| |||||||||||||||||||
MG's Store Blog Check back here for frequent knitting news, store happenings, new yarn and book arrivals, and more! | |||||||||||||||||||
|
November 28, 2006 Well, the weather is finally starting to match the date on the calendar! New books that arrived yesterday:
Knitting Beyond the Edge by Nicky Epstein. Another great book from Nicky that includes cuffs, collars, necklines, corners and edges and closures. Also we received our alpaca roving from Peru: I had a student all the way from Australia a couple of weeks ago and
she learned how to make the moebius wrap: Diane finished her moebius out of Berroco's Monet: Julie brought by the sock that she knitted for her daughter, Claire: Great day for knitting or crocheting!
November 24, 2006 I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Mine? It was a little stressful... I didn't know until last Friday that I would be hosting the Thanksgiving dinner. As I was contemplating how I was going to pull this off with my work schedule; I happened to read Albertson's ad about their Thanksgiving meals already prepared. I've never done this. I grew up in a household where everything was made from scratch. So I called in my order and asked what time I should pick it up. The man asked when I was wanting it. I replied that I was wanting it for Thanksgiving day so he said I could pick it up that morning. I made side dishes and desserts and worried a little bit about the turkey tasting good or not. Thursday morning I made some last minute preparations, cleaned house, and set the table. Guests were expected for the meal at noon. I asked my husband to pick up the turkey around 10 but he didn't leave until 11. When he returned from the store he parked in the driveway to unload the turkey. When he went to pull the van into the garage; he had forgotten that he left the back latch-door up. When he heard it hitting the garage, he started to back up and proceeded to rip off the trim from the garage and scratch the van's door. Okay...that was bad enough but imagine my horror when I opened the box from Albertson's and it was a cooked turkey from Butterball but....completely frozen. That's right, rock....hard....solid. Now why didn't the guy tell me that?? Panic set in. Finally I popped the turkey in the microwave..well, alright...I squeezed the turkey into the microwave and thawed it a little. Then sliced off pieces to warm up in the oven along with the unbaked dressing that I received. For once, I was elated instead of irritated that one of my guests is notoriously always late. We managed to sit down by 1:30 and eat and eat and eat.... Forgot to mention that we received a new yarn by Schaefer -
"Helene". Hopefully everyone was able to get some knitting done. I'm over halfway finished with my Schaefer Kathleen felted purse. We will be having a class on this purse because it contains a lot of short rows. This is a great way to learn short rows with large needles and bulky yarn. Have a great day!
November 22, 2006 Look what arrived yesterday! The cookbook! New colors of Noro Kureyon are here and also a new yarn called
"Blossom". Rosemary knitted a hat for her daughter out of the Blossom
and Berroco Laser Fx and isn't it cute? November 18, 2006 We had a small turn-out for Candi due to bad weather but it made for a nice intimate group. I didn't know what to expect from Candi. It always makes me a little nervous to entertain strangers. However, from the moment that David and I picked her up from her hotel, she put us at ease. She is one of the most pleasant, friendly people that I have ever met. Candi is a very interesting person with a rich active life and a famous husband, but she sat on the sofas visiting with each of us without a hint of being prestigious. I think several were impressed by how many books she has written. Candi also let us know that she is working on a PBS tv show for knitting and crocheting. She starts filming in January and it plans to air sometime next fall. Candi mentioned that when I'm in San Diego maybe she'll put me on the camera....umm...I don't know about that. If I'm too shy for local tv; I'll definitely have a heart attack with national. lol I've taken off today from the shop to work on the new class schedule. I've listened to people's request and we have several new projects and clubs in mind! It's always amazing to me just how much time/work it takes to make out a simple class schedule. Show 'n Tell: Kevin made his very first sock teaching himself: Liz finished her clapotis out of Blue Heron's rayon/metallic: Terri finished yet another sweater: I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week which means Christmas is right around the corner. We have some wonderful gift ideas on their way for the knitter. Remember - you can come by the store and make out a wish list! Have a great weekend!
