The Week+ In Review

September has been quite the whirlwind. Last I left you all, I was off on a trip to St. Louis. I was gone for 3 days, which isn't all that long, but long enough to unsettle the schedule. I was originally suppose to be gone longer, but Mom responsibilities called and Steve had to travel to Manhattan to speak at the Big Apple Knitters Guild Annual Luncheon. He didn't take any pictures, but I sure would've liked to have been a fly on the wall watching him and 87 knitters!

I left again last Tuesday to head to Cleveland for the second season taping of Knitting Daily TV. I was pretty nervous when we went for the taping last April, but this time was much less stressful. Steve once again stayed home. We've been away so much this year we really felt we couldn't leave the boys again unless it was necessary for us both to be somewhere. In this case it wasn't.

I was met at the airport by the lovely Shannon Okey, who was kind enough to give me a bit of a lift. It was greatly appreciated given that I did not have time to ship all of the "stuff" for my segments in advance so I had one huge suitcase with yarn and props for seven segments along with a second smaller bag packed with seven different outfits. I was also carrying with me yarn that she was in need of for a rush project, so the helping hands worked both ways! Thanks Shannon - great to see you!

I went directly to the studios to prep for my segments and then the next day was taping day!

I did take a few snapshots to share. Here's Liz Gipson and Eunny Jang prepping in the "Green Room" - it really is green.

Here's Shay Pendray working a project in between segments. She is one of the loveliest people I have ever met.

Here's Kim Werker on set prepping for a segment with producer Kathy.

It was great fun to do the TV thing again, but I was equally happy to head for home again.

The night before I left for Cleveland, the WEBS crew gathered for a surprise shower for Mary. I was in charge of carrying out the cover story and getting her to the restaurant on-time. She thought we were meeting our designer and one of our printers for dinner to discuss business. When we walked into the retaurant, she instead found this:

She was completely surprised and we had a lovely celebration. The wedding is only 3 weeks away and we're excited to share in her special day!

I flew home from Cleveland in time to record this week's podcast which featured Norah Gaughan! She was in town for a store appearance that night so it was the perfect opportunity to have her back on the show. I was a little delirious from the traveling and started out the interview by calling one of Berroco's yarns by the wrong name. Consumate professional - yep, that's me.

We finished the recording and Steve and I headed over to UMass to make a presentation to a marketing class. It was great fun but a little tough since Steve had written the presentation while I was gone. I think we muddled through pretty well.

Then it was back to the store to prep for the event with Norah. As exhausted as I was, the event was GREAT! We had many of the Fall '08 garments on hand and most in two sizes.

Our sales rep Andra and Berroco Designer (and former WEBS staffer) Cirilia modeled:

I picked this picture in particular because of the garment. I apologize that the shot is a bit blurry. This is Assemblage from NGV3 (Norah Gaughan Book volume 3). Norah explained that initially she had envisioned this cardigan with a wrap that would attach. She brought along the piece and attached it for us to see the look. I love Assemblage as is, but I like it this way too! It's knit in Pure Merino DK.

I am also including this picture of Portrait (knit in Inca Gold), also found in NGV3 for a reason.

The design inspiration for this garment is a knitted cable. Norah, with the help of Margery, pixelated what a knitted cable looks like and incorporated it into this design. When I first saw this garment, I did not see the cable. In fact, depending on the person, it has a sort of "hologram" effect as different people see different things. Now that we know what it is, it's clear as day. That Norah, she's a smart cookie.

I have video from both KDTV and Norah's event, but that's going to take a little more editing time. I will post them soon though!

The remainder of this week was uneventful. All I know Toto "there's no place like home".

Kathy

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