Fiberpalooza, Part 2

Did you happen to hear a very high-pitched squeal a few days back? If so, that was probably Victoria's response to the receipt of the Blue Sky Alpaca box. (That woman has been waiting and waiting for this order for EVER!) We have more colors than what is pictured of the organic cotton - it takes up the whole shelving unit. Pretty, pretty stuff.

So, this means that we have to sell all the yarn the USE to be in that shelving unit, and lots of other shelves and baskets around the shop, so we have room for all the new pretty, pretty stuff!. Great things are marked down from 25-40% and these great things need a new home. Look, here is a happy customer buying one of her favorite yarns at a great discount! Don't you want to be one of those happy customers, too? (I know - I'm such a transparent sales person but hey - it's a living!)

Fiberpalooza!

Get yourself a cup of tea, put on your fuzzy slippers, have paper and pencil handy (for your shopping list), and get comfy because this is going to be a LONG(ish) post.

We've got yarn! Get your yarn here! New yarn! Fresh yarn! Yarn of all shapes and sizes! Cotton yarn! Alpaca yarn! Sparkley yarn! Bamboo yarn! Soy yarn! Yarn that makes your mouth say "yummmmm!"

Seriously people - we have lots of YARN! Here is a taste of some of the new things we have:

• Louisa Harding Cinnabar (cotton/linen blend) and Jasmine (cotton/bamboo blend) - both with a little Tinkerbell thrown in. (That's Ellen's term for sparkle.) Great for skirts and there is a skirt class on the new class schedule - hint, hint, hint....
  
• Debbie Bliss Prima (cotton/bamboo blend)
• Noro Matsuri (cotton/wool blend) Love it! Want to marry it!
  
• Rowan All Seasons Cotton
• Nashua April (cotton), June (acrylic), and Cilantro (cotton/poly blend) What, no May?
  
• Trekking Hand Art (hand-dyed superwash sock) Delicious!
  
• Sublime Soya Cotton
• Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Lace - Holy moley, this stuff is TDF!!!! My love affair with Noro may have to expand to a menage with this stuff. Yowzer!
• Marisol T'ika (pima cotton)
• Sirdar Surfer (fabric ribbon) I was so-so on this purchase until it arrived and now I think it's awesome, dude. We even have a sample to look at already! (see photo below)
  
• New colors of Hempathy and Baby Bamboo
• Lots and lots of new single patterns and books to go with all the YARN!!
• Did I mention that we have a lot of YARN?!
  

AND, because we have so much new YARN, that means that lots of super-wonderful, yarn-of-a-certain-age will be sold at a reduced price to make room for said new YARN. So, get in here and bring the big bag because you know you'll want a little of both. :-)

Goodies

Goodie number one: Yarn Keeper Bracelets

When we were at Madrona, Victoria and I saw someone walking around knitting with their yarn hanging from their arm on a bracelet thingy. Victoria came back to the shop and did some great detective work and found out where we could buy them! We have two types - one with a row counter and one without. Very handy! (Or is that "wristy.")

Goodie number two: New Tea Flavors

If you have stopped by the shop in the past few weeks you may have sampled a new tea from Golden Moon called Coconut Pouchong. I don't care if you don't like coconut, this stuff is amazing!! We liked it so much we decided to try some other teas from Golden Moon (GM) and they are pretty darn good as well. Here is a list of all our new teas:

• Coconut Pouchong (GM) - Winner of Tea World Expo's 2007 Best Tea Award
• White Ginger (GM) - White tea leaves and Yin Zhen buds blended with freshly dried ginger root
• White Persian Melon (GM) - White tea with the essence of fresh summer melon (great iced)
• French Breakfast (GM) - An estate tea from the high mountain region of Ceylon with a honey, Merlot aftertaste - perfect with a sweet afternoon pastry.
• Kalahari - A fruity blend of fully fermented Rooibos
  

Our next blog: "New Spring Yarns" or "Fiberpalooza" or "Why Ellen Smashed the Label Maker!"

Madrona Redux

What day is it? Where am I? Oh yeah, it's Friday, isn't it? Pardon me but my brain is still trying to recover from all the fun (and work) of Madrona. Our booth was very busy. The Kauni yarn was über-popular! There were lots of people walking around in Ruth's Kauni Cardigan. And I also saw lots and lots of Noro garments. I wish I could have taken a class or two - maybe next year. I'd like to learn how to spin better.

I managed not to get into too much trouble, purchase-wise. I bought a beautiful set of rosewood crochet hooks that only cost me an arm and a leg - and who need those, right? And I broke down and bought glass needles from Sheila & Michael Ernst. If you haven't seen their needles and buttons, you should. They are works of art.

For those of you who had a chance to come by for a visit but didn't get a chance to buy any of the lovely Fleece Artist kits or yarn we had at the booth - fear not! We brought it home with us and are ordering more. We'll also be getting some more Plucky Knitter hand dyes and another shipment of Kauni.

Madrona: Day 1

Sarah and Tracy of Plucky Knitter are having fun at there first ever fiber free-for-all. Sarah's from Michigan and is thrilled to be "playing with the big kids." Her beautiful yarns have been selling very well and she is hoping not to have ANY to take back on the plane!

We ended up bringing more stuff to fill our space - some Malibrigo and the sea wool socks - but the Kauni yarn has been the big hit, for sure. It's been fun watching all the Kauni sweaters go by. If I were Ruth, I'd be tickled pink to see so many people wearing my design!

Madrona: Pre-Day 1

Actually, let me start with the night before Pre-Day 1. We had a wonderful night with Ruth Sorensen when we took her out to dinner at Scott's. She is really sweet and looking forward to teaching and learning at Madrona. This is her first visit to the US and she wanted to have a typical American meal. She ordered Cowboy steak!

The next day we made our way - cars packed to the hilt - to the Hotel Murano in Tacoma. We unpacked what we thought was a lot of yarn, until we saw how much some of the other shops had brought. Holy smokes! Lots of cool stuff. Can't wait for opening day. So much yarn, so little time.

On our continuing quest to treat Ruth to Americana, we took her to an Irish Pub for dinner where she dined on roasted lamb and champ (a potato dish). Okay, so how is an Irish Pub American? It isn't, really, but they don't have them in Denmark so at least she got to experience a different culture. ;-)

Valentine's Day

Since most of us will be at Madrona, or out with our sweeties, or at Madrona with our sweeties, or at home stuffing our faces with chocolate wishing we had a sweetie.....well, you get the idea.....we will be closing the shop at 8:00 pm instead of 9:00 pm. We hope this doesn't cause anyone any grief. :-)