September - 2006

September 25, 2006

What a busy week we had - we've been changing the shop over to bring out all the new yarns we've gotten. Sometimes I have to put things in the back room for a week or two and just visit it and coo over it a little before I'm ready to admit I have to sell it - probably not the best attitude for a retailer, huh?  Anyway, changing the shop over means a lot of moving around - when things are already filled to capacity, adding something means something has to be moved out, so we're moving summer stuff to bring out the heavier yarns.  We have new colors of "Blizzard," Reynold's big soft alpaca blend in heather-y colors. I just finished a little Chanel-style jacket in a new yarn from Tahki/Stacy Charles called "Malizioso." It's a beautiful blend of color and texture in a quick-knitting wool.  You'll have to come and see the beautiful color combinations in this yarn. 

(Pay no attention to that woman behind the jacket.)

We also have new colors of Plymouth's Handpaint Wool.  I made a cute hat from one skein in one afternoon at the shop - I'm writing the pattern and it should be available this coming week.  I wonder if it would make good mittens or if it's too bulky.  Perhaps we shall just have to experiment.  It's lovely to work with, and quick.

Karen Wenrich just finished a very cute vest made in chocolate Silky Wool with a lapel of Claudia's Hand Painted Sportweight Merino in Chocolate-Covered Cherries.  It's really adorable. Made in garter stitch in one piece and using simple intarsia for the contrasting lapel, it's fun to make and teaches you some useful techniques along the way. It's a Cabin Fever pattern, and they're usually well-written and have a little twist.

I finished a scribble lace scarf/shawl using Colinette's Parisienne laceweight mohair and Lang's Silkdream - pretty and romantic in a tawny rose.  You have to see Silkdream to believe it.  Soft, lustrous silk and merino wool and MACHINE WASHABLE!!  How did they do it?  I have plans for this yarn - we just received Jane Ellison's new Noro design collection, and while everything looks wonderful in the Noro yarns, there is one design that would be interesting in a soft shade of Silkdream, too.  I'm thinking on it for a while.  It's one of those yarns that deserves a good plan.

So come by and see us - or rather come by and see the yarns.  We'll be re-arranging things all week and there will be more new things to tell you about.  Okay, enough.  I have to publish this page and start drafting my first e-mail newsletter.  If you haven't signed up (113 people have so far - thanks!), you really, really should before the e-newsletter comes out.  I'm not saying any more than that!

See you soon -

Trish

September 18, 2006

First let me say thanks to everyone who has signed up for the e-mail newsletter and the many who have taken the time to let me know that they like the site.  Many have commented on our Yarngal, and again, I have to compliment Janelle at Design Revolution for our Gal.  I think she did such a great job on the whole site, and I think (hope) she has made it unlikely that I'll be able to mess things up.  I'm still getting used to everything so if I'm slow to answer e-mails, please forgive me.

Check out the gallery for a photo of four of our Sunrise circle Knitalong participants in their completed jackets.  Deb Hawk, Pat Cieslinski, Melissa Korth and Donna Hain are shown left to right.  I've been so impressed with the success and workmanship going into these jackets from all 12 of the participants, and can't wait to see the rest of the jackets completed.

Okay, what's new at the shop?  Yarn is arriving daily -  we just received Claudia's handpainted kid mohair.  We went through torture at TNNA trying to decide on colorways - we made good choices, they're all very beautiful, but we probably could have chosen at random and everything would still be beautiful.  Her colorways are not what everyone else is doing - I think you'll hear a lot of buzz about her.  We have her sport/DK merino too, and the two used in sequence would make a beautiful shawl (scribble lace would be easy and extremely yummy.) The two used together would be wonderful in a sweater or jacket.  Here's a photo, but you've got to touch it and see it in person.

Everyone I know who has a little bit of discipline where yarn is concerned is finishing up projects so they can get something new going.  Fran is finishing a Lotus tank top in Royal Bamboo - it's really, really pretty.  She has already started on a style out of Colinette's Parisienne book - it's a great book for laceweight mohair.  Oh, and she's already bought the yarn for Plymouth's very cute vest in Baby Alpaca Grande for her daughter. This is a fabulous project  - easy, stylish, and takes only 4 skeins - if you've been wondering how you can use this luxurious yarn, this is the project for you!  And we've just gotten the new colors - there's a yellow that seduces me every time it catches my eye. "Trish, my little peach blossom, why do you not take me home and knit me into a beautiful cabled turtleneck - you know you want to - I will make you so happy."  (Yellow Baby Alpaca has an accent reminiscent of Antonio Banderas for some reason.)

Melissa has started on the Napa Pullover while finishing up our oversized turtleneck in Rowan's Soft Tweed and "doing time" on a truly gorgeous poncho in Kocheron for a friend.  "Doing time" is my phrase for those projects you started with a good will, then they went on and on - and on, until you were so sick of them you wanted to burn them in the back yard.  But you don't do that - like a good little knitter, you pick them up and knit a little bit -  2 rows or 20 minutes or until the dog wants to come in, or whatever you can manage - every day until the damn thing is done.  And when it's done, you can love it once again.  "Doing time" is like a mini-jail sentence or a penance that you impose on yourself everyday until you've served your time and repaid your debt to society by producing a finished knitted object.  Sometimes that's the only way to get though a project.

What else do I want to say this week?  Oh, don't delay signing up for classes - some are filling up quickly.  And I want to say a little more about the Wednesday night series.  Several have signed up on faith alone, since I didn't really specify what we're going to do when, but I promise you, you won't be bored.  Deb Cech is going to handle the first Wednesday of each month, and if you know her, you know you'll learn something useful and interesting.  The other Wednesdays are being filled up gradually - Janet Kakareka is going to talk about style, fit and measuring one evening, Karen Wenrich is going to demonstrate exercises and self-massage for sore hands one evening, and I've figured out a cute mystery project for another evening.  A Yarn Tasting evening should be fun, and there will also be an X-treme knitting night to help you lose your inhibitions. (Now, just your knitting inhibitions - I can't fix everything, you know!)

Thanks for tuning in - hope I see you all soon!

Trish

September 05, 2006

Hi, Everyone!
Today’s big news is - TA DA! - the launch of our website.  I’m so excited about our Yarngal (Janelle Paisley of Design Revolution Studios designed her - I was initially disappointed that yarngallery.com was already taken, but now I’m glad because Yarngal is so cute.)  I hope you’ll turn to this page often because I plan to use our news page to keep you updated on what’s going on at the shop.

We’ll also have an e-newsletter going out fairly frequently, so that when new yarns come in, or we put something wonderful on sale, or we add a class, you’ll know about it.  I found that only being able to mail to you quarterly was confining us to only those ideas that could be planned months in advance. So please don’t leave this site without signing up for the newsletter - it’s fast, I promise.  We’ll be discontinuing our paper newsletters this fall, so if you can’t pop into the shop frequently, e-mail will keep you in touch.

This website business is all new to me, so I hope you’ll feel free to give me feedback on what you like, what you don’t, things you’d like to see added or done differently.  You can e-mail me at trish@yarngal.com.  I’m sure it will feel more comfortable soon - but I have to get used to the idea that when I write for this site, I’m not just talking to Yarn Gallery customers, but to anyone who might happen upon it anywhere in the world.  It’s awesome, in the traditional sense of that word, to think how connected we all are.

Okay, just because I now have all the space in the world to blather on, I’ll still try not to get too philosophical or wordy. No promises, though!!  Now browse through our site, roam around a little, and let me know what you think.  Thanks!