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You know how every once in a while we get going along and just take things for granted?  I have a great guy, I know it but I sometimes forget how great.  Now this is the man who pushed me off the fence and gave me the courage to open this yarn shop after talking about it for years (20 actually).  thats great!

And this is the guy who tolerates having knitting everywhere in the house.  I mean everywhere - I even have knitting books in the bathrooms.  I have knitting on most surfaces and - well you can picture it.

This is the guy who when I want to rearrange something (and I do often!) has gotten so used to it that sometimes he doesn’t notice unless I say something.  I just have to make sure his “Archie Bunker” chair is right distance from the wall and the remote is within arms reach. 

I have been known to switch rooms with each other.  He doesn’t batt an eye.

BUT - when he went to the big screen tv and the surround sound - well that kind of slowed me down.  I can’t move that by myself and its got a zillion wires and there are speakers attached to the walls that have to be in just the right spot.  So consider my wonderment yesterday as I was pondering outloud where I was going to move things in the living room and he says “we could move the tv”!  And then he helped!

you gotta love him

(added for clarification - this is really Karen writing even though the gremlins in blog land are trying to tell you it’s Cari)

Lynne sez: Heh. Guess who got access to the blog system today? ::grins:: Cari and I will be popping in now and again to prattle on about things we want to tell you, and give the big boss a break now and again. ::waves:: Howdy, blogfans!

You’ll probably be most familiar with me sporting my big, floppy “enabler” hat, and today will be no different. We got a few tasty treats fresh out of the box today: four bags of Arequipa sock yarn, in three new colours and one that was loved so much we got some more; four new colours of Cadenza sock yarn (including the most glow-y magenta/purple - yum!), and a big re-order of South Pacific. South Pacific has generated some applause - it’s a soft DK weight Pima cotton, in generous hanks of 250 metres - that makes great summer tops and baby wear. We’ve refilled the powder blue, lavender, mint green, and pink, and have added a bright turquoise and a very lovely chocolate brown.

Have a lovely weekend, wherever your knitting takes you.

Wow, I feel like I fell down Alice’s rabbit hole!  We have had a busy couple of weeks with a lot going on and a lot of changes in the next little bit.  First our hours have changed both at the shop in New Hamburg as well as at the market in St. Jacobs.  Starting the first Monday in July the shop will be open on Mondays - just for July and August to see how it goes.  And starting 2 weeks ago the booth at the St. Jacobs market is open on Tuesdays for the summer.  All the times are posted on the website and will be in the newsletter coming out shortly.

Newsletter & Blog - you will be seeing some changes there too.   The newsletter will have notes written by all 3 of us - Lynne, Cari & I.  And the blog is going to see some changes as we all add our thoughts and news of what is coming and doing.

Now to the overwhelming response to World Wide Knit in Public Day - you all totally rock!  I was hoping to double our fundraising for Breast Cancer Research and we TRIPLED it!! 

The Drawing-a-Blank was fully booked and from what I saw everyone had a hoot - it really felt like being in kindergarten again.  Buffy Taylor from Shelridge Farms came down and kept us painting our hearts out.  Thank you to Buffy - you are a special lady.  And a big Thank you to Lynne, Cari and Sue for all your work and your fun spirit.  And I couldn’t do this kind of thing without the help of my guys - Tom & Kyle - they set up the tent and dragged the BBQ down and then did the opposite at the end of the day.  And Tom hung out all day and did anything that was needed but don’t ask him a knitting question - thats when I would get that whistle that the kids knew growing up.  It means “I need you here now!”

Now for some pictures - click to embiggen

 say ”Hi to Buffy” 

   this Birthday card turned into

 this turns into this

and can you tell who was victorious?

Everyone say hi to Rosie - she has come to live at the shop.  Wonderfully knit by Amy from a pattern in this gorgeous book.  If you haven’t seen it and you have any kids in your life - you have to see it.

But Rosie is a little confused since she came - first there is this  and then she sees this  What is a poor little piggy to think?  Well, we had a chat and now she knows all about World Wide Knit in Public and the giant knitting needle contest that is a Breast Cancer Fundraiser. 

So, now Rosie is happy in her new home.

I know that I’ve said before how I am so thrilled to have so many special people in my life.  And today I am going to name two.

First is Lynne, she is my right hand at the shop and is an amazing friend and person.  And today is her birthday. 

Second is Katherine.  She is one of the most talented people I know.  Whatever she sets her mind to - she rocks it.  Well the summer issue of Knitty is up and Katherine has a design in it.  Go check it out.

I can’t believe how fortunate I am to have these 2 strong, caring, talented and funny women in my life.

World Wide Knit in Public is just a few days away!  At the shop we are scurrying around getting all the stuff ready for the Drawing-a-Blank with Buffy from Shelridge Farms and the silent auction things and the door prizes and the sale (oh did I mention that pink yarn will be on sale that day?) and … you get the picture - there is a lot going on.  But the most important thing is that the BIG PINK NEEDLES have come out of storage, been repaired and have gotten a fresh coat of Flamingo Pink paint.  One pair is at the shop already and the other pair will be joining them on Wednesday.   And just to remind you - here are a few pictures from last year.

Click on any of the pictures to biggen them.  And please plan on joining us this Saturday - it’s going to be a riot!

This is Angus, he is one of our three dogs - the noisy one!  He thinks he is a guard dog until you move towards him and then he’s barking from behind my knees.  I went to let them in this afternoon and this is what I saw…

 He might be noisy but how can you resist a guy who brings you flowers?

I was really glad not to be Cat Bordhi on the weekend (although I would really like to get into her head to see how it works).  Cat was doing the judging for the Ruby Red Sock  & Tea Cozy contest and it wasn’t easy.  I only let her pick one winner in the Tea Cozies and two in the socks.
Cat is such a lovely lady, she took all the socks to her room with her for the weekend and wrote a note for every entry.  How nice is that?  As far as we’re concerned they are all winners - but the final winners are (in no particular order)

Laura C. and Mary Jane K.  for socks.

               and Jenn W. for tea cozies

I have just spent a very stressful couple of hours trying to register for sock summit.  After we all crashed the server and then it looked like everything had sold out that I wanted - they fixed it all and now I’m in!!
I am taking a lecture with BARBARA WALKER!!!  How flippin cool is that?  And a lace sock class with Anne Hanson and a couple of smaller ones.  But those were the 2 I really wanted!

like I said earlier the talent and imagination of our knitters is awe-inspiring!