In which a request was granted.

You know, it's so nice to know that (out there, somewhere) people/ the Knitting Fates have been paying attention. Remember the last post, in which there was much lamentation over the lack of customer and staff projects?

Well, not today! Clearly, some of you lovely blog readers decided to take it upon yourselves and bring your beautiful handknits in. And, wow, beautiful is definitely the word today!

First, Gillian came in modeling her recently finished Silk French Vest (Habu Textiles Kit #68):

(and back)

Lovely. Can't find it on ravelry to fav it, though. We'll just have to admire from afar.

Then, Virginia came in to show off her Flutter Scarf:

Made with Isager's Alpaca 2 in color 100. Yumyumyum. I think Sandy Kay wanted to run off with this one, actually.

She also brought her French mystery shawl/ wrap/ thing:

and a close-up...

A mystery because Virginia bought the pattern in France but her husband was in such a hurry she didn't have time to get yarn or more information. Sooo... all we know is that it was made with Alpaca 2 (and only because she bought it from us)(colors: 16, 22, 19 & 2105). It's gorgeous, though, right? Personally, I would have run off with it, given the chance. I wish we knew what the pattern was.

Oh, well.

This morning Lindsay, Marjorie and I went 'round the corner to take some quick photos of a new store sample and two staff FO's. First, we have our sample Summer Shawl by Ruth Sorensen:

and back

and side

and a close-up

Sorry for the blurriness of the photos. I took the point-and-shoot and really regret it. Anyway. However blurry the photo, the shawl is still gorgeous. Knit by nonsie, this particular shop sample took almost four months to make. Talk about perseverance!

Made with Kauni Effektgarn in W-EG (the pinks and violets) and Kauni Solid in W-RR7.

Second was my own recently finished Girasole shawl, modeled by Lindsay:

...and folded in half (the way it probably will be worn!):

Quick specs... Yarn: Isager Hojlandsgarn. Pattern: brooklyntweed's Girasole shawl.

And, finally, we have Darcy's most adorable and funky Yves:

Playing the piano. Clearly. (big 'Thank You!' you Michelle's for lending us the baby grand)

Project specs? Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (3 colors). The pattern is from The Knitted Odd-bod Bunch, a book that will very soon be up on the web. Honest.

And that might just be everything. Whew! Keep it up, guys! We love seeing your finished projects. Keep your fingers crossed that the flood will continue into Thursday's post...

A day late, true, but with extras!

Like, oh, KAUNI!

It just came in this afternoon. We're excited, you can tell. See? If I had managed to blog yesterday, you blog-readers out there wouldn't have known we had Kauni back in stock until next Tuesday.

In further stock updates, we tweeted yesterday that Tosh Sock is back in stock (look at all those pretty colors together!). If you've been coveting one (or more) of the colors that literally ran out of the store earlier this summer, I'd grab some soon if I was you. Personally, I am contemplating enhancing my stash with a skein in "Wash".

And, while we're on the subject of Madelinetosh, I'm going to try and make this next photo less of a non sequitor:

In lieu of actual customer and staff project photos (c'mon, peeps!), I finally pulled out my OTN mitt (and matching hat) that I'm making with Madelinetosh Merino in "Corsage". No making fun of the desk clutter will be permitted. But you can feel free to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the pretty watercolor effect the yarn has - my coworkers definitely have. It's just scrumptious to handle, to boot. Definitely ideal for cool Fall and Winter weather (a scarf would be nice...), which probably means that even more Madelinetosh is going to end up in my stash.

Dangerous stuff, this.

Anyway. Have you seen that our Calendar of Events has been updated? We have all sorts of amazing and wonderful classes planned this Fall. From felting miniature Jack o'Lanterns to Kitchen-Safe Dyeing, we've got you covered (generally with wool). Check it out and register for a class or two, you'll be glad you did!

Moreover (while we discuss website updates), a Newsletter & eCard archive has been added to the website. It's small right now (limited to the last two months), but we're working on archiving the last year's worth of Newsletters and eCards there.

And, finally (is it really 5:30pm?), an eCard went out this afternoon with information about a two-week special offer and preordering Cat Bordhi's next book. See your inbox (or click here) for more details.

Until next Tuesday, have a great weekend!

Can we pretend? (spoiler!)

I suppose I could have back-dated this post and no one would ever have known, but that would have been lying and, quite honestly, I doubt anyone would have believed it. So let's pretend instead that I actually updated the blog on Thursday and that we're right back on schedule.

