We had a great Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. It started off Christmas with sining Christmas carols around the piano. Then Meika opened her new PJ's and off to bed with the kids.

The next morning Meika and Megan arrived in style courtesy of my son Morgan. They came by wagon with all their presents. I didn't quite get Meika's doll blanket done by Christmas morning so I am showing it to her still on the needles. She will get used to this as she grows and realize presents on knitting needles are presents in progress. She seemed to cope well and the blanket is done today and on the doll.

This is my son Morgan and partner Sjanie. They came for Christmas and had a great time. They cooked a wonderful dinner for us. Sjanie crochets so she got a gift certifcate for Fun Knits and the latest crochet magazine as one of her gifts.

This is what is going on at my house today (the new doll blanket is under the other blanket on Mieka). Sleeping off the big event. While they slept I went and registered for this workshop. My Christmas present to me from me. It should be great fun. I can't wait. I am going to try my hand at spinning and weaving.

Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas eve is here already. I have been very busy getting ready for Christmas and am barely ready. At least all of the shopping is done. Today I need to bake and wrap presents. I have learned not to bake too early for Christmas or it gets devoured, but this is leaving it a bit late.I didn't get much knitting done and the only one getting anything I knit is Meika of course. I knit her a little sweater and I knit her a doll blanket. Both are wrapped so I will show a picture tomorrow.
This has been an exhausting month with the move to the new store so I am looking forward to a few days at home. The store will be closed on Boxing Day so I can stay home and hang out with my family. We will reopen on Wed. I know a lot of people got gift certificates so we will see you next week in the store or online.
If you left your Christmas shopping to the last minute like I leave baking and wrapping then you can buy Gift Certificates online for Fun Knits.
Have a great Christmas.

Pictures of the New store finally

This is the new sock yarn section and a table to knit at and look at patterns








The view from the cash register.
I finally got some pictures of the new store. I didn't get my pictures until closing last night so I didn't get a picture of my new sign but that will come soon.
I still have lots to do to get the store how I want it but that will come in time.

Gift Certificates

They are the most wonderful gift to give and to get. You know the person you are giving them too will get just what they want. No worrying about picking wrong colours.
So this year Fun Knits Web Store has Gift Certificates for sale in Canadian or US $. They are very easy to buy and very easy to use. You don't need a paypal account to buy them but the gift certificate is processed using paypal.
Another feature about these great gift certificates - you can buy it today and have it delivered to the recipients email address on a specific date - like Birthday or Christmas.
So send in your requests to your friends and relatives. Then get what you really want for Christmas or your birthday - YARN

My pattern is in Knitty

This is great the Knitty magazine came out this morning and how I found out was all the orders I received for yarn. My pattern is for the Blended Hues Cardigan. It is a cardigan I made for Meika using Island Hues lace weight yarn with 3 strands held together and shading from one colour to the next. It is kind of big on Meika in the pictures but fits her better now. The pictures were taken in the summer ( poor kid - it was hot out when we took the pictures.) This is exciting.

An update on the store. It is looking better everyday. I will get pictures next week and show you the finished look of the new store. Today I am just sorting needles and getting them all set up, then the notions and I am done. Not getting much knitting done.

Opening Day - Web Cam trial

Well we opened but it is far from perfect. My husband and I worked til 3 am and then walked home and left the truck at the store as there was nearly 2 ft. of snow on the roads. The weather was very bad here. Today they still haven't plowed any of the back roads so nobody can drive anywhere so the store is fairly quiet.
I got the webcam working so if yoiu want to come in and say Hi give it a try, please remember this is a new set up and we are still figuring it all out so hope it runs smooth but it may not.
Here is the link and then you follow the directions
http://funknits.megameeting.com
the room I created is called openingday .
Come and see how bad I look with 3 hours of sleep.

