The surprise yarn arrived

My favourite yarn has arrived.
My yarn tree in the store needed new decorations so I bought some Colinette Giotto and Isis for it.
It looks fabulous. This pictures doesn't do it justice at all

The colours are great and sadly one of the skiens of yarn was a little messy so I had to buy it, then I had to but its partner to make a store sample(My new excuse to buy yarn).
I have at least 3 scarves on needles right now(all store samples)

but reason didn't prevail and I started a colinette shawl. The colours are amazing together.
I am knitting it 2 rows Giotto and 2 rows Isis. It is growing very quickly.
The store was fun today. I totally rearranged the store. I got a big new revolving rack that hold an amazing amount of yarn so I filled it up. I forgot to get a picture of it in my Colinette excitement.
Yesterday I also got a sample of some Llama sock yarn from a friend. She is sending me some for in the store. The colours are rich and natural and the yarn is very soft. It is blended with merino wool and the bottom white on the swatch is blended with Angora. It is amazing yarn and the socks it makes are super nice. I am going to make myself a pair of Angora llama socks once it comes. I can't wait.They need to be knit with reinforcing yarn for the heels and toes.

Off to knit more on the shawl.

Back from camp

We are back from camp and it will take at least a week to unpack. It is amazing the amount of stuff you need to take when you have a child with special needs. Its a good thing we have a big van. Anyways we had a good time. There was a lot going on for all of us and it was great to see some old friends and meet some new families. We also got to see Megan and Meika. Here is a picture of them in their Harley shirts
She is growing up so quickly and she is so much fun to play with.
We were able to visit with all our kids but for some reason only got pictures of Meika.
I got a bit of knitting done while I was away. I am knitting a sweater for a customer using ecoknits cotton. I will post the picture when it is done.
Yesterday was very busy at the store. Gary and Stephanie the Reps. from Diamond and Nova yarns came to see us with all their suitcases full of yarn.
Wow that is fun. Talk about getting yarn overload.
I ordered lots of yarn and new patterns for the store.
One thing I am excited about is the new sock yarns. Regia has a new line of yarn called the Canadian Fashion series
Sorry the colour samples are so little but it is the only one I can find.
The other sock yarn I ordered was the Online Sierra I have been waiting for this yarn to reappear. It is really nice so I am glad I can order it again. I also ordered the Online Caribbean Collection
These colours are great and I can't wait to knit some of these socks.
I also orderd lots of scarf yarn,. pictures to follow.
The new Noro Silver thaw

I ordered all the colours and enough to make a sweater for myself out of #3 colour. I love this yarn. It is sooooooooooo soft.
I also ordered a few other yarns from Schachenmayr, Rosato in colours 52, 35, 33, 72, 01 and 52. This is very soft yarn and would make a lovely substitute for angora.
Sportic in a few colours,
52, 53, 31, 33, 70, 71,12, 10.
This yarn is very nice bulky yarn and should be fun to make up some patterns for.
I also got a new Baby yarn - Baby Bravo Soft in great bright colours.
Now I need a bigger store or more creative shelf packing methods. Any ideas are welcome.
Did I mention I ordered lots of pattern too.
Now I can't wait for it all to come.
I also ordered one surprise that I will post a picture of when it comes.

Pictures

Here are the pictures I promised.
First is Meika wearing her Opal Rainforest Tiger hat. I used the pattern on my web site to make it.

Meika is now 2 months old and weighs over 12lbs. She is one healthy happy girl. We are going to Vancouver to Family camp later today so I get to see her again. Can't wait to hold her and play with her.
Here are the pictures of the shawl kits and shawls i purchased on the trip.
Sweatermaker Large Shawl is made of 3 yarns all hand dyed and hand spun- 100% Wool, Silk and wool 50-50% and loopy mohair.

Sweatermaker Small Shawl is made of 3 yarns all hand dyed and hand spun- Mohair, Silk and wool 50-50% and loopy mohair.