First off: last Wednesday Patrick came in to finish up his unbelievable Seamless Yoke Sweater:

The pattern is in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, Knitting Around and Knitting Workshop. Patrick adapted the pattern from his copy of Knitting Around. He and his "wife" made up a different Fair Isle pattern for the yoke and changed the ribbing to a 1x2 instead of a 2x2 but other than those teeny tiny details, it's the same pattern. Here's a shot of the yoke:

It kind of makes me think of a technicolor zebra*. Or, strangely, 1970s wallpaper. When Patrick came in he was already onto the neck ribbing and only had some minor finishing to do after that. I managed to drag it away from him to get a picture of it flat:

Do you see what I see? It's something indicative of extreme OCD or insanity or both. The sleeves match. Considering the fact that he is (probably "was" by now) knitting with Kauni, the odds of managing that are very difficult. The color of yarn, btw, is Kauni W-EH. I forgot to ask how many grams he'd needed. Sorry.

All madness put aside, I'm sure we all want to see it finished and modeled (hint, hint, Patrick). So maybe some cajoling will get him to wear it into the store.

Second: we have Wendy's recently completed Kauni mitts. I'm sure you remember Wendy and her EAT hat - if you don't, check this post out. The latest creative creation to come off her needles are a pair of Fair Isle and lace gauntlet-like mitts:

Admit it, they're awesome.

Made with Kauni W-EJ as the MC and W-EG as the CC. Wendy has told me that Kauni is her new favorite to work with, so we might be seeing many more improvised designs in coming months.

This is a Kauni-centric post, isn't it? It's interesting how projects can be tied together.

Third: Gratis Knits, please! The next Gratis Knits pattern is overdue. We're still looking for submissions. Seriously, if you have an original pattern for something springy click the link above and consider it.

Lastly, a bit of silliness. The photoshoot for the May Sock Club's pattern was last week, held at a super-secret location down the street. Hah. Here's Liz:

Who was this month's sock model. Thank you, Liz. And, just because you can already see it on ravelry by might not have yet, here's a SPOILER:

...

(feel free to skip this if you want to be surprised)

...

... our designer for May is none other than the reknowned and revered Cookie A. I've seen the pattern and it is lovely.

And I think that's everything that needed to be caught up. Cheers!

*It could happen.

A regal shawl, a wacky hat, and some colorful felting

I swear I was going to post this yesterday until I realised that we had a staff workshop in 10 minutes... so it got delayed. But we do have more photos for it!

First and foremost, prepare yourself to be amazed, with Duffy's (a.k.a. fiberqat) Queen Anne's Lace shawl:

Over 6 feet across and simply gorgeous. She was so (rightfully) proud of herself she brought it in to show off. A big 'thank you' to Tsipa (right) for helping Duffy hold it up during our impromptu photoshoot. And here's a center detail:

And the lovely edging that makes me think of peacock feathers:

Duffy said that it was an easy and very enjoyable knit. In fact, her ravelry notes compare it to "crack" (see link above). Hmm, sounds dangerous. Here's the pattern info on ravelry.

All in all, I think the best description is "wow".

Next, something completely different, is another amazing project that you have to see to believe... Wendy's most awesome self-designed EAT hat (okay, that's not what she's calling it):

Made with Kauni W-EM & W-EN for a friend who's a chef. Note the fork & knife motif as well as the inverted wine glass detail. Wendy is clearly crazy. In a good way, of course, but it must be said.

With those two projects, I bet I'm not the only one feeling like an underachiever right now. Oy.

In other, slightly smaller, FO news... we have NINE more cranes! Giving us 138. Almost half-way there. Keep 'em coming, guys!

And, finally, the reason this post was postponed last night... our staff Artfelt workshop. Here's us getting started with our base layers of wool laid down:

And here's the felting demonstration as best could be approximated (without a dryer on premises):

(with a peek at Lindsay's & Marjorie's unfelted pieces)

If you want to see more of the process, or pictures from our workshop, see our flickr page. I'll try and nag everyone to finished their projects over the weekend and bring them in next week for photos. Look for them in a week or two.

And that's everything, for yesterday today. Check back tomorrow for a sneak peek at our upcoming Mother's Day Special!

BIG News

We have good news, Great News, in fact. And LOTS of it. So much, in fact, that it's going to be divided into two posts (sorry, it had to be done).

First, get ready to squee!, as the KnitPod is officially, well and truly, available for sale.

Isn't that just beautiful?

Shown above in Maple, the only reason these are actually in stock is that I/we've forbidden staffers to buy the first few made. Get one (or two) before the next lot comes in. These things are so special, you'll probably want several. Made with locally-grown hardwood by M.W., a Portland-area woodworker, each KnitPod is one-of-a-kind and truly is a work of art. Now, since there are only four KnitPods in existence at the moment, after the first four are sold, they will be sold on pre-order basis. M.W. has promised that it will take no longer than 2-weeks for order turnaround, so get ready to carry your socks in style and with an easy mind - never drop stitches, break yarn or bend/ dull your DPNs again!

