Let's Fall in Love

Steve and I will celebrate our 27th anniversary this July 17th! So I planned a surprise for Steve. This past Friday night, Steve and I went to see the one person in this world that he adores (other than me!) in concert. Diana Krall appeared at The Peace Center in Greenville, SC and we were not disappointed. From the time Diana glided onto the stage until she finished up her encore performance, we were mesmerized. Her beauty is surpassed only by her touch on the piano and her sultry voice. When playing and singing she often changes from a quiet whisper to a bold, bar room sound that keeps you fully engaged. Between songs, she'd be laughing and talking about the antics of her two year old twin boys and her husband, Elvis Costello.

A few times, I looked over at Steve and thought I might have to pinch him. Last year, around my birthday, Steve took me to see my "one and only" - Harry Connick, Jr.. So now we've both had our big dates with our musical crushes and we'll talk about it for months and years to come. If you ever have a chance to see Diana, or Harry, make a point to do it. You'll be enchanted!

Did I get much knitting done on our one night to Greenville? Nope but that's okay....I did find myself wishing I had snagged the black BeSweet wrap with the Ostrich trim to wear to the concert. Then I just decided I needed one of my own. So I didn't knit but my knitting wheels were spinning.

The Black Be Sweet/Ostrich Feather wrap is one of the many in the shop from Be Sweet. The Trunk Show is HERE for Be Sweet Bags & Yarn. Stop in now until July 25th to see the show!

Jo

Maryland Sheep & Wool Adventures!

I'm finally getting around to posting again. Sorry about the loooong delay guess I was focused on the trip!

As you know, we just returned from our trip to Baltimore and Columbia, Maryland. Thirty one fiber fans took the bus ride to Maryland with us. Joe, our driver, was very gracious and tolerant and safely drove the group around without once telling us to, "settle down".

Even early Friday morning Joe kept his cool while we laughed, knitted, shared stories, knitted, drank Mimosas, watched "The Wedding Singer", sang along with The Eagles, and drank Mimosas and talked some more. Poor Joe....what is he thinking (these ladies cannot sing!)?

Lunch at Phillip's Seafood in Baltimore was delicious. My favorite was the crab cakes and something called Crab Imperial which I'm thinking had a lot of butter in it. Our Baltimore fiber celebrity, Erin Taylor Bell (aka MamaE C-Eye-Ber Fiber) joined us for lunch and brought a couple of door prizes: a hand dyed skein of sock yarn and two skeins of hand dyed worsted for two of our lucky ladies!

We walked around the area, went to Barnes & Nobles (the craft section, of course), and posed for cheesy tourist photos. Fun!!

Friday night, we were all checked into the Columbia Hilton. Many ladies went out to dinner and several, including me and mom, stayed in and crashed in our P.J.s. Loading a bus at 6am made for a long day.

Saturday morning brought the big day to life! We woke up to dark, cloudy skies and the threat of storms. We did get rain but fortunately, it was more of a cool, breezy, misty rain so we weren't blown away but stayed comfortable among the sometimes "standing room only" crowd. Someone said they were glad we had the weather we did instead of hot, steamy sun to heat up the farm animal aroma.

Now you see 'em....................................................

now you don't. Good Dog!

As you can imagine, the festival was all I hoped it would be and more. I was lucky enough to find a large vendor of spinning wheels and promptly sat to spin on a Kromski Minstrel. SWEET! Later, I

found a vendor of glass button and markers who agreed to sell to Knit Picky. Another vendor will be sending us hand made drop spindles that are well balanced and spin effortlessly. I'll let you know when these new goodies arrive.

Two entrepreneurs...one politely wiping kettle corn from her lips. And the MSAW crowd!

Saturday night we all enjoyed gathering in the Hilton atrium as GuidoS Dreamy After Party. The door prizes were spectacular and 4 of our ladies won big! As for fashion, Kim wore her Sasha skirt and was one of the stars of the night. The more wine she drank, the more she shimmied. Sarah wore a beautiful pink knitted dress, in a size 2 maybe, and looked like she stepped out of the pages of Interweave Knits. Somebody got pictures of Sarah but I don't remember who. (Please send if you have any-she wants one and so do I). And Laura's Unique Sheep samples were draped throughout the party adding color and creativity to the Hilton! There were many more hand knit items just too many to name them all!

Knit Picky gave a strong Southern whoop every time one of our knitters won a prize. A group of ladies from Canada won several things, too, but remained very calm. We joked that with a few more glasses of wine, we could easily teach them to whoop it up! They thought that would be fun, too.

Sunday we slept in a bit and then met for brunch. We choose from a waffle station, an omelet station, shrimp and salad and a large variety of pastries. And coffee...lots of hot coffee.

With full bellies, we boarded the bus with our luggage, yarn bags, purses and newly purchased goodies. Most of us quietly knitted or napped as the rain poured down and we cruised along the highway towards home. We arrived home around 7pm with new friends, new stash additions, new spindles and a contentment in knowing we had a wonderfully full and fulfilling weekend.

