Rearranging

I had some time last week so I decided to rearrange the store again. This is the front room. Colinette Ab Fab afghans hung on the wall but the kits are no longer available in Canada so I took them down.
Merino Otto is now in the front room along with some great garments designed by Jane Slicer-Smith.

I hope you enjoyed Canada Day. Dad, Beth and I golfed. My game was much better but my body still hurts.

Mom goes in for surgery in the morning. Her surgeon (who has done major work on her for the past 20 years) hopes that it is a simple hernia operation and that she can come home on Friday. One day in the hospital will be a first for mom.

New sock and shawl yarns have arrived in the store. Don't forget to ask about them on your next visit.

I'm not sure how much I will get to write before the tent sale. I have a garage full of yarn to organize.

Canada Day

I hope everyone is enjoying a day off. I thought that I would be able to write a nice long post with pictures but no luck-my dad called and wants to go golfing. He has finished his work in the basement and has nothing to do today.

The basement is looking great. The floors are in and the baseboard is done. We convinced him that we wanted white wood trim like the upstairs. In his words-it was a bitch to do but it looks great. Hopefully the painters will finish this week and then the bathroom will be done next week.
Have a good day and I will do a real post when I'm back in the store.

It's Here

It's here and looks great!!!

Patternfish

A friend of mine has started a new company that sells knitting patterns online, Patternfish. Currently there are almost 900 patterns in the data base. There are search criteria so that you can find a pattern easier, for instance, men's, v-neck with cables. You will find out of print patterns from Reynolds (old Norah Gaughan designs like this one), Naturally, Twilleys, Style Craft and Classic Elite as well as new patterns from Cabin Fever, Phoenix Bess (a 15 year old designer who has a book coming out next year), and a Sally Melville exclusive.

You can now browse for patterns in the comfort of your own home, download the patterns and then bring them yarn shopping.

If you are a pattern designer, please contact Patternfish about having your patterns on the site.

Della Q

My first shipment from Della Q just arrived.
This needle case will hold 12 circular needles. There is also a zippered pocket. Made out of 100% silk it measures 8.5" x 8.5" when tied.

For the last two years I have looked at these while at TNNA. I really liked them but didn't order because the numbering for the needles was in American sizing. They are now available with Metric sizing.



Four colours are available. Shown in Green Stripe. Also Available in Blue, Fuchsia and Yellow Stripe.

Revisiting an old friend

I know it has been a while since my last post. I stayed away from the computer last week and did some knitting. I worked on my shawl for part of the week and then picked up Lizard Ridge again (I had to try out the new colours of Kureyon).
This is 217-Earthtones W, Teal Yellow
This is 233-Deep Blue, Olive

Yesterday I went golfing. My body is very sorry today. It has been almost 2 years since I played-my game was awful but we had fun.

Some of you signed up to receive the emails about new sock and shawl yarns. The first went out on Friday when a shipment came in from Lorna's Laces. There are many new colours of Shepherd Socks and six colours of Helen's Laces. If you were having troubles signing up, please send me an email and I will add you to the list.

I have started pulling books off the shelves for the tent sale.
-select Rowan Magazines $20
-select Rowan smaller magazines (for individual yarns) $15
-Nashua magazines $8

Customers have been asking when the new yarns will be arriving.
I just talked with Berroco and their yarn and books should be here by the middle of July.
Rowan is supposed to be shipping on July 15 so we should have the magazines and yarns the following week.

Work in progress, new yarn, coming soon

I am going to start sending out two new newsletters for the store. The first will announce the arrival of sock yarn and the second shawl yarn and patterns. Those receiving these emails will have at least a 24 hour advance warning before the yarn is put in the store or I mention it on my blog. Just click on the 'Join The Needle Emporium Email Mailing List' to the left and enter your email address. You will receive an email asking you to confirm the areas that interest you.

I really wanted to start a new project but decided that I had to get some of my other projects finished. This is the Dawn shawl that I started quite some time ago. I am about 30% done.



Lorna's Laces is bringing out 4 new colourways for fall. This is Helen's Lace in the new colour Ashburn. The new colours should be here in about 6-8 weeks. I was given this skein so that I could get it knit up in time for the Knitter's Fair. I have the pattern picked out but I have to finish my Dawn shawl first.




Rowan Colourscapes is a new collection of chunky single-ply Shetland style wool. There are eight different colour variations available which were created by Kaffe Fassett.

Fall Rowan Preview

I am back in the store today. There will be lots for me to do. A shipment of the Noro arrived yesterday. The new colours of Kureyon and Silk Garden are here.

The trip to TNNA was great. Seeing old friends and meeting new people is always fun. And the yarn!!! Most of my ordering was done before the show. The show is a great place to see garments knit up and find accessories (bags and shawl pins) that we don't have here. I did damage in four booths

Namaste
-the new bag called Newport looks great.
-Peacock (the new seasonal colour) is a dark teal blue. The pictures on the Internet don't do the colour justice

Offhand Designs
-there are six new fabrics for fall which I have ordered in the different styles. These won't be in the store until September

Prism
The colours available from Prism are some of the best on the market. It is amazing to see a whole booth with these amazing yarns hanging-it really makes you want them all.
-Gossamer is a new lace weight mohair.
-new colours coming in Lace Wool
-new colours coming in Saki

Lorna's Laces
There are four new colours for fall. I ordered these in Shepherd Socks a couple of weeks ago so that I could be first in line. At the show I added these colours in Helen's Lace. You might see a trend happening here-lace and sock yarn. More and more customers are coming into the store looking at the lace yarns so I have decided to give you an amazing selection.

While reading some discussions on Ravelry I saw that pictures of Rowan 44 had been posted on the Internet. Since they are being shared by others, I figured that I would share them as well. Sorry that they aren't bigger but now you can drool until the magazine comes out. This is Rowans 30th anniversary issue and the designs are fabulous. They remind me of the designs from Rowan books 1-6 that made me fall in love with Rowan.

I have been told that the release date on the Rowan is July 15 so we should have it a few days after that.


















The four garments on the right of this picture are knit out of Kaffe Fassett's Colourscapes. This is a chunky, self-striping yarn. There will be a magazine with about 10 designs dedicated to this yarn. I loved the look of the yarn and the colours.