Second, Kauni is BACK IN STOCK. Grab some while you can.

Third. We have 90 cranes!

Melissa dropped off 13 today.

But, since we still need more (and a reason to party), we're hosting a Crane Knit Night this Thursday during our regular Sip n' Stitch. Drop by the store to knit (a crane!), earn store credit ($1 for every crane knit that night), drink champagne and feast on chocolate and strawberries. We'll also have door prizes and giveaways... just because we can. Come by on Thursday night, it's going to be awesome!

Now I must hasten away, as my Intermediate Handspinning Techniques class starts in 5* minutes. Check back for more exciting news!

*Make that 3.

Lucy Neatby Trunkshow

We're getting ready for a visit from one of the funkiest knitters in North America to visit this weekend. Her trunkshow has arrived, the brightly-colored yarn and patterns are stocked and all we have to do is wait until Lucy arrives. Until then, here are some pictures of her extremely fun socks and Venus Rising Cardigan - all of the patterns of which are available for sale and her classes are still open for registration. Call or register online, if you'd like to snatch one of the last spots open!

Moving on with the show (thank you, Liz, for modeling on such short notice...)















I think my favorite are the Fiesta Feet (fourth photo from the top) and I might just have to get the pattern or take Lucy's Even Cooler Socks! class because she has a really cool technique I've never seen before on no-swatch sock knitting. Sounds interesting, huh?

Oops?

Last Thursday was a bit hectic, so no post... sorry about that. We're going to catch up quickly, though, you might want to hold onto your hats!

Let's start off with the cranes. We've received lots of positive feedback for our knitnotwar KAL and have already collected cranes for the installation. Here's one knit by Melissa:


We've been hearing that they're quite quick to knit up (Sandy Kay made one in half an hour with scraps of Shetland Spindrift), so here's hoping we'll make our 300 cranes goal by March 31st! (Now, I haven't been given a total of all the cranes we've collected, so the sidebar hasn't been updated yet - check back on Thursday.)

Next, Lynne came to visit us and brought the blanket she's knitting for her son:

The Ombre Alpaca Blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Knit up with 12 skeins of Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca and Peruvian Tweed, 6 colors in all that are held together to create a lovely gradation from cream to chocolate brown. Here's a close-up:

Aaaand... even closer:

(Liz had fun taking pictures of this one)

If you're interested in making your own, Lynne owned up to the fact that she's making her son's blanket larger than the pattern, so you'd probably only need one skein of each color. Possibly. There might be some math involved in confirming that...

Next, from Folk Shawls, Sheila brought in her finished Celtic Lattice Vest:

and back:

She made it for a friend who is a surveyor and travels the world (surveying, presumably). Sheila thought that the lovely Celtic knots resembled mapping terrain. I'd have to agree. The vest was lovely (sorry about the blurry photos), and made with Kauni W-EV and Hifa 2. Just gorgeous. Lucky friend, eh?

And, last but not least in the 'pretty photos' catagory, we have a giant heap o' Tanglewood handspun yarn:

(isn't that just yummy?)

Brought to us by the Ladies of Tanglewood Fibers themselves, as we will be representing them (and Abstract Fiber, Happiest Girl! Dyeworks, Ruth Sorensen, Handworks NW and Lantern Moon) at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival this weekend. If you're in the area, please drop by and say 'hi'! I'm sure the ladies (and gentlemen) at the Knit Purl booths (#'s 38 & 39) will be glad to meet some of our blog readers.

Finally, I've been asked to mention the upcoming Loop 'N Hoop 2009 on Thursday, March 26th. We've been invited to bring 25 knitters to the Portland Trail Blazers vs. Phoenix Suns game. Tickets will be available for $25 each at the store. Included with each ticket is a goodie bag (put together by Portland LYSes) that will be available at the door. Please note that space is limited (5 seats have already been stolen by employees) and there will only be 200 seats total for knitters to reserve.

Until Thursday, keep warm and dry!

No Grass Greener

I often hear people fantasize about working in their local yarn store (LYS). On the outside it does seem idyllic, full of warm squishy fiber, and color rich days of endless knitting. However many may not realize the awful truth: the last person who gets to knit is a person who works in the LYS.