Thanks to all who joined us and I look forward to a future trip together!

Jo

3 Knitters Share Same Birthday!

What are the odds that a friend shares your birthday? How about two friends? It happened with me and Shanna and Juli!

March 19th is our special day.

Every year I look forward to getting together on Knit Night for our triple knitter birthday party. Thanks to all who joined us tonight and to those who sent their well wishes! We celebrated with champagne, chocolate cake, wine & cheese, funny cards, warm hugs, flowers and good friends. What more could anyone want?

Knit Picky's Snow Madam

Hooray for the beautiful snow! This time it happened as we all waited and watched the downpour of rain and wondered if it would really change over to snow....and it did. As I swept off the front walkway at the shop, I scooped up some handfuls of snow and made a mini snowman (or madam). I plucked a gauge swatch from one of our baskets, ruched the edges (don't you love that word?) and made a tiny beret. Pulled off a smidgen of red roving and viola...she was ready to greet the yarn lovers!

Zoey was enchanted with the March snow. This was her first as she turned 3 years old in January and our last big snow was, well...I can't recall. Anyway, she romped and ran only stopping long enough to lick the fluff and off she went again.

And now I'm ready for spring!

Jo

Riding to Avalon

Hey everyone,

I've been doing so good posting to my own blog, but I haven't posted here in ages. I hope this message finds everyone in good health and happy spirits. I've been working on Riding to Avalon since the new year and am proud to announce that I finished it. If anyone has considered making it, feel free to send me any questions. I found parts of the pattern 'interesting'. I used Sublime Merino Cashmere Silk DK, which I have to admit, has become my new favorite yarn.



Happy Knitting - Stay Warm!

Spinning Therapy

Just look....another wonderful way to wear silk!

I wanted to share pictures from our spinning workshop with Linda Witt of Louet. On Saturday, January 31st, our intimate group laughed together and played with our wheels. It was relaxing and we created some wild, chunky yarns. Susan has already combined each of her spun samples to create a beautiful artsy scarf (picture to come soon)!

Oh, yuk....I have a double chin when I spin. Gotta work on my technique.

Is this a great smile or what!!??!!

So for now, my spinning motto is this: why stress and strive for complete yarn perfection when you can create funky, one of a kind fibers!

Thanks, Linda, for teaching us new techniques, terms and in depth knowledge of the fibers we used.

Want to give spinning a try? Knit Picky offers private lessons at your convenience and beginning group classes every other month. Call for more information or to sign up for a class. 336-768-5599

The Case of the Missing Addi Clicks

I was a young, die hard fan of The Nancy Drew series (hence the title of this post). My favorite Nancy Drew book was The Mysterious Mannequin. Anyone else love ND??

I want to discuss interchangeable needles with you. Tiffany and I met with our Skacel reps yesterday and got the scoop on the Addi Click sets. "Where are our sets that we ordered in October?" we asked. It seems they set exceptionally high standards, as they should for $150 per set, and the first TWO batches did not make the cut. "Do you have a set we can see?" we quickly begged. Well of course they did! So we thoroughly reviewed the "set of the century" and here's what we found. Tiffany and I liked them very much. However, we each learned a thing or two that surprised us.

1-The Addi case is strong and elegant, held together by a magnetic flap over the front of the box. It felt like opening a jewelry box-black on black! Nice but about twice the size of the Denise case. Not so easy to pop in your knitting bag but a perfect fit in your suitcase. We gave the case a thumbs up!

2-The size of the case allowed for 12 needles. How did they choose their sizes? First, with the amazingly tight and secure locking mechanism the smallest size possible is a US4-and that is included. The largest size is US15 for all the instant gratification knitters. To get 12 sets in there, it was necessary to omit one so the US 5 is absent. This bugged Tiffany more than me but after thinking it over, I can't recall the last time I used a US4 but I can a US5. Hummm...

And the other big moment was learning they included a US 10.75 instead of US 10.5. Of course this is based on all the metric knitters of the world not just little ole' US knitters. No biggie for me but will take some getting used to.

3-The workings of the needles & cords were NICE. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the join, a spring action mechanism provides a tight, smooth join. And as with all Addi's, the weight of the needles makes them feel like a high quality mechanical instrument!

4-The light blue opaque cords are wonderful and will hold a sweater with ease. The case provides 3 cords: a 47" a 32" and a 24" WITH a connector to make an even longer cord OR attach two ends together and serve as a holder. Nice!

5-In the future, you'll be able to add bits and pieces (more cords, tips, etc) so that will be a plus. But for now, they are extremely hard to get. We are on the large waiting list of shops and hope to get ours soon. Maybe in time for Spring Break? Be assured, you'll be the first to know when they arrive in the shop and I think we will have a shop set you may play with and make your decision. If you can live without a size 5 in your interchangeable kit, then you will absolutely LOVE this set.

Now for the discussion part...

*Any of you own a set already and if so, what do you think?

