Hot Off The Press!

Today has been a bit of a whirlwind - in an exciting sort of way, not a stressful one.

I was on press most of the day for our next catalog. It will be our second "Valley Yarns" only catalog and I have to say, I am really, really excited about it. I believe I showed you some photos from the actually location shoot a few weeks back. Well, all of the photos, projects and text are complete, the proofing (and proofing and proofing and proofing) is complete and we only have on more set of pages to finish up tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from today:

The first picture is of the press that our catalog runs on and the next two are actual pages - right off of the press that we are using to compare to the computer generated proofs for color accuracy, etc. Being on press is like the culmination of any large project - all the hardwork and sweat finally pays off when the first pages start coming off the conveyer. I can't wait for this catalog to hit mailboxes. We have some new yarns, new colors and amazing new designs (if I do say so myself). I hope you will all be as excited to get knitting!

I discovered that I had a picture from The Yarn Harlot's visit that I never shared. One of our lovely customers came and was mentioning a log cabin project she was working on - having read here about my "desire" to log cabin (did I just make it into a verb?). Here is what she has knit:

She's using SWTC's Karaoke - isn't it incredible?! What's most amazing is she is donating the blanket to a charity auction! If I had worked as hard as she had on such a project, I'm not sure I'd be able to part with it. This really is a work of art, the picture does not do it justice.

Our Office Manager Malea was also sporting a lovely new top this past week:





Knit by Melissa in trade for . . . . more pottery I believe (Malea is an amazing potter and is simply hanging with us until she hits the big time). This was knit in Art Yarns Regal Silk, pattern P90. The shaping is beautiful and looks just gorgeous on.

So after finishing at the printer today, Cirilia and I hightailed it back to WEBS. And boy did I find some great new goodies! Have I mentioned that Cirilia is back at WEBS for the summer? She is working with me on catalogs and general marketing initiatives. So thrilled to have her, if only she wasn't determined to go back and finish her Masters Degree this fall. . . . really Cirilia, education is WAY overrated :)

First off, Berroco Fall has arrived! I only had a couple of minutes to snap photos, so I apologize. But here are some of colors in their Ultra Alpaca Light:

Really, these colors are to.die.for. I am not a fan of small needle knitting, but trust me, I will be knitting with this yarn.

Also, new colors of Foliage:

I've always liked Foliage, but I LOVE these new tonal variations.

We also received our advance balls of Comfort:

There are 57 total colors and we picked out 30 for the store. This yarn will be available in about a week, with a dedicated pattern book coming in August. We talked about this yarn on the podcast this past week and it has to be touched and swatched to be believed. It's a nylon/acrylic blend - I know, I know. It does not sound appetizing at all. But do not judge a yarn by it's label folks! This is sure to be a new core basic - machine wash and dry.

These yarns should be up on the website tomorrow. I will add links then.

We also received in a bunch of new books. This great new felting book from Amy Swenson looks faboo:

And we've finally received copies of Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel:

We will be hosting an event with Alison on Sunday, July 15th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. Potter mania will be nearing a crescendo at this point and we are thrilled that Alison has made time for us in her busy schedule. Not only does she have this new book, she has a new baby too! Watch the blog and the website for more details about the event.

We also received in two other new yarns that I did not have time to photograph. Dena, our Inventory Analyst had it totally under wraps and only allowed me a quick peek until she's got it all in the sytem. So check back tomorrow for pictures of my favorite find from TNNA - Shibui Knits. Two of the four yarns we purchased are in, as are patterns. Just wait until you see them.

My "More Thank An Apron" is coming along. I"m about to start on the center panel, but need to be sure I've got the right sizing before I go any further.

Kathy