Tag Archives: yarn shop

Rescheduling Trunk Shows

Okay, I’m back for an afternoon post, but this was not the post I was planning to write! We have a little bad news for those who were planning on attending Saturday’s trunk shows at either of the two wonderful stores. Due to all the stress and exhaustion of the past few weeks, Susie is getting sick again. As in her auto-immune disorder is starting to flare up. Towards the end of the shipping craziness, Susie was starting to get sick, but we were both hoping that a few good night’s sleep would clear everything up and that she’d be okay for the trunk shows. Unfortunately that is not actually the case. She’s got an emergency appointment at John Hopkins on Friday morning and will hopefully be on her way home to Virginia Friday afternoon to try and get some rest and to get better.

We can’t say how disappointed we are that she won’t be able to be at Knit or Purls of Wisdom on Saturday, especially because some of our favorite people were planning on attending, and these are really awesome shops. Both owners were incredibly gracious with our last-minute canceling and we’re looking forward to rescheduling these events for as soon as she’s feeling well enough to go. We’ll let you know what the new date is as soon as we know.

We’re both learning about how far Susie can push herself before she needs to rest and it’s clear that this was too much. We certainly didn’t plan for the timing to work out this way (shipping madness back to back with a trunk show tour) and are definitely being more aware of how precious her energy is and what we can both do to protect it.

Susie would have written this herself, but she’s on her way to tonight’s trunk show at Chelsea Yarns. Tomorrow she’ll be at Pins and Needles. And then she’ll be getting ready for a good rest.

Last chance for NJ / PA trunk shows!

I’ll be back this afternoon with another post, but I wanted to make sure that no one missed the rest of the week’s trunk shows. Please check them out for details, as you may need to RSVP to some of them.

Chelsea Yarns
340 State Route 34
Colts Neck, NJ
www.chelseayarns.com
732-637-8600
Facebook Event
Wednesday, October 9
5:30p-8:30p

YOLYN AM sneak peek2

Pins and Needles
8 Chambers St
Princeton, NJ
www.pinsandneedles.biz
609-921-9075
Thursday, October 10
5-8p

BREKKEN hero

Knit
10 S. State St.
Newtown, PA
908-310-5292
Facebook Page
Saturday, October 12
10a-1p

Rescheduled – TBD

WHITTIER by Alison Green

Purls of Wisdom
2185 Kimberton Rd
Phoenixville, PA
purlsofwisdompa.com
610.933.5010
Facebook Event
Saturday, October 12
3p-6p

Rescheduled TBD

 

PA / NJ Shop Visits

We’re so excited that Susan is going to be visiting several shops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey while she’s in town for a meeting about Spring / Summer 2014. (More on that in our next Behind the Yarn feature.) Susan will be showing off what’s new in our Fall / Winter line (including Tenzing, we’ll be showing you here soon on the blog. You’re going to love it!), having you try on sweaters and accessories, and talking about the farm. Each shop may do something a little differently, so please check with them for details. Some may require you to RSVP!

Susan kicks off the tour at:

The Knitter’s Edge
1601 W. Broad St
Bethlehem, PA
www.theknittersedge.com
484-767-7698
Facebook Event
Friday, October 4
5:30p-8:30p

VIRMONDA hero

Swisher’s Yarn Basket
327 Ferry St
Danville, PA
570-275-9276
Saturday, October 5
2p-5p

Rescheduled TBD

AERLIES hero

Down Cellar
135 S Finley Ave
Basking Ridge, NJ
downcellaryarn.com
908-766-2300
Sunday, October 6
1p-4p

WHITTIER by Alison Green

Close Knit
300 Franklin Ave
Wyckoff, NJ
www.closeknityarns.com
201-891-3319
Monday, October 7
4p-7p

BALTORO hero

Chelsea Yarns
340 State Route 34
Colts Neck, NJ
www.chelseayarns.com
732-637-8600
Facebook Event
Wednesday, October 9
5:30p-8:30p

SPENS hero

Pins and Needles
8 Chambers St
Princeton, NJ
www.pinsandneedles.biz
609-921-9075
Thursday, October 10
5-8p

Moonshine Carme FRONT DETAIL

Knit
10 S. State St.
Newtown, PA
908-310-5292
Facebook Page
Saturday, October 12
10a-1p

Rescheduled TBD

Essex by Alison Green

Purls of Wisdom
2185 Kimberton Rd
Phoenixville, PA
purlsofwisdompa.com
610.933.5010
Facebook Event
Saturday, October 12
3p-6p

Rescheduled TBD

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We hope we’ll see you there!

