Where Hands Create.

Today is another beautiful day - the kind where you simply cannot help but smile!  I have been traveling a good bit - and the best thing to do when you travel is actually look at another person and smile.  The fun is that more often than not they are shocked, then eventually smile.  However, the best is when you smile just for yourself and it brightens your own day. 


Today the weather is awesome - sunshine all around and small early harbingers of Spring are visible here and there. How can you not smile when you see daffodils along a fence line?


Cats always make me smile - and mine really do ham it up a good bit.   Here is Laurel looking so royal as she perfectly sits on my Calorimetry headband....  Just prior she had been "meatloafed" on top of it - and you know she had a cat smile.


Then there is Noro!  Yesterday we were sewing together our Scarves to Throws from last year - and Peggy let us borrow her finished masterpiece to provide inspiration!  Doesn't Noro look great on Peggy's throw?!  Peggy, I know you are smiling!


Then how about some of our great customers/friends who have finished projects?!   This is truly one of the best things of being a knit shop owner - seeing happy customers who have great looking finished projects!  The projects are first for both ladies - a first felted bag and a first garment!


For me - I love to finish projects - especially when they are great looking.  During Ravelympics able to finish three projects - only two of which are suitable for sharing.  The other project (Jolly Green Giant Mobius) was so so unattractive that we opted to not share via photos, but Mom and I had a tremendous amount of laughter as it was cast off the needles.   Just think green, fuzzy, and ugly - and you will have the vision. 

The first project I finished was a Kumara scarf in gorgeous Thai purple; makes me feel a bit Austin Powers! 


My second project was also in purple - but this time light purple (Purple Poem) for a very summery scarf in Creamy (80% milk protein) yarn.  This is a great free pattern - Whipped - that can be downloaded from Ravelry.  Just needs 400 yards of fingering weight yarn.

Wow, it is already Thursday, and we are getting more wonderful rain!   After seeing the weather news in the Northeast - aren't we glad to have rain and 40 degree weather for our winters?!   This type of weather does make me want to just stay at home all warm and snug, with my cats and a basket of knitting - and perhaps an audio book playing...  Ahhhhhh....  Yes, I did slip home a bit early from work today to meet someone at the house, but maybe there will be a bit of time to add a few stitches to my Sundae coat (pictures this weekend).

Well, the rain is a harbinger of Spring and so is Michael, the UPS guy!  Spring is arriving daily at the shop with great new yarns and patterns perfect for our South Texas Spring and Summer.  Boy, we have been getting boxes of new stuff in - and as always, Mom has outdone herself finding some neat and inspiring items. 

Last week I lucky enough to be there on Monday to get a few boxes; it sure is fun to open a plain brown box and see gorgeous yarns inside.  This week, Mom and Dad have shared that more great yarns have arrived....  We just aren't sure where to put it yet - so it isn't out, but it will be soon!   We will definitely need to have a Spring Fling party when we sort it out....   To give you a few hints on what arrived this week- we have gotten in the new Berroco goodies (e.g., Weekend, Origami), Sprout and Firefly from Classic Elite, several neat new hand dyers (one of which is Sweet Georgia).  Mom has noted that they are awesome - I just cannot wait to see them Saturday.

As mentioned above - last week we did have several great shipments, which included the new Rowan springtime stuff - and here are a few pictures.  The yarns include five new colors of Rowan Summer Tweed, five new colors of Lenpur Linen, and their newest Purelife yarn!  The cover of the new Rowan magazine has the best looking vest in Lenpur LInen with beads....  I love beads!  In this vest they make the prettiest pattern along the edes.  You can see a bit of the picture it in the foreground of the picture below - it is purple... 

We also got some wonderful sock yarns from Fiberphile...  The colors are so rich and amazing - and the yarns are soft!  Mom jumped right into these and is making a new Wendy Johnson lace shawl....  Ohhhh....

I am ready to cast on a wonderful scarf, Whipped, out of Kollage's Creamy.  This scarf is a freebie from Ravelry - and is also great in sock yarns....  I haven't yet had a chance to try Creamy - it is 80% milk protein.  Let's talk soft...  Below is our "Creamy" Cake display...  Unfortunately the soft pastel colors don't pop - you just have to see them!

A lot of other great stuff happening too - not just great yarns coming in.  We are ready to send the "ta da" out about our first national teacher, Gwen Bortner.  I am excited - and hope everyone else is.  AND we are already looking to see if we can get Wendy Johnson to teach a sock class in summer.  Yea!    Plus - I have finalized the class schedules for the shop through April.  Didn't want to go further in case some of the new goodies will need to be classes....  Feedback is always appreciated related to classes/knitalongs.  Please send your thoughts and ideas on what you would like to gather to knit.... 

I don't know a better way to close than with my cats or my parents or my husband - all of which I love dearly.  So this week, I will again pick the cats.  They are super and so photogenic.   Yes, the love I have for my cats continues....and I think this must come through in the pictures that I get of them.  This past week, I got several great shots of Laurel.  This one is my favorite - and I love it as she even has Noro's cat  hair on her nose!

 

And not to be outdone with great headshots, Mr. Noro again got his photo taken.  He had to try on the new scarf/cowl that Mom made out of Mountain Colors Moguls - and here he is!  Look at those blue/blue eyes!

Enjoy this rainy Thursday - it is so beautiful!  I am off to clean up my yarn stash room a smidge - Mom said I had some yarn she was looking for.  I hope I return.....