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We had an open house here this weekend and it was a blast!  To anyone who came and shared my dream with me – THANK YOU!  It really is hard to believe this is all happening but it is (slowly) but it is

We had the mandatory rain for the Mennonite Relief Sale, not a lot but the threat was there and we had a few sprinkles.  But a little rain isn’t going to stop friends or knitters and when those two are combined – look out!

It was great to be able to sit and chat with people and to share some of the things that get me excited – like Twisted Sisters – WOW!  I drove to Buffalo on Thursday to pick up the kits and resisted the impulse to tear open the boxes right there, muggles don’t understand that kind of thing.  But these kits….no words, just lovely, and then you open the kit bag to feel and O BOY!  There was even some yarn sniffing going on (but I won’t mention any names).

The only reason I haven’t started one is that there are a couple of big boxes of the Alpaca coming from Twisted Sisters this week.  So, am being strong, must be strong, must wait….maybe I can just hold it for a bit?

You know that feeling when you are getting to the end of a project, the what am I doing next feeling?  The fact that there are other projects on the needles means nothing, the lure of a new cast on is like the mermaids siren, just calling me, knit me, knit me, knit me, knit me.  I must obey!

So, anyways, I’m almost done a basic shawl from Wellington Fibres curly mohair.  It will be a sample for the shop (when I’m not wearing it) and I want to put a ruffle/edging/lace around it out of some of Buffy’s Fingering Weight (Shelridge Farms).  I have the perfect colour but just can’t decide what the edging wants to be.  So I think I will finish it tonight to where I have to start the ruffle and then it can sit there till it makes up its mind.  Thus the issue of what to start next.  Top of the list is a Moebius from Cat Bordhi’s Treasury of Magical Knitting.  It’s the white lacy Shoulder Wrap and I’m thinking of doing it in the Rowan Bamboo Tape.  But then the Hempathy has such a firm feel that it would sit nicely, but then again…

2 hours later

Well, I got looking at colours and there are 2 skirts that are possible candidates for wearing with this Moebius and the whole shooting match ended up out on the back deck to see colours.  Green can be so hard to find things for and one of the skirts is a lovely (odd but lovely) light khaki with a little stitching on.  So after Tom got home and I started verbalizing what I was thinking and what I liked about certain yarns with either, he did his thing.  He just seems to ask the right question that when I answer it I have solved my problem.  How does he do that?

So the winner is ….drumroll please…Koigu KPPM!  I have been eyeing this colour for a while and it will work with the odd coloured skirt, now all I need to do is figure out what to wear with it but thats another story.

I was thinking about it and it dawned on me that next weekend with the Mennonite Relief Sale and my open house and the fact that I have a lovely big shade tree in the front yard and I was sitting and knitting and thinking about how much fun June 9th is going to be with the World Wide Knit in Public Day and suddenly – an idea…

Why don’t we, just cause we can, enjoy the sun next week and sit outside in my front yard and do some knitting.  So, details – the shop is not open so we are doing a teaser at the house of lovely yarns and patterns, 273 Peel St, Friday 12-9 and Saturday 9-5. 

If you’ve never been to Mennonite Relief Sale – it is worth the trip.  The only thing is that it can get hot and tiring wandering around.  So, solution, bring your chair or a blanket and grab a patch of shade and pull out your knitting.  I do have a few chairs if you come away without one, so come on anyways.

So spread the word and we will have a lovely time just a knitting and chatting…

Not the news we want about the opening, but that is getting closer.  The owner is working with engineers and planners and architects and anyone else that is useful in order to get us up and running.  Yeah Shain!

First – So, since I’m not going to be open in time for the Mennonite Relief Sale http://www.nhmrs.com/attractions.html and I soooo wanted to be, we have come up with a back up plan.  We are going to have a pre-opening teaser.  I am going to open up the shop in my house for Friday May 25th and Saturday May 26th! 