The I’m-Having-a-Bad-Week Sale

You know those weeks when everything that can possibly go wrong goes wrong? So wrong that you can’t even begin to imagine that things will ever start going right again?

Yeah. That’s the week I’m having.

First, I’m dealing with a banking fiasco of epic proportions. EPIC. It will all be resolved eventually but it’s been a huge pain in the back porch for more than a week now.

But more importantly, my camera was stolen last week. My camera is one of my most precious possessions but it’s also a really important tool of my work. I take lots of pictures of the animals. I do all our photo shoots for our patterns. I actually have a garment that I need to shoot right now for our fall collection.

Which is why I had to go out and buy a new camera and lens yesterday. A very, very expensive new camera and lens. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I very nearly threw up when I wrote the check at the camera shop.

So that’s the bad news. The GOOD news is that all of this means that we’re having a one day sale on absolutely everything today only. From Midnight EST to 11:59 p.m. on August 2, EVERYTHING is on sale 20% off. Yup. Everything. Every. single. thing.

You don’t need a coupon code– we’ve marked everything down already.

So if you’ve been waiting to buy a share or a spot in The Shepherd & The Shearer, TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY!

(Other discounts and coupon codes cannot be applied during this one day sale, but those never apply to shares anyway, so this is a much better deal.)

And with this post, I am turning this very bad week around right now.

WildFibers Wrap Up

I still feel like I’m recovering from being back, but I really wanted to get these photos up of the event we had at WildFibers in Mount Vernon, Washington.

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Like the others, it’s an amazing store. I loved seeing three yarn shops so close together; they are all special in their own way and seem to serve their community well!

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One of the things I love about WildFibers is that they take the time to knit up a lot of shop samples.

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Above, Leaves of Grass by Jared Flood in Findley Dappled Wisteria

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Above Findley in a special scarf pattern created just for WildFibers.

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This is Willa Afghan that was made for the shop by our distributor, KFI in a decidedly different colorway than the original!

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Above Bramble shawl, a free pattern, in Sabine and Zuzu’s Petals in Moonshine.

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On the left is Mathilde hat in Moonshine and on the right is Entangled Vines Cardi also in Moonshine.

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This cowl is called Shoulder Cozy and is made with Marlowe and Kidsilk Haze held together.

And of course, who doesn’t love yarn, lots and lots of yarn?

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They even have some Chadwick (above) and Willa (below) left! They’re both discontinued, so you have to get them when you can. I almost grabbed some Willa for myself since I don’t have any!

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After having a chance to look around, it was time to show our goods to the knitters that came out! And what a great bunch they were!

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Because the space was intimate and it was difficult for the folks to see all the way in the back (there were some folks on the couch by the time I started modeling), I walked around the room to show off the garments. As I said before, every show is different!

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Packer in Yearling WildFibers19

A new pattern we’ll be releasing this fall! WildFibers16

Another new pattern. I know, you’re drooling! I don’t blame you one bit!

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Seymour in Sabine

Towards the end I started getting just a little silly:

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Anthe in Moonshine

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We’ll be talking about the above garment on the blog VERY SOON.

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New garments everywhere! (above and below)

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Then it was time to let everyone get their hands on the garments and try them on. The best part of this is that so many knitters realize that what they think won’t fit them (because everything is an extra small) actually fits great!

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I can’t help but loving to take the shots of messy garments all over a table. I love that they’re picked up and checked out!

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Everyone really had a great time! There were lots of questions and comments and everyone so delightfully friendly!

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Last year when Susie was here, it was extremely hot. Apparently she (and probably everyone else) was sweating copiously because that kind of heat is very rare for Washington and so few people have air conditioners (much like New England)! Stardustsoul wanted to give Susie a hug, and Susie warned her that she smelled like a monkey. (For the record, Stardustsoul says Susie doesn’t smell like a monkey.) To make a long story slightly shorter, Stardustsoul made it out to see us and she brought Susie the most amazing present:

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Susie and I talked with knitters for a long time. It was great!

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Susie might have come with (and by come home with I mean immediately transfer everything she owned to) this Namaste bag:

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We also might have expanded JMF’s button collection:

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At these prices how can you afford not to?

