hi trish
just finished the capri sweater (great easy pattern from dovetail
design) in the merino spray yarn… what awesome yarn its soooooo
soft and light. cant wait to start another project with more of the
same yarn…
have a great 4th… cya soon
DAve Ritz
Sometimes at this point in the year, when customers come in to find they are the only ones in the store, (besides me and the boys) they ask in a hushed and concerned voice “How is your business?” or “Is the economy hurting you?” The concern is real - there are many yarn stores that have closed over the past year and I hear of more every month, not just in this area but across the country. But the market shakeout started well before the economy crashed and Yarn Gallery is doing fine. It’s been a tricky year, but not because our business has declined - it just wasn’t able to grow as much as I had planned for - a case of woman proposes and Wall Street disposes. Anyway, this summer has been typical - knitting and crocheting and yarn buying all slow down when we all get busy with yardwork, vacations, visitors and other summer activities… and I look forward to it every year! It gives me time to play in the store and just let things roll along for awhile. I often hit a knitting lull at this time of year, just like many of you do. The spring models are done and the fall yarns are yet to arrive and I can just piddle around with this or that. La de dah…
And then! Along about now, things get exciting. A huge box of something gorgeous comes in and it simply propels one into knitting mode again. This past week, Fleece Artist and Handmaiden came in - we got 2 new yarns: Margaree, a mohair, wool & silk blend which I had to immediately take home. There are 400+ yards on a skein, and one worked up beautifully into our Simple Lace Stole. I see it as a warm and vibrant layer over a dark winter coat - it’s lacy enough to scrunch up like a scarf around your neck as well, and works up quickly on a 10.5 needle.
The other new yarn is called River, a blend of alpaca, wool and silk. I picked more subdued colors for this yarn, which would be wonderful for a next-to-the-skin garment:
and here is one of our very favorite yarns ever, Mini Maiden from Handmaiden, a wool/silk blend that is soft and just glows from within. The colorway below is a lovely neutral but the yarn is stunning in full color, too. There are 545 yards to a skein, sport to fingering weight, so there are myriad projects that can be completed with one skein.
What shall we do with it???
This week we also got a few gorgeous bags from Atenti - you’ve probably seen their ads in knitting magazines - I couldn’t resist just a couple!
And these wonderful Hermosa bags from Namaste:
Love them, and I think you will too. They’re big, with a million pockets, good straps, they stand up on their own, and they’re certainly handsome enough to carry anywhere. Namaste is finally offering black bags (they’re from California and it just took a while) and the eggplant is beautiful.
Not to gloat or anything, but I have 94 pounds - 94!!! - of great stuff coming from Berroco this week. The UPS man is going to hate me. New yarn - totally worth it.
Okay, so you know I’ll be a raving maniac for a while, with new yarns for fall coming in pretty much constantly for a couple months. I’ll try to control it, and so on to some neat customer projects:
Lynne Nagle’s Diagonal Crocheted Scarf Class finished up this week and here are a couple of examples from Nancy Pawling (blue) and Cheryl Haas (red). They worked with Noro’s Silk Garden, and both scarves are beautiful!
I love the colorplay with this design.
Lynda Slovitsky crocheted this wonderful summer scarf in Royal Bamboo. You see scarves everywhere this summer - ever wonder how people can wear scarves in the heat? This scarf is as soft and smooth as water, cool to the touch because of the bamboo, and a lovely accent piece. Lynda bought yarn to make 2 more, by popular demand.
I told you about Merino Spray last week - that wonderful extrafine merino that I got at such a good price? I made this little cardy out of it and just wait till you feel how light it is and how well it drapes.
I know it’s a little hard to make out, but it’s quite plain with seed stitch borders and I did just 2 buttonholes at the top (but didn’t have buttons here when I took the picture, hence the pin.)
And, just because I wanted to do something small in between big projects, this little headband, named Quant, is entrelac and I’m making it out of leftover sock yarn. (Would be prettier in a different yarn, I think.) 
The original pattern was in Knitty in worsted weight. This lighter version is available free from Spinoff Magazine here. You have to sign up for something but it’s free, and a neat way to try entrelac and see if you like it. This is probably as big a project as I want to do in it, but many people absolutely love it.
Don’t forget, we’ll be closed this coming weekend for the 4th, open again Wednesday the 8th. We were going to be closed all week (changed my mind) and Janet made other plans, so she won’t be having her sock class Friday morning.
Enjoy the holiday! See you soon…
Trish
just finished the wave stitch tank top (house pattern).. the pattern
was fun to do and a fast project..
i love the color of the yarn sage, cream and lt greyish taupe..
(bonsai by berroco).. im next going to make a childs sweater in
merino spray ..
cya son
Dave Ritz
Too much to talk about, too much to think about. Lots of ideas swarming around in my head - a design I want to work out, new ideas for class formats, lots of websites out there to look at, too much yarn on order, things I’d like to do in the shop - gah!
Art on the Avenue last Saturday was nearly washed out, but they persevered and had it anyway. Our sample sale didn’t get done because, even though Janet came in and helped to prepare everything I had ready for the sale, it was pouring in torrents when I got to the shop on Saturday and I never got tables set up. I apologize to anyone who came just for that purpose. I’ve decided to have a couple of shelves just for finished items at the back of the shop near the books, and that will be that. These are items made from yarns or patterns that aren’t available anymore.
I’ve also decided not to take the whole week of July 4th off, because I just don’t need more time away. I’ll be closed July 4th through the 8th (Saturday through Wednesday) and that’s it. I may steal away in August and maybe not but I’ll be sure to let you know!
