Our first meeting of Stitches From The Heart at our store

Yesterday the ladies from Stitches From The Heart met for the first time at our store. We so enjoyed having them and seeing the wonderful little things they make for mostly preemie babies. As you can see they had a big bag full of things that will be passed on to someone in need.

Their brochure says it all:

"Let your heart embrace newborns in need of warmth as they leave the hospitals. Join the volunteers who bring love and warmth to needy infants."

If you would like to get involved with this worthwhile organization, check it out at http://www.stitchesfromtheheart.org/patterns.html

Stitches from The Heart will be meeting at our store on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Please bring your love, your yarn and your needles and join these lovely ladies.




Here is a letter we just received from Peggy Baxter (holding the yellow bag full of goodies):


Dear Gabby, Niqua and the entire Yarn Lady staff,

Thank you for allowing me, on behalf of Stitches From the Heart, to come to your store this afternoon and promote this great charity that I have become involved with. I was overwhelmed by your kindness, generosity and enthusiasm. Everyone from your store was so nice and genuinely interested in what we are trying to achieve. I am really looking forward to next month's meeting (Aug. 23, 2-4PM) and if you can think of anything else I should bring or do, please let me know. Oh, yes, regarding the baby hat sizes, we often say, think of making hats that will fit:
Grapefruit (average newborn)
Orange (small newborn)
Lemon (preemie)
Lime(small preemie)
Walnut (superpreemie)

Oh, course, Stitches LOVES any size hat and will find a baby's head to fit it. We even like to have toddler hats. Blanket sizes are good from 18" square to 30" by 40" rectangles. Again, we love anything and there is always a need for these items. Sweaters and booties are great also, but not as needed as the hats, from what I understand, but we do need them, as well as knitted or crocheted stuffed animals. Hope this additional info helps and let me know if you can think of anything else you might need to know.

Thank you again for a most enjoyable afternoon and am looking forward to next month's meeting.
"Keep stitching for the babies"
Peggy Baxter

It's getting down to the wire! We are leaving for Stitches in a couple of days and I'm still knitting and still have to write the patterns and photograph the models!!! All this yarn and so little time!! It's a good thing we don't have much company because there would be no place for them to sit!! My couch is covered with WIPs in various stages of completion. What does YOUR couch look like?

Back to watching HGTV and Knitty Gritty and Knit one Purl One. Is there a foot activated remote control to fast forward through commercials and still keep knitting?

Don't forget that today we have ladies at our store from Stitches from the Heart. Here is what we said in our newsletter about that:

We here at Yarn Lady have received so many blessings that it is important to us to give to those less fortunate.

We are thrilled to announce that Peggy Baxter of Stitches From the Heart will be in our store on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 2pm to 4pm to sit and knit and crochet with you. This is a fun activity, a chance to made new friends and gives a purpose to those who have a passion for knitting and crocheting, but have run out of family members to give hats and scarves to.

Stitches From the Heart accepts donations of items for any size baby from super preemies to big newborns and even toddlers. Peggy will bring with her "official" stitches, pattern booklets and info booklets for you to use. Bring your finished projects or your yarn and sit and knit or crochet with Peggy, starting July 26th.

I'd like you to meet Betty!
Would you believe she produced a Gift Certificate which was awarded to her- did you say 9 years ago, Betty?? She won it because of the sweater she is holding up below. Great work, Betty!!

Of course we reminded her that these certificates are only good for one year, but we thought that an exception was in order.

Did you know that Yarn Lady sponsors the Orange County as well as the LA County Fairs? So if you happen to win best of show for any knitted or crocheted item you may well be the lucky recipient of a nice gift certificate from us.


If you look closely at the pictures, you will also see Betty holding a wonderful purse that she made. I forgot where she got her inspiration but the purse is great. It is also lined in a fabric to match the yarn.

Bring in your knitting and crocheting for us to admire and we'll take a picture and post it here.

As soon as Barry was done showing all the garments everyone was invited to try them on. We should have had more mirrors!

The pink thing that Nancy is wearing was not a part of the Fashion Show, but it is a baby blanket that I made and it also looks great as a shawl. You decide!

Well I have so much more to tell you and you've probably been wondering why I am posting so much. Perhaps you know: we are leaving on Friday to go to Stitches Mid-West. We are leaving a few days early because we are taking our 7 year old granddaughter. So we'll take the long way and go through Yellowstone and we're just planning on having the best time with her.

But, as you can imagine, Niqua and I are still trying to think of all the things to pack. We are driving a 15 passenger van and pulling a big trailer, both of which are packed to the brim! I'm talking be careful when you open the doors! So now I'm still knitting samples to take with us and I want to get them done because I still have to write the patterns for them. I just brought home two more suitcases full of yarn and needles and stuff- did I mention we have no more room??