More snow and more delays

But we are opening tomorrow anyways. We likely won't have a sign we may not have the web cam ready, We won't have all our stock of yarn and we may not even have power. Today we are expecting a big snow storm with blowing winds and then later today it will turn to rain. Yuk!!!. This is a picture I just took of my deck. I am sure for the readers who live in snowing areas normally they think "so what its just a bit of snow" but around here we hardly ever get snow so we don't gear up for snow. Since the first big snow on Sunday the roads are still very icy and you can't get anywhere easily without a 4X4. Luckily we have a 4 wheel drive truck for moving the stock. I don't even own snow boots so am doing all this moving in running shoes. Well enough whining and back to work. I have abopted a new attitude of - " We will open ready or not" and I am not even going to worry about it.

Snow and Ice

Well I have had a few things slow down the move to the new store but this one takes the cake. We had a big dump of snow over the weekend and it is all frozen and icy here - should make a fun slippery time of moving. It is supposed to be cold all week so no hope of this snow leaving soon. Usually here when we get snow it is gone the next day but it looks like winter wonderland will stay all week. I was hoping it wouldn't be raining when we moved all the yarn but I think snow is worse.
Oh well not much I can do but complain. As you can see by the picture nothing, not even snow will stop the yarn parcels from getting to the Post Office on time. Megan and Meika delivered them today on a nice walk in the snow. The roads are glare ice here I am certainly not driving anywhere.

Great sale now back to packing

We had a great sale yesterday. The store looked great and it was good to be in there and get a feel for the new store. I am going to really love this new store. Now we have to move everything in the front section of the store to the back and make way for the yarn.
So back to work.
Here are a few pictures of how we had the store set up.

We even had a knitter in Linda with her finished sweater. Looks great.

Friends and Family Sale

I am having a friends and family sale at the new store space Thurs. Nov.23 from 2 - 7:30 pm. The address is Unit 2 - 671 Plaza Road, Quadra Island. (The mall on Quadra just up the hill from the ferry landing) We are right beside Explore and 2 doors down from the Lovin Oven.
This is NOT a yarn sale. There won't be any yarn in the store until this sale is over then we can move in the yarn.
We are selling the stock from the gift store we bought out. There will be amazing deals, everything in the store will be 50% off the last ticketed price. We have a great slection of Christmas ornaments and Christmas items. Also 180 Beanie babies (yes you read that right) most of them are retired Beanies, many toys and lots of great gift items for every member in your family. If you are reading this you are considered a friend and are invited.
Hope to see you there. We have the place all decked out for Christmas and will have lots of goodies.
I will take pictures to show all the out of town people who can't make it.
See you there

Opal Hundertwasser is here

The Opal Hundertwasser is really nice. Much nicer than the picture and the first yarn to go into the new store. It is the only yarn in the new store. Later today I will take a proper picture of the yarn and show you how great it is. The link to the late artist's web site and sideways sock pattern are on the web site. Go to web store - currency of choice and you will find the yarn just under New yarn.

My last day in the store was wonderful. Lots of yarn shoppers. I didn't get any packing done yet but I am going to start that today. After working in the old store I went to the new store for a while and just sat there and figured out where to put shelves etc. It was nice to have some time to just ponder. I should have brought my knitting as I got nothing done but just look around.

Off to start packing

Here is a before look of the new store

We worked all day today and got the new store cleaned up and the new counters in place etc...etc... So here are some pictures. I love the new showcases. They are amazing. We polished them up and they look great. The wheelchair ramp needs to be stained and varnished and I am going to put a runner on the ramp. Now we have to figure out where to put all of the shelves, baskets,fixtures and yarn from the old store. We can't figure out the lighting either. It will all come together soon.

Tomorrow is the last day the old store will be open so come by and say Good Bye to it.