So my job for the next two weeks is to build a mini store in my house.  We have all the shelving here and I have stock – boy do I have stock!  The issue is that I have more stock than will fit in the rooms that I will be using in the house, so what to set out and what to carry upstairs?  Oh, the conundrum…

Maybe this is why I have felt the need to do a bit of gardening the last few days.  I am not a gardener and I have issues with what is a weed and what is a plant, in the spring they all look lovely.  I guess I will get my hard-working son to do some grunt work for me this weekend.  But really do knitters care what the  gardens look like? 

So, come visit the Relief Sale and stop by and see me.  Bring your knitting and relax in the shade on the front porch for a while.

Second – June 9th is World Wide Knit in Public Day.  http://wwkipday.com/?page_id=13  If you go to that site you will get info but here it is in a nutshell.  To show the world who we are, to spend time with other knitters and to just feel like part of something special; we are getting together on June 9th.  In New Hamburg we will be meeting at the little park by the fountain across from where my shop will be.  Bring your chairs, friends, family and most importantly your knitting.  I will be providing water and if all goes well the shop will be open and so you will have access to the washroom.  There are some lovely shops and restaurants in the area if you want to wander a bit. 

DRAWS!!!!  We will be having draws for lots of goodies and swag.  So tell your friends and if you’re coming give me a quick heads up with an email so we can be prepared.  Fun, Fun, Fun.

Last – I would like to thank all of you for being so encouraging through these long waiting days.  Your kind words and enthusiasm have helped like you wouldn’t believe.  I feel that I am truly blessed by the people in my life and can’t wait to share my dream with all of you.  Thank you,

I am so fortunate!  I have been blessed with 3 of the most amazing kids.  I gave birth to two and received the third when my daughter married him.  All 3 give me so much joy, just knowing them is a blessing, but having them as my kids is a gift from God.

I also have the 2 funnest Grand-kids in the world.  I am going to respect all their privacy and not go into a whole lot of detail but when you come in to my shop I will be more than pleased to bore you with details and pictures and stories of all of them.

Anyways, the picture at the top is of my daughter and son-in-law washing my car (in and out) for my Mother’s Day Gift.  They did an amazing job, all signs of the winter salt yuck is gone and it looks new again.  It really needed it but I hate doing it so really loved that they put their love into action.

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Last weekend my husband and son built me a deck on the back of the house for an early gift.  My son was on call at work for Mothers Day, so had to do it ahead of time.  This picture is from my deck, where I sit in the morning with my coffee and the dogs and watch the shenanigans of the squirrels.  It is such a tranquil spot that it just puts me in the right mood to face whatever the day is going to give me.

Which leads me to a funny little story about my squirrels.  I was out there one morning this week having my coffee and noticed that a patch of tulips in the back garden are blowing in the breeze.  Like really blowing and the funny thing is – none of the other plants are blowing.  Then a squirrel climbs to the top of the tallest red tulip and picks it.  Then he disappears and reappears a few yards away behind a little tree.  It’s almost as if he is standing there, hiding from me.  So I watch and he proceeds to pick the bright red petals off of the tulip.  I thought this was so funny that I called a friend (the dogs didn’t see the humour in it) and her comment was maybe he was lovelorn – she loves me, she loves me not…

Anyways, there is love all around, my kids and grand-kids and hubbie (I am truly blessed) but maybe not for the squirrel.

Can you see that?  It’s my sign!  I know that’s not a big thing but it’s mine and it’s on my shop.  I’ve lost track of the number of times that I drove around the block just so I could come upon this lovely sign.  Unfortunately, being the non-techie that I am I deleted instead of moving some of the other and better pictures. 

This sign was done by the lovely people at Treen Graphics (www.treengraphics.com) .  They were extremely helpful, cause I’ve never had to have a sign made before and had no idea what I needed or what could be done.  They didn’t laugh at any of my stupid questions and were amazingly quick and did a lovely job.  A much better job than this picture shows.

