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Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

My goodness it is HOT!  Today was 93, tomorrow 97, Saturday 100+.  Plus it’s humid.  I find myself envying Dylan, who is currently in Tucson, AZ,  looking for an apartment.  We lived for 6 years in Arizona–both our boys were born there.  Even at 118, it never felt as hot as this……

On the other side of the globe, for some reason we have had what amounts to an absolute flood of orders from Down Under– mostly Australia but also NZ and South America.  Yes I know it’s winter there, but compared to previous  July to Sept seasons there are many, many more orders.  So what’s up?  if any of you know, please let us know too.  An Aussie blog?  Advertising?  What??????

Knit-Kards Full Set
Tons of information at your fingertips

Our last newsletter proved that what Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot) has said all along….It’s impossible to predict what knitters/crocheters will want; at least it isn’t predictable enough to help plan what should be bought for the store.  We’ve re-ordered the Wraps Per Inch kit, and I never thought that would be necessary after one day.  On the other side, I would have sworn that the Knit Kards would have sold like hotcakes, but no.  I guess that means that my description is not very good.  I’ll have to re-work that……

Sadie was so cute today.  She’s taken to sitting out on the driveway & staring at the street, for all the world like a cat cartoon.  It almost makes me forget the dead mole I found in the kitchen this morning……

For the first time I’m actually feeling as if I’m really a pattern designer, because I had my first complaint about typos in a pattern.  I mean, if all the feedback you get is positive from people who love your patterns, do people really consider you professional?  It’s a higher standard–knitters expect a pattern to be perfect, and they have every right to expect that after paying for a pattern.  Intertwined with that (forgive the pun) is that I’m now having patterns available on other places besides the Handknitting.com website.  Ravelry & Patternfish to be specific.  It’s a bigger audience.  The pattern in question was even on YouTube as part of this June’s TNNA fashion show.

For the last year or so, I’ve been having a nagging feeling that there is about to be a growing interest in traditional knitting.  By “traditional knitting” what I mean is the traditional techniques from decades and centuries ago all over the world.  I could be wrong,  of course, but I can’t help but think that there’s a desire for tried and true, classic design out there.    This thought has been intruding for a while now, and it’s still under construction.

John asked me to provide an intro into his blogging, and so here it is.  John is, as you know, the Executive Vice President of Fulfillment and Customer Satisfaction for Handknitting.com.  In his spare time he has always enjoyed woodworking, and has recently taken on the building of a guitar.

Thanks for listening,

Laurel

Lots of new Toys!

Lots of new Toys!

Of course we looked at yarn at TNNA, but the things that are arriving first are new tools and accessories. You might be familiar with some of them, but I’ll bet there are some you haven’t seen.

Knit Kit
Knit Kit Front View with Tools on front visible

 

At the first chance we got, we pounced on the Knit Kit!

This is a self-contained tool kit for crocheters and knitters both, perfect for traveling, but also very useful at home.  The photo on the right shows the front side, where you see a row counter, thread cutter, retractable measuring tape, and a snap in and out crochet hook for picking up dropped stitches. 

On the reverse is a compartment that holds a set of collapsible scissors, point protectors, stitch markers, and a darning needle, with space for more little items.  All the articles in the Knit Kit have been approved for airline and train travel by the TSA.  All in all, this tool kit is just a wonderful addition to your project bag.  See the complete description on our webpage here.

And look at these:  Permanent labels for your circular needles!

Circular Needle ID Tags

These handy ID tags clip on to the cords of your circular needles, and show you the size both in US size and millimeter diameter.  The markings are etched into the plastic, so the numbers will never wear off.  Easy to see and read.

There are two sets, one for sizes 0 through 6, and one for sizes 7 and up.  Each set has more than 25 tags, with as many as 4 for the most popular sizes.   You’ll soon wonder how you did without them.  Get all the info here.

I’ll be back soon with more products from TNNA…..

What a cutie!

What a cutie!

A Touch of Lace Toddler Sweater In Cabin Fever Cotton Tweed
designed by Susan Gressman

Featured in the April/May issue of Country Woman Magazine! We have some copies of this sold-out magazine left over from our trip to Stitches South. I can’t tell you how popular this pattern has been! Even the gals at Cabin Fever have been amazed at the response. And why not? It’s so cute, and is really not hard–a quick project for your favorite little, little girl.

The kit includes 3 skeins of Cabin Fever Cotton Tweed in your choice of colors, plus a copy of the magazine that includes the pattern. The pattern in the magazine has full instructions plus a chart for the simple eyelet pattern.

Three sizes: 18 months (22″ chest), 2 years (24″) and 4 years(26″). There is enough yarn for any size.

Soooooo cute!
Soooooo cute!
TNNA 2010

TNNA 2010

We’re back from TNNA.  It was a bit quiet, but that wasn’t because there wasn’t anything to see there.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a number of items that we are anxious to bring into the store.

silly knitted birds
Exotic birds!