Here are the kits. Her colours are amazing

I also bought a load of her hand dyed, hand spun pure wool. It is so soft. I knit a hat as a sample and will show that next time. My camera was full so missed that picture. The yarn and the colours are amazing.
Here are my bags of alpaca I came home with

These were heaping bags but I sold some before I got this picture. One of the neat features of this yarn besides the quality and softness is that each skein has a tag that says who's yarn is in the batch. The picture I have isn't too clear but it shows tha Alpaca's picture and their name.


I will be back on Friday. Anyone needing help or questions answered I will have access to a computer so will be able to contact you. If you haven't paid for the yarn from last weeks auction it will be sent next Monday. If you have paid it will be in today's mail and you will be notified.
Better go and get packing.

What a week

My husband and I went on a mini holiday this week. We left Tuesday morning and came back Friday night. That doesn't sound like a big deal to most people but when you work in the field we are in this is a big deal. It is quite complex to get a break from home when you look after special needs people. The week went great. I call it a week as it sounds better than a few days. We decided to go to Victoria and stop at all the yarn stores on Vancouver Island along way. First we went to Uptown Yarns in Courtenay. It is a nice store with lots of great yarn. I got lots of ideas from their store. I was interested in the Sweatermaker brand of yarn hand spun and dyed by a local fiber artist so I got her name from them.
Then we drove to Victoria. We didn't stop at the Naniamo stores as I have been there before. The next day we went to Beehive Yarn store. Well they have every yarn I have ever heard of and plenty I have never heard of before. It was there I was able to make a comparison between Fleece Artist, Handmaiden and Sweatermaker yarn. I was impressed at the quality of the 3 yarns and the Sweatermaker was as nice as the previous yarns so I vowed to get in touch with the supplier.
I arranged to meet her on our trip home.
The next day we went to Salt Spring Island and saw the store there. Then we went to the St' Marys Alpaca farm and bought some fabulous alpaca for the store. This is wonderful yarn. Sadly to say I am very allergic to alpaca and spent the rest of the day itchy and watery. I actually had to get medication to settle it down. What a shame as I love alpaca. Mom is knitting some samples for the store with it as I think it would kill me to knit with it.
We spent the rest of the day just being tourists.
Our last day was the busiest. We went to Sideny and saw 2 yarn stores. They were both great and I got many more ideas for my store. On the way home we stopped at the Loom in Duncan. It is loaded with yarn. The next stop was Courtenay again and a visit with the Sweatermaker yarn owner. What fun that was. I love her yarn and came home with a Van full of it. I will post pictures tomorrow. I m too tired tonight.
This trip was wonderful. My husband and I had a great time and he is the best. When he got bored with the yarn store he just amused himself somewhere else. He works with leather and he always managed to find a leather store near a yarn store so that was convenient.
When we went on this trip I really wanted to see how my new store compared to other stores and I came home feeling really good about the Fun Knits Yarn Shop. I got great ideas to use and a few new lines of yarn for the store. A very succesful trip plus we went out for dinner every night, went to the IMAX theatre and to the show one night. I actually got to sleep late a few mornings (a real treat).
I will post pitures tomorrow of the new yarn and also Meika in the Opal Tiger hat.

Going on a mini holiday

I am going on a holiday for a few days. My husband and I have a few days off so we are going to Victoria. I plan to go look at the big yarns shops down there and get some ideas for the store. I also plan to not plan and just go with whatever happens. I really need a break and this will be a perfect mini holiday. I will bring some knitting as we will have lots of time in the car. Mom is going to run the store on Wed. and I will be back on Friday to take care of the eBay auction and be here for the market and store on Sat.
The next week we are going to a Family camp in Burnaby for a week. We take the kids every year and it is great. It is a camp for families with deafblind children. That makes it sound bleak but it is really great fun. It is neat to be with families that have the same challenges and share stories and fun.
So I probably won't blog too much in the next few weeks.