November 13, 2006 Don't forget! Candi Jensen here tomorrow evening from 6:30pm to 8pm. Candi will be autographing her latest book, Knitting Loves
Crochet. Last summer I had the delight of teaching Maddy to knit and I'm
always thrilled to see what she has made. She recently made a scarf out
of Savvy: Bev dropped by with her clapotis and hat that she knitted out of
Blue Heron's rayon/metallic. She didn't want to model so we volunteered
Terri for the job! (you never know what you may get yourself into when
you come in....) Saturday seemed to be the day of the moebius: Carolyn finished hers and immediately casted on another one: Don't forget tomorrow night! Let's give Candi a warm Oklahoma welcome! November 5, 2006 It was the first Saturday yesterday which meant it was sock class
day. Cathy finished her first sock: Jane dropped by and I thought she looked so cute in her Harley hat: I forgot Marjie's picture of her cat, Willow, and her newly knitted
moebius cat bed: And of course it was the Knit-In last night! What did we do? Well..... Before the party even started, Jan gave my son a ride in her Hummer: Then we had some show'n tell: Susan finished ponchos for her twin granddaughers: Then there's food. A lot of food. A lot of good food. Diets
are out the door. Judges don't think they could eat another bite....but
they do. Then prizes (gift certificates) are handed out to the winners. And first went to Christy for her salad: Then we had some great entertainment: Practical jokes were pulled on Karen: The group tried to embarrass David: Then toward the end - it was time to pass on the Problem Child
award. There were a lot of good candidates but it was decided that Karen
would be the poster child for November: I had a blast as usual and can't wait for the next one! November 4, 2006 Tonight is Knit-In! I missed last month's due to the retreat so I'm looking forward to tonight's. I got up early this morning and made Sausage Chowder for tonight. Due to more merchandise in the store - it's more crowded for these events but I have faith that we'll manage. Jennifer B. brought by her "Problem Child" award to handed off to the new recipient tonight. I also have faith that I won't have any problems finding a new recipient.... Marjie finished several new projects: Jacque finished her neck-down raglan child's sweater. Spunky Joy finished her scarf using Melissa's pattern. Joy is such a
delight to be around! Hope to see you tonight! November 1, 2006 I hope everyone survived Halloween all right. We seemed to have more groups of larger kids than the little ones. I miss the little kids. Last Saturday, Melissa taught Clanci's afghan group plus some
students from her day class. It's a rarity to see Melissa on a Saturday.
lol Yesterday, Terri came in showing her most recent sweater: Have a great day!
October 27, 2006 Not much has been accomplished on the knitting front. I can't tell
you how much time I've spent trying to find a pattern that I liked to
knit with the Blue Heron Rayon/Metallic. I've tried two different shawls
but wasn't pleased. I'm a tech person and love pattern stitches but it
was agreed last night that I needed to apply the KISS method. Yep, I
need to keep it simple. The yarn is so pretty that the pattern and yarn
seem to compete. So I looked again for a pattern and couldn't find one.
So what does a person do? Well, write one of course! But talking about
the rayon/metallic, Bev happened to drop by and had her clapotis (or how
we like to do our Okie pronunciation "Clap Otis") that she was working
on: Bev had also finished her purse out of The Treausry of
Magical Knitting book: We had a lovely surprise the other day: On the store front: New arrivals in yarn has been another shipment
of Schaefer yarn and now...we are carrying Brown Sheep yarns: Many new books are out. Some good..some...well, some not. It's a great day for knitting! One of these days we need a fireplace
at the store....clubhouse....coffee bar....are you listening, David??
October 24, 2006 Where does the time go? Seems I'm always behind on things. We got our shipment of Blue Heron yarns. They are so gorgeous. I
can't wait to order some of their other lines. Many customers are using
the rayon metallic to make a clapotis. I'm going to try a shawl out of
"The Best of Knitter's Shawls and Scarves" using the metallic.
Another pretty yarn that I love is the rayon seed: Many new colors of Classic Elite's wool/bamboo arrived yesterday. This yarn has been so popular that Classic Elite is out of most of their colors and they don't expect another shipment until around Thanksgiving. So this will be it until more arrives. Anita dropped by with her latest pair of socks: Joyce finished her shawl using Feza's Premier and a pattern of ours: The Pursenality purse contest was held on Saturday and Roger won
1st. I wish the picture would show how pretty the purse really
was. Let's just say that when he walked in with his entry the other
contestants remarked that they could go home because they knew who the
winner was.
Eva won 2nd: Carol came in third with Halloween creation: Enjoy the weather today! Frankly, I'd rather have the cold raining
days...
