We Have Campers!

And look. . . they're dyeing:









This week we hosted our Summer Fiber Camp. What fun it has been! Our Counselor-in-Residence, Leslie Ann has once again put together a faboo program. We've had a full house of young ladies who all but one already know how to knit. Besides knitting and felting, today was dyeing day and tomorrow they will bring their dried skeins back in. Cannot wait to see them!


Just a couple of quick product updates. For those of you who own the Denise Interchangeable Set of Needles, we are now stocking their new Fabric-Sided Organizers:




These lightweight cases are lightweight and have enough space to store all of your extra needles. Additionally, there are two snap in pockets for storing all of your extra knitting necessities:





Since they can snap out, you can easily take on or both along with you! What makes these cases even better? They are "Made in the USA". Love that!


You can see more pictures here. Be sure to come on back to http://www.yarn.com/ to place your order! The cases are only $55.00!


The other item I want to share with you isn't going to be on the site until tomorrow (I'll add the link, promise!) but I just couldn't wait to post these:

This is Happy Choices, a new product from Plymouth Yarn Company. These are 90% Superwash Merino/10% Nylon Sock Flats. Unravel as you knit and you'll end up with an amazing pair of hand-dyed socks! Want to create your own? No problem, we have the blanks as well! Each flat has 384 yards and has a recommended gauge of 8 sts = 1" on #1 needles. The dyed flats retail for $23.99 and are discountable, while the blank flats are $17.99. These are only 3 of the 8 colorways available. Link will be live tomorrow morning (Note: Link is live)!

Still practicing with my new camera (I will have to breakdown and peruse the directions eventually). Here's a shot of Steve doing what he loves to do most of all:

Ringing up a customer who had filled one of our big shopping carts with big cones! The picture is a bit dark - need to figure that out.

As for me, I was relegated to "signing" duty:

These are the letters for July's One Skein Contest and Club packets. Although there are a lot, I feel obligated to hand-sign each one. I tried going to just the letter "K" a few months ago, but that just seemed weird. I've gone through part of the stack and off to do the rest as soon as I am done with this post. I really can't complain. I get sit out here:

It's gorgeous here today and I get to sit out on the deck and enjoy. Even those non-lizards in the area can't complain today.

Kathy

Let's Test This Baby Out

Alrighty now! I have my new camera and I have to say - I love it! It's small and lightweight and sleek and oh so pretty! It's not as fancy as my last camera, but it did so much more than I needed it to do.


Let's toss up a test picture and see what we think:



Now that's a mighty fine looking picture, if I do say so myself. Look at the Blue Sky Alpaca - the cotton is in the foreground and the alpaca/silk is towards the back. Colors look good!

I was running out, so I only had a few moments to snap a couple of shots.

It was my turn for the baseball camp carpool - 4 sweaty, filthy boys, exhausted, boys. All four talked the entire way home - all at the same time. To have that energy after 6 1/2 hours of baseball camp in the 90 degree/high humidity weather. . . . . . .


Let's test another shot:

Ah, the Artyarns display looks JUST like that! Woohoo!

Okay, one last test shot:

This is the display at the front of the store. It is currently featuring several of our new Valley Yarns designs from our latest catalog. The color on the felted bags is a bit muddy, but dark colors are always tough without really good lighting. The store lighting is great, but it's certainly not meant for photography.

Kathy

Back In Business. . . . Sort of. . . . .

The photography in today's post is brought to you by J1's digital camera. Last year's b'day present. Given it was his 8th b'day, it's not what would be considered a "high quality" camera. Hopefully the pictures won't be too terrible.

I had planned to not post any pictures until my camera was replaced. I did accomplish that yesterday, but in the meantime, I had to go to the store on Sunday. After gathering the few things I needed I decided to take a quick run through the store to see what was new and how the reorganization of product was coming along. Well, the store looks great AND - there is so much new product!!! It was truly a bit overwhelming. I grabbed a WEBS bag and as the boys were yelling "can we go home now" I ran around the shop, shoving yarn into the bag like I was a contestant on one of those grocery store challenges where you have only so many minutes to throw as much food as possible into your cart.

What I'm showing you below barely scratches the surface of "New":

First up, is the new Jill Eaton yarn from Classic Elite called Minnow Merino. It's 100% Extra Fine Merino Wool, dyed in palette of gorgeous brights. Each 50 gram hank has 77 yards and it knits at 4.5 sts on a #8. Minnow Merino retails for $7.95 and it's machine washable! Here's a sampling of four of the 19 colors we are carrying:

Next up, I grabbed this:

This is Rio de la Plata Merino Sock. Not only is this a new yarn for us, Rio de la Plata is a new vendor. Steve and I felt this sock yarn was unique and beautiful. It's machine washable, which to me is important in a sock yarn and has 437 yards for $20.50. We currently have 11 colors which represent a nice balance between fun brights and more sophisticated darks/jewel tones.

This next yarn is not new in the marketplace, but it is new for us. Inca Alpaca is one of Classic Elite's staples and it's a yarn we've never carried before. Why?? Who knows. It happens sometimes. We're happy to have it in now. The colors are stunning and the yarn feels incredible. It's worsted weight and is $8.50/hank for 109 yards. The pattern support for this yarn is amazing!

