Thoughtful Customer..

I just had to tell you all that during our recent sale, one of our customers came in with blueberries that she had “just” picked at a local farm. She wanted to share some with us.
Her timing was just so perfect. We had been running all weekend and this was almost an out of body experience. Talk about stopping to smell the roses. Of course that aha didn’t actually occur until I was driving home later that day.
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She is just one example of how all of you touch each other somehow in this crazy world. In fact, I didn’t know most of you before I opened the shop and look where we are 3 years later.
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As another customer (and fellow Raveler) told me early into the shop, you will love ALL your customers; some when they come in and some when they leave. Truthfully, we only have had one or two (ok, well maybe three) that fall into the latter category.
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“You” are what makes coming to work each day so enjoyable. (and that’s the reason we don’t have a shopping cart on our web site) - thanks

Good News/Bad News

Ok, let's get the bad news over with quickly. Since summer is normally a slow time at a certain local yarn shop and given all the craziness with gas prices, well, recent sales have been slow. That makes it really hard for me to order a wide variety of new exciting products.

So the good news is a more "narrow" variety of exciting products have arrived this week.

~ Indie Dyer Hand dyed sock yarn; 80% superwash merino wool, 20% nylon. 450 yds $25/skein
~ Misti Alpaca Chunky - several new hand painted colors and favorite oldies\
~ Misti Alpaca Lace - eggplant (gorgeous)
~ NORO - Daria cord - several fun colors
~ Jojoland - Melody yarn for the Swirl, Travelling Leaves and Beartracks shawls http://www.jojoland.com/do/page/Select?TopIndex=1&curSubIndex=1&curPageIndex=2&startPageIndex=1&totalPages=6&pageIndex=3
~ Just One More Row patterns - multidirectional knitting designs http://www.justonemorerow.com/
~ Brittany - 14in Single Point needles
~ Moving Mud - hand blown closures (circles & sticks)
~ Crippenworks needle cases ("straights" holds up to 40 pairs, DP holds up to 14 pair and "circulars" holds up to 20 circular needles)

Coming Monday:
~ Berroco - fall books and yarn

We hope to see you soon, Laura (and staff)

Fall B&B Knitting Weekend

We recently announced the dates for the fall B&B Weekend (Nov 14-16th) and we already have half the rooms spoken for. It's a wonderful time away. Be social or not, knit or read, or walk (or just catch up on sleep?) The food is just perfect. Like Goldilocks would say, not too little, not too much, just....right! And delicious.

I guarantee you will make new friends. We have a couple new faces joining us and several repeat weekenders. (In fact, Myrna gave up a week long Mah Jong cruise just to be with us. This will be her 4th knitting weekend!)

So if you are thinking about joining us, please let me know soon so we can guarantee you a room and a most enjoyable weekend away from all the pressures of your daily routine.

Our home away from home is the Chesterfield Inn in Chesterfield, NH. It is just about 1 hour 10 minutes from the shop right up I91 to Brattleboro and turn right. The inn is just over the VT/NH border.

http://www.chesterfieldinn.com/

Koigu - Part 2 Has Arrived!

Need I say more? Eighteen more colors, including that taupey greens I used in the beaded shawl are now ready to find good homes.

Have a great knitting weekend....

Goodies for You - from the Sunday Trade Show

Today I attended the annual trade show for shop owners in Sturbridge, Ma. Not only do I get to preview the fall yarns, there are a few yarns that I can actually purchase. So, here goes....
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Schaefer Anne and Helene - replenished stock. Great colors as always from this fabulous hand dyer.
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Undulating Waves scarf with beads - uses the Helene noted above. GORGEOUS! If you search on this pattern in Ravelry I'm sure it has loads of attention.
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ArtYarns - Ultramerino4 - 100% merino wool (191 yds) - a great little sock yarn. I picked up 10 colors, just two skeins each. A pair of skeins makes a pair of socks so you have 10 chances (the 10 colors) to purchase this lovely yarn.
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J. Knits - Lace-A-Licious (100% ultrafine alpaca) and the Artemis Stole pattern. Oh, I am a sucker for this lace stole. One skeins makes the stole and I picked up several skeins.
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Manos Kids #1 booklet. Cute designs is sizes 1-8 years.
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Beadles knitting needles in sizes 8 and 9 have sterling silver and bead toppers. Very special - makes a nice gift!

I'll be looking through the literature from Classic Elite, Rowan, Berroco and Reynolds tonight to see what looks good for fall. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and I was interviewed by Purl-Man for a possible pod-cast. Keep your fingers crossed that he airs it.

Koigu has Arrived!

Twenty two delicious colors arrived today.
(about 22 more are due to arrive in a few weeks)


They are on the shelf and ready for you.

Patterns too! Socks, log cabin vest, several shawls and more.



(finally.....)

Ski Vacation

It came and went so quickly; do you remember the relentless rain we had 2 Saturdays ago? It stayed with us all the way to SugarBush valley in Vermont. We met our daughter and son-in-law and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Then the 50 mph winds started, blew open the B&B front door and we were welcomed Sunday morning with snow in the foyer and no electricity.

When it became apparent that no ski lifts would start up on Sunday (they were encased in several inches of ice), we opted to go sledding on the golf course that is adjacent to the B&B.

By the way, I recommend the Beaver Pond B&B to those of you that enjoy a small (4 bedrooms) and intimate setting. The living room and dining room are lovely and comfy; the breakfasts (and afternoon treats) are most enjoyable. There's even an outdoor hot tub (no, I won't show you those photos). http://www.beaverpondfarminn.com/

I took several knitting projects to work on in the afternoons (between ski time and dinner time) however, after a full day of skiing, and then slipping into the hot tub (heavenly) to loosen up muscles that hadn't been used..... I actually napped before dinner. Imagine! I couldn't even muster enough energy to knit a few rows. The only knitting I did was in the car up and back.

This is me and my son-in-law Matt. Can you see the ice on the trees? We skied down one trail where the branches were completely bent into the center of the trail; we had to push our arms through the iced branches (poor birch trees....) Another time, our chairlift was encased in ice. It was like sitting on an ice cube all the way up the mountain.

Here's a peek of the sun on Tuesday in the background.

It was great fun to see our children, relax and take a break. And if any of you are skiers, there is so much snow in the valley - heck! They'll be skiing in June.

Now, back to work.....Louet linen just arrived and needs stickers.