Yarn Lady Buzz

Everything in the store is at least 50% off

2009-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Wow!! Here we are, counting down the days and reducing the prices to 50% off the regular price. Today we made the difficult decision to not do mailorder any longer. Since we don't have that much to mail out, we have had to suspend the pick-up service and mailing something out now requires a trip to the mail center or post office. Being shorthanded already has made this difficult.

Thank you for the many letters of encouragement we have received. We're saying good-bye to our "baby" but we know that it will be in good hands and that Ginger and Steve and our staff and teachers will take it to new heights and exciting things will happen.

If you are anywhere in the vicinity, do drop in and check out what we have left. If you live too far away- our apologies. Please watch the newsletters and the website for news and reports and find out what's next.

Our son-in-law was here over the weekend and installed a new computer for us here at home. Now I need to figure out how to use it!!! :-)))

Annoucement from Dutch and Gaby

2009-04-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Easter is the most exciting news for Christians like ourselves! The cross is empty and Christ is risen!

We have more earthly exciting news at Yarn Lady. As you probably know, we have been looking for someone to adopt "our baby" and it seems that someone will. We are excited to know that what God has built over the last almost 20 years will go on and everything that is familiar and lots of new things will be there for you to enjoy. Our staff is excited that classes will continue and there will be a place for you to come and spend time with friends and fellow students. The new owners have lots of great ideas and enthusiasm to share with you when the transfer is complete. There is even a plan to move to a new location where the rent is cheaper so things can move on more smoothly.

To make things easier to transfer and move, we are having a sale of 25% off all yarn in stock. It is first come- first served, so be sure to shop while the selection is best!

I'll still be available through the month of May and after that, although no longer in the yarn business, you will be able to reach me personally via my blog at http://sayhitojesusforme.blogspot.com/

I hope you're as excited as we are! There is a bit of sadness as you can imagine. We have had a wonderful season and I will miss everyone a great deal! Perhaps down the road I will be able to sit at the table as a customer, go to Stitches as a student and just go down memory lane and count my blessings. Dutch and I love to remember how we started and how God built our business. We truly know that He wanted a yarn store and that He built it! It was a pleasure to be able to be His hands to do this. For the job, He brought us many wonderful and enthusiastic employees and countless loyal customers. We thank you all! May God richly bless you!

Memories

2009-03-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

I was looking through the reams of pictures we have. What memories they bring back! I'll keep adding to this, so come back if you're interested.

Merry Christmas from Dutch and Gaby

2008-12-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

Love Personified

We have been given many gifts this past year. God has graciously granted us another year with each other and although we have had many experiences with doctors and hospitals, Dutch is still with us. The economy is very bad for us as it might be for some of you. Our dreams of passing our store on to someone else don’t seem to be coming true and we must close the curtain on what was and is a great experience. The kids are happy in their new surroundings and although they, too have experienced some bumps in the road, we are all rejoicing because we know that we are in the Hands of God. When the storms rage in our lives, God seems to reach down and say: “Peace! Be still!”

As I sit here writing this letter, a storm is raging outside of our walls. The rain is pouring down and the wind is howling.
I thank God for the protection of the walls around me, knowing that many at this time do not have such protection.
I thank God for warmth, knowing that many are cold at this very moment.
I thank God for food, knowing that we have abused it and that so many multitudes are hungry.
I thank God for family and friends, knowing that many souls are lonely and without support.
But mostly, I thank God for Jesus, who truly is love personified. When God created everything, He also created us in the image of Himself. He didn’t create us as slaves, but with a free will so that we might choose to love Him. We all have fallen short of that goal and this sin now separates us from His love. But God didn’t stop there. To show His love to us again, He came to redeem us and bridge the gap between Himself and us. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) He took the punishment we deserve on Himself because the debt is more than anyone could pay.
And we have the choice to accept this, the greatest Christmas Gift……. or not.
May the Prince of Peace reign in your heart this Christmas!
With much love,
Duane and Gaby Monson
http://sayhitojesusforme.blogspot.com/

Luke:1- 46And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

Bag Sale

2008-11-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I have posted on this blog it seems. I have been so busy writing on my personal blog. Since I last wrote, we have elected a new government, are fretting over the economy, mourn with victims of natural disasters and more! During all of this one thing hasn't changed: God's love for us and His plan for our lives!

Since you are reading a YARN blog, you probably agree that working with fiber gives you many hours of relaxation and helps you forget the outside world. Wow!! That sounds pretty lofty!! The fact of the matter is that we are all fiber junkies! I've heard it said that we don't ever have to USE it all, as long as we collect it.

I do have a more serious story to tell.... A number of years ago, a year or two after the Laguna Beach fires, we had one of our first bag sales. Back then they were still a lot smaller and we had a much smaller selection. People were going through the yarn and making little piles for themselves of the things they were considering. One lady had a huge pile next to her, which made Dutch a bit uneasy because it seemed to him that she was just setting yarn aside that she would later throw back into the pile. He finally found a way to tactfully ask her if she intended to buy any of this yarn. Her response was that she planned on buying it all. She had lost her home in the fire and had come to a previous bag sale to try to replace some of what she had lost. Emotion overcame her and she left. This time she felt that she was ready to purchase fiber again. She did in great quantities and we pray that she enjoyed using it.

My heart goes out to those who have lost everything in this year's fires. I rejoice with them that no lives were lost and mourn with them for their losses of memories and material possessions.

I can count my blessings!

New Blog from Gaby

2008-09-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

As some of you probably know, Dutch and I have retired due to health reasons. We want to publicly say a great big THANK YOU to our wonderful staff, who are "keeping the home fires burning" as they say. Business is cyclical in any case and when the economy falls into the toilet to boot... well they have their hands full!

We also want to thank YOU, our loyal customers. We appreciate your continued patronage! We feel that Yarn Lady is and hopefully will be a place where you can come and fellowship with other knitters, crocheters and spinners. A place to gather and forget about the news of the day for even a little while. We thank you for spending your money with us, when things are uncertain and tight.

So many people are asking how Dutch is. I have decided to start another blog where I talk about those things. If you're interested, you can log on to http://sayhitojesusforme.blogspot.com/

God bless you all!

Knitting @ Angel Stadium

2008-09-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

The whole country has been exited about Stitch and Pitch events where a bunch of stitchers go to a baseball game together. This sounded like fun to us in Orange County but it seemed the Angels needed some convincing that there would be any interest. Some people including our own Cherie went to bat and made it happen! The event was a great success and we showed them!! The Angeles never thought we could drum up this much interest! Thank you to Lindy Garber for your help in making this a reality. 175 tickets were sold!!! Thanks also to Jasmine Matthews of the Angels for your help!

A great day was had by all and the Angels won in extra innings. Talk about getting your money's worth! Even the weather co-operated with clear sunshine. If you went, you got lots of excersise, climbing up to the seats and back down to get the goodie bags. By the way, Thank you also to our suppliers who donated lots of stuff for the goodie bags. Thank you also again to Cherie for getting them all stuffed and delivered!

If you were there, PLEASE e-mail the Angels and let them know how much fun it was! We want them to be on our side next year and make this event even greater!

What a difference knitting and crocheting can make

2008-09-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

I just looked at the date of my last post.... Yikes!! I had no idea it had been this long.

So many things have happened and are happening that time gets away from me. One of the many things that have inspired me this summer is Michelle Yung's blog 6° 18' N 10° 48' W
http://livinlavidaliberia.blogspot.com/

I challenge you to read the musings and reposts from this young woman who serves on a Mercy Ship in Liberia and uses her knitting talents to help others. There have been others who have crossed paths with me, who inspire me as well with the way they use their talents to brighten someone else's life. Email me, if you would please, if you use your talents in any way to help others. Do you knit or crochet for charity? Tell me about it. gaby@yarnlady.com

As Michelle put's it: And then again, it is not about knitting. Knitting is just an excuse to be able to sit with them, talk to them, encourage them and love them. It opens them up, stirs up excitement and builds a bridge between languages, continents, oceans and lands. It is a very simple way to tell them a very simple truth:You are valuable. You are unique and one of a kind. You have a purpose. You are no accident.You have a Creator who loves you very much.

Teddy Bear and other knitting patterns

2008-05-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

We have done this in the past and I know others have as well, including the Knitting Guild, who did a great project. But I'm thinking why not do it again.... Use your scrap yarns to make little Teddy Bear Sweaters. Get some inexpensive bears and dress them. I'm sure we can all find worthy recepients. In the past, we gave them to the local fire department or polcie department for them to give to children who have been tramatised in some way.

We have our Famous Bag Sale coming up where we sell certain yarns at 50% off the marked price. Because this yarn is in bags, I have decided (as my time permits) to make these little sweaters, so folks can see what the yarn knits up like. Now don't expect me to do this with EVERY yarn that we have. No way would that be possible! But some....
I ran accross one yarn that I really like. It's a very soft chained ribbon. You guessed it, because it is really a knitted tube, it will ravel when cut, just like any knitting would. I found a solution that I can share with you here. Perhaps you already do this..... I just take a small sweing needle and thread the loose end into the needle and the try to go through as many of the loose stitches as I can and secure them. Voila! No moe unravelling! Of course now you have to weave in the entire end and you can't cut it or you'll start all over again. A little extra work, but worth it to use this yarn!

See you at the bag sale!
For details, check out our newest newsletter at www.yarnlady.com

You'll also find links to free patterns in the newsletter.

Free Patterns

2008-05-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for our semi-annual Bag Sale, so I thought you may want some patterns.

If you e-mail me at gaby@yarnlady.com I can put you on the list for the free patterns each week.

Last week we offered a purse made from Prism "STUFF", and before that it was a shopping bag I call the "Netz". This week I am offering a surprise pattern. It's my 3 yarn tank top. I hope that this will help you use up some of your stash yarns. Of course I'm always hoping that you will have to buy more yarn and will buy them from us. Call us toll-free at 1 888 770 7809 to order and go to our website at http://www.yarnlady.com/ to see the free patterns for the week.

Have fun!!

FREE pattern

2008-04-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

So I decided the other day in honor of Earth Day to come up with an "idea" of sorts. Then I remembered that when I was growing up in Germany we used a thing called a "Netz" to carry groceries in. I looked it up online to see if they still existed, and sure enough they do.....

