busy week ahead & 10% sale

Wow, lots of things to do this week.

The property I talked about a couple of weeks ago, well, we bought it. So now we are getting through all the paperwork. The closing will be tuesday. My husband and I have never bought property before so we had no idea of all the things to be done.

If that's not enough, I am getting ready to go to the Sewing and Craft show in Abbotsford on April 4, 5. I am really excited about this show. I have lots of new stuff to bring with me.

One final note, everything in the store is 10% off. I might also be receiving my Noro Kureyon Sock yarn this week which I will include in the sale.

Happy stitching!

New Projects

I started a scarf, "Branching Out" from Knitty.com. It's a good first lace project for me. I am using Malabrigo Baby Merino Lace in the color Intenso. I really like the color as it knits up. I wasn't a fan of the color when it came into the store but I really like it now and it is soooo soft.












I also started another scarf project using Araucania Atacama in color 510. It is alpaca and it's soft and very easy to knit with. Again, I wasn't fond of the color and I really like it now. I'm using Allison Isaacs pattern "My so called scarf". A very easy pattern, portable and lovely to look at!














My next project is going to be a pair of socks in Araucania Ranco. Ranco is a great sock yarn and very affordable at $12.95 100grams (1 pair adult average size socks). We carry both the semi solids and the multi colors.

I hope everyone had a good Easter long weekend.

Fibre Fest 2008

This was my first year being a vendor at a Fibre Festival. It was well worth the effort. My mom helped with setup (this is her):
















My mom also worked the 2 days of the festival. She really enjoyed herself (I think). We didn't buy any fibre but we did get two books. We bought the Ashford Book of Spinning and the Ashford Book of Dyeing. I was really pleased that we found them. I bought them from Legacy Studio - family from Alberta who were really nice people. We made lots of new friends.

Here's a couple of pictures of the booth once we finished setting up.

I rented a 10 x 10 booth which was way too small. Next time I would rent a 10 x 20. It gives people more room to browse. Also, I would not use so much cube shelving and buy something with hooks. Alot of people had trouble browsing through the Lorna's Laces. It is difficult to see the colors when it is piled.

In the last few months I have learned alot about what yarns I want to carry and the Festival helped me understand what people want and how people shop. In the end, it was a great experience.

In other shop news:

We just received Malabrigo Aquarella. It is a polar weight and comes in fabulous colors. I will also start carrying the Gruesa line which is the same as the Aquarella but in monochromatic colors. We also received more lace.

We also received more Noro Silk Garden and we now carry the Silk Garden Lite.

I will be expanding the Noro line so if there is something you think we should be carrying and are not - please let me know.

3 days til Fibre Fest

Here in the lower mainland area of BC we have an annual Fibre Fest. This year the event will be on Mar 7, 8. This is my first year attending (because it is also my first year of the store). I am actually a bit nervous. I don't really know why I'm nervous but I have never done anything like this before and I want to make a good impression. My mom will be there Friday afternoon and all day Saturday so that will be nice. She is really looking forward to it.

In other news I have several orders that keep getting delayed. That has been disappointing because alot of the yarn was supposed to be here for the show. I am intending on ordering everything available from Malabrigo. I have ordered the silky merino, lace, merino worsted and aquarella. The next move will be carrying all the colors. It is truly a beautiful yarn. I have also ordered more Noro. I have ordered the sock yarn, silk garden lite and silk garden.

I did however, receive the Araucania Ranco. I tell ya, that's a good deal. I have always really liked Araucania and the Ranco and Ranco Multi are a great deal.

Now, on the home front, my husband and I are actually looking at buying realestate!! Considering the prices these days, that is pretty scary. We found an affordable piece of property. It is 3 acres about 1 hour outside of Vancouver. It is affordable because it backs onto the Freeway and there is no house or buildings (just bare land). But to us - it's a little patch of heaven:) There is currently an offer with subjects that expires on Friday March 7. Our realator said it doesn't look like the subjects will be removed which means we can put our offer in. So hopefully, March 7 will be a lucky day at Fibre Fest and we might buy our first piece of land. woohoo!!!!

I'll take pictures of our booth on Friday. My daughter will be with me for a couple hours on Saturday so I am sure that she'll talk me into buying her some purple yarn - since everything is purple these days.lol

Kool-Aid

My mom and I tried Kool-Aid dying today. It was fun and my son helped (he's 19 months). I have ordered some acid dyes but I wanted to try the kool-aid for fun.

Both skeins were 100 grams each. The directions call for 2 packages of kool-aid per 50 grams but I didn't buy enough. The first skein I used 2 packages of grape and the yarn came out like a mulberry color and the second skein we used 3 packages of orange and the color is salmon. I would try the orange again but use only 2 packages - I think that would make a great pale salmon color. Here's a couple pics:

My son washing yarn.

The grape color isn't showing up too well. It really is alot nicer 'in person'. The orange turned out really bright but it's nice too.

I also received new yarn yesterday. I got some of the colors in Noro Matsuri and Noro Taiyo. They are both new yarns for 2008.

I am hoping to receive the rest of my order before I go to the Abbotsford Fibre Festival March 7 and 8.

Brioche scarf, new yarns ordered

The weather today is awful. It's rainy and windy. I have admit though it makes for a nice day to stay inside and knit. I started a scarf today for my daughter. I'm using Mirasol Miski. It is 100% baby llama and is so very soft. The color is #102 and I am using the brioche stitch.














News in the shop:

I placed an order for the new Noro yarns (Taiyo and Matsuri) and Araucania Ranco. Taiyo won't be in for awhile due to a factory delay - we haven't been given a date yet. The Matsuri and Ranco should be in by the middle of February.

Enjoy your Monday!

New Price Promotion

All of the prices in the store are dropping today. We want to stay competitive, even with the larger stores. I would love to order more yarns and more colors and give our customers better choices, so that will be a goal for 2008. For now I hope that we are offering a good variety and some beautiful colors.

Noro's Kureyon sock yarn should be here soon. I have heard alot of mixed reviews on it. Some people have said it's too scratchy and wouldn't even try it! Others say that once it is washed it softens up. I like Noro and I believe that it will be just fine. I'm looking forward to knitting some socks with it. We have ordered all 12 colors so it will be exciting to receive it all and start knitting.

The weather here has been so yucky. We have a normal high of about 4 degrees at this time of year. Lately it has either been wet snow like this (below) or it has been 1 or 2 degrees and a really cold rain.

FO - I am almost done my sweater jacket for my daughter. All I need to finish is the collar and weave in some ends.

I am not totally pleased with how it turned out but it will keep her warm. She loves purple so it's on to a purple scarf and hat for her using Mirasols Miski 100% baby Llama - it's sooooo soft I can't wait to try it.