More TNNA....

I promised stash enhancing photographic evidence so here it is! I was able to purchase all of this in just 60 minutes at Sample It. Being a long time knitter and lover of hand dyed, a quick glance of the list of vendors enabled me to plan where I was going and get everything I wanted. The good news about this photo is that virtually everything in it is coming to the Yarn Store in quanitity so you can take care of your own Stash!

Now this level of purchasing may explain why we went from 3 bags to this trolley full. Getting it into the rental car was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together and at the airport - while we didn't have all those sweet parking attendants to help us so we were significantly less graceful. Especially with a Air Canada rep that told us we have 5 minutes to get checked in or we couldn't get on, only to be delayed by almost 2 hours taking off.

There are lots and lots and lots of new things coming to the Yarn Store - so much in fact that we have to make room and lots of it. Be sure and read the next couple of newsletters to find out all the details on how we plan to achieve this.....
Below for your viewing pleasure it a few pics to help whet your appetite.








Yes this is all stuff expected at the store.....not to mention the new dyer we found that has the most beautiful range of hand dyes.....first time in Canada. I can't even talk about them without getting goose bumps - you are going to love this! I promise. The name will be secret but here's just a sense of the colors that are on the way!

Tuesday, the first day home, my dear youngest, Emma graduated from Grade 8 - here she is with her brother.

TNNA Days in Pictures

I'm sitting here in my pjs at the end of Day 2 at the TNNA market - I am exhausted, exhilarated, excited.....it's been so amazingly awesome I can't really even think of how to adequately get in all down. We have some super super things coming for Fall at the Yarn Store - so exciting that I'm sure we are going to be one of the most amazing yarn experiences out there. Here's just a bit of whats happened so far......




Madi signing us in...getting the badges, tickets, maps etc.....


The line up for Sample It - where the vendors put packages together for the attendees to buy. It's one hour - no exceptions - so I had a plan and hit all the tables I wanted. There will be photographic evidence of my stash enhancement in the next blog.


The lovely Amy from Madelinetosh - the creator of this amazing business. Madtosh was started as a way for Amy to earn some extra money while staying home with her children - she's now moving her business from 8,000 sq feet to 16,000 sq feet which should cut down the wait times significantly. We ordered a new yarn that is being introduced for Fall and stocked up some Tosh Sock and Tosh Vintage - that means we will have a huge inventory of Tosh Dk, Tosh Merino Light, Tosh Sock, Tosh Vintage and Tosh Pashmina Worsted - TA!DA! Sounds like we might just become the GTA's Madtosh destination, don't ya think?




The various yarns of Madelinetosh.


New Madtosh Fall 2012 colors -----see the third one from the left - that's Stephen loves Tosh as in Stephen West.




The original Beekeepers Quilt!




Ysolda Teague - a wonderful knitting designer - kind of a knitting celeb so it was fun to see her in person.




Yes that's right - we'll be stocking Fleece Artist - Thrum Mittens, Seasilk, Bootliners and tons more.




Silk Rumple from Fleece Artist!




A lovely drink at the end of a long day 1 - crushed watermelon, lime, soda - deliciously refreshing!




Wow - this company has come a long way since the last time I have seen it - gorgeous hardware purse kits, clips for the flowers so you can wear them in hair, on your flip flops, on a lapel.....so cute! We are also bringing in Shepherd Yarns worsted which felts to a super soft beautiful fabric.




Now you can choose a Noni pattern, buy the yarn and all the hardware needed to make an amazing purse!






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TNNA in Columbus!

Madi and I arrived safe and sound after an uneventful flight - we spent the day driving around searching out yarn stores - and of course, some stash enhancing was done.




Not new yarns to me but new patterns - and both yarns for us to look at the show tomorrow. Tonight is Sample It - which means we can purchase items directly from the suppliers - an opportunity that won't be repeated again this weekend! We have appointments tomorrow morning bright and early with MadTosh and Fleece Artist - can't wait to meet Amy and Kathryn in person.

We have a gorgeous room - thanks to Madi - so comfortable with great couches for knitting after long days.