Of course I wanted mine to be knitted and use lots of yarn since I am in the yarn selling business. There is so much talk about being eco- friendly and I wanted it to be just that. Of course there is also much talk about how much energy being eco- friendly might use in some cases. So I used a yarn that we and many of our customers have lots of: Eros by Plymouth. The result was my version of a Netz. We had lots and lots of inquiries for the pattern, so I expect to see a finished version of it in a grocery store near you soon! If you are making one, please send me a picture of it at gaby@yarnlady.com and I'll share it here.

You know how one design often inspires another? Well when I looked at this bag, I turned it just a bit and mentally took off a portion of it and there it was: a tank top!! (If this was going to be a tanktop, I would do more solid rows on top so the line wouldn't come you-know-where...) I couldn't wait to get to work on it, only this time I did use an eco -friendly yarn. I used 3 hanks of Pakucho by Trendsetter. Because of the amount of stitches that I used, it became a very SMALL tank top or a beautiful dress for a little girl. All it needs now is a ribbon and a small flower and it would be darling on a little girl.

If you would like the pattern, please write to me and I will e-mail it to you free. Please give me credit if you use it and pass it on. Enjoy!

Another opportunity to help

2008-04-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, As some of you know, I, and 17 other knitters in the area, have been busy this past year knitting and putting together an afghan - in a small effort to help bring about peace in the world through an organization called Central Asia Institute, founded by Greg Mortenson. Several years ago Greg Mortenson visited Hood River to talk about his work building schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to promote his bestseller "Three Cups of Tea" which chronicles his work. It is an amazing story of how one person can make a tremendous difference in the world, in this case by building schools, primarily for girls, in a fundamental Moslem part of the world, where only boys are traditionally educated, and then mostly in fundamentalist-based schools run by the Taliban. Greg and his organization CAI have completed over 60 schools to date! Greg's visit left a lasting imprint on many in the Gorge community. A silent auction was organized and held last May, and the money collected then, and in the months following, has reached a total of more than $30,000. An entire school can be built in Pakistan and Afghanistan by Mortenson's organization for about $34,000, so we are very close to having raised enough money for the gift of a school from this area. The afghan consists of 20 blocks of complex knitting - mostly cables, or what is referred to as aran knitting - and it is done up in a beautiful, offwhite wool. The dimensions are roughly 4' x 5'. See attachment with photo. I'm hoping you will get inspired to contribute to this wonderful cause, and wish to purchase raffle tickets with the chance of winning a gorgeous piece of handiwork. Each ticket is $5, and I will personally fill out a raffle stub and put it in the "tub" for each $5 you send me to 2556 East side Road, Hood River, OR 97031. Please make checks out to CAI (it is a tax-deductible donation), and mark your telephone number so I can call you if you are the lucky winner!! In Peace, Marie Louise

More places to get involved

2008-04-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you have a whole list of places that could use your contributions of knitted and crocheted items. Someone just pointed out this one to me. It looks like a very worthy cause to me, so get your needles cooking and use up that stash!
http://www.warmwoolies.org/

Click here for a video about this.
http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=4D81321608A5B1944FD3674AE36589FC?contentId=2344135&version=4&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Thanks for helping!

Glimpses of a day at Yarn Lady

2008-04-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Getting Involved

2008-04-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

We have had such great responses from our customers when we asked you to get involved and help a specific cause. You support Stitches From The Heart and you have knit so many little sweaters that we hung them from our walls and they circled the store, then you knitted pink scarves for cancer and there are so many other things that you have opened your hearts for.

Here is another organization that would welcome your contributions, so I thought I would highlight Afghans for Afghans. You probably already heard of them, but perhaps today is the day you want to learn more.

http://www.afghansforafghans.org/

This grassroots effort is inspired by Red Cross volunteers who made afghans, socks, slippers, and other items for soldiers and refugees during World Wars I and II and other times of crisis and need. Read about the Red Cross knitting tradition.
Afghans for Afghans is a humanitarian and educational people-to-people project that sends hand-knit and crocheted blankets and sweaters, vests, hats, mittens, and socks to the beleaguered people of Afghanistan.

Eco friendly yarns- what to choose

2008-04-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

By now, I'm sure that you, too have at least thought about switching some of your knitting to eco-friendly yarns. We are all more conscious of what goes in and on our bodies and of course what it takes in terms of materials and energy used to produce these items.

Laura Bryant, owner of Prism Yarns, suggested recently on the Knit-U list that we could Google different fibers to find out exactly what they are about and can make better decisions for ourselves. I thought I would do that for you and give you some links here. Prism Yarn carries a Tencel Tape and Laura has shared with us some thoughts, pictures and pattern samples. You can see them here: http://www.yarnlady.com/prism/from%20laura/tencel%20puff%20piecepublic.pdf

Regarding bamboo: http://www.swicofil.com/bambrotexenduses.html

Regarding tencel: http://www.lenzing.com/fibers/en/textiles/4180.jsp;jsessionid=91806AF27437BC9B4FEA8346134E5B36?rdc=1

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Lyocell.html

Well, I can already see that this could take some time, so perhaps you had better look for yourself, if this interests you.

Fashion Colors

2008-04-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably already know this, but I just remembered that you can got to
http://pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE%20Fashion%20Color%20Report%20Spring%2008.pdf

to find out about the latest fashion colors and anything related to that.

At Yarn Lady, we are of course very interested in what colors you will be looking for when you come in to buy that yarn to make your newest garment. Actually, our suppliers have made most of those choices for us, often a year or more in advance, since they have to place their orders early. Where we come in, is selecting from the colors that our suppliers offer to us. While we can't stock each and every color, we have always tried to carry most of the colors that are offered to us to give our customer the largest selection possible. Just because I like one color over another, doesn't mean that you will.

Proud people in Jan's class

2008-03-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's always so much fun to see what others have been knitting and crocheting! Here is what some of the students in Jan's class have been doing. We'd love to see your completed projects. Go to the store and have them photographed so we can share them here.

Linda in her new sweater,

Kathy with her baby hat with a crocheted flower,

Sue in her new sock

and

Mary Lou in her new hat.

Yeah ladies!

Look at what Donna knitted!

2008-03-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

It's always so much fun to see what people have knitted and see the completed projects. It's especially fun if they are presented in such a beautiful way.

Thanks, Donna for sharing this with us!

Niqua and Gaby drive to Kansas City

2008-03-24T15:05:00.001-07:00

So we returned from Stitches on Monday evening and late Tuesday night Dutch suggested that I drive back to Kansas City with Niqua so she could get her car back there. A quick conference with her husband and a quick oil change on the car and we were off to Kansas even before noon on Wednesday!! No planning or anything, just: Let's GO!! We were already over an hour into our trip when we started remembering all the things we COULD have taken with us, like all the houseplants she left behind when they moved right after Christmas. But we decided to keep on driving and not turn back. Of course as we went we kept thinking of more and more things that we SHOULD have packed.

We had a wonderful trip. The car worked great, the weather was beautiful, we enjoyed each others company and even our hotels. On Friday it became clear that we just MIGHT make it in time to pick Caitlyn up from school. She knew we were coming, but she had NO idea that we would be there to pick her up from school. Niqua kept texting her husband, telling him where we were and when she saw the first KANSAS CITY sign, she knew that she was almost home!

As it turned out, we made it with FIVE minutes to spare to surprise Caitlyn and pick her up from school! She was soo excited to see us!

From there we went right to their house, and I got to see first hand where they live and Niqua showed me through the house. Within the hour I was really sick and was bleeding and wound up in the hospital that night!

This probably wasn't the way I envisioned my first night in Kansas City! In retrospect, I am thankful that things worked out the way they did. I could have been sick on the trip but I wasn't. Niqua was there to help me drink this HUGE container of fluid in preparation for the colonoscopy that was scheduled and I got some much needed rest.

Again, I probably would NOT have planned it this way, but then who am I to plan things anyway :-))) I am so very thankful that God was in control and worked everything out for good in the end. I have since been told that what I had was FOOD poisoning. Go figure!

After a "wonderful" weekend in the hospital, I got to immerse myself in Niqua's family and learn to love their new home as much they they do. I was so worried about leaving Dutch at home alone. With his medical issues, I have not felt that he should be alone, just in case..... Perhaps you can imagine how blessed I was to have people from our church bring him meals, take him out to dinner, check up on him, call and remind him to take medication and most of all, keep him in their prayers. It taught me a great lesson and relieved from the burden of being a "caregiver" and realizing, that after all, God is our caregiver.

Niqua took with her a number of my sample sweaters and we decided to list them on Etsy. So we spent days photographing and writing descriptions and listing. At one point there was a brief snow storm outside and I thought how cool it would be if we photographed summer sweaters in a snowstorm. Well, you had to have been there.

If you are interested in any of these garments, please check them out at
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5515002

Yarn Lady at Stitches

2008-03-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted and I thought you might want to know what's been happening. The first thing I would love to tell you about is our trip to Stitches in Santa Clara.

We almost didn't go because I was so tired and couldn't see myself doing all that work. After prayer and a lot of: "You can do it!!" talks to myself, we decided to go ahead with our plans. This meant that Niqua would be flying back from Kansas City to help with the preparations and with the show.. (YEAH!! I miss her so much and this was a great excuse to see her).

We packed and sorted and planned, wrote lists and checked them twice. Our trailer is 20' long and you can see from the picture that every inch of it was packed! When the guys at the convention center helped us unload they asked: "WHO packed this thing??" My answer to Dutch's "Do we REALLY need to bring all this?" has always been, we can't sell it if we don't bring it!

We knew going in that we would be short handed, but the "we can do it!" sentiment prevailed. At the last minute we also had an offer of help from Rikki (THANKS Rikki) who covered lunches and bathroom breaks for us during the show. Dutch felt well enough that he was ready and willing and excited to do his "thing" by sitting next to the "playpen", talking to people and encouraging them to dive right in and sample the yarn. He so enjoyed all the attention and love shown to him. Thank you for that! He was OK for most of the day and then in late afternoon, Niqua would take him back to the hotel.

Of course we are known for our bag sale at our store as well as at Stitches, but we always bring other items as well. So the question always is, how to fill the booth with wonderful yarns and still have room to maneuver? I think we did a good job with our display and hope that you enjoyed the huge variety of Prism yarns we had with us.

