Baby Lace in the House!

Yup, it's true...the Malabrigo Baby Lace Weight arrived on Friday and is already on the shelf (and selling briskly!). Check it out


That's a full display of what arrived yesterday, as we decided to start off with the "nearly solid" shades, thinking that the high-contrast multis may not be the best for lace knitting. The soft hand of this yarn is just amazing, and there's 470 yards in a hank (that's a TON of mileage) for just $8.80 a skein. WOW, that's a great price!

Here's a detailed list of what arrived


and more
and more
and still more
For right now, all that you see is in stock and available in quantities that should be sufficient to make almost any lace project your little heart desires. Interested in some? Just contact the shop on our toll-free line at 866-939-BEAR or via e-mail, if you prefer. Either way, our wonderful staff can assist with your covetous yarn needs.

Tomorrow----the newest shades from Dream in Color, the 300 series. YUM YUM they are lovely.

Two Deliveries of Very Pretty Things

It's an alternating Friday, so we had our usual delivery from the lovely Meg (and her fantastic family). I received a piece of artwork from her adorable daughter Hazel and some good conversation with Meg and her husband, and they brought us some of her latest work


That's three different colourways of her Kabam! sock yarn that's a blend of superwash merino, bamboo, and nylon. Tons of yards at the sport-to-sock weight (plenty for a pair of socks for most feet--not for NBA players, however), hand-dyed in her unique striping patterns (to the left you'll see a sock made with Sherwood in her 100% merino, which takes the color deeper than the bamboo blend), and just plain lovely--all for just $27 a hank.

Also in this delivery--more of her LUSH dk-weight yarn. It's 100% merino and superwash and stripes up just beautifully.


I apologize for not yet having a sample knitted up in these two yarns, but trust me, they will make beautiful socks, garments, or ????, all for just $27 a hank (240 yards). We have 6-8 hanks of each of the above-shown five yarns (or I should say we HAD that many--some have sold already), so don't dawdle if you want/need some.

Also in today's massive multi-courier deliveries (we got hit with DHL, UPS, and FedEx....and yes, DHL means we received Malabrigo, in all three weights--worsted, chunky/bulky, and LACE WEIGHT---pictures to come, shortly). Yup, it's the new shades of Colinette Jitterbug. We might well be the first place you can purchase them in the US. Take a gander at the beautiful options


The Tapis isn't THAT intense in real life, but as always, a red like that suffers in digital photography.


Dusk is one of my favorite Colinette colourways, and this fiber doesn't disappoint. I may have to have a pair of socks in that option....and the Raspberry is the same color combo as the vest you saw the very start of in my last post (which is nearly finished).


All four of those are winners in my world, and the Kingfisher is what I'm using for the Ocean Waves Shawl redux I'm currently knitting on (Yes, Kristi, it's coming along very well...you'll see it soon). Raphael is one of Matt's favorite colors, and of course Monet is always a winnter. But check out that Summer Berries....deep and rich purples....plums.....tish of blue, orange, red. YUM

As always, Jitterbug is $20.50 a hank, and we have plenty on hand right now. And don't forget--there's also a booklet of patterns (four in the collection) for full-on adult garments made with this yarn, so it isn't just for socks (tho you can get a pair out of a single hank).

Should you need/want any of the above, just contact the shop via e-mail or call us toll free at 866-939-BEAR and anyone can help you with your needs.

A quick recap of a week of Michigan weather.....Monday evening, time to go home


and the despondant Connor, snow on her back


and the grass in front of the shop (a small patch in the northern corner of our lot)


and then the storm in full fury early Wednesday morning


with it piling up a little bit on the grill


and about an hour later, showing some accumulation


We expected about 3-5" of snow, but in all about 2-3" fell (and stuck on the roads), causing us to have a near-record snowfall for that date. And the fun part of the weather this week--it was colder here for Easter than it was on Christmas Day. Go figure?!?!?!?!

With that, I'm off to the house to knit and relax for a tiny bit. We have a HUGE day/weekend ahead of us (Yarn Tasting is this weekend, both nights) and we should be busy during the day, both days. We've had a ridiculous amount of new product arrive in the past week, and I'll share some of it with you in the coming days (including the new "300 series" shades from Dream in Color, in the worsted). But I definitely wanted to post about the above BEAUTIFUL things. Now, time to go use some of them....

Gwen Is My Hero!

First off, Gwen--please delurk. Click here and send me an e-mail so I know who you are and can thank you properly. PLEASE.

Why is she my hero? In my comments from yesterday, she suggested I find a copy of Knitter's Magazine #57, from Winter 1999, and that further....I look on page 50 at a Kathy Zimmerman design. Given that clue alone, I knew she was onto something.

Said magazine found, at home, in pattern stash


and page 50 was found


after thumbing through the entire issue. Lo and behold, she was right


Yup, I was going to make that cardigan, as it's simply beautiful (model ain't shabby, either....). THANK YOU, GWEN, for saving this project. Now if you could tell me how to shuck 50+ pounds so it fits.....we're good to go!

I did finish AND BLOCK several (five) garments this weekend, in anticipation of our quarterly Yarn Tasting event at the shop (coming up this Saturday and Sunday evenings). So I get to start several new things, right? (my theory is start two for every one thing finished). So away we go

CookieA sock, using a pattern from her recent episode of Knitty Gritty


Coming along well, for my first toe-up sock using the figure-eight cast on (I typically have used Wendy's short row toe). Plus it's instant gratification in worsted-weight yarn (Dream in Color worsted, in Spring Tickle, from our shelves). And then there's the shawl


Another Ocean Waves Shawl, this time using Jitterbug in a new (unavailable until next week) shade called Kingfisher (swoooooooon). For a very good friend.

And then there's the vest


using Colinette Giotto in Raspberry and the Oat Couture Swing Vest pattern--started late last night. And then there's the Hyphen Boy Three Left Turns Shawl (started last week)


using Cherry Tree Hill Baby Loop Mohair (swooon), in African Grey. And what comes in today?


a box of Colinette Banyan for a shop model (gorgeous cardi with ribbing) and three choices of Parisienne to be used for a bias-knit shawl from "Best of Knitter's Shawls & Scarves". And a box of Classic Elite Four Seasons in solids (new to us)


That about rounds out my day. Now I'm off to find Matt and see what to do about the remainder of his birthday. Lucky him--one of the tasks he took on today was garnering a urine sample from Connor while she was in the yard, so I could transport it back to the vet (she has a UTI that we're battling right now, with meds--but there's also a couple other concerns going on, too....that further testing next week will help clear up). So yeah, he had to follow her around this afternoon with a pie pan .... well, you get the picture. So hop over to his blog and send him birthday greetings! He's a whopping 38 today.....makes me feel old at over 43, yup yup.