25 November! It's almost Christmas!

Rachel-Marie took this picture today after we put lots of hundred year old ornaments on our little shop tree. Tucked in the front window, imagine that our late-nite, last minute knitter has just gone to check on the kids before sitting back down for a cup of tea. We have a few more doodads to add to complete the scene; like the knitting! Conveniently, I have a half knit pair of socks to lend an air of knitting reality! We'll finish the display tomorrow. It was fun to decorate the tree with Rachel-Marie, we listened to Christmas music! Special thanks to the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA for the Christmas antiques. If you live in the area and haven't had a chance to see their exhibit, see if you can fit it into your holiday plans (you'll need an hour and your camera!). There is also a beautiful exhibit in the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum curated by the NCC, called a Lancaster Christmas.

Well, that's a lot of Christmas right before Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving!

Practicing gratitude,

Wendy

New Yarn Today, Live Music Tomorrow

Today was a big day for new yarns at LYS! We got boxes and boxes of Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride in the worsted weight. It came as 4 ounce (190 yards), reeled skeins. You can really see the shine from the mohair and the colors are beautiful.
The Opal sock yarn in the Harry Potter colorways came, too, along with an incomprehensible German poster. We all sort of can't stand that there isn't a Hermione colorway, I mean, WHAT? Nevertheless, they're all pretty groovy and should knit up pretty nice.
You'd think I'd take my camera to the shop every once in a while...but not this time! Pics soon, and the yarn will be on the shelves tomorrow (and, hey, if it's not, you can buy it out of the boxes!).
Tomorrow night is 3rd Friday in Lancaster. Lots of shops and galleries stay open late and host live music. So, we're jumping on the bandwagon, and hosting The Wringers tomorrow, November 21 between 7 and 9 p.m.
The Wringers are an old time music duo, I happen to be married to 1/2 of the band. That would be Bob. Mike Witmer is the other 1/2 of the Wringers, (he happens to be MaryKay's husband) and also the painter responsible for the beautiful paintings hanging in the shop.
Stop in with your knitting & get an earful of oldtime!
Happy Knitting!

Opal Harry Potter Sock Yarn!

Coming very soon! I already have a favorite, what's yours?
(Phew! I remembered how to make a proper link.)

Brown Sheep link

Okay, here is the link for the Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted!

What does a Root Canal have to do with knitting?

Well, lots apparently. Last Thursday, I had a toothache. I went to work late, after paying my dentist $50 to agree that yes, I had a toothache. There was nothing to do but let it develop. Of course, Friday I worked at my other shop, and was very busy all day. When I got home, the toothache had worsened to a constant, awful pain. In fact, it was so bad, I couldn't knit. That's when I knew it was serious. I made it through a very busy weekend, knitted not at all, and this morning, I had a root canal. I still haven't done any knitting, and my mouth still hurts. I am assured that it will get better soon. I'll let you know when I'm knitting again.

choosing new yarns

It is raining and I have a rare morning at home. So far, I've spent it making sandwiches, eating cheerios and drinking coffee. (It's almost time for another cup!)
Yesterday, I pored over the color cards for Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride. The colors are so beautiful it is hard to choose what will look best in the shop. Here is a link to the web page showing what I'm looking at
I've also placed a reorder with ShiBui for more sock yarn! We'll have more of what you've already seen, and some new colors, too. I'll post here when it arrives--I've sent back the trunk show, but we'll have more paterns, too, notably the button down sock pattern.
Yesterday, I ordered our first sock yarn from Opal--are you ready? We're gettting the Harry Potter line! There are 8 colorways, & I can already tell my favorite is going to be 'Tonks!' This yarn will arrive in early December, in time for QUICK holiday sock or glove knitting!
KnittyDirtyGirl and RippleStitch are ganging up and getting some new hand dyed, locally raised woolies ready for the shop. We'll have two ply and single ply corriedale yarns.
Check out the Lancaster Yarn Shop group at Ravelry Rachel-Marie set this up for us, as I am hopelessly stuck in the 20th century and could not figure out how to make the graphics work.
Tonight is our drop in stitch and bitch--bring your knitting!
I'll be at LYS this afternoon and evening, hope to see you there!

The weeks are flying by!
Last week, Kellie/Whorled Peace (check out her etsy!) stopped in with a big box of roving and lots more of her amazing hand painted sock yarn. I've been eyeing sock yarn for other projects--baby sweaters and booties come to mind--even an openwork cowl would be really nice in superwash merino!
The new Interweave Holiday Knits magazine is in! We got 12 copies, stop in to get one. There are some sweet patterns, and a contest to win a copy of Franklin Habit's "It Itches," which is also available in the shop. I love his blog, and I love his book. You can find Franklin on Ravelry, too.

We also got a few more copies of Living Crafts Fall 2008 Issue, which is their annual 'wool' issue. I love this Waldorf inspired magazine, its not just knitting, and it is so friendly!

Just in time for First Friday, we brought in some beautiful fair trade handknits from Nepal and Ecuador. Recycled sari silk hats and scarves and big wooly socks, mittens, and hats.

So, that's LAST week--I'll be in the shop tomorrow, and I'll let you know what's new this week soon!

Don't forget Lancaster marks First Friday on November 7th this month! We'll serve fresh roasted Ripple Stitch coffee and dark chocolate Wilbur Buds. We'll be open until 9:00-ish. Stop in to say hello while you're downtown!

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