It's always a LOT of work, but also a lot of fun! So many people, so much yarn, so many ideas, so much color!

We thank you so much for your patronage and look forward to seeing you at the next show!

We're SPINNING!!

2008-02-13T23:03:00.001-08:00

Well that sounds great if you're reading this in English. If you change the spelling just lightly and pronounce it in German it might mean something a little different....

In any case, we're excited that a group is meeting on Tuesday nights at our store to practice spinning. You should see the beautiful sweater Karen knit from yarn that she spun herself.

There is something so soothing about watching the rythmic motion of a spinner and it conjures up images of straw being spun to gold.

We did a show in Burbank once and another vendor (sorry I forgot her name) insisted that Dutch had to learn to spin. She wouldn't take no for an answer and dragged him into her booth where she promptly made him sit and attempt to learn. Now this is a guy who has told me for over 18 years that it is NOT his job to learn to knit, so I'm sorry to say his spinning was very short lived.

What did happen was that I wound up with a spinning wheel (my dream) in exchange for some yarn. Unfortunaly the other part of my dream did not come true: A house on the cliffs overlooking the ocean under the tall pines at Big Sur. We all have our dreams and that is mine......

Look what Sam did!

2008-02-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

So you thought knitting and crocheting was just for little old ladies?
OK, so I know that those days are gone..... But we want you to meet our Sam who at age 13 has taken up knitting and crocheting with a vengance and turns out one cool project after another.

Sam has been known to be a little "late" for school so he can attend knitting and crocheting class. He gets inspiration from everything he sees and turns it into his own special project. As you can see from the pictures, Sam just made his first hat with cables. Color us all proud of him!

Everyone at the store has adopted Sam as their own and Sam keeps asking when he can get a job at Yarn Lady. (Actually, I can't wait.)
We're proud of you, Sam! I can't wait for you to start designing! I'm going to teach you to use design programs on the computer and then we'll watch you go to town!

Stacy Charles at Yarn Lady

2008-01-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

A few days ago we had the pleasure of welcoming Stacy Charles of Tahki Stacy Charles to Yarn Lady. It only took us 18 years to get him to come! But we were so glad he did. Cherie and Nancy got their picture taken with him. I was taking the pictures so I didn't get mine taken. Boo hiss!!

Anyway, Stacy came to experience his first Yarn Tasting at Yarn Lady. He brought with him first of all his assistant, Elizabeth as well as a lot of yarn which our enthusiastic customers got to "taste" and knit with. Elizabeth brought a laptop and film of fabulous fashion which she was going to show to the trade a couple of days later. WE got to see it first!!

They also brought sample garments so we could all see first hand what others can only see in the patterns.

We just love having these events! We used to charge $5.00 a head for them (I know, I know that's not much- but we really want lots of people to come) and then we even dropped the $5.00 charge! The disadvantage to that is that we now don't know how many people are coming! So as the door kept opening and more people arrived, we kept adding more tables and chairs and I even ran home for more chairs. Well, I also had to take Dutch home. Cherie and I decided to treat folks to just a little snack before hand. Either people didn't like the food (what's not to like?) or they didn't want to give up their chair!!! I'm sure it was the later. So if you missed it, I hope you watch our calendars for our next event!

My "little girl" moved to Kansas

2008-01-14T15:47:00.000-08:00

My little girl and her family packed their bags and moved to Kansas City. You don't want to hear how I feel about this (well, yeah, I know that God is leading them there... I just don't like it...) so I thought I would share with you excerpts from a letter that Stef, her husband wrote to all their friends.

We hit the road the day after Christmas. The movers got done loading the truck at about 5pm, we watched it head out, went to dinner, then loaded up the Jeep and the Camry with Neek, Caitlyn, my mom, me, 2 yelping cats in cat carriers and luggage stuffed with a week's worth of clothes. We started east at around 7pm. We stopped at a Starbucks in Victorville to hang with Joe and Becky while they were at Beck's folks, then headed to Laughlin, Nevada for our first stop. Finally stayed at the Riverside. Just as glamorous as it looks, alright...

The next day was a relatively short drive to a place that none of us had ever been, the Grand Canyon. We got in late, after dark, and it was cold. So cold, in fact, that the drinks we had left in the cars froze overnight. It was then I decided to replace the shorts I packed with jeans. We hung out and saw the Grand Canyon on Friday, which was breathtaking, much more than I expected. And cold. A harbinger of things to come, indeed.

We then headed out to get to Santa Rosa, NM by the end of the night, where it was cold.Santa Rosa is a hole. Never go there. That picture isn’t it, that’s Flagstaff. Shoulda stayed there...On our way out of Santa Rosa, we found this cool, little dinosaur museum on the New Mexico/Texas border. Caitlyn was itchin' to see it, as she's been enthralled with this creation museum CD series the Meyer's gave her, called Jonathan Park, that takes place at a dinosaur graveyard somewhere in New Mexico, so she was in heaven. It was pretty cool, I have to admit. The town's claim to fame is the museum and the birthplace of Brian Urlacher.

Life on Interstate 40...We got into Pratt, Kansas that night, a small town just south of Wichita. It was, um, cold. And next to a McDonalds, our 4th such meal this trip. Why can't they put a Sizzler on every podunk corner rather than a McDonalds?Sunday was a big day. We got into Kansas City about noon, and were able to show Caitlyn and my mom the house for the first time.

Caitlyn just wanted to have a snowball fight in the backyard. My mom wanted curtains. Neek wanted to get rid of the cats. I wanted BBQ. The cats wanted to stop moving. We wouldn't get our wish for a day or two, though, as we found out from our truck driver that he couldn't get help to unload the truck on Monday, and Tuesday was New Year's day, so we wouldn't get our stuff until Wednesday, which meant 3 more nights in a hotel.We spent the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve at the movie theater in Country Club Plaza watching National Treasure 2 with Caitlyn. I'm pretty sure Neek, my mom and I were all asleep when the clock struck 12. Happy New Year.

The next two days consisted of hanging curtains and ordering services online while enjoying the chicken noodle soup and free internet at Panera.

Wednesday was the big day, and we were greeted with 16 degrees with a wind chill bringing the temperature to around 4. Yes, 4. And it felt every bit of 4. I think. The coldest I've ever been was when I fell asleep in front of the open Ben N' Jerry's freezer door at Albertsons. Until Wednesday. Neek and I took turns standing out at the truck directing the movers to which room the box should go. By 3, we had everything in the house and in the garage. In boxes, but in the house. Now, the sorting begins. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all kind of a blur at this point. Unpacking boxes, trips to the hardware store and phone calls to cable companies and telephone conglomerates.

The stacks of boxes are slowly dissolving, services are slowly turning on and tomorrow, Caitlyn starts at her new school and I start at my new agency. We're both in for some adjustments, she is going from a 3rd/4th grade combo class of 6 to four separate 4th grade classes of 20 or more each. Her new teacher is MR. Kort. That’ll be a change, too. I'm going from working on national music accounts to working on local retail accounts. Everything should be slowing down, which is exactly what we want.We tried out a new church today. It wasn't that great. I have a feeling we'll find it hard to find what we had, but we'll keep looking. The pastor at the church we were at today went a little long, the choir was small but talented, the congregation skewed older and the announcements were boring. Oh, wait... We DID find what we had! We'll keep looking... They didn't have Awana anyway.

We also got to see the new Sprint Center in downtown KC today, as my promise to Caitlyn at the outset of this trip was that we would see the Harlem Globetrotters when we arrived, which we did today. Very cool arena. They need a pro basketball team, we'll even take the Clippers. OK, we need a PRO team...We've been exploring the area since we got here, and we've been shocked with how much shopping, restaurants and theaters are around us. It really reminds us of Aliso Viejo, kind of a new feel, even though the neighborhoods are 30 years old. The house is incredible, it's so us, tons of character, great colors on the walls, just a great vibe. And it's right on a golf course: We even got to see people playing the course today, as yesterday the temps got up to 65 and will continue through tomorrow. Just like home. Until it dips back into the 40s the remainder of the week. All the snow melted and we got a taste of what our third-of-an-acre backyard really looks like. I'm going to have to get a lawn mower, me thinks. Or I could just cement it all over right now and get it over with...Thanks for all the support everyone has given us. It'll take some adjusting but we really feel like it's worth it. We've found things are less expensive out here, from the restaurants (average about $10) to the groceries (99 cents for eggs, $1.99 for a gallon of milk) to the gas ($2.65 down the street), which is really nice. The weather is... different... but we're excited to trade the weather for the quality of life we're hoping to find. Now, if I could only find a store that sells 3XL parkas...We have new contact info, some we've shared, some is brand new as of this week, so here you go.

Can you please help?

2007-11-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

Each holiday season a group of Scantron employee's provide singing and entertainment to some of our communities senior "shut-ins". This year as part of our outreach festivities, we are hoping to provide knitted scarves to about 130 men and women. Since this is a voluntary outreach program our funds are limited. We will be able to contribute about $3.00 per scarf. Our holiday event is schedules for December 13th, so our deadline would be December 12th. Is there a possibility there might be a group of knitters willing to help us bring happiness and warmth to our needy inpatients? A timely response will be greatly appreciated. Best Regards, Susan Swanson
Susan L. SwansonFront Desk AdministratorScantron Corporation34 ParkerIrvine, CA 92618-1604[ P ] 949.639.7649www.scantron.com

Our trip home from Stitches

2007-11-18T20:32:00.001-08:00

It's been a few weeks since we got back from Stitches in Baltimore. As you know, Dutch and I drove the 3000+ miles pulling our trailer. The trip this year went well, no vehicles stolen like last year. We decided to visit Dollywood in Tennessee and spend a couple of days there. We continued on without any problems until we hit Arizona. Then the problem wasn't ours, but as has been well documented, our part of California was on fire.

Because we were pulling a trailer and there were such high winds, the roads home were closed and we had to spend an extra 3 days in Arizona. I had to resign myself to not feeling guilty while laying by the pool and relaxing. This, of course, is the short version. There are many details to the long version, but suffice it to say that I was quite aware and very thankful that God inserted a few days of being still into my schedule.

Although the media coverage has stopped, we should still be praying for those who have lost everything to the fires.

Elaine

2007-11-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

It's been over a month since I last wrote. So much to do so little time.

