Check out this wonderful baby blanket

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

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!

Lots of workshops coming up at Yarn Lady

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.

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!

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!

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

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

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

Even more pictures from Camp Summersault

More pictures of knitted scarves for campers at Camp Summersault

More pictures from Camp Summersault

Thanks for your donated knitted scarves

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

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

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

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!!