At this point in my sprint through the store, I was stopped dead in my tracks by this:

This, my friends is Jade Sapphire 2-ply Silk/Cashmere (can you hear the harps?). This fingering weight beauty has 400 fabulous yards and is 55% silk/45% cashmere. At $33.00/hank it's not cheap, but it is so worth every penny.

It has been well documented here and on our podcast that I love sparkle and glitz. There's no doubt that Artyarns is among the best in our industry at luxurious fibers and over the past couple of seasons, they've brought sparkly yarns to a whole new level. While visiting Iris and Elliot in NY a few weeks back, we were totally smitten with these two yarns:

Yes, even Steve was loving them (how could he not!). The yarn on the right is Silk Pearl. It is 100% silk and it is among the most beautiful of silks I have ever seen. The twist on this yarn makes it virtually pill-proof. Each hank has 170 yards for $40.00. It knits at 5 sts on a #6.

It's sparkly friend is Beaded Pearl and Sequins. Yes, Iris took the gorgeous silk and added beads and sequins. For those of you who love beaded projects but cringe at the thought of stringing along the beads, this yarn is perfect! Although it knits at the same gauge as Silk Pearl, each hank has only 80 yards for $56.00. Yes, it's a splurge, but a little goes a long way.

Next up was a yarn that Karen mentioned in her post last week. It was also suppose to be the feature of my July 4th post (which never materialized due to previously discussed camera issues). This yarn has been in the works, in one iteration or another for a very, very, very long time. Steve and I have been wanting to offer a "Made in the USA" product, but have really struggled to find the right product, the right mill to work with, etc. As Dorothy said "happiness is sometimes right in your own backyard" (or something like that). Anyways, here is our newest Valley Yarn - Hadley:

Hadley is not only spun and dyed right here in the US, but right here in New England by our long-time friends at JaggerSpun, makers of Zephyr. It's a blend of 50% silk/50% wool. It knits at 5 sts on a #5 or #6 needle and each ball has 109 yards. We are so pleased with this yarn. The colors are not done justice by this photograph at all. The colors are gorgeous, vibrant, sophisticated. The wool and the silk take the dye slightly differently which creates just a breathtaking tonal-ish affect. Being that this is a US-made product, the costs involved in creating it are much higher than if we sourced it elsewhere in the world, but we think it's worth it and we hope you do as well. Hadley retails at $8.99/ball and comes in 18 yummy colors.

Whew! So much yarn, so little time. There's more, plus new accessories. But those will come in the following days, with photographs from my new camera!

Kathy

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

Sunscreen + Digital Camera = Disaster.

My posts will be pictureless for a few days.

Kathy

Shop Talk

Hello out there to all of our fabulous WEBS fans & customers! My name is Karen and I am the store manager for WEBS. I have been invited to tell you a little bit about the happenings at the store.

First off, this past Saturday we had Carol Sulcoski co-author along with Lisa Myers & Laura Grutzeck of Knit So Fine, she was one of the nicest people I have been privileged to meet working here at WEBS. A big thank you to all of you who came to meet Carol and check out her fabulous book. I of course with a few other staffers purchased the book. I don't know about all of you, but I do truly enjoy knitting with skinny yarn which is what this book is all about. If you don't like how a bulky yarn makes you look, take a minute to look at this amazing book. They have a section on the beginning of the book that shows a Barbie doll, and we know how perfect Barbie’s shape is; and they knit two dresses one in bulky and one in thin yarn, the difference is amazing! They also show a couple of swatches that 2 different people knit with the same yarn and the same size needle, this shows exactly why we should always swatch before tackling a sweater!

What else is happening you ask? Or what is new in the store? Here are a couple of items that have come in that our staff is in love with. Just in time for the 4th of July celebration we received "Hadley" this yarn is a 50/50 combination of wool and silk in 18 gorgeous colors, wait it gets even better! You may ask why it is just in time for the 4th of July? This yarn is made right here in the USA in coordination with Jagger Spun out of Springvale Maine! I can't wait to see what Kirsten our designer is cooking up with this one.

Another favorite of our staff is kind of silly; actually it’s not yarn, although it is yarn related! It is a jumbo sweater shaver. After searching high and low to locate a supplier of a sweater shaver we finally found one, and it is definitely JUMBO in size. This is perfect for all of those beautiful sweaters you all have knit that have pilled and you are tired of pulling them off one by one. Check it out on our web site.

There is one other new line of yarn we have received that has been getting a lot of love from our customers. Jojoland is the name of the company and we are currently carrying “Rhythm” which is a worsted weight and “Melody” which is a fingering weight. These have beautiful colorways with long color repeats which result in stunning fabric.

There are so many items I could talk about, but will save it for future posts. Have a relaxing 4th of July weekend everyone!

Karen

Valley Yarns Catalog

Have you received yours yet? Our June 2008 catalogs mailed about 10 days ago, so if yours hasn't arrived yet, keep checking your mail! For those of you who have received the catalog, I think you like it! Customer Service and Shipping have been crazy and I hear many customers are coming into the store, catalog in-hand and already dog-earred and notated for project selection!