You may remember our friend Elaine who was always at Stitches with us and besides seeing her at various times in the store, you for sure saw her at our bag sales. Elaine had a stroke earlier this year and it has been a long haul for her to first regain conciousness and then improve from there.

Dutch and I just returned from visiting her and we are so happy to report that she looked real good! She is able to eat applesauce and can manouver the bed controls. Her memory is better than mine! She can't talk and still has a trich, but it was great to see her looking so good! Her family said that she will probably be able to go home this week for Thanksgiving for a couple of hours. This will be her first outing since her stroke other than ambulance rides to the emergency hospital for one reason or other.

Go Elaine!

Lots of special events at Yarn lady

2007-10-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

We frequently host special events at our store. Our aim is to provise a fun place where you and your friends can come and learn all about knitting and crocheting, get inspired and have lots of fun!

I've put together some pages where you can see what's going on. Please check our events calendar so you can sign up for any future events.

http://yarnlady.com/newsletter/eventscalendarpastnew.htm

http://yarnlady.com/newsletter/eventscalendar.htm

Check out this wonderful baby blanket

2007-09-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Amy sent us this message:

This is my Nephew, Liam James Keays. He’s 3 weeks old today! Here he is wrapped in the ABC blanket I knitted

Didn't she do a wonderful job with her forst project? The baby's not half bad either. I wonder f she knows that we trade yarn for babies :-)))

Thanks for sharing with us Amy!

HOLDING HANDS Charity Event at Yarn Lady

2007-09-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we asked you to use some of your left-over yarns and some of your time to make 5-hour baby sweaters to be given to charity. We called the event "Holding Hands". To us it signified that as we help each other, we indeed are holding hands! We have displayed these sweaters all along the perimiter of our store so the little sweaters were holding hands. We took your names as you donated the sweaters and entered them into a drawing for a $100 Gift Certificate to Yarn Lady. The winner was announced yesterday and can be found in our latest Newsletter. http://www.yarnlady.com/newsletter/2007/september/september2.html

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it has been to see your creativity and generosity! These gifts will be distributed by Stitches From The Heart.

Way to go everyone!! Thanks so much for your participation!

Another fun day at Yarn Lady!

2007-09-19T17:07:00.001-07:00

Lots of workshops coming up at Yarn Lady

2007-09-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well they did it! Got me to commit to teaching some workshops. Actually, I'm so excited! If you've been at the store lately when I was there, you probably saw me working on a great purse! You will have to see it! I know you will want to make one as well.

If you've been there when our Janet was there, you may have seen her adorable snowman. She is teaching a workshop on that as well. There is also a workshop by her which deals all in projects for Christmas. Please check it out.
I promise that I'll take pictures, so please check back.

2007-09-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

I was just reading in a trade magazine about some ladies who visited a yarn shop in Brussels and they were talking about how scarves are THE hot thing over there now and the article showed a picture of the shop owner wearing a scarf made out of yarn tape. This is exciting news, since fashion often begins in Europe and then makes its way to us. This time though, it seems like it's the other way around. We have made scarves and worn them and given them and sold them and we made them out of that very same yarn tape! I'm just thinking: could it be that we packed up our scarves too soon? Could it be that since winter will follow summer and fall, could it be that the scarves will be back this winter? I mean, it's going to get colder than the triple digit heat we have been experiencing. I'm working on a mitered square afghan right now--- or could it be that I'm working on a scarf??

So now you are wondering why I am showing pictures of buildings and a smiling lady and a yarn store. Well, there is a story to go with that, so read on! I thought if a trip to a yarn store in Brussels would warrant an article in a trade magazine, I should tell you about OUR experience last summer/fall. My husband claims to be Norwegian but he had never been in Norway. I always teased him because I am German and I was born and raised there. So I have a legitimate claim to the nationality. He on the other hand, had never set foot in Norway. Well last fall we set out to fix that and we went to Norway, accompanied by his cousin and some ideas of where we could find ancestors or at least find out where they lived. We rented a car and drove 500 miles around southern Norway, map in hand and knocking on doors when we thought we were close. Others in Dutch's family had made the trip and found some places and we had some of that information with us.

At one point we had stopped at a gas station and they had a restaurant and since we were hungry, we stopped for a bite. On my way back out to the car I saw this building a bit up the hill. From a distance I could make out the word "garn" amongst others on the building. Well I don't speak Norwegian, but in German, Garn mean YARN!! So you know I had to investigate.

I went in and was greeted by this very friendly lady. Of course I was "forced" to buy some things and I asked her if I could take pictures of her store. Hers was a combination yarn and gift and souvenir store and she did have a table where one could sit and knit. (None of the stores in Germany that I visited had that).

Anyway, after a pleasant chat, we got back on the road to continue our quest to find where Dutch's great grandmother had lived. Or was it his great grandfather??? I never could get that straight.... After knocking on some more doors and talking to some more people, we were led up a steep driveway to another house. (I was driving an unfamiliar stick shift while they were walking in front of me- I didn't kill the engine too many times...) Anyway, we get to the house on top of the hill and knock on that door and who should open the door of THE RIGHT HOUSE but the smiling face from the yarn store!! How is that for guidance and not knowing that you have arrived. If we had told her at the store why we were in the area and what we were looking for, our search could have ended right there!
So we got to chat again with Inger Olsnes, owner of Vinjebue in Vinje, Norway. How cool was that?

I have other stories about other yarn stores we visited. Let me know if you want to hear them and I'll share them....

Yeah!! I crocheted this blanket!

2007-08-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

That's what Danny is saying to her crochet teacher, Jan. What a great feeling it is to have actually completed something that you crocheted with your own hands.
Great job, Danny! Thanks for sharing.

Knitted purses are HOT!

2007-08-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Everyone is making knitted purses- felted and unfelted.
Here is what Janet has knitted! Check out those leather handles to top off her wonderful work!

Yarn Lady gives $100,- Gift Certificate at County Fair

2007-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

And the winner of a hundred dollar Yarn Lady gift certificate...from the L.A. County Fair in Pomona is:

MARY GARING of Ontario, CA
Mary won first prize and sweepstakes in the professional category. She is a knitting instructor and designer.

Congratulations, Mary! Great job!

Look what our customers have knitted

2007-08-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

We often wish that everyone could see what our customers have knitted and the talent they represent! Here is a sampling of Michelle's accomplishments. Who said that baby sweaters couldn't be made in a new way??

Great job, Michelle!

Pictures of kids wearing scarves YOU knitted

2007-08-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Even more pictures from Camp Summersault

2007-08-20T13:26:00.001-07:00

More pictures of knitted scarves for campers at Camp Summersault

2007-08-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

More pictures from Camp Summersault

2007-08-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your donated knitted scarves

2007-08-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we asked for your support for Karen's Kids at Camp Summersault. You came through and knitted lots of beautiful scarves! Thank you ever so much!

Karen sent us pictures of some of the kids proudly wearing their scarves as well as their beaded necklaces wich karen also helps them make.

See?? We can make a difference in someone's life! Keep on knitting! The following is what Karen wrote to us:

Hello from Camp Summersault with many thanks from all of us!!

Just a note with pictures to show you the joy that you have brought by your generous donations of beads, hand knitted scarves and love and support. This years theme, "Polar Adventure" was a huge success. The children love their beautiful scarves and had so much fun choosing their very favorite. And again, this year our beading class really had all of the campers creative juices flowing. They made necklaces, bracelets and keychains for themselves and to give as gifts to friends and family.

Again, thanks to all of you for your time and effort. It is appreciated from the bottom of my heart. If any of you are interested, I accept bead donations throughout the year and if anyone would like to continue sending scarves I am Chairperson of the Long Beach Cancer League Adopt-A-Family program and would be happy to include beautiful scarves as gifts for the families that we help at Christmas. This is for families in need who have children in Miller's Children's Hospital. We provide gifts for the child who is the patient and their siblings and parents also. Thank you so much in advance.

Karen Braverman-Freeman
4907 E. Colorado St.
Long Beach, CA 90814

Many hugs!

Karen

Seeing YARN billboards

2007-08-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

So here we are, a couple of days down the road, I think. I've seen so much pavement I foget which day it is.
I've wanted to tell you about our trip through the rocky mountains. Dutch decided to take the shortest route through Denver, but that meant that we had to climb to over 11ooo feet! Pulling a big trailer! There were a couple of times when I had to shift into FIRST gear and I almost felt like we were going to go backwards. Mind you the scenery was breathtaking. We even hit a bit of rain and saw a beautiful rainbow. Dutch and I both agree though that this is a route best taken withOUT a trailer! Although I try to not use my brakes, and we do have electric brakes on the trailer, when I got off the last offramp just before Denver where we were spending the night, the brakes went "soft" and I barely came to a stop behind the other car. But all is well and we're praising God.

So about the Yarn billboards: I have always teased that our name should be on billboards everywhere. If you know about Wall Drug, you know what I mean. But yesterday and today we saw several billboards along the road advertising yarn stores. How cool is that!! We have miles to cover though, so we didn't stop. Should have taken down their names but I didn't.

We're got two more days on the road before checking into our hotel in Chicago. Niqua and Jan and Jenny will be flying in to meet up with us there. If you're anywhere within flying or driving distance of STITCHES Mid-West in Chicago ( www.knittinguniverse.com ) you owe it to yourself to come to Stitches and check out our fantastic sale. Does BELOW wholesale mean anything to you??
See you there!
God bless you!
Gaby

On the Road Again to Stitches Knitting Convention

2007-08-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read correctly! Even after everything that happened last year, here we are- on the road again! It seems like we have been packing yarn for weeks now, and we finally did it! Filled the trailer and the van to the brim with YARN!! and other fun stuff too! Niqua and Cherie amd Jan and Jenny have been working hard getting models and sample sweaters ready and I have been working getting bag sale yarn ready. Clayle got it all packed and off we are.

So day one we got up at 3 AM and were out the door by 4 AM to beat the traffic and the heat. Dutch was concerned about the tires because of the heat and the weight we carry. We drove for 10 1/2 hours and here we are in Utah. Blinding rain for a while but today looks absolutely beautiful! Even the rain was fun (we soooo would love rain at home) but when I couldn't see in front of the windshield, well.....

So now we're having breakfast and trusting God for another beautiful day of travelling and safety along the road. I think we're staying in Colorado tonight. We'll see.
Talk to you soon!

Gaby
who is still working on sample sweaters at night.