Niqua wanted me to remind everyone that we encourage you to use your leftover yarns to make 4x4 swatches and bring them to the store. We'll have a party to assemble them all into throws for charity. Remember that we have open knitting and crocheting on Monday and on Friday nights. We'd love to have you come.

See you there or at Stitches!

So don't forget to sign up for the workshops we have at our store this coming weekend!
Chris Bylsma is coming to teach two workshops. Friday will be all about felting. She does some really cute pillow rolls, or you can choose to make a great felted bag. If you've wondered what all the fuss around felting was all about, sign up for this class and catch the bug! I overheard someone at the store say today: "I could never do this!" Well of course you can!! And that's what we have these classes for! To sign up go to our website at http://yarnlady.com/classschedule/workshops/06chrisbylsma.htm or come on in and we'll get you signed up. Talk a friend into taking the class with you! We will even serve you lunch!

Oh, before I forget- on Saturday you will be making the "Crayon Jacket"
Chris told us that this is one of her most popular classes. (I just checked: It's sold out at Stitches) You can bring all of your left-over yarns to use along with the 5 or so balls you will probably need to buy that day.

You will be asked to pay only $80.00 for each class (and that includes lunch). I just looked up what the charge is at Stitches and there you would have to pay $135.00

At Yarn Lady, we try to bring you popular "Name" teachers at very reasonable prices. We want you to think of us as THE place to go for instruction and for your yarn.

Watch our newsletter for dates for Melissa Leapman and others to teach at our store. Don't miss out!

So here is Alberta trying on a wonderful creamy sweater and scarf made out of handspun Cashmere. Barry is modelling a scarf made out of the same yarn. This is for when you want to be extra good to yourself....
btw: you can see closer pictures of all of these garments on Trendsetter's website for now and we are working on getting them onto ours. The patterns are at the store and you can come in to buy them and the yarn to go with them or you can call the store.
http://trendsetteryarns.com/pattern33a.htm

The next picture shows Karen in a very open shawl. Barry showed how they had hot-glued some special pailettes on there. It was quite interesting. You could wear it open as a shawl or simply scrunch it together and then it would look like a scarf. Very cool!!




Then Barry held up a cute little sweater made out of Pandora Shadow and it looked great with him holding it. But here's my point: it looked soooooo much better when Jen tried it on!! Alas, the sweaters went back home with Barry to make the rounds around the nation. Some of them will come back to us as store models (they have a special program) and others we will have to wait for.

My point? Next yarn tasting or fashion show, please be there!

When you get to try on these wonderful garments, Barry is right there to tell you more about them and to tell you how he thought they should be worn and what he was thinking when he designed them. Where can you get that??

First off, I would really like to thank everyone who came to our Trensetter Yarns Yarn Tasting last Saturday. It is always so much fun to get to play with the yarns and knit or crochet with them and then to have Barry Klein present to us all of his newest designs in person.

You can see pictures of a garment in a pattern and you can even see a model garment. But until you get to try it on you will just not know how it will look on YOU!!
We find so many times that garments don't attract much attention until someone tries it on. "Who would have thought that it would look and feel soooo good!!!" is a comment often heard.

So now we'll talk about the Trendsetter Yarn Tasting. You know we carry a huge selection of Trendsetter yarns. You know we carry all of their patterns which come out twice a year. You know that we have many of the models of these patterns in our store for you to see and try on.

But during a Yarn Tasting, Barry is there himself and he brings samples of all of the yarns and you get to sit and try them all out! Some of our regular attendees have gotten smart and are making hats and purses while they are sampling the yarns.

Great job, ladies!

Oh, you just have to see this purse!! Jen says she "borrowed" the inspiration and then designed this awesome purse. It uses a lot of freeform crochet. While it's almost impossible to record all of your doodles when you do freeform, Jen is working on writing a pattern for this and publishing it. You will be able to purchase it at our store. If you're interested, please call the store and ask to be put on the list.

In case you forgot, Jen is co-teaching with her mother, Jan at our store. There are lots of classes to choose from so do go to http://yarnlady.com/classschedule/index.htm to check them out.

Judy came to work in this lovely outfit done in Bamboo, I think she said. It's two pieces that she got from different patterns. She also made the tank top a little longer than the pattern said because that's the way she wants to wear it. Of course, it's always our perogative to change patterns to our liking. This makes knitting extra fun because now you will truly have a custom piece.

When I'm not at the store, Judy is the one who will write that custom pattern on the computer for you. She'll ask you to bring your needles so you can swatch the yarn. Then she'll take a guage off the yarn and take your measurements. PLease allow plenty of time when you come in for this.

Here is Laura again with a work in progress. This little topper is crocheted and she has already worn it but without sleeves. She said it was easy to make and wonderful to wear but now she did decide to add the sleeves. As you can see it would look great either way.

Martha as well as a couple of her students have made this wonderful felted bag. You really need to see this in person! The size is "just right" and the flowers on it truly makes it look like a flower basket. What a work of art!!