Meanwhile, classes starting in July are Oops! on July 2, Ivory Leaves Jacket on July 12, and Market Bag on July 18. Get details here.
Look at the pretty yarn I got last week. I got a great deal on discontinued colors and am selling it for $5.95 a ball. This is Kashmir DK from Louisa Harding, a blend of merino, microfiber and cashmere. There are a couple of other brighter colors in addition to these three:
And this is Queensland Merino Spray, an extrafine merino DK. When knit, the “spray” gives a pretty tweed effect:
Great colors! I’m making a rather plain little cardy out of it - lovely to knit with. I don’t think I’ll have these yarns long at this price so I hope you’ll come in if you want a nice mid-summer bargain.
Lantern Moon sent us some new buttons - very pretty mosaic-look mother of pearl
and new rice baskets (yay!) and needle cases in their oh-so-beautiful silks.
Also got restocked on yarns from K1C2, specifically Ty-Dy 
in terrific colors to make something great for you, or this cute little girl’s tank top that I showed you last week:
And we’re all stocked up on Baby Boo bamboo/nylon blend, again a great yarn for kids’ things
or this really neat lace number just for you, which you’ll find on Knitty here.
Cute, right?
Speaking of cute, here are some cute - or at least unusual! - projects for your inspiration:
Remember this from high school biology? Jeannie Edfort did too, and found a way to exorcise the demon!
Tanji Terrell knit this adorable baby sweater in 4 terrific tweeds from Cleckheaton Country 8-ply superwash wool. Very fashionable baby!
Bronwen Gamble finished her first pair of socks - she swears there’s a second one, but I’m suspicious. (Not Really! I’m the one with the second sock problem.) 
And this week’s Belle is definitely Karen Walter, looking really terrific in her cardigan from the cover of Knits, Spring 09, made in Cotton Classic.
Lovely!
Did I say everything I wanted to say? Never get there, it seems, but enough anyway. See you soon…
Trish
I’m back from TNNA - it was a great show! Last year’s crowd was thin, the fashion show uninspiring, and the vendors discouraged. This year was a whole different story. I think we all felt - hooray, we made it through the worst of times and, even though we’re being pretty conservative (some of us, I don’t know any of them personally, it’s certainly not me), it’s time to breathe again. The mood was relaxed and cheerful and fairly optimistic. No one is expecting a record year, but we all feel that things have settled.
The yarns, people! It’s a wonderful year for yarns. I wish I could tell you about everything I bought, and the things I saw that I didn’t buy. You’d be reading till next week. The range of gauges and fibers, the silly things (and I bought some - oh, yes! It’s time for some fun again), the colors, the design collections. All very inspirational, some solid tradition and some complete whimsy. As things begin to arrive, I’ll go into more detail about them. For now, just know that I tried to choose the best of Classic Elite, Rowan, Berroco, Tahki/Stacy Charles, Crystal Palace, Reynolds, Knit One Crochet Too, and Manos, and have brought in some new lines - one you saw in my post from the show, but wait till you feel and see the yarns from Punta Del Este. Wonderful merino, wonderful colorways.
And this year I could also bring in some Wagtail Yarns mohair. There’s nothing else like this fiber that I’ve seen - pure lustrous mohair spun in several different weights and in the most gorgeous range of luminous colors that you’ve ever seen. I love the story behind the yarn, too. It’s an Australian family-owned business and is completely vertically integrated: They raise the goats (yes, mohair comes from angora goats, not from mo’s), they do the shearing, the cleaning, the spinning, the dyeing, the packaging and shipping - everything! Lovely people, too - they gave me (and probably other small stores) a break on the opening quantity so that I could bring in some of their yarn without breaking the bank. This is not brushed mohair like you’re used to - I think you’ll love it.
Meanwhile, I just got notice that my order from Fleece Artist has shipped - can’t wait to see it. It’ll take a week or two to get here from Nova Scotia or Vancouver - wherever they shipped from. Expect to be lured with photos of beautiful yarn in new fibers and colorways. Start building your defenses now!
Is that enough raving? I think so. Let’s see some projects:
Connie Hinkle made an adorable baby version of the February sweater (from EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac) and a very cute tube top for her daughter:
Mary Andrew knit this very pretty feather and fan shawl from Aysen, a lovely wool/silk/alpaca hand-dye from Araucania:
Anne Nordhoy brought in another masterpiece, Kaffe Fassett’s amazing intarsia design, I think it’s called the Seven Virgins. No, that can’t be right, there are more than 7 virgins on the sweater. I’ve seen pictures, I’ve seen kits, I’ve seen sweaters started and put in the closet after an inch or two, but this is the first time I’ve seen a real live completed sweater!
This is a view of the back.
Here is a great crocheted market bag done by Lynne Nagle. I see a class in the future - I want one!
And here is Carol Sullivan in her newly-finished boatneck tee. Love the colors and casual fit. She lengthened the sleeves by a few inches. Very cute! Couldn’t resist getting the boys in the picture, too - they follow Carol’s every move in the hope of treats, pets, or just some of her sweet talkin’.
By the way, this is the same design (free house pattern with purchase of yarn) that David Ritz just finished. You can see his wildly fun version in his post below. What a difference yarn choice can make!
And this little Toddler tank top in Ty-Dy is what I worked on while my sister drove us to Columbus and back. All finished, and cute as pie! I wrote modifications for working the top in the round so there’s no sewing up to do. So much fun, you’ll make them for every little girl you know. I just re-ordered Ty-Dy, so we’ll have great colors coming in this week.
Missed the store like crazy while I was away, can’t wait to open Wednesday. See you soon!
Trish
