A picture worth a thousand words

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

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

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)

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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?

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

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

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