NO pictures today

I was so busy yesterday I didn't have time to get any pictures. The store was just hopping busy and I was running around all day. The Wed. afternoon knitters came and had a good time knitting. Carol is working on socks, Ginny was busy making tension swatches for a Noro sweater, Carie was working on her hooded sweater for a new grandson and Marnie was so excited because she just bought a new house that she forgot to bring any knitting. We remedied that quickly and I got her some of my leftovers for her to knit an end to end scarf. Mom and I both had knitting with us but didn't knit a stitch.
The funny part of the day was last evening a couple of young girls rode up on their bikes. Shelby a 13 year old knitter has been working on a Boa scarf. She is doing very well but had dropped a stitch. When she pulled it out of the bag the yarn was so hopelessly tangled I couldn't beleive it.
We found the stitch and fixed that, then started to work on this tangle.
What a mess. We found the other end of the yarn and started to untangle it. She went home with it half untangle and the rest was for her and her friend to finish. I'll bet they are still working on it. I really enjoy the kids that knit. Shelby's friend wants to learn to knit too so hopefully she will start soon. I figure anyone who declares they want to learn to knit while in a mess like that Boa tangle must be sincere. Today I need to knit sock, I have 4 orders and am out of adult socks for the market again.

A good reason for not blogging

I have a good reason for not blogging all week. Look who came to visit.
Megan and Meika. My 2 pretty girls.


Meika is now 7 weeks old and she is so much fun. She is starting to smile and get playful so I have got nothing done this week except play with Meika.
Here is a picture of her smiling. She is so cute. She is a really good baby and sleeps about 5 - 6 hours at night now. She is mostly happy but when she fusses wow can she scream.

Now down to business. I have got no real knitting done this week. The little Opal Batik and 6 ply sweater just needs a front and then it is done. I got a few scarves done as store samples (good excuse to play with new yarn).

The store has been really busy, Wednesday was great fun. A lot of local knitters were in and I got some pictures of what a few of them are knitting.
Ginny is new to sock knitting and this is her first sock finished and the second well on it way to done. Good going Ginny

Carol is working on a hood sweater for her grandchild. She is working on the front. The basket in the picture was hand made by her friend. Carol uses it as her knitting basket. It is really nice.

As we sat at the table knitting Marnie was working on a scarf with Baby Monkey and Austerman Spot. She finished her scarf as we sat and chat so I took a picture of her and the scarf with the ends not sewn in yet.

Yesterday at the store was pretty slow. The weather is great and I think everyone was at the beach swimming. The market was very busy for the morning but slowed down in the afternoon.
We are going to the beach later, my neice Jessie is still here so we will take her for a swim.

Visitors from far away

Yesterday was a great day at the store as usual. When it first opened there where people waiting to get in. They had walked on the ferry to come to the store. We talked a bit and then I realized how far this woman had come to go to my store. She is from Baltimore visiting her parents in Edmonton, Alberta. She got the name of the store from the Lorna's Laces website. and decided to look us up while in the area. She was looking or Lorna's Lace sock yarn but she found lots more yarn to enjoy also. She had fun. Her parents were very patient while she shopped. I went home and got some magazines for her Dad he was so bored.


The internet sure does connect people all over the world.
My neice 8 year old Jessie arrived yesterday for a 2 week visit. My brother and his wife have gone off on a motorcycle trip to a big bike show in the States. Sounds boring to me but they are very excited, now if it was a yarn show I could understand.
She is so cute but she doesn't want to learn to knit. I will try and change that. We will see.
I gave her a little shawl I made last spring. It is made with hand dyed yarn and it fits her perfect. Here is Jessie wearing her new shawl.

Here is the back. her little lamb is wrapped in a fuzzy scarf.

My last picture of the day is what your house looks like after a rainy day at the market.