Update on moving

Things are moving very slow right now but that is going to change. The new store is close to ready. Tomorrow we will finish painting and cleaning. We have the layout planned sort of and now it just a matter of getting the job done. We have all the new light bought and the new sign on order, the phone and computer line ordered.
This was the last Wed in the old store, we will be open again tomorrow and on Sat. We are going to close the store from Nov 22 - 29th so we can move. We have to move all the lights and shelves and of course all of the yarn. Big job
I have a very excitng new feature to offer in the new store. I am going to have a live web cam at the store and people will be able to come on and check out the store and interact with us. They can shop in real time with a real sales person to help them. We will be able to have 2 people at once on line. This will be linked to the web site. I think this is the one thing that is lacking when shopping on the internet is real service and talking to a real person. I really want to hear what people think about this and I also will need a few people to test this new system with. I will let you know when it is up and running and when I will start testing it. I would like it running smooth for our opening day which will be Nov. 30th.
So please send me some feedback on this idea and any suggestions are welcome too. Now back to work.

Local Knitters: Don't forget tomorrow night Nov. 16th is the Knitter's Guild meeting 7pm - 701 Heriot Bay Rd, Bring your knitting and come and enjoy.

Opal 6 ply yarn - Finally

I have had the 6ply yarn for about a week now and I finally got it list on



my web site today. The yarn is really nice. The Rainforest is just the same as the Rainforest 4 ply except the Tropical Fish is much more pastel. It is very nice just pastel version of the 4 ply. I knit this baby hat and leg warmers for Meika with the Zebra. I think they are cute.

This is the Best of Opal 6 ply. The colours are really nice.
From left to right back
1713 - like the Opal Element 1078
1710 - like Brasil 5001
1714 - like Masterpiece 3703
middle left - right
1711 - is like Opal Magic 1037
1715 - like Tutti Frutti
1712 - like lollipop 1009
This is such great yarn. I want a pair of socks made with each colour. I really like the 6 ply fo socks. I just hope I get a chance to knit some for myself. I think I will knit 1715 first.

A great sale

Thanks to everyone who came to the sale week at Fun Knits now I have less yarn to move. The sale was fun and very busy. At one point yesterday there where 20 people in the store, thats a lot of people in less than 300 sq ft full of yarn.. I spent the entire day at the cash and every time I tried to move in my cramped cash area I thought I can't wait to get to the bigger store. So far things are coming along great. The walls are up and ready to paint. The wiring is done in the centre wall. The lease is ready to sign. So this week I have to measure and order the new sign. Clean in the new store and then start moving. I can move in anytime and can open as soon as I am ready. I will be open for sure on Nov. 30th - That is going to be Christmas in the Cove night. This is when all of the store in the plaza have sales and are open in the evening. It is very festive and fun. We go every year and this year we will be in it. Lots of fun.
I just got in the Opal Rainforest 6ply yarn and I will hopefully post it on my web site later today or tomorrow. It is really nice.

In Store sale

Here is the list of the sale items at the store for the Fun Knits moving sale

10% off everything in the store - books, needles and all the yarn
15% off- All Sirdar and Patons yarn plus Opal Batik
20% off all Cotton
30% off - Rowan Kid Soft, Curly Kid, All About Knitting Afghan Kit and the Cat's Meow Afghan Kit.

If you can't make it to the store and want some of these deals email me at shelmack@telus.net and we will figure out something.
The sale will be today Noon - 7:30
Nov 2nd - Noon - 5:30
Nov 4th - Noon - 5:30
See you at the sale

Fun Knits BIG Moving Sale

Yes you read it right. We are having a big moving sale at the store this week. Wed.Nov 1, Thur. Nov 2 and Sat. Nov.4th,. The reality of a moving sale is I would rather sell the yarn than move it. Everything in the store will be at least 10% off. Some selected sock yarn will be 20% off and other yarns will be as much as 40% off. If you live nearby you don't want to miss this sale. This will only be an instore sale.
Hope to see you there.

New store - before shots

Here is a picture of the outside of the store at night. I will try and get a day shot.

They have started working on the New store already so I wasn't able to get any real before shots. They have the new wall studs in and the wiring. They have also cut the wall to get access to the back of the store. Such great progress. The wall with the arch doorway was solid yesterday.

This picture is from the front door looking to the back of the store. It is a long and narrow store as you can see.




This picture is from the back of the store looking toward the front door. My husband is at the front door measuring. We are starting to figure out where things should go in the store. The oak cabinets with glass tops are amazing. My Mom and Dad bought those for me. What a wonderful gift. They are going to be the center of the store and be our checkout and workstation. They will hold a lot of stuff. We hope to be open by Nov 30th.

