitting instructor, Lorna Miser, and some machine knitting instructors, Michelle Teasley and Ann Yotter for the beginners and I’m still working on the advanced.
• Sox Hot Spot - we have *hundreds* of skeins of sock yarn on its way from Skacel (Trekking, Disco, Teddy, Step, Fortissima) and Mountain Colors.  We’re already stocking Tofutsies from Southwest Trading Company and Pace from Universal Yarns, two other companies sponsoring the “Think Outside The Sox” competition with XRX Publishing — here’s the link to read more about it: http://thinkoutsidethesox.com/SOX/About_the_Think_Outside_the_SOX_Contest.html – its overwhelming to think of all the sock yarn coming in and and the emphasis being put on socks after all these years.  I really hope some exciting designs come out of it.
• Our fifteenth — yes 15th! — anniversary is this year.  Tara reminded me, its her birthday - March 30 - that we took delivery of our first box of yarn from Plymouth Yarns and the first shipment of Bond machines — yep, while I was in the hospital.
• All the new spring/summer yarns are arriving — Susan’s desk is absolutely full and she’s been on vacation for the week so I have a lot of clean-up to do before she arrives to work on Monday.
• Speaking of cleaning — the store is undergoing a transformation, moving extra copies of patterns to the file cabinet and cleaning out the binders (look for discontinued products to come), moving machines around so I can concentrate on just one, making room for the new yarns, highlighting new projects, etc.
• And, cats and dogs — keep your knitting away from them!  They like patterns, yarn, AND needles!  Not one report this week, but at least three people have had problems. 
• FO to report — the girls clogs are done.  They love how warm their feet feel.  I wish I’d made more of an effort to get them done at the beginning of the year.
• Socks!  I’m almost done with my Smoking Hot Socks.  She used the JoJo heel and I’m anxious to get them on my feet and try it out. I’ve done a test fit right after knitting the first heel and I *really* like it.  I have two other pairs at the heel point (some stash yarn, Fortissima Mexiko and Regia Jubilee) and really need to get them done before its time to switch to sandals.
• Tom’s working for me today — uploading ebay.  It would be nice to eliminate several piles of stash/magazines/books that I no longer need.  Bid, bid, bid!  Our ebay username is: bondknitter.
• Trunk Shows coming up:  Get Started Knitting Socks March 3-8; SWTC Baby March 10-21 (I think). 
• UFO Night: Friday, March 7

I thought putting these rambling thoughts out there might help clear my mind to focus on other things . . . onward!

starting fifteen more!  The new spring/summer yarns are arriving along with their respective pattern books and leaflets.  I.am.inspired!  I still have a list of projects I want to do from the fall/winter season yarns.  What to do.  Oh, what to do.  I have techniques I want to learn/try/share, I have yarns I want to try, there are new colors of favorite yarns to do new things in, and there are new patterns that inspire . . .  hmmmm!  What do you do?  Lea-Ann

Here’s a snapshot called ebay to go . . . . isn’t it cool?

Plans on attending UFO Night tomorrow night.  Weather permitting, the Knitting Today UFO contingent will gather with their unfinished objects, snacks, and show and tell for a night of knitting, door prizes, food, fun and movies.  There will be some yarn tasting as well since we have some new spring yarns in.   The movie is a technique I’m not all that familiar with — double knitting, from Lucy Neatby — so am anxious to spend some time with some yarn/needles/friends and learn something new . . . if anyone would like to come, you need to preregister by calling the store at 260-351-2260.  If the roads are slick — its an automatic cancellation, I don’t want anyone on the roads if its bad out.  We start at 6:00 pm and run until ????  But, we can’t stay out too late because we have the mitered knitting class bright and early Saturday morning.  Oh, cost is $10 for the night.   Lea-Ann

And the challenge is on:  http://journals.aol.com/thersatlb/theresa-knits/entries/2008/01/26/update-and-pictures/2296

With Theresa’s help last year, we donated over 300 hats to our local elementary school and charities.  Thank you!! 

 Join us Sunday, February 3, from noon to 6 to Kick Off our Caps for Kids program.  We have a great time visiting and catching up with our out-of-town friends as well as seeing what percent off they get on their football . . .  by the time kick-off rolls around, we have a great start on our hat (and other) projects.   

