Spring? Fall? Holiday? What season is it?

This past week has been nothing short of crazy! The best part, if I had to pick one, would be the simple fact that it is the third week in September. Why do I single that out? No, no birthdays, anniversaries or other significant milestons. The third week in September is truly the beginning of the fall knitting season. The kids are back in school, sports and other activities have been merged into the schedule, everyone is more focused on whatever their job at hand is and, the best part, the knitters are ready to really get going again.

One of the highlights this week, was, of course, Vickie Howell's appearance at the store. While Steve was off juggling the kids and getting Jackson to hockey practice, I had the delightful job of retrieving Vickie from her hotel, enjoying a lovely pre-event dinner with her and kicking off the event. I had only met her once before, briefly, so it was so much fun getting to know her. As only two working gals can do, we did a bit of brainstorming, so stay tuned. I also got to hear first hand of her encounter with The Yarn Harlot in the Atlanta airport. Read here and here for the scoop, if you haven't already.

So here we are:



A grand time was had by all. I am wondering what is going on with my head in this picture. I looks enormous next to Vickie's and we are not that different in overall size.


Friday we had our first of many spring buy meetings. Yes, I did say "spring". We're only 8 hours into fall, I know. The company we visited with doesn't necessarily work according to the traditional buying/selling calendar and therefore I like to call this collection "resort" rather than "spring". All I can say, is if the products we looked at on Friday are any indication of what we'll be seeing from our vendors this spring, it's going to be a really, really good season.
Yesterday was our photoshoot for our holiday catalog. The lovely Cirilia will once again be gracing our pages, along with the newest supermodel Ella (you'll have to wait to see her debut).




Cirilia is modelling a very special sweater from the faboo Norah Gaughan at Berroco and a big "thank you" to Andra for getting this design knit in record time for the shoot.

It's awfully hard to be thinking holiday when it's a perfect 80 degrees with a crystal clear blue sky outside, but it will be here before we know it!

Oh, one quick programming note. The first week of October is National Spinning & Weaving week. We'll be having all sorts of demos and such throughout the week. More info to follow, but be sure to check out the website or give Customer Service a call with any questions (800.367.9327).


Kathy

Vickie Howell at WEBS Tonight!!

Yeah, we're just a teeny, weeny bit excited. Vickie Howell will be here at WEBS Tonight! She is the author of several books and host of DIY's Knitty Gritty.

The party kicks-off at 6pm. We'll be hanging out with Vickie, we'll be giving out goodie bags with samples of her yarns, Love, Craft and Rock for everyone to "taste" and try out. We have a trunk show and of course, a few surprises!

Come joins us, knosh a bit, try out her great yarns and have some fun!

See you tonight!

Kathy

I CAN'T STAND

That despite how many times I "space" my paragraphs properly, they all run together when I publish. Please, if there is a trick somebody knows about, I'd love to hear from you!

You Know It's Been A Long Time Since Your Last Post When. . . .

you have to stop and "think" about your password. Ugh.

Well, it's not like it hasn't been busy, I will at least take comfort in that. Let's see, so where to start.

Last I left you we were on vacation, which was lovely and all too short. Isn't that true for all vacations?

When we came home there were two weeks until school started, so in the eyes of the boys, lots of summer fun to still be had. Jonathan made the most of his time, finally mastering this:

Then one morning, I arrived at the store and our quirky Fedex delivery guy was there. Guess what he brought us, that lovely day? Yarn you yell? Sorry, wrong. Needles?? I hear you, but no, wrong again. It wasn't books or accessories or even a loom! It was this:

And two white friends. He came into the possesion of six abandoned kittens, three of which he found homes for. The other three were tooling around in his truck, which at four weeks old, is no place for a kitten. So what to do? He was smart - he brought them to the yarn store. The good news is all three have homes. "Lily" even came back for a visit and transfer of ownership. Look at how great she looks!

Thanks Melissa, Sharlene and Nancy for taking such good care of these little treasures and taking them into your homes.

Next, Steve and I got to escape for an overnight to Boston. We did a little shopping and then headed here:

For this:

Yup, we are Parrotheads in a big way and we had a BLAST! I have to share a couple of fun pics:

His cooler is motorized!

REALLY big drinks!

We're pretty tame Parrotheads, when you come right down to it.

Then, before we knew it, it was time for this:

The first day, in the first grade and the first day in the third grade. We were jumping for joy and shedding a wee bit of a tear all at the same time.

There was some amazing knitting that has graced our presence over the past few weeks including this:

Marion works in the store and there is NOTHING she can't knit. This masterpiece is for her husband.

My Tilted Duster is moving along. Working on the second sleeve and getting ready to assemble the fronts and backs. Got to show my work off to the designer, as we hosted this:

Our event with Norah Gaughan was so much fun. We got to spend the better part of the day with her. She was a guest "in-studio" for our weekly podcast, Ready, Set, Knit!

Our customers had fun:

Our staff worked the runway:

A good time was had by all. The garments from her pattern book were inspirational and looked so great on so many different people! Be sure to check it out as well as all of the Berroco yarns!

As a family, we celebrated Rosh Hashanah. Happy New Year to everyone who also celebrated.

So I think that catches me up. The yarn, well, there's so much yarn and new accessories and stuff, I can't even begin to recreate all of it. Be sure to watch the website, check out the store and watch your mail for our Fall catalog! I think it came out quite nicely!

One quick yarn note. Our own Valley Yarns Colrain is on special through next Wednesday, 9/19. Regularly $3.99/ball, it's being featured at $2.99/ball as part of the launch of our fall catalog and new series of Valley Yarns patterns. Be sure to check out Melissa's Radiance Jacket that she designed for us. It's really beautiful. The yarn is equally beautiful. We sell it well in the store and at shows, but we struggle to translate it on the web. This merino/tencel blend is really pretty. The tencel adds a lovely sheen that is just right. For those of you hand dyeing at home - order some natural and test a couple of balls. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off.

Even though I'm well along on my Tilted Duster, we have just kicked off the knitalong on the podcast, so tune in and knitalong with Pixie and I!

We've got a couple of super-secret projects in the works, that The Big Guy says I cannot blog about yet, but as soon as I can share, I will! (And for the record, I am not pregnant, not going to be pregnant, so just skip over that entire discussion. It's all work stuff).

Vickie Howell will be at WEBS this Thursday, 9/20 from 6-9pm. This is one of those rare opportunities - we are so lucky that she has made time to come all the way to Northampton, so I hope we have a great turn out! We'll be hanging out with her, we'll offer a Yarn Tasting of her very own collection and there will be garments on hand to check out. Be sure to register so we have enough munchies for everyone!

Now that the kids are settled into their schedules, I am hoping to get back to more frequent blogging. Thanks for being patient!

Kathy