Martha and Laura's students do have so much fun in their classes that they just can't wait to start their new projects! You're welcome to join the class at any time. It's ongoing and everyone works on their own project. You don't have to make what everyone else is making.

The third picture (the one on the right) is Lauren with her beautiful collared shawl. This is a pattern from Jane Slicer-Smith and uses the wonderful Merino Otto. If you look closely, you will see that Lauren was in the middle of putting fringe around the collar when I caught her for this picture. We decided that you could now see what it would like like with or without fringe. The fringe does dress it up though. This shawl is a great way to try different stitches for a very sophisticated look!

I've been sitting and knitting all day trying to get my last minute designs ready for our trip to Stitches Mid-West. As usual, we are bringing WAY too much stuff! But you can't sell it if you don't bring it, right?

Yesterday we had a great day at the store with our Trendsetter Yarn Tasting. But before I share you stories and pictures from that, I would love to share some pictures with you of some more WIPs and completed (YEAH!!) projects.

Btw: we have a WINNER for our last Newsletter from Yarn Lady. Remember, we hide an e-mail address that has some letters missing in each newsletter. If it's yours you win a prize! This time our winner was Carole in NYC. Congratulations, Carol!!

Our next Yarn Tasting

Can't fail to remind you about our wonderful Trendsetter Yarn Tasting which will happen at our store tomorrow. (btw: have you noticed that we have a special event planned for you just about every weekend?)

What IS a yarn tasting you ask..... Well, we know that yarns are expensive and you may not always know what you are looking for or how a yarn will look when knitted up. Perhaps you're also not sure how the color will look...

Enter our Yarn Tastings. It's where we invite the suppliers to come and bring their new lines (and their current lines) and for a mere $5.00 fee you get to sit and sample the yarns. Bring all of your needles because there will be lots of different sized yarns and gauges. You'll have a short time to knit with each yarn and this gives you the opportunity to sample a yarn before you buy it. Since Barry Klein will be here and he helps to design some of these yarns when he talks to the manufacturers, you can get a lot more back ground. Barry will also bring with him a bunch of garments and he'll be looking for volunteers to model them for you.

So come and bring a few friends! Please register ahead so we're sure to have room!

Have I already told you about this cute little summer top? Of course, Sue is such a great model! Yes, you do see a little fuzziness in it, but not too much. I used three different Prism yarns and changed yarns every row, so you never get too much of one thing. The whole construction couldn't be easier. While you wouldn't call it a 5 hour sweater, it is a project that you can still make for summer!

I looked in on Jan's (and Jen's) class the other night and found these works in progress: A wonderful little 5-hour baby jacket (get it with the clock??)

Our resident bear had to model since there were no children present. This is a pattern that should only take you 5 hours to make. What fun!!

Then there was a baby blanket into which lots of prayers for the baby were being stitched. And then there was this really cute doggy dress!! Yes, you read correctly. The happy recipient of this wasn't at the store, so again we used a stand-in model.

And last but not least, JB is working on the cutest little baby socks!

Thanks ladies, for letting me share your work!

More fun at Yarn Lady

Since I can't make the images behave the way I want to, I thought I would just keep making seperate posts......

These are pictures from our recent Tibidoo Trunkshow. It was great fun to have all of these little baby outfits at our store. The idea was that you could order the kits or even order the garments ready made! What a great gift for that special little one!

Even though the Trunkshow has moved on, you can still look at a catalog and order these things. Come in or call.

More WIPs

As I'm going through my pictures, I keep finding more that I'd like to share with you...

This is a little shrug that Our newest (and oldest) teacher did and will be teaching a special workshop on. Newest and oldest? So you wonder what am I talking about!!

Susanne (that's not her in the picture) is coming back to teach at Yarn Lady after a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG absence. Susanne was one of our first teachers when we first opened up our store many years ago. She's not really old:-)))

Have a look on our website about her upcoming classes. http://yarnlady.com/classschedule/index.htm

Some pictures and works in progress

I can't believe it's already Friday and our last blog was on Sunday! Where has the week gone!
We had a wonderful concert right in front of our store last night. The landlord is trying to lure the community into our center by providing these concerts. There is one more planned for next week and they'll have puppetteers there for the kids. So come on over if you can. Local merchants have given great prizes which will be awarded to a lucky few.

In the meantime, I'd like to share with you some pictures of some things that have been made or an in progress . If I can't remember your name but have your picture up, please call so we can fix that. (some-timers is setiing in big time in my brain!!!)
One of the popular things to do right now are purses in any shape form and size AND material. From ribbon to "regular" yarn, from felted to original. You just have to see them! Then the ladies have found someone who will line these purses in a very professional way for a reasonable price. We have handles galore for sale in the store or you can make your own.

Well, the pictures aren't lining up the way I want them to, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.