And, there are also great savings in the line-up:  Download the postcard [in case it isn’t obvious, click the word postcard and the download should start, its a .pdf] and bring it in to exchange when you checkout for a football.  The football has a % off written on it and can be anywhere from 10-50%.  Its great fun seeing who gets what [no peeking either!]. 

Keep on knitting!  Lea-Ann

Well, its Saturday morning and time to sit for a couple minutes with a cup of coffee and reflect on the past week. It has been hectic, that’s for sure. We have had big boxes of spring yarns delivered and they sure are yummy. Susan, who updates the products on the website, has been off with the flu though. And then, the weather has been so “iffy” that I wondered if I’d even be able to drive the two miles from the lake to the store, but I did and Penny, who lives further away, didn’t. Penny handles all of the packing and shipping of orders as well as works on displays of the new products. So, with school closed and my daughter, Haley, wanting to make some money to buy some electronics, we tackled the receiving and the shipping and didn’t do too bad. We even got some of my workload done. There were several late nights this week, but Tom popped in on his way home from work and helped too. Plus, the phone rang lots with people signing up for classes and wondering what would happen for Superbowl Sunday — we’ll be there regardless, Folks! My DH said, when I inquired about cancelling, “you grew up in Michigan, this isn’t new to you.” But the thumb is different kind of weather and since he grew up in northern Michigan, he thinks nothing of driving through the stuff. I remember as a young woman driving to visit my friends who went to MTU, a ten hour drive, and the snow was packed hard and crispy and several feet deep on the side of the road. It was fascinating because driving along, you could see cutaways containing lines of sand every 6-8 inches in between the snow where they had attempted to keep up. It was almost eerie like you were driving in a white tunnel with waves — but, I digress . . . . back to Knitting Today . . . . . most everything is on display now and Haley is going to machine knit a pair of socks out of one of the two new colorways of Noro Sock yarn that arrived [one still on backorder] which means we’ll have to relearn some skills that have passed through the memory banks. Tom is mulling over how to make felted footballs in team colors. I suggested he do some searches on Ravelry and he said “but then it wouldn’t be my own” and “I” want to do this. Hmmm — designer in the making? Do you guys realize how much wool he’ll go through making prototypes. He also wants to weave a Clint Eastwood poncho for which we now have a loom, so maybe it will happen — someday. Again, back to KT . . . Haley said the glass bowl of Bamboo from Tahki Stacy Charles looks like ice cream — that yarn is called Bali. And another great yarn we put out is Snuggly Baby Bamboo, which is actually a DK weight, not baby — and the colors aren’t really baby-ish either, but the pattern book is very nice with older children patterns as well as baby. I see the yarn knit up in a summer tank layered with a neat top. I’ll have to check my supply of Knitting Pure & Simple and Cabin Fever patterns — both of them have nicely shaped tops and fairly quick/easy to knit. And, another yarn we checked in is the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino — talk about soft! Anything blending merino and cashmere must be wonderful and this is! Penny showed me a project she wanted to make about four months ago and I have had buying this yarn on my radar for a number of years. I like the simplicity of lines in Debbie Bliss’ patterns as well as the way she puts colors together. The colorway is sophisticated enough that adult patterns will look good in it also. We also received new colors of Tahki’s Cotton Classic – a staple to get us through the summer. I like the handbags knit in it with a little bit of glitz shown here and there [lined, of course, but I don’t feel that comfortable with the sewing machine, so maybe I can talk Penny into making the linings — I love her taste in fabrics]. Oh, speaking of glitz — last week or maybe the week before, we received some Louisa Harding ribbon (Sari) as well as another novelty (Glisten) that looks like it has little beads, but really doesn’t — Penny has some great ideas for combining those yarns into the other yarns for some scarves for accent. The Jordana Paige bags have been well received and I can’t wait for the white Bella bags to come in. And, we’ve restocked and expanded the Hiya Hiya needles. I’ll take a picture of the full display before they get emptied out again so you guys can see that I really do stock needles ;-). To protect your doublepoints the popular StitchKeepers by Rollie are back in stock and the seed stitchers a/k/a the Fix It! tool are in good supply. Now the coffee is gone and time to get ready for work . . . . have a great day, everyone!! We’ll edit with pictures later . . Lea-Ann