Look how generous you have been with your knitting talent

2007-07-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

A while back we asked everyone to contribute little hand knitted sweaters to be given to charity. While we are collecting them, they get to adorn our store. I just thought you would like to see what YOU have done!

THANKS so much!!

New knitted tank top from Gaby

2007-07-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

We are leaving for Stitches in a week and I still have all sorts of things on the needles, waiting to be finished and ends woven in and patterns written. I do enjoy every step, but I tend to put them off while I'm on to other things. Today again, I am writing a pattern for what I think is a cool sweater out of Prism Flirt. It will look great over all sorts of colors of slacks, but I think I might squeeze into some jeans when I wear this sweater. YES!! I made it in MY size!! As you know, my size is of the 1x or 2x variety. So now the fun part is re-writing the pattern to include some other sizes. That is a matter of math so I will be sure to check and double check my figures. I'm sooo excited!! Of course I already have another topper in the works to be worn over a slinky black dress (hopefully I'll have the pattern done by Stitches and can wear it)

But I told you that I did finish the pattern for a tank top. It's made out of Berroco BOHO. If you're familiar with this yarn, you know that it changes color and texture. This gives it a stripy effect, which of course, doesn't look great on all figures. I do have a trick up my sleeve to give it vertical interest. OK, now I'll upload the picture. I wish this program put the pictures in the text where you want them, not at the beginning. Oh well, perhaps I still have to learn that. If you know how, drop me a line please.

Back to writing patterns.....

Elaine is awake!!

2007-07-15T21:36:00.001-07:00

Some of you know that our good friend, Elaine has been in a coma after a stroke. It's been a good month and a half, but it finally seems that she woke up! Praise the Lord! If you know her from our many trips to Stitches or from our store, please continue praying for her. Thanks so much! http://www.yarnlady.com/staff/staff/elainegetwell.html

Summer Top, Skirt or Purse?

2007-07-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

A few months (!!) ago I began working on a purse from a Prism pattern with hand dyed Prism yarn called Loopy. No, I'm not that slow- I have knitted several other things since-
What held me back was that we already had a model of this pattern in the store and I didn't see the need to make a second one. But I was soo close to being done that it was a shame not to finish it.
There was also some question regarding the colors that were chosen. (I didn't choose them). Have you ever been stuck on a project just because... you couldn't put your finger on it? So I showed it to the "girls" and Cherie said: "This would make a great strapless top!" Huh? Well, now that you say it.......Actually it looks great as a top! It could have some straps if need be.... But then it also looks great as a skirt! Hmmmmm. Actually, it would look great as a felted purse, too.
So I got more of the same yarn in the color that people wondered about (the bright pink/orange one) and when I knitted with it this time, lo and behold it FLASHED! (Flashing is when the colors just "happen" to line up so the same color appears in the same place). When you look at the picture and see the two stripes of the bright color, you wouldn't believe it's the same yarn!! The top one blended, the bottom one flashed! What a difference!! By the way, the original purse pattern has you start at the top with a number of rows of garter stitch. Besides making a great top for a purse, it also makes a great band for the top or the skirt. Now I repeated the same color I used for the band on the very bottom. It started out flashing but then there were a couple of knots in the yarn so it threw off the "rhythm" of the repeat. I decided to change things a little and end with a lace pattern.

Isn't this fun" I'll tell you, I had such a great time with this! It would take some experimenting with number of stitches and needle sizes until you get the yarn to flash. I was lucky to have it happen accidentally. But judging from these results, I think it would be worth the effort. Why not give it a try?

Great Summer Top or Skirt or Purse

2007-07-11T23:05:00.001-07:00

Knir or crochet scarves for children with cancer

2007-06-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

We just received this e-mail and thought that YOU might help! What a worthy cause to be knitting and crocheting for kids with this challenge!
Here is what Karen says in her flyer:
I teach a jewelry making class at Camp Summersault in Long Beach. This is a camp for children with cancer and their siblings. I donate the materials and volunteer my time every August. This year the theme of the camp is "Polar Adventure". I was hoping to have 100 scarves knit or crocheted as a fun accessory to give each kid at camp. I am a knitter but need help with this project. The children are between 5 and 13 years old. The dimensions of the scarves can vary to accomodate children of all sizes. They can be any yarn (hopefully soft and washable). If you are interested in donating a scarf or two please contact me at designerkaren2@aol.com

...and in her e-mail to us.
IF YOU COULD SHARE THIS FLYER WITH SOME OF YOUR CUSTOMERS. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT. "STITCHES FROM THE HEART" DONATED 30 SCARVES WHICH WAS A BLESSING. I NEED THE BALANCE OF SCARVES BY THE LAST WEEK IN JULY. WE STILL HAVE NOT REACHED OUR GOAL AND REALLY HOPE TO HAVE ENOUGH. IT'S FOR KIDS 5 TO 13 YEARS OLD AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE REALLY LONG LIKE GROWN UP ONES, ANY SCRAP YARN WILL WORK.....NEED SOME FOR BOYS...PLAIN WITH BOY COLORS.....THANKS IN ADVANCE. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO REIMBURSE FOR POSTAGE.
SINCERELY, KAREN BRAVERMAN-FREEMAN
4907 E. COLORADO ST. LONG BEACH, CA. 90814
818 419 7467 CELL #
DesignerKaren2@aol.com

Pictures from Crocheting and Weaving Workshop with Barry Klein at Yarn Lady

2007-06-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

Barry Klein Workshop at Yarn Lady

2007-06-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Barry Klein was at our store teaching his Birthday Afghan class. This class was based on a simple crochet stitch to lay the groundwork of "netting" through which different yarns will be woven to achieve a plaid design. The way the plaid is laid out depends entirely on your birthday!

Barry helped each participant work out the appropriate numbers according to their birthday, helped them choose wonderful yarns and calculate amounts needed. What a great way to experiement with different textures and colors and have a very unique crocheted and woven piece in the end!

Please stay tuned and check our Events Calendar for Barry's next class. You'll be glad you came no matter what he teaches!

A Comment about the Yarn Lady Bag Sale

2007-06-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Gaby,
I just wanted to thank you, your wonderful husband and fantastic staff for the great sale on Saturday. You are all so hospitable and friendly and those cookies, while standing in line, were certainly a crowd pleaser and kept folks' minds off the wait.

Please thank Dutch again for me for his genuine conversation and his wonderful offer to keep an eye out for donated yarn for me. (I mentioned to Dutch how I teach knitting to a group of adolescents through San Diego Youth and Community Services; most are in the foster care or probation systems).

It was great to meet Barry in person. How down to earth was he? Every time I saw him, he was rounding up those blue IKEA bags and putting them back in the bin by the front door. They don't make them much more humbler than that.

I had a fantastic time; I got some great deals ..............................
I truly believe what separates your store from others I have frequented is your love for the Lord and the wonderful blessings He has showered your business with. I pray that He brings you continued success for the years to come.
Take care,
Suzanne

Pictures from the Yarn Lady Bag Sale

2007-06-11T17:09:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures, stay tuned for more

Wow!! What a sale we had at Yarn Lady!

2007-06-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Were you there? We had a great sale last Saturday! So many people turned out and we appreciate it! We trust that you found some great yarn at great bargains!
We took lots of pictures and I will show a few under separate cover here and then I'm working on building a little "page" so you can click on it and see all of the pictures.

There were some long lines, for which we apologize but when you have a 75% off sale, I guess that can't be avoided. We are always looking for ways to make things better and faster but we just can't afford to buy additional register equipment for just one day.

Hopefully you got to meet Barry Klein, the owner of Trendsetter Yarns.
Barry came to help any way he could, whether it was to find just the right pattern for you or to help you choose your next project or to help us keep the lines moving.
THANKS SO MUCH, Barry, for all of your help!
Speaking of Barry, you know he will be back at our store next Saturday for a special workshop. Please go to http://www.yarnlady.com/trendsetter/birthdayworkshop.html to find out all about it. If you're going to sign up, please hurry!

Countdown to our Bag Sale this Saturday

2007-06-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our bag sale is THIS Saturday! Are you coming? The weather is supposed to be wonderful so plan to stay and hang out on the lawn.

Like I did for the last bag sale, I thought I would bake some chocolate chip cookies for everyone. Ducth is thrilled because he thinks there might be a few left over for him.

We went and packed up the last few bags at our storage facility and tomorrow the truck will be loaded. So we should be all set, Lord willing.

Bring a few carloads of your favorite friends and let's have a great time!

See you there!

God bless you,

Gaby

Yarn Donations for Stitches From The Heart

2007-06-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well you know that we recently had a Spring Cleaning event at the store. If you remember, we had the trailer parked behind the store and you brought in LOTS of yarn to be donated to Stitches From The Heart. I asked Peggy Abxter to send me pictures of all of the yarn that was recived and here they are.

The yarn will go to good homes and be transformed into some lovely things which again will make so many people happy!

Thank you to all of you for participating!

A picture worth a thousand words

2007-06-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

The following is an e-mail sent to us by one of our customers. I thought you would really like to see this picture of the beautiful shawl she knitted! Thank you so much, Carla, for sharing it with us!

I thought you might like to see the Peacock Feathers Shawl that I made for my
daughter-in-law's wedding. You sent me the Addi Lace Needles. I enjoyed
the project alot! The pattern was fun and the new needles made all the
difference. I used Zephyr, and the lace needles were wonderful to
use.
Thank you for sending them so quickly (they were some of the first you
sold!). Melody wore the shawl with her wedding dress and looked
beautiful.