Here's the cover:





What I love about our June catalog, is that it features just our Valley Yarns line. They are always included in our other catalogs, when we also highlight the best from all of our favorite yarn distributors. I just love having this one issue where we can really showcase our yarns and our fabulous designs!

The early favorites seem to be the Firmaments Lace Shawl, knit in 2/14 Alpaca/Silk, the Diagonal Mesh Shawl, knit in Goshen and the Quilted Diamond Vest knit in Berkshire. I'm pretty tickled about the Diamond Vest. It has been a general design concept that I've had in my head for sometime. Linda, our Customer Service Manager finally got tired enough of listening blab on about wanting a chunky, outdoorsy vest and finally figured it out!

One of my personal favorites is the Staghorn Cable Tunic which is knit in Northampton. This garment will be featured on the podcast as our next knitalong. I have it with me on this trip and although I've hit a bit of a roadblock, I am still loving the pattern and cannot wait to wear it!

There are plenty of adorable designs for summer knitting such as the Striped Pullover designed by Mary Beth Temple and knit in Southwick and also in Southwick, the stunning cover sweater - the Ladder and Vine Cardi.

There are also two adorable baby items knit in Longmeadow - the Eyelet and Garter Baby Blanket and the Sweet Sabina Cardigan.

What's your favorite?

If you haven't yet received the Valley Yarns Catalog, be patient. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to receive a catalog, just email customerservice@yarn.com all of your pertinent mailing info and we'll be happy to send one out to you!

Kathy

Beach Blanket Blogging

Well - not quite, but almost!

Before I jump into a myriad of items, I want to remind everyone that we are having a great book signing event at the store tomorrow! Starting at 3:00pm, Carol Sulcoski, co-author of Knit So Fine, will be at WEBS signing copies of the book. I am so excited we were able to find a date that worked for both our insane schedules (hers is worse than mine - she has 3 kids!). My only regret is that I'll miss the event! I hope someone remembers to get a book signed for me :) If you are planning to shop tomorrow, come in the afternoon and see Carol. Besides signing copies of her book, I am sure she'd be up for chatting about her blog and Black Bunny Fibers! Have fun Carol!

Why am I missing this event you ask? We are off on Steve and Kathy's Excellent Adventure - part 2. We've made our way to the lovely gulf shores of Florida, J1 & J2 in tow this itme around. We're here for Convergence - the bi-annual weaving tradeshow. For those of you who are knitters, Convegence is the equivalent of Stitches. The venue changes each year, as local guilds are key to hosting the show. This year, the Florida Tropical Weavers Guild stepped up to take on the challenge and Tampa Convention Center is the location. The show is open to the public through tomorrow. There are all sorts of cool weaving stuff, yarn, etc., but there are also lots of gorgeous finished goods and ancillary products. If you are in the area, stop by the show! For us, this is a nice combination of business trip and family vacation.

You may have read yesterday's post by Kirsten. I realized over the last few weeks that despite my good intentions and best efforts I could not keep up with the blog as effectively as I would like. I also think that we have so many things happening at the store and in the business, that my perspective alone can be somewhat limiting. Kirsten is an exceptional knitter. I have seen her walk around, knitting lace AND chewing gum! All joking aside, she is incredibly talented and will bring a lot to the blog. Plus, she's got a wry sense of humor that I hope you will all enjoy!

I've also enlisted our Store Manager Karen to join us here on the blog as well. With my crazy schedule, there are cool things happening and I miss them, which means you miss them too! Karen is an extraordinary knitter in her own right as well. I'm excited to be able to shae more in the way of new yarns, customer projects, etc.

No worries though - you aren't getting rid of me that easily. I love the blog.

On the trip down here, I worked on the Staghorn Cabled Tunic - a brand new design featured in our latest catalog. It has been receiving rave reviews in the store and both Pixie and Iove it. Here's where I am at so far:

I am using our Valley Yarns Northampton, which is the recommended yarn. I choose the dark grey colorway since I'm pretty much a zebra when it comes to dressing myself.

When reading patterns, I am very literal and need everything spelled out for me. I think it's partly how I learn, but I also think i stems from my crochet background, where patterns are basically spelled out row by row. Love that!

I am really enjoying the pattern and hope to make good progress over the next week or so.

On the vacation side of this trip, I have a couple of cute pictures to share. First up - the only way to fly:

J2 is cuddled in with "Barky". Barky was a prize I won for him last year at Busch Gardens. He decided since we were coming back to Barky's hometown, he should be allowed to come along on the trip. Both boys are big stuffed animal kids and we always have at least one friend along on any trip, but a 36" stuffed dog seemed a bit much. I obviously lost that battle.

Secondly, the person who is taking care of our room is obviously a Mom. Who else would be sure each of the animals had their own chocolate each night?

Lastly, here is J1 standing along side Scorpion. This is the sane reasonable child in this scenario.

Wondering where J2 is in this scenario? He's here:

He came off smiling and telling our sitter it wasn't so bad and asking if she was okay.

Kathy