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And look at how friendly their bell is?

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Look who I found hanging out near the coffee and tea? Love it!

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By the end of the night, we were exhausted. But the staff at WildFibers was fantastic! Really, the whole shop was filled with lovely, amazing people and we couldn’t have asked for a better time!

I have one more Seattle Adventure to show you! I can hardly wait!

Pacific Fabrics & Crafts Meet up Wrap Up

Yesterday we went to the Everett, Washington location (there are 5 in the greater Seattle area!) of Pacific Fabrics & Crafts. This unassuming strip-mall store holds a treasure trove of fabric, yarn, and sewing and knitting notions.

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Someone told Susie that you could take any baby bootie pattern and knit it using a US size 1 needle with Findley and get American Girl Doll sized shoes:

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I loved seeing how the yarns were laid out. BAM, as soon as you walked in the door in lovely glass shelving with great natural light.

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The event was well-attended with a bunch of really wonderful, fun people!

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Plotted and Pieced from Findley Dappled’s 2012 pattern booklet, which is now also available in our shop.

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Carme from the Moonshine collection.

After Susie spoke about the farm and yarn line, I modeled all the clothes and then folks came up to check them out in person.PacFab09 PacFab22

Phoebe from Moonshine.

As I said in the last post, every shop does something a little differently. There was free yarn to give away at this show. (Thanks for playing our terrible “guess a number” game!) In order to make sure that they weren’t accidentally charged from them, Susie initialed the ball bands; instant collector’s items!

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Edie from Herriot

There was a little photo booth set up where folks could take a picture with a moose in sheep’s clothing. (The Moose is the Mariner’s mascot.) This group is from a knit night:PacFab20

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Pat, the store manager (center) was fantastic and so accommodating. The staff was attentive and helpful!PacFab35

Pat planned for awesome sheep-themed snacks with a beautiful presentation! Sheep’s Milk cheeses, homemade Sheep cupcakes, even “Sheep Kibble”.

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Cherry, the sales rep for our (and the other KFI) line(s), was super helpful and generous and made the whole experience fun and organized. Here she is below with Pat, whose wearing an amazing shirt:

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After the event it was time to pack up and head to the next one, but not before we did a little more exploring and shopping:

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Susie might have come home with the above twill tape among other things!

This store was really incredible with so much cool stuff to explore and so many super knitters that we had a chance to meet. I was so glad to be able to meet so many wonderful people. I helped some folks select specific yarn colors. I hope you all share your projects with us!

After that we went to another great yarn store, but you’ll have to wait for that story!

Tonight we’ll be at Stitch and Pitch, which Pacific Fibers is graciously hosting. I honestly had no idea how big this Stitch and Pitch was; there will be 3,000 people there just for the Stitch and Pitch. The Seattle Stitch and Pitch was the first one and everyone else jumped on the fun bandwagon. We’ll be trying to take the day fairly easy and stress-free, as it’s pretty nerve-wracking for Susie. I’ll be taking a lot of photos to share with you tomorrow. I hope you’ll be able to join us! If so and you haven’t heard already, details here.

Here we are, Washington!

Yesterday I was up at 5a (after going to sleep at 1a) and out the door and on a plane to Seattle. Susie met up with one of KFI’s lovely sales reps (Cherry) in Denver and then they flew to Seattle as well.

I had a great lunch with Karin (sorry, no picture. I promise we’ll get one today instead!) and then it was off to the Knit Purl trunk show in Portland, Oregon. It’s a lovely shop with warm, friendly staff. They’ve really curated a nice collection of yarns and it feels like the kind of place where every yarn you pick up is going to be special.

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Susie spoke about the farm, yarns, and collections while passing around the garments so that people could see them up close.Portland02

Phoebe Portland01

Blue, far left: Galeta, Red: Eugenia, Gray: Elara Kimono, Brown: Dione. All garments in Moonshine.

Each shop does a little something different. This time folks were given mini skeins for sampling and postcards with the Amalthea pattern (and Flarkin!) on them.

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This is a stack of knits from FW2013. You’ll have to wait a little while longer to learn these garment names:

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We went downstairs and tried on garments:Portland06

Left: Bonnie wearing Cora, and right: Kendra wearing Vera Marguerite. Both are in Herriot

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Kendra is wearing one of the new yarn line patterns. Don’t just just love it?

