Friday, July 25, 2008

Got Yarn?

Um, yeah, we've got yarn, a lot of yarn. So much yarn has come in this week, I gave up trying to take photos and document it all. It's truly mind boggling!

We received in all of Classic Elite fall yarns, all of Tahki/Stacy Charles and Rowan! Seriously, the staff is on such overload at this point, everyone is sort of just wandering around babbling with dazed looks on their faces. It's been a lot to process both physically and mentally. I will touch on a few highlights, but please understand, this is merely the tip of the yarn mountain.

Kaffe Fassett introduces a new chunky weight yarn called Colourscape. It is so beautiful. I will take a picture of it on the store shelves (forgot today - remember the babbling and dazed looks, I'm there too). It knits at 3.5 sts = 1" on 10.5 needles and has 175 yards for $23.95.

Classic Elite Ariosa is a roving style yarn that is 90% extrafine merino/10% cashmere. It feels awesome! It also knits at 3.5 sts = 1" on 10.5 needles and has 87 yards for $11.99. Classic Elite has also introduced another collection of gorgeous designs to support all of their new yarns.

Plymouth has a new yarn in their Bristol Gallery Collection called Ashton. Ashton is 50% baby alpaca/40% fine merino/10% silk. This DK weight yarn has 122 yards and is just scrumptious. This is one that would make some great scarves for holiday gifts!

From Filatura Di Crosa, we've added a yarn called Ricciolo. This yarn is a blend of 51% mohair/49% acrylic. It's a light, lofty multi-colored boucle. It's fun, its fancy and Steve and I felt strongly that we needed to mix things up a bit. Ricciolo knits at 3 sts =1" on a 10.5 needles. Each ball has 66 yards and because of it's Italian heritage, retails at $12.95/ball. This yarn will make great trim, hats, scarves, etc.

Okay, that's it for yarns for now. Be sure to go through our list of New Yarns to see everything (and I know there will be more up this weekend!)

Earlier in the week, Mary and I headed off to Mt. Skinner State Park for our fall photoshoot. It was hot and muggy and sticky and icky - not the best of days for wearing sweaters, carrying sweaters, styling sweaters and looks, etc. What I can say is that every sweaty moment was SO worth it. Here are a few outtakes:


Pretty awesome view. We live in such a beautiful place!
This shoot was not for the faint of heart. From the drive up the mountain, to the "don't let the model fall over the edge" moments, we worked really hard to capture some amazing shots.


Our model Amy was such a trooper! Nothing phased her and despite the heat, humidity and rough terrain, she was upbeat, pleasant and cooperative throughout the entire shoot. We made sure every shot was ready to go before wrapping her in wool, alpaca, silk. . . . . .
Towards the end, Mary spied this bird. We were all immediately taken with it's intense blue color:

My picture doesn't do it justice, but trust me when I say it was incredible. We didn't know what it was. It was small-ish like a bluebird, but way too insanely blue to be one. Back at the ranch, we were told it's an Indigo Bunting. I am not a huge bird person but let me tell you, Indigo Buntings are welcome at my house anytime!
Last weekend, we escaped for a couple of days to visit friends on Cape Cod. There were fried clams, steamed clams, lots of fun and laughter and of course the beach! Here's Jackson at Nauset Beach at the National Seashore:

The waves were pretty strong that day and all of the kids ended up pretty scraped up and a bit battered, but with some great summer memories.

Here's the crew in all their glory:


Summertime, good friends and the beach. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Kathy

P.S. I have no idea why Blogger has decided to change my font and not give me the option to change it back to my standard. Another reason I will be breaking up with Blogger in the near future. Grrr. . . . .

4 comments:

Carol said...

Love the beach shots!

Sigh. I have been trying to avoid ordering some of the new Rowan but after this post, I don't know if I will be able to control myself. . .

Unknown said...

Wow, those photos look amazing! Can't wait to see the new catalog.

Just fyi--there is no Mount Skinner--the park is Joseph Allen Skinner State Park, and the mountain is Mount Holyoke (flagship mountain of the Mount Holyoke Range).

Yeah...I had to do a paper on it for school... ;)

Kathy said...

Hey s. - I knew I was going to get called out on that :) I felt I was being pretty "long winded" and trying to be brief, but accuracy is important! At least I know you are all paying attention, if nothig else :). Regardless of the name, it's such a beautiful spot that I had not previously visited.

Also - if you are in the area, have you checked out Barstow's new farm stand - fresh produced, baked goods, local products, awesome sang-whiches. . . .1/8 mile past the entrace to Skinner State Park.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Any thoughts on those Indigo Buntings???

CarolynEll said...

Yay for Mount Holyoke!

(Proud Alumna over here)

 
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