First of all people need help with pattern instructions, or where exactly they went wrong on that lace scarf. There are sales filled chocker-bock full of customers who not unlike a evangelized band of conquistadors, plunder through bins of yarn on the quest for the everlasting fountain of fiber. There are also trade shows and fiber festivals. Recognizably, it's difficult to fully understand the world of LYS employee. So, walk through the rayon chenille curtains, and jump into the land of yarn...(cue music and special effects ala Disney)

Picture it: you are your LYS's blogger on your way to a fantasy land. Fearless leader made the last minute technical decision to send you to help set up the booth and sell yarn at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival. Because of the annual sale at the shop you were crushed to think you would miss one of the best fiber arts festivals of the year. However, even though it's only for a day, and regrettably, you will head home before you can fully explore and embrace all the fiber love, you are hurriedly banging away on your computer in order to send out the monthly newsletter.
You hate, hate, hate doing the monthly newsletter. Hate it with the fevered passion of a power-hungry monarch desperate for an annulment from the Pope. Unknown to you at this time, the computer decided to send out the January newsletter again with the February newsletter, very slowly. So slowly it finally reaches all of its recipients four days later. Later you will foresee several dozen emails in your inbox lambasting everything from your technical ability (you suspect they have a point there) to your mother's choice in contraception (you take offense at that). However at at this point, you worry and fret and type and cuss and finally at half past five the next morning you send out the creature and go home to sleep for two hours before you hop in the van to the festival.

Now you are in the van, excited and unable to sleep due to overcaffeination for the newsletter deadline, so you work on your Secret Gay Husband's never ending socks (they were for his birthday last year and you feel a bit guilty for having his knits so long in time out). All the while, you curse yourself for paying bills on time because now you have no spare money for stash enhancement. You secretly wish your landlord would get over this being paid rent every month phase, or learn to accept lovely woolens in lieu of cash.
The gang arrives in the late afternoon at the hotel and after unloading a store's worth of yarn, you unpack boxes and begin to hang yarn for the show. You hang yarn till you are tired and hungry. The scaffolding starts to buckle under the weight of the yarn. You hang yarn till you are grumpy, so then you hang yarn till you go to the crazy place. The scaffolding needs rearranging and more zip-ties so you can hang more yarn. You hang yarn until the staff kicks your group out that night and then, shaking from low blood sugar and heavy lifting you wandered off to your hotels. Because your departure was last minute, your motel is about 20 minutes deep into the nether regions of the 'burbs and it takes some time to check in because somehow Fearless Leader's Husband and co-owner "The Man" lost the company credit card and now you and he have to scramble to pay for the room. The card turns up next day with a hangover. You don't ask it any questions.
Eventually, that night you get into your room where you jump into 'jammas and crawl into bed...
You lay there for a bit because you are still twitchy from the adrenaline rush produced to keep you upright. Then you remembered you wanted to check the status of the newsletter because although you received the test copy, the real version hadn't arrived yet. So, you bang away on the laptop for a bit trying to discover the problem much like a chicken using a calculator: too much energy with very little accomplished. You are so tired the headache you've nursed all day spreads beyond the boundaries of your skull and your hair starts aching. You give up trying to get anything accomplished on the newsletter because the sound of the space bar being pressed sends shooting pains from your head to all points of your body. Sadly however, you still can't sleep, so you decide to eat some dinner thinking maybe a full stomach might help you doze off.
You get dressed again and give a teary farewell to your precious 'jammas, promising them you will soon be reunited. Dressed, you half walk, half stagger to the diner by the hotel while developing a strategy for surviving in prison just in case you are   arrested for public intoxication.
The diner food is excellent but you realize it tasted too good. It was of the level of tasty that worries you at the end of the meal about salmonella, chemically enhanced tasty-goodness, genetically modified mystery food, and the years of life lost from hidden calories. It is a worry so profound you place a "just in case" wastebasket by the bed and lie awake thinking about how your chemically polluted, genetically altered remains won't fit into any of your clothing at your premature funeral. Next, you find the digital clock's sinister red glow taunts you because you were unable to get the alarm to work properly. At two in the morning you think again about your meager technical ability to work simple tools. At three-thirty you beg the motel desk clerk to call you before her shift ends because the alarm clock doesn't work. After explaining vehemently how they do not have a wake up call service, she grudgingly agrees to call you back at six-thirty. You finally sleep...

Phone call. Much sleepiness. No comprehension. Did you ask for someone to call you? Where are you? Ah, yes: Tacoma, yarn, motel. Need cab to get from motel to yarn. Need clothing to get inside cab. Need shower to get clothing. Need caffeine to get shower.

Make tea.
Call cab.
Wash body.
Put on clothing.
Drink tea.
Pack bag.
Fight with the Beast.
Give mirror a double-take.
Readjust clothing so it is right side out.
Sit and wait for cab.
Fall asleep.