Happy New Knitter

I love the look on a new knitters face when they finish the first real project. Dawn took the beginner knitter course in Oct and she picked a baby hat for a friend as her project. She did a great job. She made her hat with Sweatermaker hand spun, hand dyed yarn.

Meika tried on the hat to make sure it would fit a baby. If you notice in this picture she is trying to knit the cat. She is getting the connection between animal fur and fibre at a young age.( The needle wasn't close to the cat we were watching her closely.) She lost her needle about a nano second after the picture.

It has been a wonderful fall here. The leaves are all turned colour and falling. We raked and made a big pile for Meika to play in. She really likes the leaves. I have been busy thinking about the big move to the new store. I got a key for the new store space yesterday so I will get in and take pictures. It will be nice to have a before and after record.

The store we are taking is about 2200 sq ft but we are taking 1/2 of it. So they need to build a wall down the centre to divide the space into 2 stores.At the moment the store has a wall down the middle and they need to cut an opening in that for access into the other 1/2 of the store and the store room. It used to be a gift shop called Island Treasures. I remember when I first opened the yarn store here on Quadra, if I went to the Cove for anything, I always saw that store and thought what an ideal location for my yarn store, but I never dreamed I would get that location. I will take lots of pictures and share all the fun of getting the store ready and then moving into the new store.

My plan for the store is the yarn store will be in the front 1/2 of the store and a gift store will be in the back part of the store. This will be a place where we can sell our knit products and Megan's Toe Kozies. It will also be a space where my special needs son can make and sell his crafts, soap, candles and dog biscuits. We are going to set up an area in the back room for him and his intervenor to work and make things. He is becoming an adult this year and is done school in June 2007 so this will be his day job. Hope it all works out as nice as I am imagining.

Fun Knits is moving

Well it is official now, Fun Knits is moving to the Cove. Yes Quadra Island has a Mall. Not the kind of mall you have in large cities but a small funky plaza commonly called Q-Cove Plaza . Q short for Quathiaski. This is a small picture but I will try and describe where the store will be. It will be in front of where the beige car with wood panel sides is parked in this picture. If you look farther down the parking lot and see a red car. That is parked in front of the Post Office. That will be very handy for mailing all of your yarn to you. Between the Post Office and the store is the Lovin Oven an great little restaurant and then a gift store called Explore owned by one of our newest knitters Kelly. She is happy we will be so close to help her out.
The new store is going to be bigger about 500 sq ft. and has a really big back room. I am not sure what Mom and I are more excited about the new store or the back room. We really need storage space. We should be opening in the new store Dec. 1st. if all goes well.
I will miss this little store as it is so quaint but I think we can make the new store as cozy and quaint. At least I know I have enough yarn to fill the new store. I will miss the view here and how close it is to my house. This store is a 10 second walk from my house and the new store will be a 1 minute drive or 5 min walk. Still not a bad commute so I can't complain.
I will get some pictures of the progress as it occurs.
On the knitting front I have been helping Megan make Toe Kozies and getting ready for her Craft Fairs in Vancouver. She has been up here all week so we have had a lot of fun playing with Meika.

New Regia Classic and Fashion colour - Oct. Sale yarn

Here is the new Regia sock yarn - Canadian Classic - I decided to put this yarn and the Regia Canadian Fashion yarn on sale for the month of Oct. Check the Web Store for Prices. For this colour I am sold out of 4744 but have the rest of the colours. These colours are very rich. I plan to knit a few pair of these for myself.














The Regia Canadian Fashion yarn is a great seller but I thought I would put it on sale too. I am out of 4726 and gettin low already on4736, 4733 and 4735. These seem to be the most popular colours. So shop early to avoid disappointment.

It's here

This post is for everyone waiting for the Regia Canadian Fashion collection. It is here so anyone waiting for an order, I will mail it tomorrow and anyone waiting to order you better hurry. Will blog more later. I also got in the other Regia Canadian Classic collection. Wow is it nice. I will have it available at the Web Store tomorrow.

