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