Nothing really got wet as we have a tent but it all gets damp, so I have to make sure everything is dry before it is put away for the next market. That is just the scarves. the sweaters are all hung up and the socks are over at the store. Mom's towels are waiting for the scarves to dry and then they get the couch next.
lots of fun. Pray for sunny Saturdays for the rest of the summer.

A Very Fun Scarf

On Wednesday there were a lot of knitters at the store for the afternoon. It was fun. I got a picture but somehow deleted it. So sorry. Marnie was there and working on one of her scarves. She knits them about 150 stitches wide and changes yarn every row. She mixes up her left overs and make these fabulous scarves. I am sorry I don't have a picture of her scarves but I will get some soon I hope.
She inspired me. I have leftovers of every yarn imagineable so this was the most fun scarf I have ever knit and I am sure I will knit plenty more.
I cast on 150 stitches and left a long tail. This becomes the fringe. Knit one row with a yarn then add a new yarn for the next row. tie these yarns together and leave a nice long fringe. That is it. I used 24 yarns and some of them twice so I think I knit 30 rows.
Here it is

Here is a close up


Some of the yarns in it are
SRK Ranee, Sari, Fizz, Mango Moon Sari Silk, Online Punta, Gjestal Naturgarn, Bernat Boa, Katia Scala, Patons Anna, Classic Wool, Ecoknits cotton, LL sock yarn Baby Monkey, Butterfly Cotton, Noro Kureyon and Silk Garden, a really pretty ribbon I can't remember the name of and a few other yarns that are nameless but really nice.
This is a fun way to use up yarn leftovers.
Also at the store on Wednesday I taught our next knitter to knit. She picked it up really easily.

Welcome to the world of knitting Robin. We hope to see many knit items from Robin, Her Mom is also a new knitter so they are going to inspire each other.

Poncho done

I have been finishing things this week. So far the poncho is done. I knit it with 2 strands of Patons Classic wool in the colour Paprika. It was quick to knit.
Jennifer is modeling for me. She works with my special needs son during the day. She kindly modelled this for me.

I also got the back and a front done on the Batik and Opal 6ply sweater.
Opal Batik is on sale this week on eBay. I have a lot of this yarn in stock


I like it but will need to see it finished to know if I really like it or if its just OK. I'm not sure if it is worth the work to write up a pattern.
Back to knitting.

My favourite 6 year old knitter.

Kate is sure a quick learner. On Wed. I taught her the basics of knitting and she was supposed to come back Sat. for lesson 2. Usually the first part of lesson 2 is correcting huge mistakes or starting over. Kate came for lesson 2 late in the evening as she spent the day at the beach with her family. She had about 3" done on her scarf and not too bad, She had gained and lost the odd stitch but nothing too serious, so we decided that it would be a swatch and I showed her how to purl then cast off.
She got it very quickly.
Then she cast on again for the real scarf and knit 5 rows before she went home. I was amazed she recognized every mistake she made. She took her knitting back anf fixed her mistakes. She is going to be a pro. Her she is very proud of her accomplishments.

She was telling me how much she likes knitting and she knits in the car, on the ferry and at the beach. I thought well she is one of us.
Later that night I was talking to my Mom and she asked if Kate came for her lesson. I told her yes and that she had done a fair bit of knitting. My Mom was really surprised as Kate had found my Mom at the market in the morning and asked her for help. They had to tear out the original knitting as it was such a mess and cast on again. All the knitting that little girl had done, was all done on the Saturday in the car, at the beach and on the ferry. I hope she can find someone to help her where she lives. She is from out of town. I told her to come and see me everytime she visits her Grandma. I know she will be a good knitter.

The store was fun on Sat. and I actually got some things finished but don't have pictures. I got 6 pair of socks knit for the market, another scarf with the hand dyed, a little hat made for Meika with the Opal Rainforest Tiger and some more knit on the Sirdar Yoyo sweater. I have a cable poncho neary done and have just cast on a kids sweater using Batik and the Opal 6ply. I am designing a sweater with the 2 wools. It is turning out great. I will post pictures later.