Squiggle shawl

I have had a lot of response to my shawl pattern in Magknits this month. I really liked it so I am not surprised a lot of people do. It is light as a feather once knit and is very easy to knit. The shawl kits are selling quickly so if you want one you know what to do. They are available at the Web Store. I have a few left in the Golden Rose colour. Sold out of the Rainforest for now but will get more. Judy is very busy dying yarn.

These are the kit colours available and here is the pattern

Weekend Retreat at Hollyhock

For everyone who wished they could have come with us here are some great pictures of our weekend retreat at Hollyhock on Cortez Island. On Friday afternoon we all met at the restaurant on Quadra Island and had lunch then the group came over to Fun Knits to shop before we headed off to Cortez. Here we are leaving the dock on Quadra on the ferry to Cortez.

On the way some dolphins decided to follow the boat. It was hard to get a good picture of them as they move so fast. It was nice of them to perform for us.

We arrived at Hollyhock at after a short detour to the local yarn/book store. We just couldn't drive by the yarn store without stopping. We all bought some yarn including me. I got some Briggs and Little sock yarn. I have been wanting to try it before I bought it for the store. I got 3 skeins so that should be enough for a fair trial. It was fun to shop in this little store.

We arrived at hollyhock just in time to get settled in our rooms and then have supper. We all sat around and knit and chatted getting to know one another. The next morning we settled into our workshop of designing random lace. Now you would think that would be easy just to knit random lace but I found it hard. The challenge was to chart the lace then knit it. It is very hard to place lace randonly on the chart. I always ended up in some form of order. It was a fun exercise and I learned a lot. Below is the lovely room we worked in. The house was called Bluff House and it was situated quite high with an hill with a wonderful view among the trees.

Later that day we went to the Beach house and sat on the porch and knit a lot more. This is a picture of Sue teaching Kathy to knit 2 socks on circular needles. It was interesting to watch as I have never taken the time to learn that method. Later that night we went to the Beach house again and knit and talked about everything including knitting of course. it is amazing how much talk about knitting people can do.

This is Barb coming to meet us for kntting on the porch. The geese were neat to watch and they hung around most of the time. The view was wonderful and the setting was very relaxing. I even had a nap after lunch one day. What a treat.

This was the view of the sun coming up this morning. It was really nice. I got up very early , had a shower and then took my knitting down to the living room and sat in the sun to let my hair dry while I knit. I felt like a cat sitting in the sun. It was quite nice. A great way to start the day.

After breakfast we went on an outing to a few local farms and met some of the local spinners and knitters. First we went to Joy's house and got to look at her lovely wool. Isn't this a beautiful room full of wool.
This is Jan and Joy. Jan has lovely Alpaca. It looked very soft but I am too allergic to Alpaca to touch it. I am going to be carry both Jan and Joy's yarn in the store. Jan is going to get some Suri Alpaca spun in lace weight for the store I can't wait.

This is Gail spinning some Alpaca. I really couldn't get too close as I was getting pretty itchy being in the same room with the spinning. I wish I wasn't allergic to Alpaca. I love it.

Then we went over to Ginny's place to meet her sheep. They are so lovely. They were a bit shy of us but also curious. Ginny has a lovely home on Cortez and she invited us in for tea and wonderful conversation. I really enjoyed meeting these fine people from Cortez. We are also going to carry Ginny's wool in the store. It is lovely, she has it in 3 natural colours from dark brown to beige.


After our visit we headed back to Hollyhock for lunch an then back to the workshop. I was very inspired by the lace knitting and cast on for a baby sweater with a lace sunburst on the back. I think it was inspired by all the lace and sun I enjoyed over this weekend. I will show a picture when it is done. I had to leave early and come home tonight . The others all got to stay and enjoy another evening. Tonight they were having and oyster bake on the beach. I am sure it was wonderful. What a wonderful weekend I had enjoing the company of these knitters. I hope to do that again soon.