I managed to convince Madi that I had to go into Target - I love Target! I got quite a few things to take home but look at this little outfit for my granddaughter Ruby. I could just die it's so cute!




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It's the weekend.....

Yay! Beautiful weather and very inspiring knitting.....perfect! The Pop Blanket has a section completed - its at the store for Julia to use for lessons today. Pop (haha!) in and have a look.

Our co-op student Deanna finished with the store this week - we are really going to miss her - she's so helpful, cheerful and fun! We all hope she comes back.


Here she is with her cake - and Wendy.....Wendy buys the best cakes! She is responsible for the lack of weight loss by all the staff in the store.

Wednesday nights are our Knit Night and it's also the night that the lovely Jeannine is in to close up the store. There are classes that end after we leave and everything Thursday morning we find


some artistic creation that she has left us. This week it was...... Gertrude!


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Woohoo!

Finally figured out how to blog on my iphone and my ipad.....how cool is that?




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Catching up...

The book arrived from Oprah by FedEx.
How thrilling! It was beautifully wrapped. My husband asked why I was keeping the paper. Uhhhh - it's from Oprah !! Seriously he even had to ask.







The book was signed by the author and included was a card signed by Oprah Winfrey herself. How do I know you ask? Well there was a tiny bit of green ink that had bled through to the back of the card.

So now onto knitting....my Pop blanket squares are finished.


I started to put them together last night with slip stitch crochet but....


It was too tight. So I tried sewing instead....


Much better!


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I have news....

something very cool happened to me today.  I'm an Oprah fan - we've actually been to Chicago and have seen 2 of her shows on the same trip.  It was absolutely amazing....a big check off my bucket list.  Anyway....I digress................I was very excited to see that she had resurrected her book club in a new online format Oprah's Book Club 2.0.  Her first pick is:

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail
by Cheryl Strayed

I haven't read very far into it but right away I was hooked.  Not hooked because of the hiking - which I haven't even gotten to but hooked because of her writing about her mother's death.  For the first time in 8 years since my mother died I was reading my exact feelings coming from someone else.  Suffice to say that I suffered great grief when my mother passed - unlike anything I had experienced and Cheryl Strayed described my experience so perfectly it took my breath away.  I was surfing around the Oprah site today and decided to leave a comment for the author, to thank her for writing so beautifully and eloquently about an experience that I've never been able to adequately describe for myself.  And guess what?  I got an email back from the "Oprah Community Bulletin Board" thanking me for writing and asking for my shipping information so that they could send me an autographed copy of the book as a thank you for my comments.  Wow, eh?  Isn't that exciting?  I'm excited! 

Knitting content will return but I just had to share!

I'm seeing spots....

Like most knitter's I am not particularly faithful to any one project, unless it completely captures my attention like Falling Leaves.  If another knitter in my immediate circle of influence were to show me a pattern that they thought was amazing - well, I would just have to put everything aside and get to work.  Such is the story with the Pop Blanket - Julia found it and started it and now it's taken on a life of it's own.  There's about 10 people working on these little amazing squares all at the same time.

They are addictive - and the whole reason must be Noro.  These squares were all knit out of 1 ball of Noro Kureyon - with the border out of Cascade Ecological Wool 8010.  I've been knitting for years and knit with Noro many, many times and I continue to be surprised what happens with one little ball.  It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys!  Truth be told, I didn't even really like this color of Noro for my blanket but I thought I would just go ahead any way.  Guess what?  When the colors were broken up - I liked them much better - can't judge Noro by the ball.  Speaking of Noro - look what arrived!  The Premiere Issue!  Features 35 patterns all using Noro Yarns. How fun is that!  Better come and get yours before they are all gone1

Noro Knitting Magazine, Premiere Issue.  Over 35 knits - all using different varieties of Noro!  Here's some examples of what you'll find inside:

Lapel Shrug in Noro Silk Garden Lite

Checkerboard Hat in Noro Silk Garden

Cropped Jacket using 2 alternating balls of Silk Garden Sock