Happy Birthday Dad

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday so we had a birthday party for him at the store. We ordered a Pizza (Yes you can get pizza on Quadra) and had cake. It was fun. It was a nice day so we sat out at the picnic table. The cake was a big hit all day as the knitters arrived.
Here is a picture of Mom, Dad ,Judy (my sister) and Bella our dog all enjoying pizza.

I gave Dad some socks for his birthday. He got a pair of Rainforest Owl and Regia cotton 4078. He liked the socks a lot but he loved the box they came in. I only thought I gave him socks not socks and a hat. That was funny

The store was really busy yesterday and a lot of people came to enjoy sitting outside knitting and eating cake.

We also had a 4 legged shopper. Maggie was in with her owner Lisa. I think Maggie likes yarn as much as Lisa. She has good taste, here she is checking out the Lorna's Laces.

Last thing is a picture of Kate our youngest knitter. She is 6 and learning to knit. She is going to be a great knitter. She pays very close attention to every stitch. She knows how to cast on, knit and fix mistakes already. Next week we will work on purl and cast off. I love teaching kids that young they are like little sponges. Kate is making a nice red scarf.

So it was a great day.

All Around great day

The day dawned yesterday with a clear blue sky. It has been many weeks since I have seen that. The weather here in BC has been dismal for summer, endless rain, wind and cold. I was very happy to see such a great day. I went and set up for the market in the sun. What a pleasure. The market was great today. Lots of tourists on the Island and Mom and I sold plenty.
I had friends drop by today also, which made the day special. Uli,Evan, Erika and Brenda came by and then Uli and Brenda came to the store once it opened and we had a great time looking at all the yarn, new books and of course knitting outside at the picninc table. It was fun to just chat about knitting with knitters who love knitting as much as I do. I only got one picture, way too busy talking.


I am actually in the picture too. You can see me in the reflection taking the picture. The box of sale yarn was Batik. I had a one day sale of it and that went well.

Erika, Uli and Evan's daughter is sooooooooo cute. I have only seen pictures of her on Uli's blog and she is way cuter in person. She is just full of life. She had a great time playing with her Dad while Uli shopped and hung out.
Lisa a new knitter came by the store to get some tips on a new baby sweater she is making. We sat outside too. I was hardly in all day. What a pleasure to have such nice weather and such nice people to sit and knit and enjoy it with.
Today is just as nice so I need to get out and enjoy it.

Parrot Socks

Here is a picture of the Parrot socks. They are a children's size and I am making a larger size with the rest of the yarn. They turned out nice. I have an order for a pair of Ladybug and a pair of Zebra so I am anxious to knit those. I will post pictures when they are done.


We actually got some nice weather here and got to sit outside and knit for a while yesterday when the store wasn't busy. It was busy most of the day as I got in some new books and everyone wanted to look through them plus the Rainforest yarn was a big draw for the sock knitters. We are supposed to get nice weather here the rest of the week. It finally feels like summer here.

Rainforest Arrived

Wow the Opal Rainforest Sock yarn is really nice. It even feels nicer, more body than most sock yarn. A few things I was surprised about. The ladybug is a darker red than the picture shows. The picture looks a bit pink but it is very red. It is nicer than the picture. I think. The Flamingo is very pink, soft pink to bright pink to burgundy. Nicer than the picture once again. The third yarn that is nicer than the picture is the Owl. It is a very soft brown. I love it. The other colours are amazing too but the pictures are very accurate. I am definately keeping a ball of each colour for myself. I am about to make a pair of Parrot socks and will post a picture when done. I want to make a few samples for the store to show how it knits up.

Noro Bay Hoodie done

I am always so pleased when I finish something. For every finished item I usually have 10 more things on the needles. Here is the picture of the Noro Hoodie. I can't wait to see it on Meika, it should fit her by fall I hope.

