Saturday stitchin'

Saturday is my favorite day at the shop, followed closely by our Friday night Knit Nights. I like Saturdays because of the energy. There are lots of people knitting, chatting, sharing stories and the occasional pizza from down the street. It is the one day of the week that I don't feel the need to spend loads of time in the back office doing "work." I have learned so much from our Saturday knitters and made so many new friends.


Today was great, as usual. Emma K. brought in some hand-dyed silk hankies that she GAVE AWAY to her friends; the "gang" was there knittin' away and talkin' trash; Rene was teaching her design class; Kim was putting together what seemed to her like a bigillion roving kits; and I got to interview Terri Shea about her new book that is coming out in April - "Selbuvotter - Biography of Knitting Tradition." It is such a great mix of people here today. It really brings home our "Village" theme.

Deb

makin' comments

I just found out that I had a certain setting for our blog set to only allow comments by registered users. Oops! I have fixed the error and now everybody and their grandma can comment! It has also been brought to my attention that we haven't said too much about tea on the blog yet. Not to worry. We will. As a matter of fact, I'll do that right now!

My new favorite tea is Cool Dragon. It has pieces of dried apple and papaya, nettle leafs, blackberry leaves, haricot peels, dragonfruit (hence the name), lime, and white tea leaves. It is light and delicate and tastes good hot or cold. So, what's a haricot you ask? I had NO idea so I looked it up on-line and here is the definition: The edible pod or seed of any of several beans, especially the kidney bean. Hmmm. It must have some sort of health benefit because I can't imagine that it adds much to the taste. (BTW, another definition for haricot was "a highly seasoned mutton or lamb stew with vegetables". Yum.)

Deb

Isabella Rose

Victoria received her Majacraft wheel in the mail today! She has christined it Isabella Rose. Ain't she a beauty! We were amazed at how fast our orders come all the way from New Zealand. (We've waiting longer for things to come from Canada!) It was fun to put together, except for the laying on the cold floor part.* We are a Majacraft dealer now so let us know if we can order a wheel for you. There is a spinning wheel class at the shop starting in May taught by Sam Robbins; spinner extrodinaire and all around great fiber artist. You still have time to order your wheel before classes start!


*Aside: I LOVE putting stuff together. When I was a kid, I was always the one in my family to assemble whatever needed assembling. (My dad was not too handy with tools.) Whenever my dad saw me putting something together that he had given up on, he would say: "can ya get a scholarship doin' that?" Now, whenever I pick up a tool, I think of that phrase and my dad. :-)
Deb

Party Sugar!

You've asked for it; we made it!!

So many of you have asked about our "special" sugar that we serve in our tea area that we decided to package it up for you. Perfect for your special brunches, birthday parties, or just because. We have bagged up 2 cups of party sugar for $2.50 a bag. We are also running a special on our delicious Iveta scone and biscuit mixes (featured on Ophrah's O list). Here is Ellen to give you a few pointers on making your scones come out light and fluffy:

The directions on the package call for 1 cup of heavy cream - no substitutes - and they mean it. But because humidity can vary here in the great North-Wet, I have found that starting with just 3/4 of a cup often works best and then I add more if it is too dry. Don't over mix! Mix JUST until it binds - overmixing will produce dry or tough scones. Kneed it lightly (about 4 times) and pat into a domed circle about 6 inches across. Cut into 6 to 8 wedges and bake as directed. If you are going to sprinkle sugar on top, brush on a little cream and sprinkle your sugar before you bake. Serve plain, with clotted cream, or your favorite jam!

Bunny Hop

Here are photos of the crochet bunny hat I mentioned in my last post. Isn't it too cute?! The pattern is from "Crochet for Babies & Toddlers" by Betty Barnden. (The nursery pillow we have in our shop with the flowers and bunnies on it is also from that book.) I would go up a hook size if I made it again - it came out a little too tight for my liking. My 14-year-old wants me to make a big one for her. I think the Easter Bunny is going to be a bit too busy to make that happen. :-)

Deb

One down, one to go

I finished one of my Yarn Pirate socks and have cast on the second. (see "Our First Blog" for a photo) I don't know about you but if I don't cast on that second sock right away..... Anway, it looks great! (I'll load up a picture tomorrow - no camera today.)

I decided to make yesterday a "finish-what-you've-started" day and put the finishing touches on two other projects I had in the works. One is a beautiful Stretto Poncho from our pals at Fleece Artist and the other is a cute little crocheted bunny baby hat out of Dreambaby DK. I'll have them both in the shop by Tuesday and I'll load up some photos. Fun stuff!

Tea Mugs

We now have our own beautiful bone china tea mugs. They are light and lovely and the handle is very cool. We also found a pen that you can use to write your name on your cup (It bakes on!) so you can leave it at the shop to use whenever you come in for tea! (Think of it as the more civilized version of the pub-crawler's beer stein.)


Speaking of tea, my friend Carole just got back from NYC and brought me a nifty tea defuser from the MOMA store. It's called a Teastick and it is made by this über-cool company called Blomus (blomus.com). I looked on their site and they have all kinds of nifty stuff. I'm going to see if I can get the Teastick to sell at the shop.
cheers,
deb

Sea Wool

The new Sea Wool Sock yarn from Fleece Artist is SOOOO cool! Both Brad and Victoria have made socks with it and are raving about how nice it is to work with. Sea Wool is made up of 70% superwash wool and 30% seacell. Seacell is a fiber made from seaweed and other plant fibers. (Your body absorbs magnesium and other healthy minerals from the seacell product. ) I’m thinking of making a wrap with it! Are the colors not yummy?! The shades of orange and gold are calling to me......
Deb

Our First Blog

Deb here. I have been hearing so many of our great customers talking about their favorite blogs that I thought I should jump on the band wagon. The problem is, there is so much to talk about!! I’ll just have to reach into my bag-o’-tricks and pick ONE topic to start with.
I love the Yarn Pirate sock yarn! I’m making my first pair of socks using the color Inferno and the Jaywalker pattern from Knitty.com (the larger size). I’ve tried to make Jaywalkers before but they came out way too small so I went up to the larger size (cast on 84!). They are a little loose but I like them, so far. And I LOVE the color!!
I’m also WAY busy working on the LYS Tour Website: http://www.lystour.com. I think this year’s tour is going to be fantastic.