So I guess you’ll just going to have to come and drive around the block and check out my sign too.  And for those of you too far away to drive around the block (A in BC - is that you I see out there in the comments? How are you girl?) I will take more pictures tomorrow and try not to delete them.

Remind me to tell you about my lovelorn squirrel…

There is something happening this morning, NOT the permit before we all start jumping up and down, but something.  At this point I will take anything that is a forward step.  I will have pictures to share shortly.

Aren’t I a tease?

I’m tired of waiting, (but I am learning patience and faith) and decided that I will feel better if I start a new project or two… But the question is what?

I went with a friend to the Diamond open house yesterday.  Diamond is one of the big yarn distributors in Canada.  We were introduced to some of the new things for fall – you’re going to love some of this stuff!  And then we wandered through the warehouse and filled a big cart with more yarn to bring home.  Talk about a kid in a candy store!

We picked up a few colours they were out of before and books, lovely, sensuous, have to have books.  But do I do the Japanese inspired cardigan in the rope colour of Rowan Bamboo Tape or should I do one of the little summer cardis from the Laines Du Nord book in one of the scrumptious shades of Mulberry Silk?  Oh, the decisions…

And then there is a new project called Mirasol that is being put together by yarn companies all over the world. This is a really exciting plan and you will be seeing a lot about this in magazines in the near future.  If I understood them correctly one of the owners of Diamond is spearheading this project.  The idea is to build a school for the children of the shepherds of Peru.  Because they live in such remote areas the children don’t have regular access to schools.  So Mirasol is a fair trade plan.  The shepherds are paid a fair price for their yarns and as well a percentage of every purchase goes into the fund to build this school.  It sounds like a win-win to me.  Kids get to go to school, their parents are being paid a decent wage and we get some lovely yarns. 

Lovely doesn’t begin to describe the line called Sulka.  It is 60%Merino, 20%Alpaca and 20%Silk.  It is a loose spin similar to Lopi and the same gauge as Lopi but there the similarity ends.  It is so soft you just want to hold it and fondle it and I did (a fair bit ).  I forget now what the price is but that was amazing too!  They are also doing 100% Baby Llama that feels like the best Alpaca, as well as a 60%Pima Cotton 40%Merino DK.  AND then there is their 100% Hand Dyed Merino Wool. 

And if all that isn’t enough – Jane Ellison is doing a pattern book for them.  I saw some rough drafts of the book and can’t wait to see the real thing.

So now back to decisions, what should I start…because you know that when all else fails starting a new project is a good thing.

Do you remember when you were pregnant and you were past your due date?  With my first I was 3 weeks past when the “experts” said I was due, even though I knew different.  Every phone call would start with, “are you still pregnant?”  I started to dread those phone calls.

Well, thats how I feel, like I’m ready to pop any minute, just waiting for nature (in this case the township) to do it’s thing.  We’re still waiting for that little piece of paper that says we can go in and make a big mess and lots of noise to create a home for all this yarn that has taken up residence in my house.  There really are a lot of similarities to child-birth and opening a business!

I have all those pre-baby worries, will it be OK?, will I be able to handle it?, will others like it?, what was I thinking?….

But we’ve done all the work (well almost all), planned, organized our life, spent a pile of money to prepare the new home for the new addition and now we wait.

And so yes, it feels very much like I’m pregnant and WAY overdue, but like babies it will happen sooner or later.

It’s hard to tell but this picture shows HOURS of backbreaking work.  We lifted old bar carpet (that smelt like the cats were very fond of it) and then a layer of old linoleum tiles and then a layer of subfloor.  Under it all was the original flooring, we even found some square nails – so cool!  Our plan is to leave the old planks and just paint them.  I love the sound of old creaks and groans, it’s as if the building wants to tell me it’s stories.

The bare bones of this building are lovely, they’ve just gotten lost over the years.  Our plan is to give it back some of it’s character and charm.  I can’t wait to share this place with you all.