As soon as I was finished that I cast on for another hooded sweater for 1-2 year old using Sirdar yoyo. This stuff knits up so fast that I got the back done up to the armholes during a good movie last night. It will be realy cute when done and I will have enough yarn left for a larger sweater too.

The market was OK yesterday. We got rained out near the end and had to pack everything up in a huge hurry. Now hopefully we will get a sunny day this week to dry the tent before next Saturday. None of the sweaters got wet thanks to the fast action of Mom and Dad, by the time it rained I was at the store. The store was great fun. Lots of fun visitors. aone of our little students was in with a dropped stitch in a Boa scarf. Mom helped with that and she is happily knitting again. I love to see the kids knitting. I didn;t have my camera with me yesterday. I should buy one for the store and just leave it there or get a better memory so I remember to bring it.
The Rainforest is still showing a lot of interest on the internet and at the store. The tropical Fish is in the lead for #1 today. I am basing the interest by the number of people who have marked these items as "watching" at the eBay store
1. Tropical fish
2. Chameleon
3. Tiger
4. parrot
5. Ladybug
6. Flamingo
7. Zebra
8. Owl
Poor little owl he has been in last place everyday.

Todays Favourite

The order changed overnight and now Tiger is the favourite of the Rainforest collection
1 - Tiger
2 - Tropical Fish
3 - Flamingo
4 - Ladybug
5 - Chameleon
6 - Parrot
7 - Zebra
8 - Owl
I would like to make a pair of Tiger socks myself. I think I will when it comes in. They look fun.
Today is the day for the market. It is cloudy this moning but the sun is peaking out now and then so hopefully it won't rain. We have had terrible weather here so far this summer. I got the Noro baby sweater done and will post a picture later. It is really cute.

Favourite Rainforest so far

According to my eBay records so far the favourite Rainforest Opal is the Ladybug. I have more people watching that one than the others, The order of interest is Tiger, Chameleon, Fish, Flamingo, Zebra, Parrot and Owl. That could change but that is the order for now. I think I like the Parrot the best.
This yarn is going to sell quickly. The interest in this is amazing. I am offering the entire collection as Buy it Now and have sold 2 already.

Opal Rainforest has arrived in Canada

I was just notified that my shipment of Opal Rainforest will arrive early next week. I can't wait. This is going to be a great yarn. The colours are amazing.

It will be interesting to see what the best seller will be.
Please leave a comment as to what your favourite colour is in the rainforest series. I am curious. I think the Parrot colour will be a best seller but I have been wrong before.

Teaching knitting

I had an 11 year old girl in the store tonight for knitting lessons. She bought the book, yarn and needles last week and arrived tonight with about 4 rows knit. She had cast on 22 stitches and was going to make a scarf. By the 4th row she had about 55 stitches and a real mess. We have all been there, so she got the hardest lesson of all I made her tear out her hard work and start over.
I showed her how to cast on then ripped it off and made her do it, she did it. Then she knit a row and counted her stitches and it had grown by 2 so I made her find the mistakes and take it back and fix it. I feel if you are going to learn to knit you need to know how to fix a mess too. She was very careful the next row to have the right amount of stitches on the needle. I told her that she was to check after every row and make sure she had the right stitches or fix it. She knit one more row then I taught her to purl. She was a quick learner. After a few rows of stocking st. she learned to cast off. She was very proud of her perfect square. She will be a good knitter. Before she left we she cast on for the scarf she was starting to make and I knit 5 rows for her and told her the rest of the scarf should look that good and she should cast off 22 stitches at the end of her scarf. She will be a perfectionist knittter.
What a meany I am.
The store was busy today and I sold lots of socks. I got orders for more so I better get knitting. The Noro baby sweater is done except for 1/2 in. on the last sleeve. Pictures of it tomorrow for sure. It is really cute.