Blog
February 04, 2009Welcome to Knit Stop's new blog! I'm new at this and don't know much about blogging but I am excited about our new website and have been working diligently on that as well as I just got back from San Diego where Julie Laughner and I just attended TNNA, (The National Needleworks Association). The new things we just ordered for Spring/Summer at the market are really exciting and will be coming in daily now as well as our book order we just placed! There's alot of really great new books and ideas coming out in the next few months that we will be excited to share with you all whenever you can drop by the store!
Julie Laughner one of my favorite knitting buddies. I refer to her as "My Yarn Whisperer!" She can figure out anything I can't ~ or that I get all messed up! One thing I love about the girls at Knit Stop is we all have our specialities. Some of them overlap but Julie and Karen are who I like to bounce ideas off of. Karen and I like the same colors and designs and Julie and I like similar stitch patterns and yarns! They both have been knitting a shorter period of time than I have but are more of the "thinkers" and the problem solvers which someone who is more creative like me needs to figure out dimensions and technical aspects of my pattern writing. We all (at Knit Stop) work really well together and have so much fun talking about ideas!
Julie and I just recently roomed at the Marriot Marina in San Diego with my new little side kick, "Chloe" who is a ten week old "Chinese (hairless) Crested" puppy!
I never intended on acquiring Chloe but one of our customers, Jackie Pendygraft popped into the store a few weeks ago with her and Chloe's sister, Jazzmin and it was love at first sight! Chloe took one look at me and stole my heart as she will yours!
Chloe loves yarn (but not in the same way that we do)..she loves to BITE IT (I'm trying to tell her that even though she looks like a little lamb, she is not (I repeat, NOT) a goat! She is hilarious to observe. I don't know if any of you have ever been around a Chinese Hairless Crested dog before but I had not and they are truly fascinating to watch. (...AND hilarious, I might add!)
Julie and I just went to see the movie, "Dog Hotel" last evening with her boys and ironically, there is a "Chinese Crested" in that movie (as well as one in "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days" with Kate Hudson) which I just had to rent again since I got her!
Anyway, she'll be another little "shop dog" so for those who are interested in meeting her she's hilarious! She looks like a "My Little Pony!" She trots around like a horse and stands right up to the german shepherd dogs I have totally unintimidated by either one. She just has to constantly watch that she doesn't get stepped on because she's white and SO TINY (not even three pounds yet!) and blends in with the floor at the shop!
Back to yarn and knitting! We both took classes this time at TNNA. Both Julie and I took Stephanie Japel's sweater design class which we both got alot out of and are anxious to share with any of you who are interested in learning to design sweaters that are specially designed to FIT you! I also took (and LOVED) Leslie Solomon's class in learning to continental knit the right way. She is so funny! I just really enjoyed her sense of humor and personality and would like to have her as a guest speaker at Knit Stop. She has some DVDs that she spoke of that we are going to be ordering to play in the shop that are instructional DVDs on different knitting techniques, including continental knitting, short rows and other intermediate to advanced techniques as well as beginning.
There are alot of great new books coming out also in the next few months, which we are eager to receive very soon! One of them is the "Cookie A" book on sock knitting!
French Girl Knits came out with a new book which I will be teaching from in February and March ...and Alchemy came out with a new book as well!
Addi Clicks are on their way!!!! These are a "kit" of Addis similar to the Denise Interchangeable Needle Kits only Addi Turbos!
We always enjoy going to the "Sample It" night at TNNA, where we can sample some of the new things that are coming out (buy them retail) as you cannot bring much home with you at TNNA except things you can purchase at "Sample It"!
"Be Sweet" has teamed up with "Artyarns" to make a really cool "Magic Ball" with sequins...it comes with a cute pattern for a shawl and I am working on another pattern for them that is a cardigan sweater (I think)..it might be a slip over....haven't decided yet!
Artyarns came out with some YUMMY new colors ....and we saw some beautiful cashmere scarfs that are hand dyed from them that we have ordered!
We've picked up two things that we are excited about! "Dream in Color" for all of you sock lovers and also "Lamb's Pride" for all of you felters out there!
It was fun as always to spend time in Trish Anderson's booth (Tanglewood Fiber Creations) where I feel "right at home" touching and admiring her beautiful cashmere and superwash merino handspuns! She had sofas set up so we could just sit and knit and get caught up on her latest creations! She's also going to be making a "Knitsop" soon! Stay tuned for upcoming visit from Trish! We've recently also re-priced our Tanglewood yarn so that people can experience (without as much guilt) how WONDERFUL it is to knit with!
Also coming soon are Jade Sapphire's new scarf kits for men! Jade Sapphire has kitted up some great cashmere scarf designs in "manly colors" for that special man in your life! These will be arriving very soon, maybe next week! Also new from Jade Sapphire is their new handspun in black and white (blended). It is really beautiful as well as five hot new colors we chose arriving in the next few days in both 6 ply and 8 ply as well as 12 ply!
Tilli Tomas never fails to disappoint me! I love Tracy and her pleasant personality that is always so nice to see never changes! Her great new beaded creations also will be arriving soon!
I'm busy working on a few projects I'm eager to display at the shop! One is a new "Magic Ball" sweater I'm designing for Be Sweet and Artyarns using their new Magic Ball. I was eager to start and didn't have #13 needles handy so started using #15 which made it too narrow so I turned the shawl into a sweater that is turning out just beautiful! Also new on Nancy's Needles is a new dog sling using Alchemy's "Luxe" yarn and some other yarn I threw together after I saw the sling that Kitty made that is displayed at the shop! They are really baby slings but we are using them for our puppies! Chloe LOVES staying warm since she is hairless, you can imagine she's the perfect dog for a knitter like me! She is like a bug in a rug in the carrier and so I had to make her one of her very own! I'm also going to be designing dog sweaters for my new pup!
Come in and see what's new and let us help you find a fun project for spring or ...it's still not too late to do do some more of those winter projects...it's plenty cold outside still! Keep warm! Happy Knitting!
~Nancy