October 16, 2006 We keep saying around here that it's a small world. On Saturday, we had a new customer come in from Lone Grove. Turns out that my daughter was on the speech/debate team with her son and furthermore, now her daughter-in-law is my grandson's school teacher. Nice to have met you, Karen! (I better be extra nice to Karen before her daughter-in-law gets the next grandson. lol) Jennifer received her Problem Child award on Friday: We had two great sock classes on Saturday. Four people finished
their socks in the cuff-down class. L to R: Alma, Kathryn, and Pam finished did their toe decreases and
grafting of stitches: I had the Problem Children in the afternoon group. The short-row heel kept them quiet and studious for the most part. Pam from Arkansas was in the group and did her heel in record time so she got dubbed, "Teacher's Pet". lol Nina and Linen came to spend the afternoon knitting and my son
dropped by to meet Linen. He would really love to have a service dog
like Linen but unfortunately has allergies. Have a super day! October 13, 2006 Friday the 13th......for some people it's bad luck. For others - good luck. It's always been like any other day for me. Kevin came in to receive help on his finished purse. He was a little
apprehensive about making a hole in his purse for the handles: But, as always, he was able to do it and had two great purses as a
result: Susan came by and showed us her purses that she knitted with Noro: We had a wonderful surprise visit by Becky. She came by to join the
Black Sheep for the first time and showed us the great sweater she
designed and knitted for her husband.
How's my Schaefer sweater? Well, I could kick myself into next week. I was working on the second sleeve and was getting excited about getting it finished and moving on to a couple of sweaters that I'm wanting to do. I held the second sleeve up to the first sleeve and felt like...well, let's just say I was really agitated at myself. The sweater has a pattern row every 6th row. I repeated one of the patterns on the 5th row. Of course, I couldn't make the mistake toward the end. Oh, no. It had to be near the beginning. So...out it came. I knitted on it last night during a meeting and almost have it finished - that is if I don't make anymore stupid mistakes.... Take it easy today! October 11, 2006 I received pics of the retreat from Jennifer. Thanks, Jennifer! And also found another camera card that I had.
The first night, Jennifer broke the thermostat cover:
October 9, 2006 What a weekend! We all had a great time! In fact, so much fun that everyone requested that the spring one be at least an extra day long. BTW, for the most part: What happens at retreat; stays at retreat. However, I will give you a few glimpses: Here's Nancy and Pat arriving on the scene: Jennifer, Lou, Linen and I went on a hike. Now, I'm not talking
about a little meandering stroll....no, sir. I'm talking a 4 hour hike
on rugged terrain and even in the dark! Would you believe I only took about 4 pictures? So..as soon as I start receiving pics from others; I will share those. October 4, 2006 I can't believe no one let me know I had the wrong date yesterday! Usually I hear about every mistake I make (and even get blame for ones I don't!). My daughter said, "Make it contest. The first to write you wins a prize." Wouldn't you know? Not a soul said anything.....lol News! I received an unexpected phone call yesterday from a
publisher. They wanted to know if I would host a book signing for Candi
Jensen? Are you kidding? Of course I would! In the world of crocheting -
she's one of the tops. Even the knitters were copying her patterns.
Remember:
October 3, 2006 Short post today - many things to do. The retreat is this weekend! Poor Nina was all geared and ready to go last week when her friend had to break the news to her that it wasn't until this weekend! lol I think everyone is looking forward to getting away. For those unable to attend - the monthly Knit-In will be held as usual. David gets to keep everyone in line. Don't get too wild without me! (I hate missing a good time!) I knitted on the child's sweater this weekend and I am almost done.
Just have the sleeves and buttonband to go. I love knitting with
Scheafer's Miss Priss yarn. I'm anxiously waiting on a huge order from
Schaefer. However, I did receive a partial order of the sock yarn: Mary Lynch showed us her pattern book where she got a spiral binder
on it. What a great idea! I'm in a dilemma - I'm deciding what sweater to start next. I like the sweater that both sweater clubs are doing, I'm going to knit a sweater along with Terri Howard and Terri Cummings, plus I love the new book, "Modern Classic". There's a gorgeous cotton sweater in it. I need to decide today because I have to take way more knitting than I'll ever get done to the retreat. Every knitter's worst nightmare - "to run out of knitting while on a trip". Don't you love the 90 degree weather in October? ..... NO! Have a great day!
| ||||||||||||||||||
Home | About Us | Contact us | Find us | Yarn & Accessories | Calendar | Newsletter | webmaster
|