There’s also a lot of fun and silliness at TNNA, like these birds on the “new product” table.  Personally I’d love to have one of those macaws hanging over my front door.

I’ll be back soon….

Stitches South 2010 HIGHLIGHTS

Stitches South 2010 HIGHLIGHTS

What a grand time we had in Atlanta! An incredible amount of work, but also a huge, huge ton of fun.

This year we also took a truck down, but in addition to the Super 10 Cotton we also took linen blends, silk blends, other cotton blends, plus several different lace yarns and our Elysium silk/cashmere blend. Lots of magazines, patterns, Trendsetter novelty yarn, and needles too.

I never imagined we would be part of the “Yarnie Elite” but when the Ravelry crew announced they would be going to Stitches South, we jumped at the opportunity to help with their party on Thursday night after the Market Preview. We signed on as “Cashmere Sponsor” and found ourselves in the same company as Webs, Skacel and Trendsetter!

See–we’re right there just above Bob’s right ear!

There were about 350 Ravelers who came for a relaxing beverage,  a  little late noshing, a chance to meet Jess, Casey and the rest of the   Ravelry crew, as well as a chance to win a door prize (there were lots!)

Not only were Jess and Casey there, but also Mary-Heather, of course, and a new member of the Ravelry team, Sara.  All of them are just the nicest people you would ever want to meet.  I don’t know how they do it .

And it was even more fun when they came by the booth–take a look!

Rav at the Handknitting.com booth
Isn’t is weird how tall they all are?

What a grand time we had–we’ll be anxious for the next time.

More later,

Laurel

Snow everywhere

Snow everywhere

For those of you who don’t live on the East coast, you may not know, but we have been having a record-breaking snow in the Mid-Atlantic. DC has 30″, Baltimore 27″, Philly 26″–it has been simply incredible.

It started Friday about noon. It increased in intensity through the day and until mid-morning today, Saturday (2/6), when it finally began to lighten just a bit. It seems to have quit altogether now, and it’s 7pm.

The Big Snow
Deep enough for ya????

As most of you know, I grew up in Wyoming, and as a child I learned all about being “snowed in.” We always considered it a luxury–you can’t get out, go anywhere, do anything, and no one can complain that you’re lazy. So you do anything you want–my favorite activity for being snowed in is always jigsaw puzzles. Completely unproductive, yet entertaining.

Of course you could knit, too.  Which I am, in fact, doing with some Lang samples for the Spring & Summer season.  We will be taking some of these yarns to Stitches South in Atlanta in April.

Mountain Meadow Wool — New yarn!

Mountain Meadow Wool — New yarn!

We first learned about Mountain Meadow Wool in a blog post that appeared right after the January 2009 TNNA show in San Diego.  Their yarn was highly praised by several reviewers, including Cat Bordhi.  This is a daring venture by two moms in north-central Wyoming to help bring the wool from local sheep ranchers to market.  They have been working on this project for over 5 years!

Mountain Meadow Wool
Mountain Meadow Wool

Being from Wyoming myself, I contacted them immediately to find out the whole story, and to see what we could do to help them grow and “get out there.”  These women are committed to not having these wonderful high-micron fleeces thrown away, and to encouraging the ranchers to make the most of their livestock in sustainable ranching methods.

>>Private comment to those of you from heavily populated states like NY, CA, IL, OH etc:  When you come from a place where there are more antelope than people, you really care about people from your home state who are trying something new like this!<<

Anyway, we’ve been communicating by email for the last 5 months, and I finally got to meet Karen and Valerie at TNNA in Columbus.  It was so much fun!  They are just the people you would want to have as neighbors, and their yarns are just wonderful, and getting better all the time.  Right now we have the worsted weight 2ply and the chunky 3ply in stock. Mountain Meadow Wool Yarn

Mountain Meadow Wool Yarn

They are also coming out with a  fingering/sport weight, and we will be carrying that soon.

This yarn is just fabulous for dyeing, with either kettle techniques or for hand painted colorings.  It’s great as is, though, with it’s natural off-white color so reminiscent of aran sweaters.  The worsted weight is on the heavy side, and will be great for any aran type pattern.  The chunky is just fabulous–so in style right now and a really quick knit.

So, so soft–Mountain Meadow Wool’s Wyoming Merino!

New Accessory offerings too!

New Accessory offerings too!

There were lots of new exhibitors who were showing needlework accessories.  A number of new tote bag manufacturers were there, in addition to the well known ones like Offhand Designs.  There seemed to be many more jewelry displays than last year, and a couple of new booths for buttons.

New trends

New trends

Home decor was hot at TNNA– everyone from the Ultra Chic designers to the least-cost yarn reps were showing home decor ideas. Of course the needlepointers and the cross-stitchers were laughing behind our backs, because they always are into home decor. But if you’ve never considered knitting a pillow or such, take a look at these:

Do dressed-up dogs qualify as home decor? Maybe…. I’m not really sure since we do our decorating with cats! 😉