Carla

TNNA Happenings

2007-06-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Today while waiting to meet someone, we were joined by one of the reps from Trendsetter Yarns. He was asking how things were going and what classes we had already taken. After speaking with him we were then joined by LJ, our lovely contact with Prism Yarns. She had in her hand three stunning samples utilizing some special yarns that we can't wait for you to see.
If you are interested in seeing them online before placing your pre-orders with Jenny, please go to http://www.prismyarn.com/whatsnew.htm. Here you can see the new yarns and some patterns that will be coming to our store in the near future. Let me just say, the Indulgence and Velvet yarns are so exquisite, its hard to keep from wanting every color for myself.
Tonight we will be at the infamous fashion show. This is where we get to see sample garments that highlight some of the companies yarns and patterns before actually going on the huge floor tomorrow morning. This is a great way to socialize with others and hear what other people are saying about the products. Stay tuned for more details on that event here tomorrow.
Niqua

TNNA Market

2007-06-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hello again!
Well, both Cherie and I have had a difficult time adjusting to the time change today. Last night, I ran into some friends from Stitches (they have a store in Rochester, Michigan - SKEINS ON MAIN) and we all decided to go to a late dinner. We had to do this because we were taking some classes until 8pm (5pm PST). Once at dinner, we were joined by Natalie Wilson of iKnitiative (whom I took a "Knitting with Ribbon Yarns" class with earlier in the day). We managed to close the restaurant down (they tend to close around 10:30pm everywhere around here). Once we left and headed back to our hotel, we ran into Bruce from Lantern Moon (owner) as well as the lovely couple from "Webbs" all while watching the playoff basketball game. With all the commotion around the game, it was difficult to talk and find out what was new at Lantern Moon as a preview. I do have to say that the items displayed on the product table from Lantern Moon looks very intriguing and we can't wait for you to see them in our store. This morning, both Cherie and I were dragging into class only after receiving 4 hours of sleep. Needless to say, we will be returning to our room later today to take a cat nap.
Well, we are off to our classes now. Cherie is taking a class on Copyright Do's & Don'ts and I am taking a crochet class on shadow knitting. If you are interested in any of these subjects, please feel free to ask us and we would be happy to share this information with you.
Niqua

Hello from Columbus, Ohio (Market)

2007-06-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Both Cherie and I are in Columbus, Ohio for the semi-annual market show. Last year you may recall that we started our Yarn Lady Buzz Blog from Indianapolis, Indiana. Wow! What a year it has been for all of us.
As you know, we are going to try to do our best to keep you informed of all the happenings here to help you experience what we are doing as well as what to expect this coming season within our industry.
Stay tuned for more coming your way.
Niqua

A friendly yarn store?

2007-05-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

To those of you who know us it hopefully comes as no surprise that we think we are a friendly store. At least we sure try to be!

So today my husband decided that we should go to the store (even though it is closed) and scrub the bathroom! We have been less than happy with our cleaning crew and even my husband could tell that the bathroom needed scrubbing. Now we don't turn on the lights when we're there when the store is closed, you get it- so no one SEES that we're there.

But Dutch being who he is, crumbled at the first sign of life at the front door and let the lady in. Now mind you, I look horrible, I have cleaning materials and mops and toilet bowl brushes everywhere, as well as the vacuum in the middle of the floor. MEN!!

Then the front door (which he had failed to LOCK) opened again and two more ladies walked in. Now normally I am MOST happy when people walk in and I greet them and try to make them feel welcome. But I was CLEANING!! MEN!!

So now I have the proverbial GUILT because I'm so afraid that I was less than gracious to these poor women. If you're reading this, please accept my apologies!

But at least the bathroom is cleaner than it was.....

Your knitted Gifts

2007-05-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today I was able to deliver some "angel blankets" to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA. They were made by volunteers from Stitches from the Heart participants and others with a caring heart.

We were asked by some nurses to supply tiny blankets for still-born babies. While this will make some people sad to even think about it, there really is a need for these precious little gifts. (This is why we chose to rename it "Angel Blankets") You should have seen the reaction of the nurses when they unwrapped the blankets! Some were close to tears as they admired them.

The tiny blankets and little hats are used to wrap the tiny babies when the mother gets a chance to say good-bye before burial. We have been told that if the mother desires a picture, one is taken with the baby in these blankets and given to the mother for her to keep as a remembrance. One can just imagine what a gift that is to any mother who has just lost her new born baby.

If you would like to participate with making more of these wonderful gifts, the patterns are available on our website at http://www.yarnlady.com/charity/charity.htm or you can knit or crochet any 12" square (any pattern, stitch, gauge, etc) and attach another piece to form a pocket on each square. Stitches From the Heart (a charity group that meets at our store once a month) is also making these wonderful "angel blankets" and presenting the finished ones to us to deliver to any hospital in need on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Please scroll down to my blog from Thursday, May 3rd to see pictures of these "Angel Blankets" that have been donated thus far. ~Gaby

Fashion colors

2007-05-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have something right on the tip of your tongue and then you immediately forget? Well I've been meaning to share this with you for some time and then I always forget. The other day a yarn rep was at the store showing us the new yarns for Fall and she reminded me of this wonderful website. http://pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE%20Fashion%20Color%20Report%20Fall%2007.pdf

If you want to know waht's in and what's not, and just about everything to do with color then go to www.pantone.com . When you browse around their site you will find all kinds of stuff. For some of the information you need to be a member but it's well worth it for all of the information you get.

Have fun!!

Live and learn! My newest knit project

2007-05-20T20:40:00.001-07:00

So Niqua, my daughter, hands me a bag with a pattern and yarn and says: "Here, mom, you need to make this"
Since I always love to work with Prism STUFF I dropped everything else I am working on and started right in on this project. The yarn she had chosen was Prism Stuff, Trendsetter Pinot, and another prism yarn.

I worked quite a bit of the long ribbing thinking all the while that I just don't see the STUFF in it and I can't imagine that anyone would want to spend money making this if they can't even tell that there is STUFF in the mix. Of course that's what I got for substituting! Just because a yarn has the same name, doesn't mean that it LOOKS the same!!

So I started over again, this time replacing the Pinot with just plain Trendsetter Charm. (There again, I am substituting..) Of course the sweater is supposed to be made out of all Prism yarns, but when I started over late in the evening, this was all I had. You can look at the picture and see the difference!

I love working on this! Although it is plain stockinet stitch, you change yarn every row and working with STUFF, it constantly changes and you can't wait for the next color and texture. I'm almost to the armhole. Did I mention that this is made in one piece in the round? The pattern is one of the new Prism patterns called Stuff Plus

Laura Bryant's idea was to use a hank of Stuff and in order to stretch it, use one, two or, three other yarns with it to make some fabulous things. These Stuff Plus patterns have been so popular it's hard to keep them in stock! You can go to their website and see these patterns and then call our Jenny to order them. Prism's website is http://www.prismyarn.com/patterns.htm and you can reach Jenny at 888 770 7809

Have fun!!

Work in Progress

2007-05-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

If you look at the mess in the picture, you will see my "work station". So many projects, so little time and so little space!! My granddaughter was telling a friend the other day: "My nana has yarn EVERYWHERE!" And so it is. Perhaps I mentioned before that I am working on a sweater for my husband (finally!!) and he loved a purse that our Jan was making and said the he would LOVE a sweater in just those colors! Well I picked a bunch of different Noro yarns and just started. He is a 3x size, so there was a lot of chance to let colors "play". My challenge is to actually finish it! I tend to get distraceted by yet another project on the horizon and have to discipline myself to actually finish.

I thought you would also like to see a scarf that Jenny is making in Entrelac. Now I'll have to ask her which yarn she used, but you can see all of the wonderful color changes.

Jan and Jenny also taught a summer- T workshop and here is one of her students working on it. Very simple, very stylish, using a ribbon and a component. She used Charm and Dolcino.

So what are YOU working on?

Getting ready for our next Bagsale

2007-05-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

The countdown is on: Just one more month until our next famous Bag Sale!

I've been spending hours almost each day at our storage unit, bagging lots and lost of yarn! Can you ever have enough? Cook at home for the next month so you have money to spend at this next sale because once again, we will be giving you 75% off the regular price on all of our bag sale yarns! We must be crazy! But we want to clear out our storage unit and make room for more yarn!

Niqua and Cherie are planning a trip soon to do just that: Buy more yarn! But yarn never gets old and just because our distributors have moved on to the next yarns doesn't mean that the ones we still have are any less exciting!

While I was sitting there bagging today and having some alone time with my i-pod (listening to the Bible on tape) I was thinking that I should publish a bunch of free patterns for you in time for the bag sale. So Stay tuned. I'll try to have them for our next newsletter. For all of our newsletters, please go to www.yarnlady.com

If you're waiting for the pictures from our last Pajama Party, give me just a little more time. They are almost ready. I am just waiting for permission from the parents of our two youngest knitters just to make sure it's OK to put their pictures online.

If I have a chance tomorrow, I'll show you some pictures of what I have been working on... Hint: My husband has asked me to make him a sweater for a gazillion years...... now it's almost done.....

Talk to you soon! Gaby

More Charity Knitting at Yarn Lady

2007-05-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

We've told you before that we really want to place an emphasis on Charity knitting and crocheting. We all have been so blessed and would love to share with others some of our bounty.
For this reason we have started a drawing for a $100.00 Gift Certificate from Yarn Lady. Your name gets entered each time you bring in a little baby sweater. We want our little sweaters to "Hold Hands" clear around our store! We're almost 1/4 of the way there! When it's all said and done the drawing will be held on September 17th and then the sweaters will be donated to Stitches From The Heart.

We so hope that you will participate as well!

2007-05-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Just look what one little lady can do!!
We are encouraging everyone to make little blankets for preeme babies and little still born babies. No one wants to talk about that, but it does happen. There are nurses who lovingly wrap these babies in tiny little blankets that are lovingly made by YOU!

Stitches From The Heart is another organization which maes these precious little gifts. We encourage you to put YOUR time and your love to work and create some of these little treasures. http://yarnlady.com/classschedule/workshops/stitchesheart.htm

Another PJ Party at Yarn Lady

2007-04-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

OK, so the text is not in the right sequence, because I keep adding more pictures of our slumber party last Saturday night. Here are just some of the lucky winners who gave the correct answers to questions Jan and Jenny had prepared about general information regarding knitting and crocheting. Lots and lots of prizes were given and proudly received.

So we had another PJ party last Saturday night. What fun we had! I am putting together a page to show all of the pictures. Jan and Jenny hosted a get together of over 30 participants who all came to knit and hang out together and eat!! Pizza was served and everyone brought a desert and I don't think that anyone went home hungry!
At the beginning of the evening, Jan announced that those who wanted to could try to complete a 5 hour baby sweater. As you probably know, we are all making these sweaters to be given to charity and we have a contest. For each sweater you donate, your name will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate at Yarn Lady. So if you're interested, get KNITTING or CROCHETING!!
We called Keely the Lady In Pink! Keely had on this gorgeous sweater made out of a variety of Prism yarns and she was working on a new one again. It was so striking that the folks at the next table asked her to come over and model.

