Calling all knitters

The mother of one of my friends contacted me last weekend wanting to know if I would do a commissioned knit for her. Y'all know that I am WAAAY to busy right now for anything like that, but I thought one of you might be interested. She just got back from the Shetland Islands, and has some Shetland wool that she would like to have knitted into 2 pairs of men's gloves and a pair of ladies gloves. If any of you are game, my email address is on the left when you click "view complete profile". I'm sure she would pay you well.

Rowan Order & Needle Exchange

Feast your eyes on what showed up at my house this past Friday. This is our Rowan, Nashua, Bryson, and book order. I couldn't even get all of the boxes in the picture because they go around the corner! It took me from about noon until 9:30 pm to inventory it all. That is even with my sweet friend Jennifer coming over to help for several hours.

One of the things we are doing for the shop is knitting swatches of all of our yarn. I think it will give our customers a better idea of what things look like knit up. They can also sit down and knit a little with the ball that we used for the swatch. Looks like I had better get busy. This picture was taken after I had already sent at least twelve balls of yarn home with Sheryl and Jennifer.

My good friend Catherine is hosting a needle exchange. This is a fun, quick, and less expensive alternative to doing the Secret Pal. Just one package required. Who doesn't love to get stuff in the mail?

1. What do you like to knit or crochet? (socks, sweaters, etc.) I'm mainly a knitter, and have just picked up a little crochet. I enjoy knitting everything, except maybe afghans.
2. What fibers do you like? Natural
3. What type of needles do you use most often? Addis, Lantern Moons
4. Do you like to knit in the round? Yes
5. Do you use a magic loop method or any other we should know about? Are you interested in learning a new method? I'm interested in trying the Magic Loop method.
6. Do you have a favorite place that you shop online? (knitpicks.com, knitpixie.com, jimmybeanswool.com....)? I own my own yarn shop, so that would be traitorous!
7. Do you want to be surprised? Then erase all your answers above and write surprise me!!! A girl always loves surprises.

Oceane

My little knitting savant daughter was so excited that y'all liked her purse. She wanted me to tell you thank you.

Some of y'all who have been reading my humble blog for a while know that I love French Girl patterns. I re-discovered this pattern and yarn in my stash over the weekend and whipped it up in less than three days. I apologize for the sorry excuse for a picture. Here is a better one. I'm so excited to be able to carry the entire French Girl line. I think this will make a nice store display.

Pattern: Oceane by French Girl
Yarn: Rowan Linen Print #349
Needles: Susan Bates #19 staights
Comments: Gorgeous pattern, well written, and a quick knit. This would be a good first lace pattern. This pattern would be gorgeous in Kid Silk Haze using a double strand.

Big Day

We are receiving the keys to the shop today. I woke up at 2:30 this morning so excited that I couldn't go back to sleep. We have tons to do, and I'm ready to go!

My entire dining room is filled with yarn. It distracts me whenever I walk by because I just want to stop and pet it. The sad thing is, what is sitting in my house is only 1/10th of the total amount we will be getting in within the next few weeks. Beat still my heart.

My knitting savant daughter was so thrilled to get y'alls comments on her scarf. I had to read all of them to her, and then go to your blog to show her a picture of you. She wanted to put a face to the name, I suppose. She has been knitting up a storm. Here's the proof.

Pattern: purse of her own design
Yarn: strap- Brown Sheep worsted, bag - Dancing Yarns Alpaca worsted
What she learned: I-cord
Her comments:
Momma's comments: She didn't make ONE MISTAKE on the base of the purse. I was amazed. How 'bout a 5 year old doing I-cord? Makes a momma proud.