Susie signed pattern books and we munch of fruit!

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A shout out to a blog reader Doris who joined us last night! It was so lovely meeting you!!

We ate in the Alberta Arts district in North Portland at Cruzroom. The whole street had amazing shops and places to eat:

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Asian Salad:Portland14

One of Susie’s Tacos:

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Then Cherry forced us to stop at Salt and Straw to have some of the most amazing ice cream. I had Strawberry Honey Balsamic Vinegar with Cracked Black Pepper, Susie had Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero, and Cherry had Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache. (I have to say, I was more impressed with this ice cream then Jeni’s in Ohio. I know, I know, Blasphemy!)

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Today we’ll be at two different yarn shows. Please come and visit us at:

Pacific Fabrics & Crafts, Everett Store
Wednesday, July 24
1-3pm
This is a ticketed event. The tickets are free, but you need to call the store!
10203 Evergreen Way
Everett WA 98204
425-353-8866
www.pacificfabrics.comFacebook Event Page!

or

WildFibers
Wednesday, July 24
6-8pm
Space is limited, so please call ahead to reserve your spot!
706 South 1st Street
Mt. Vernon WA 98273
360-336-5202
www.wildfibers.net
Facebook Event Page!

PS: We’ll be posting the Digital Pattern Giveaway Winner later today! Sorry for the delay.

Portland, Oregon Meet Up!

We’re beyond ecstatic be be adding Knit Purl in Portland, OR to the list of places that we’ll be visiting while in the Pacific North West. We will be there on Tuesday (TUESDAY!)  from 6p-8p. Like the other stores, we’ll be having a great time talking about the farm, yarn, and showing off the goodies from Spring/Summer and getting a look ahead at Fall/Winter.

KnitPurl

You can find Knit Purl at:
1101 SW Alder
Portland, Oregon 97205
503 227-2999
www.knit-purl.com

I don’t know about Susie, but I’m in desperate need of doing laundry before the trip and my suitcase isn’t exactly empty from last time, so I better get hopping!

I hope that you’ll join us here or at the other two shops: Pacific Fabric & Crafts and WildFibers. You can find details about all three shops as well as the Stitch and Pitch on our events page on Facebook. Please feel free to invite your friends and tell us that you’re coming! I’d love to be able to match some names and faces!

Washington State Meet Ups!

We have two confirmed Seattle meet ups where you can meet Susie and see both the Spring / Summer 2013 collection as well as a sneak peak at the Fall / Winter 2014 collection.

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Pacific Fabrics & Crafts, Everett Store
Wednesday, July 24
1-3pm
This is a ticketed event. The tickets are free, but you need to call the store!
10203 Evergreen Way
Everett WA 98204
425-353-8866
www.pacificfabrics.comFacebook Event Page!

 

YOLYN AM sneak peek2

WildFibers
Wednesday, July 24
6-8pm
Space is limited, so please call ahead to reserve your spot!
706 South 1st Street
Mt. Vernon WA 98273
360-336-5202
www.wildfibers.net
Facebook Event Page!

WHITTIER sneak peek

In addition, Susie will be at the Pacific Fibers booth after she throws out the first pitch at the Stitch and Pitch.

I hope we’ll see you there!

Gather Here Trunk Show Wrap Up

Last night after we shot several of the Fall/Winter garments in Quincy, MA, we went to a trunk show at Gather Here in Cambridge. I got to play with Susie’s fancy Nikon which made me feel like a fancy photographer, even though I just had it on auto no-flash.

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Although Susie’s had a trunk show here before, I’ve never been! It’s such a delightful shop and it was great to see some familiar faces among the new.

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Virgina, the owner (as well as the Stitch Editor for By Hand), is a lovely woman and she has great people working for her. The selection of fabrics and notions is great!

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But of course I couldn’t resist taking lots of photos of our yarn and the garments.

This one was knit for Gather Here. Plotted and Pieced in Findley Dappled.

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Yearling. (I was lounging on the floor to get this shot!)

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Herriot. (I climbed a ladder to get this one!)

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Findley. (No gymnastics required.)

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GatherHere09 Garments

I think this is my favorite shot of the night:

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We had a really lovely time!GatherHere12 Krysta

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Thanks to everyone who braved the rain and thunderstorm(!) to come! There  was a rainbow to make up for it. (Thanks, Julie for the shot!)

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