Stay tuned for more pictures!

Pssssst: Jan and Jenny are planning for another party later this year. Make sure you get your name in early since this was was sold out!

Workshop with Colleen Davis

2007-04-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

In case you couldn't make it to Colleen Davis' workshops today, I thought you would like to see some pictures. Colleen is teaching freeform design this morning and you should see her sweaters and models!

This is just another of the many wonderful workshops brought to you by Yarn Lady. We feel that the more you learn the more fun you will have with knitting and crocheting.

Enjoy!!

God bless you!

Gaby

Meet Yarn Lady's New Addition

2007-04-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

Most of us love animals. Some of us take our love to the extreme.

Yarn Lady would like you to meet the new addition to the family - Willie.

He is so loveable and fun to have around the store. Unfortunately, Willie is only allowed to be at the store in the mornings before he has to go to his grandparents and counsins house for some much needed rest.

Dutch and Gaby married 40 years!

2007-04-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

This blog is supposed to be about all things YARN but I have to get a little personal note in there again.

Dutch and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary yesterday with a short trip to Catalina Island. It has been a while since we were there so everything was almost brand new to us except for the glimpses of the past that would pop up here and there. I just had a new hairdo done the day before but as you can see in the picture, the windy trip from Dana Point to Avalon (I sat outside of course) didn't help my hair at all.

On our walk around the island, we found a wonderful little store which carried yarn and quilting supplies and lots of other items that the creative person would like to have. I brought my knitting on this trip, but didn't get much done.

Back at home now, I'm fast at work on a sweater that I am FINALLY making for my husband. After 17+ years in the yarn business and 40 years of marriage I have only made him one sweater until now. He never got to wear that one because I hung it in the store as a model and eventually sold it to someone who fell in love with it. Our Jan was working on a fabulous felted purse recently in great Noro yarn doing the entrelac pattern. My husband saw the colors and decided that he just had to have a sweater just like it. NOT!!! I am using the great colors but I am not doing the entrelac. I think the poufiness of the pattern would add even more pounds to his midriff. Neither he nor I need that. As it is, I just took a basket and picked a bunch of Noro yarns in different but complimentary colors and as I am knitting it, I just change color when I feel like it. He likes it already and it's fun to make.

Speaking of felted purses: We went on a tour to the interior of the island where the Wrigley family (as in chewing gum) still maintain a ranch, and in the gift shop what do I see but three gorgeous felted purses.

Hope to see you at the store soon!

Gaby

Colleen Davis Is Back On!

2007-03-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of people are confused as to what is going on with Colleen Davis' Workshops that were scheduled and then canceled. Let me tell you that there was a little confusion and misunderstandings going on and I am happy to say that all things are sorted out and are back on track. YES.... Colleen Davis will be in our store to teach her four classes, which will begin on Saturday, April 21st (not the 28th as previously stated) and on Saturday, May 19th. All the information about her classes are listed online as well as in our store (http://www.yarnlady.com/colleendavis/freeformworkshops.htm). Sign up today to save your space. These will go fast, so don't delay! Call the store at 949-770-7809 and reserve your seat. You will be glad that you did.
Niqua

Did You Know About Yarn Lady Specials?

2007-03-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Yarn Lady has ongoing specials that are held on the website? If you get the chance to visit the website, please note that we are working hard to get it updated. We are also in the process of re-designing the site to go along with the re-design of our store. Check back often to see all the changes.
The changes so far have been the addition of the "SPECIALS" page. On this page, you will notice all the great deals Yarn Lady has to offer that you can not get in the store. Currently, we are offering Signatur Handknits Kits by Jane Slicer-Smith at prices well below suggested retail. These kits are on a limited supply and once they are done, they are gone for good. Check it out by clicking here (http://www.yarnlady.com/webstore/hotspecials.htm). They are only $300 USD for each kit. You must pay for shipping (even though it is over the $50 policy that we normally have) and there is absolutely no returns accepted. All sales are final. Don't miss out on this special deal. Call Jenny to place your order and she will be happy to assist you with any questions you may have (toll free 1-888-770-7809). Jenny is available Monday through Friday from 10:00am to 2:00pm PST.

Encore Has Arrived

2007-03-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed we have been a little low on certain yarns. As stated in our store, some companies are now shipping three to four weeks out and therefore some of our backorders are taking longer to get in. This is to let you know that the long awaited Encore by Plymouth Yarns has finally arrived. Clayle is busy working to log in all the colors, price them and get them on the shelves for you to finally get your hands on. If you made a special order, please note that these will be pulled first before Clayle puts them on the shelves.
Happy Knitting!
Niqua

Trendsetter Yarn Tasting and St. Patty's Day Sale

2007-03-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

My cousin from Germany has been here so it's been like a vacation for me! Taking her places made ME take time and enjoy the sites and the weather and it was great! A little tiring, but great! We went Whale watching (didn't see any Whales but lots of Dolphins. I remembered how much I love being on the water!

I told my husband that I don't really need to go on another vacation, we have all that I would want right here. Of course that doesn't help him decide what to plan for the 40th wedding anniversary we have coming in a couple of weeks.......

Tomorrow we will have some fun of a different sort:

We're having another one of our famous Yarn Tastings. This time again it will be with Barry Klein of Trendsetter Yarns. In case you haven't been to one or heard of one, a Yarn Tasting is where the supplier brings lots and lots of yarn for us to try. You get to swatch it and knit (or crochet) with it, try out different needle sizes, try out different color combinations and much more! Here's your chance to try the yarns before you buy them. What could be better?

Barry will also bring a pile of new sweaters from his collection and I'm sure he'll have a mini Fashion Show where YOU get to try everything on.

If that wasn't enough, we will also have a 10% off sale on any green yarn in stock! Come in and grab a basket and go for the green! Who knows, there might also be some other green things there.

Hope to see you there!

Gaby

It's over!!!

2007-02-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well, we're all done with Stitches this time around. We had a great time and it seems everyone had a successful show. Packing up went real fast because you, our dear customers, bought so much! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

So remember when I said I had to practise backing up the trailer? Well, I DID IT!! First I had to hook it up by myself. It took a few tries, but I got it done. Then I drove to the convention center and God had a spot for me on one of the loading docks. There was already another truck parked on the ramp but there was just enough room for me. You would have been soooooo proud of me if you saw me back that trailer up that ramp in such a tight space.

We got loaded and parked behind the hotel and will be on our way home tomorrow. Keep us in prayer as we travel home. We have a check engine light on but the kind folks at Onstar think that we will make it home OK.

Thanks for you interest and thanks for reading this. If you are reading this and have been at this Stitches show, we would like to hear from you as to what yarns you liked that we may not carry. We are always looking for new yarns and hearing from you would help us choose just the right ones.

We'll talk to you when we get back home.
God bless you!!
Gaby

Our last day at STITCHES

2007-02-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

So this is our last day at Stitches. It's raining outside and we hope that it will clear up by late afternoon when we have to load the trailer again.

But before then, we still have a day of fun and activity on the floor. We are almost sold out of all of our bagsale yarn that we brought along. WOW!! That never happened to us before! I seriously considered driving back home to get more, but with an eight hour drive each way, I soon gave up on that idea!!

I have to tell you how much fun we had last night. As you can imagine, after a day on the floor we are pretty tired and our feet are longing for us to just find a comfy place to SIT!! So we asked at the hotel where we should go and eat and some recomendations were made. After we drove there and circled the parking garage forEVER, we found the restaurant only to be told there was a two and a half hour waiting list. NOT!! So we went for a walk and Jenny spotted a Chilly's (is that how you spell it??). We were quite silly and giddy by the time we finally were seated there.

Now you have to meet Lambchop, Jenny's new best friend. Now Lambchop had quite a time behaving herself, but she was having such a good time! She even made Jenny roll around the restaurant on her roller shoes just like she did on the showroom floor all day. You know Jenny decided it was her silly day. We threatened to put a sign on her back which said: Folloow me to Yarn Lady and have her roll around the showroom floor. We may still be forced to do that.

Speaking of fun on the showroom floor: Benjamin who is the head of XRX, came by with his camera and Jenny did the splits for everyone. I wonder if it will be on the XRX website. I'll have to go and look real quick.

Well it's off to the showers and another day.

Oh, last but certainly NOT least: When I finally got a break yesterday, I put my purse down someplace and left it there. THANK YOU to the kind person who turned it in. God bless you!!!!

Have a wonderful day!
Gaby

Times Are Changing

2007-02-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

Times are changing....the past couple of years, knitting and crocheting have been a hot ticket craft, where anything and everything was readily available to be purchased. Now, the craft has slowed down a little and the vendors/distributors are having to cut back on their available stock, therefore making it more difficult to get product in our store. We are doing our best to get the items that you are seeking in a timely manner, but we too are having to wait for the product to be shipped in from other countries. Our promise to you is that once we can get our hands on the products, if you have placed a special order, you will be the first one notified that the product is in (and possibly put on hold in your name if you have pre-purchased it). Please bare with us as we go through these changes. Thank you for your understanding!
Yarn Lady Staff

Hello Again from Santa Clara

2007-02-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Again!
If you were at Stitches West today you would have seen the crazy long lines that we had. We were non-stop busy with people flooding our bag sale, as well as all the other sales that we were having in our booth. We are so blessed to have this great response in our booth; we look forward to the next two days. Constantly, people are coming to us stating how much they love our store and are excited to see us back here at Stitches. Thank you! We love you too!
We will do our best to put up some images of the craziness that happened today. Please stay tune and watch for our updates in our newsletters. If you are still planning on coming to Santa Clara and want to stop by our booth, please do so and mention that you read our blog. We would love to hear about your experience while attending Stitches West.
Niqua

Hello From Stitches West

2007-02-22T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Yes, we are here in Santa Clara at the Santa Clara Convention Center for the Stitches West Expo. We are having a wonderful time and lots of people are loving the fact that we have lots of sales (especially our Famous Bag Sale at 75% off the marked price). If you are in the area, please come by and say hello.
To give you an idea of what it is like here, we have attached a couple of images for you to enjoy!
We will do our best to update you each day with more images.
Niqua, Gaby, Jan & Jenny

More classes at Yarn Lady

2007-02-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

Martha and Laura teach knitting of all sorts

Charlotte teaches knitting and she loves to do baby things as well as intarsia

and Susanne would love to teach you to make 365 squares, all using different pattern stitches.

