shallweknit.com

 Today was Tabi’s spinning demo - as you can tell by the picture I think she has gotten a couple hooked.  I know at least one and maybe two now have the dilemma of which wheel to buy and can I find it before the classes on the 13th.

 baaaa - what can I say?

Have I told you how blessed I am by the friends in my life lately?  It is one of the things I am truly grateful for.  For example - this last weekend we had the grand-kids for the weekend and my friend Heather who owns Briar Patch Candles invited us over and let Chance & Darrian make their own candles to bring home.  The kids had a blast and I have to admit Tom & I did too.  Heather even took the time to give them proper candle rules and knowing what kids are like - they will be hearing about it if they leave a candle unattended.
Thank you Heather

Tonight is the first of our Enthusiastic Crocheter classes.  We are doing another one next month.  In this class you know the basics but those patterns…but Linda has gotten a couple more ladies more comfortable with those confusing little charts.  I heard regularly from the classroom “I like these charts!” - at first it was said with surprise but as the evening went on I think they really preferred to read the charts then all the words.

 This Saturday we will be having Katherine doing the Beaded Cuff class.  This is a pattern by Susanna Hansson and they are lovely!  The class will include one of her patterns - but warning they can be addictive!  Great Christmas presents too!

  This is Tabi - spinner (crazy lady) and lovely person - as are a lot of spinners.  We have the honour of having Barbara of Luscious Luxury visiting with us this Friday evening for a combined Spin & Knit & Chat!  This is a free drop in - come and see what can be done and you can talk to Tabi about the classes she will be teaching in November.

AND Tabi will be here next Thursday afternoon as well!  She will be the Spinner-on-site from 1-3ish - bring your questions and she will try to answer them.  We will also have a couple of wheels set up for you to try your hand at spinning.  This is a FREE afternoon, so come join us!

 Have you figured out the basic crochet stitches but don’t know how to follow the pattern?  Or what do those little charts in a crochet pattern mean?  We have a class for you!  In this class you will learn how to put different stitches together and the logic of how they work together.  Pop into the shop and see a sampler of different stitches but all combined in a cohesive way.  This is what we are working on in this Thursday evenings class.

I love it when yarns come in with color names rather than just numbers.  I like the thought that someone has been thinking about this particular colour and that it’s not just all done by machines.  Now sometimes I wonder what the heck they were thinking, but they were thinking.
So, we got in this new yarn La Lana Del Deserto - luscious - 50% Merino, 30% Camel and 20% Kid Mohair.  And the colours are light camel, med camel and dark camel - boy I bet that took some thought!  Why not just call them Tom, Dick & Harry?

This picture is taken with my phone so not as good as with the camera but even so you can see how lovely the 3 colours are.  I’m thinking something luscious like maybe Ilga’s Balsam.  It calls for a worsted and the camel is a sport but can you imagine how luscious it would be?

Ok, now anyone who knows me is probably thinking this is going to be a rant.  We all know how I don’t adapt well to new technology and how I try Tom’s patience regularly.  But you would be wrong!
I’ve been planning on getting a new phone, something that I can track store schedule (since I now have employees - WOOT!) and classes and… you get the picture.  Well I’ve been using an old Palm PDA that Tom won and never used.  I figured I could try it - I’ve got nothing invested and if I don’t like it - then oh well it’s back to my paper daytimer. 
But - surprise to all - I like it!  Now the thing is that I’m carrying around a cell phone, a pda and a camera.  So the next thing is to try to eliminate some of the stuff.  I played with the Iphone and it is so pretty and I like new toys but it had a lot of stuff I didn’t need and a few things I wanted that were better in another type.  So - I am officially in the league of all those “crack-berry” users.  Tom has one and I thought it was a pain, but I’ve been playing with this thing and Tom set up a bunch of stuff for me last night and I’m a happy girl.  I get it!
You know what I actually figured out this afternoon (while I was supposed to be working on the newsletter).  I got out my camera to take pictures of the wall of Cascade 220 that Lynne has been seriously working on getting put away - over 170 colours!  Then I realized that I hadn’t brought the cord to hook up the camera to the computer to download the pictures.  And the light went on!!  I can take a picture with my phone and email it to myself!  Now if I was a teenager this would have been a given - but I haven’t been a teenager in a while and technology is never a given with me.

   VOILA!  The wall of Cascade!  It doesn’t look it but there are a pile of colours here.  This is a great yarn for your basic wool worsted - 220 yds and only $6.95!  And it felts like a dream if you want it to.  You have got to come see the colours - I could almost be sucked into doing some Fair Isle there are such nice colours.

In case I missed telling you, tomorrow (Friday) is our first afternon Knit & Chat.  We’ve been doing K&Cs on Friday evenings since we started.  But as of this week we are starting from 1:00 on.  Bring your knitting and come and sit for a few minutes or for a few hours.

Have I told you how blessed I am by knowing some amazingly talented people?  I had ordered a flower arrangement to take to the Knitters Fair from Stephanie of Gethsemane Gardens and suggested some yarn in it.  She outdid herself, even Ilga Leja thought so the next day when we had a workshop the next day.  Check out her blog entry.