Phone call. Much sleepiness. No comprehension. Did you ask for someone to call you? Where are you? Ah, yes: Tacoma, yarn, motel. Need cab to get from motel to yarn, but cab no come.

Make more tea.
Call another cab.
Suckle lovingly from the caffeinated teat of English breakfast.
Panic because the show is opening now and you are still in the motel deep in the nether regions of a foreign suburbia...

Now you are conscience and not just awake. You are in the cab on the way to Madrona. The cabbie is cranky but the tea is working its mojo and you are elated to meet everyone and see all the cool booths.

Everyone at the show is incredibly nice. The yarn is lovely and the hotel has provided coffee for all. You love the genius behind the free coffee and contemplate marrying into their family so your future imaginary children will be graced with their genes.
Ruth Sorenson walks over to the booth because she is wondering who has knit her Autumn cardigan. She is much nicer than you imagined. You chat with her and try not to act like a dork. You mention your great-grandparents were Danes as well. You wonder why you mentioned it because it makes it seem like you were asking if she knew them or like you wanted some sort of Danish stamp of approval. You realize you are acting like a dork, drink more coffee to keep from talking, and let Ruth impart her knowledge to you. Ruth graciously answers your questions and you begin to fantasize she is your next door neighbor who comes over from time to time and talks about yarn, and that stunning knitted skirt she created as you drink Pickwick tea and snack on stroopwafels. You think about the classes she is coming to teach at your LYS. You then realize you are staring off into space, glassy-eyed, and it looks like you aren't listening to the benevolent all-knowing Ruth Sorenson. It doesn't matter, because she has to leave to look around the market before heading back to class. You hope she doesn't hate you.

You meet customers that came from Seattle area for their yearly yarn crawl. People recognize you as The Blogger because of the Beast. The Beast is behaving itself and is making everyone think you are mad for complaining about it. The Beast knows how to lie well. You meet Nancy Walsh:
You regret drinking so much caffeine because you can't take a proper picture. You fantasize about living next door to Nancy Walsh so you can hang out together with knitting and computers, talking geek, and drinking tequila shots. You could knit special costumes for each other complete with knitted capes and pocket protectors, solving knitting computer related problems across the land.

A bit later as you help customers you spot The Yarn Harlot out of the corner of your eye. You devise a plan to "Kinnear" her with your cell phone camera. This is your first attempt:










And this, your second.

You bitterly regret that last cup of coffee. You sidle a bit closer and snap this photo:




The Beast is pointing and laughing at you from behind your head. You vow to take a straight iron to it as soon as you get home. You snap another shot...






...of your scarf. You snap more pictures and curse as the stench of a desperate blogger fills the air. It is overpowering the wool fumes and you are afraid the fiber lovers are going to notice. Finally you get one very small photo:

It's not much and you decide that there needs to be a school for wayward bloggers, with an emphasis on Kinnearing 101, punctuation, descriptive storytelling, and spelling.

The Harlot walks by...

Panic! What to do? Do you talk to her or should you play Canadian and pretend like it's no big deal? You remember that you are American and that your countrymen have an infamous reputation for snapping photos during auto collisions, talking louder and slower to those who speak other languages, and accosting celebrities at every turn. Somehow you convince yourself to ask her how to Kinnear. You hope you don't stutter. You take a deep breath and say:

"Excuse me Ms. Pearl-MahMah McPhee, will you show me how to Kinnear properly?"

Lady Harlot is gracious and kind. She shows you her Kinnearing techniques and ignores the stuttering. She allows you to take a photo of her. You chat about upcoming "episodes" with the mounting Kauni yarn fumes taking over good judgment. You are infinitely grateful, awed by her demeanor, and you begin to fantasize about her hanging out with you. You imagine her as one of your peeps, chillin' at a party with some Black Rabbit Porter on a hot summer day while she gives you tips on lace knitting and the Secret Gay Husband grills Portabello Burgers for your dinner that evening. Once again you realize you are staring off into space, dumb smile plastered on your mug, and now it looks like you aren't paying attention to the ever-cool Yarn Harlot. She leaves for classes and you find you haven't been breathing properly during the whole interaction and now the extra oxygen rushing to your head is making you woozy. You hope she doesn't hate you.

The only thing to do is sit down, put your head between your knees and thank your lucky stars things worked out the way they did. No matter what trials you undertake, you realize there is no grass greener than yours at this moment. You are so grateful for every lost moment of sleep and every hurdle you had to make because it makes moments like these taste even sweeter than they already are.

Thank you everyone for such a great time in Madrona!