Please check out our class schedule at www.yarnlady.com to find out more about these classes and many workshops that we have going.

(OOPS!! It looks like I have only a very small picture of Susanne. I'll look for a bigger one....)

See you there!

Fridays at Yarn Lady

2007-02-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

WOW!! Did we have a crowd on Friday!

Actually it is a knitting and crocheting class with Jan and Jenny.

They are there to teach you anything you need to know regarding knitting and crocheting. For a mere $10.00 for a two hour lesson you can join their class!

If you don't need any help, there is a large group that just comes to socialize and knit and crochet. Bring some nibbles to share if you want and come and join the fun on Friday nights.

New patterns by Gaby

2007-02-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

So I'm just putting the finishing touches on a couple of my designs. There is something here for every weather.

I know that much of the country is still dealing with cold weather, and here we have it quite warm and are hoping for some rain.
So I made a tank top with Segue Ribbon that you will love to wear! It's easy and quick to make on big needles. So when I was done with the tank, I thought of us who don't want to go sleeveless and added optional sleeves. I even thought how cool it would be if the sleeves were detachable (as in zipper them on and off) If you're up to that- GO for it!

I know, I know- technohair is not the most popular yarn anymore. But if you live in cold weather, you'll have to take a second look at this vest. It's a really easy design- if you can make a scarf you can do it. And it is sooooooooo warm!! Just what the doctor ordered to slip over anything. When we went for a visit to Minnesota in January (!!) I wore it under my coat and I was all set to go! The patterns will be ready tomorrow, so call the store and tell them you saw it on the blog and they'll get you one FREE! You must mention the blog to get it free.

Enjoy!!
God bless you!
Gaby

Going to Stitches!

2007-02-18T12:50:00.000-08:00

So we're getting ready to go to Stitches West and packing "everything"!!
If only we had a crystal ball that would tell us just what folks are going to buy. We filled our big trailer again and are still adding last minute items that we just HAVE to have along!

If you're reading this and don't know about Stitches, please go to www.knittinguniverse.com for more information. When we go we take our famous bagsale along. Here are some pictures of a past bagsale, just so you know what it is. http://yarnlady.com/bagsale/fr_open.htm?/bagsale/bs0412.htm

Jenny and Jan and Niqua and I will be going and we hope to see you there! If you're not going, the rest of the gang is still at the store, ready to help you with all of your knitting and crocheting needs.

See you soon
God bless you!
Gaby

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2007-02-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

If you're reading this on Valentine's Day, come party with us!
Jen and Jan have brought a Chocolate Fountain to the store with all the goodies!! Come and join the fun.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the love that you have shown us and wish you the happiest day ever!

God bless you!
Gaby

Our Hall of Fame

2007-01-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

So here we had a 90 years young lady, Clara Oliver who came to our store to show us this wonderful afghan that she made. Notice all the flowers and detail, which was made in one piece. Did I forget to mention that Clara is legally blind?

Way to go Ms. Clara!!!!!!
Thanks for showing it to us!

Sally Melville

2007-01-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

Just got an e-mail from Sally. It sounds like she is going to be alright. Here is what she said:
"I am now home and have seen my doctor. The good news is that the lungs are clear. I just caught that virus that is going around the west coast? It involves a terrible cough. I did have a lot of pressure in the sinuses, but that has cleared. So, although I am very very tired, I believe I am on the mend. The good news is that I don’t have pneumonia and don’t have to go on antibiotics."

We're glad you're feeling better, Sally! We look forward to re-scheduling with you.

If YOU are interested in taking a future class with Sally, please let us know and we'll put you on our list.

Sally Melville Workshop cancelled due to flu

2007-01-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

We were all excited about having Sally Melville come to our store again.
Alas, she called to say that she was very sick with the flu! She could barely talk in between coughing spurts. She said that all she wanted to do was to fly back home to Canada and go to bed.

We're so sorry to miss out this time around and look forward to re-scheduling her at a later time.

Get well soon, Sally!!

Football Widow's Party at Yarn Lady

2007-01-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

Football!! It's here again!!

Some of us though, would rather spend a day without it!

For those of you who consider yourselves Football Widows, come and join us at Yarn Lady for a special knit and crochet get-together.

When: Sunday, February 4th from 3PM to 6 PM

Where: Yarn Lady Store

Cost: $10.00 per person (please call the store to sign up 949 770 7809)

Bring a friend and an appetiser to share

Trendsetter Yarns listens to Yarn Lady

2007-01-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

We want to take a minute to say: Well done!! to Myrna Klein, co-owner of Trendsetter Yarns.
Some of our customers were upset when they heard that the slate blue color # 201 (formally 26903) of their popular yarn Merino Otto would be discontinued. Upon hearing that our customers were not ready to let go of this color, Myrna spoke to the manufacturer on our behalf and got the color re-instated!

Thank you so much, Myrna for listening to our needs! http://trendsetteryarns.com/mseispecs.asp
http://trendsetteryarns.com/aboutus/bm3.jpg

Sally Melville is coming!

2007-01-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

I always wonder who reads blogs and WHY we read them. What may be of interest to you ? We have so many interesting things going on that we would love to share!

So this time I'd like to tell you that Sally Melville is coming to town! Actually not to TOWN, but to YARN LADY! You just don't know how much this means to us!

Sally is the author of 4 (count them: FOUR!!) books which are all best sellers. She lives in Canada but travels all over to teach and speak. Some folks are intimidated when "big name" teachers come to our store because they feel that they could not possibly know enough to be able to attend a class. So perhaps I can explain: These teachers don't have time to teach you HOW to knit or crochet. So the minimal skills are required, but otherwise, you are there to LEARN!

It's also difficult to pick just the right day and time to suit everyone. So how do we pick the days, you might wonder? That's easy! If the teacher says that's when I am available, that's the day we pick!

Recently we hosted Laura Bryant, and it's been wonderful to see that folks who took her classes were inspired and came away with a new skill and new ideas for their knitting projects. Taking a class from Sally will enrich you just as much!

Find out more here: www.yarnlady.com/Newsletter/2007/january/january07newsmore.htm

and here: http://www.knittinguniverse.com/xrx/athena/ProsDetail.php?ID=1402

So if you're interested, please call the store at 949 770 7809 or 888 770 7809
See you there!
God bless you!
Gaby

Yarn School

2007-01-21T15:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard it called that? Someone said that last night and it made me chuckle. Yarn School!! I guess that's what we have here. Willing participants who come to learn and enjoy their chosen craft.

A few days ago, I just clicked away during one of our many classes. I thought it was interesting what each person had in their lap and what they were working on. Each one a unique piece, stitched one stitch at a time. If only we could see all the thoughts and effort that go into each item!

You know what they say about idle hands. Well there are no idle hands here!

Laura Bryant was HERE!

2007-01-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

We were out of town when Laura first got to our store, but when I got there it looked like everyone was having a GREAT time! It is always wonderful to take a class and learn from Laura. She is so very talented! Her eye for color and design and her knowledge of fiber translates into a great experience!

Were you there? You should have been! If you want to see more pictures, please go to
http://yarnlady.com/newsletter/events/laurabryantworkshop.htm to see them.

Having just come from the industry Trade Show, Laura had with her a huge Trunkshow of her garments and accessories. It is such a treat to get to see thosse first hand, and even get to try them on. They always look different in person than in a picture. Niqua even felt that one sweater looked so much better up close than it did on a model in the Trade Show Fashion Show.

Laura was fighting a cold when she was here and was super tired after days on the showroom floor. Still her students came away with new ideas and talents.
Thank you so much, Laura!!! Can't wait to have you back again!

Laura Bryant is coming to town

2007-01-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

If you are receiving our newsletter, you would know that Laura Bryant from Prism Yarns will be coming to our store on Tuesday, January 16th to teach a couple of workshops. We are so proud that one of her classes was completely sold out. The other was a close second. We are honored to have Laura come to our store because of her talent as a designer and creative artisian. Please stay tuned for more information on Laura's other works of art. We will try to get some samples in our store for you to see. If you missed Laura this time, please make sure you sign up early next time. You will be glad that you did!
Niqua

Cottons, Cottons, Cottons

2007-01-17T13:40:00.000-08:00

Cottons, Cottons, Cottons! Did I mention Cottons?
Albeit that there was not much new in regards to unique items, we did see lots of different gauges of cottons that were hard to resist. This is the season for the cottons for our warm summers. Sock yarns are also a huge hit at TNNA. We have lots to share with you about these - stay tuned for more info in our newsletters as they arrive in our store. You won't want to miss out on all the goodies that we have in store for you.
Niqua

Cold in Southern California

2007-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hello again from TNNA - Day 2!
It is starting to get even colder here in San Diego, California. The weather reports are stating that it is going to freeze close to the coast line. Low winds too! We are not use to this crazy weather here.
Classes are so far great. Just long walks to the rooms from the front entrance. It is a joke that TNNA planned this ahead of time to help get our blood circulated since it was so cold outside.
We met with Edie Eckman and Nicky Epstein. They said they would love to come to our store to do some workshops. Please stay tuned to dates coming. We also said hello to Melissa Leapman, Laura Bryant, Sally Melville, Lily Chin, Judy Pascal, Chris Bylsma, Annie Modeset, just to name a few. Numerous people have come up to both Cherie and I stating that they love Yarn Lady and that we are the store to visit when in the southern California area. Tonight, we get to preview the garments for the upcoming season via the fashion show. There are suppose to be over 140 products, ranging from accessories to extravigant wedding gowns that are completely knitted or crochetted. Each item is more spectacular that the one previous. Can't wait to get the trunkshows from various companies. Don't miss out - Crochet is huge!
Stay tuned for more from TNNA!
Niqua

Day One at TNNA

2007-01-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Hello from TNNA!
Cherie and I are here to take some classes, see the new items for Spring/Summer 2007 and get the 411 on whats new for 2007.
So far, San Diego is extremely cold. They are stating that there will be a frost advisory for the shoreline (which almost never happens in sunny California). People (store owners and staff) are slowing arriving. We have found that most of the people have that dreaded cold that we all seem to have or cant get rid of.
Stay tuned for more information tomorrow - classes will be starting; new techniques will be learned.
Niqua