*How do you plan to use an interchangable set (as your primary needles, back-ups, etc)?

*What do you think of the cost of the set?

*Does it break your heart there is no US5 or not a huge deal?

As always, we appreciate you buying from us and supporting local small businesses! If you want a set, let us put you on the call list and you'll have first dibs on them!
Jo

Maya & Tallulah model their Christmas scarves

This year, I knitted scarves for my nieces. Not anything challenging or technical but heavy in the "pink and fluffy" category. At their ages, 2 & 4, the fluffiness category is more important than any other.

I received these photos of the girls trying the scarves on during the Christmas morning frenzy! I'm a little biased but I think they are adorable in the scarves, don't you??

:)

Got Sheep for Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I wanted to share one of my favorite gifts....a pair of sheep! Melissa got them for me and they are too cute. They even have a fluffy little tail....check them out...

Hope each of you got something fun!! Can't wait to hear about your holidays when we see each other next!

Shop will re-open at noon on Friday, December 26th.

New Classes are up for Jan & Feb!

We finally have our class schedule posted for the happy new year! Take a peek. We hope you can join us to learn, laugh and play with yarn.

http://knitpickyyarns.com/Classes/JanFeb09classes.htm

Rudolpha is our Holiday Sock Yarn for 2008!

Take a peek at "Rudolpha"!! It's warm brown coat, combined with Rudolph's red nose and a feminine pink inspired the name change from Rudolph to Rudolpha.

The Unique Sheep has done it again! They hand dyed this festive colorway just for us and it is going fast! Rudolpha is the colorway and Verve is the yarn: a superwash merino, 400 yards, and cost $22 per skein. Verve is a best selling sock yarn for The Unique Sheep and we've heard many great compliments from knitters about this yarn.

If you'd like to purchase a skein give us a call. We will take your order by phone (336-768-5599). Or email us with your order and address and we can call you for your cc number.

Our winner hails from New Jersey this year! Elaine, your yarn will be in the mail tomorrow! Congrats to you, happy holidays, and a big thanks to all of you who made the guess the name game so much fun!!

We wish you a peaceful season with a few special hours of treasured knitting time!
Jo and the gang at Knit Picky!

We have a winner!!

We do....I just sent an email out making sure she could be 007-stealthy about it 'cause remember....it's top secret. Mum, hush, zip....until the Holiday Party on December 7th!

I love the yarn so much I've plucked out another skein as a door prize for Sunday night. So there's hope yet for another FREE skein. Of course it will be available in the shop on Tuesday, Dec 9th if we don't sell out at the party! ;)

Thanks to all who emailed/blogged and submitted guesses on Ravelry. That was fun. And what a batch of terrific names for next year's yarn!!

The Big Hint for our Guess the Holiday Sock Yarn Contest

Our guessing game continues without a winner. You are to send in your guess for the name of the colorway for our Holiday Sock Yarn 2009. So far, some very close guesses but not the exact name!

As promised, with no correct answer by Thanksgiving, I'm giving you a big hint. The name is a holiday character.

Best way to guess is by email to knitpicky@bellsouth.net but a post here works, too!

Jo

Boxes and Boxes delivered today!

Guess what arrived today??!!?? Yup....our new tees. We've pulled the pre-orders so they are safely waiting on you. And we have lots more!! Red w/gray, Gray w/black, Gray w/pink, Brown w/pink and Pink w/brown.

If you want one in your size & color but can't get here this week, give us a call. We'll hook you up! These Bella design tees are the same ones from last year and are very comfortable!

Also arriving:

• New "Handmade" tags to attach to your holiday knitted gift. Soooooo cute! Why didn't we come up with this idea?
• Knitterella's precious knitting themed note cards.
• Books, books and more books.
• HPSY (code for Harry Potter Sock Yarn!!) Finally.....wheee....we love this yarn. You know the company had a flood in the summer and several shops were told "sorry" you won't be getting any HPSY. We got some, not 10 per colorway but 4 in each color...hey, we'll take it!

Last but not least:

BERROCO!!! New yarns for fall/winter 2008! We are planning to do a Yarn Tasting for this batch as they have several new yarns. We won't have these three boxes open for KN but all the others will be available. (we may be able to sneak a peek)

Happy Wednesday!

Jo

Holiday Sock Yarn '08....win a Free skein!

Once again, we have a wonderful Holiday Sock Yarn arriving in December. It will be unveiled (or unwrapped) at our Holiday Party on Dec 7th. After that, it will be available in the shop.

Each year as the weather cools, I think about a colorway, an Indie dyer, an idea and get input from others. And now….we have a terrific Holiday Sock Yarn 08 coming soon!
And again, we are having a guessing game! Do you feel lucky? Are you clever? Can you be impulsive?? If you’re the first to get it right, you win a free skein!!

Send your guesses to me at knitpicky@bellsouth.net. If we don’t have a winner by Thanksgiving, I’ll throw you a bone and send out a hint!

Gook Luck!