January 9, 2013
Happy New Year to All!
Yes, I should have sent you this greeting on January 1st but we were getting a little wild and crazy at the yarn shop that day. Hopefully you will forgive the tardiness of this very heart-felt message. Melanie, Lydia, and I wish each of you a very happy 2013. May it be a year that brings health, happiness, friendship, and an attitude of gratitude your way. We hope you will find some time to come into the shop, sit and knit or crochet for a bit, get your weekly dose of fiber from the snack room (teas and cookies count -- right?), and be inspired as well as inspiring.
If you missed it, we had a New Year's Day Stash Bash party ala Dirty Santa. It will be an annual New Year's Day event at the shop. In fact, we had so much fun that, by popular request, we will be doing it again in July. What better way to get you started planning for Christmas 2013 than by playing Dirty Santa at a Christmas in July party! Mark your calendars for July 21st 12 till 5pm. We'll do a pizza & potluck food fest that same day so plan to spend your whole afternoon with us. In case you missed it, here are a few shots from New Year's Day. We had a full house! Take a look...
Remember -- Christmas in July & Dirty Santa Stash Bash Sunday July 21st 12-5. More details to come.
ZOIE the Shop Girl
If you have not been in the shop lately, let me introduce to you Zoie -- also known as the weekend shop girl. Eventually I hope to have her accompany me every day but right now she typically makes her appearance on the weekends. During the week she is busy keeping the couch warm at home. (It is a tough job but someone has to do it!) Zoie is EXTREMELY friendly -- and quite the yarnista in her Noro attire -- stop in and say hello.
Felting with Ashley
Sundays are getting to be quite fun -- and when there is a felting class going on I can no longer claim that Sundays are "a bit slower paced" than the rest of the week. Ashley has endless felting ideas up her sleeve -- the latest creations include owls, sheep, Easter eggs, Valentine chocolates, Cone flowers, and Narwhals. I must confess I was at first a little apprehensive about the felting classes. I mean, with knitting you know you can pretty much follow a pattern and have some level of success. I was concerned that people would leave their felting class with nothing more than a blob of wool that was actually supposed to look like something. Instead -- we're getting art like this:
And this...
And this...
Well, OK the last piece is all Ashley's art but you get the idea. For a first-hand look at the possibilities of what YOU can create with some wool and felting needles, stop by the shop and check out the samples. No prior experience required -- but reservations are.
Square of the Month -- Knit or Crochet
Whether your passion is knitting or crocheting, join us the last Saturday of each month from 3:30-5:30 to learn a new stitch. For the knitters, we will soon be ready to move into a new book -- after we discuss sewing together the blanket we've worked on over the last year. For the crochet enthusiasts, our Saturday crochet instructor Deb will lead you on a crocheted square of the month journey. The adventure begins January 29th so mark your calendars!
Classes Classes Classes...
Sarah will be teaching Two At A Time To Up Socks; Rachel will be teaching you how to make a "Gnome for All Seasons" (thanks Lish ;-D); Rachel is also teaching the knitted felted bunny slippers class (JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER!); our Knit Doctor Angie will be leading three separate sweater classes over the course of the next year (Series #1 is full so we're taking reservations for Series #2 which will run May, June, July, August); Emilie and Deb will continue to offer expert crochet instruction; we're working on details of an Entrelac Socks class to be taught by Colleen; Ashley has given me a new list of upcoming felted critters and flowers AND is planning on a LIMITED ENROLLMENT wet felting class in the Spring.
Sweater Class graduate Patsy had been knitting for less than a year when she decided to knit a sweater. The results speak for themselves. GREAT JOB Patsy and GREAT JOB Sweater Knitters!
Motorcycles & Knitting
Yes, it is true -- the two DO go together! As some of you have discovered, if it is a good day for golf, it is a GREAT day for a motorcycle ride. And it is ALWAYS a great day for some knitting. Our own Bette Rae helped me realize that the ride and the knitting need not be mutually exclusive. See for yourself...
Wait! Are those really KNITTING NEEDLES in Bette Rae's hands?
YES! This thrilled my hubby Wade because to have room for knitting, one needs a touring bike. It is no longer a WANT but a NEED.
T Shirts
Yes we have some very soft cotton T's available. The front has our super-cute logo and the back reads "natural yarn in the natural state." Sport your support for your LYS and pick up a T today. (If you are not local, give us a phone call and we'll gladly ship a Mockingbird Moon T Shirt your way.)
New Year New Yarns!
I'm thrilled to report that we have added more great names to our yarn repertoire. Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn from Wales arrived last month in more gorgeous color ranges than you could ever imagine. You must see to believe. Cascade's Ultra Pima Superwash Cotton and Eco Alpaca arrive tomorrow! On the way is one more AMAZING addition to our yarn collection and we should soon be able to announce this newest Mockingbird Moon family member. I don't want to spoil the surprise so I'll just say stay tuned...
Spud and Chloe
Please tell your fellow fans of Spud and Chloe that we are now carrying the full color range of Fine, Sweater, and Outer. If we're out of a color you need just let us know and we'll remedy that immediately. Speaking of Spud and Chloe, check out Jenny's Terence the Tap Dancing T-Rex (pattern by Rebecca Danger). Jenny is another sensational critter knitter and her creatures typically are decked out in Spud and Chloe Sweater. Very kid-friendly and feels oh-so-nice to the touch.
Soup’s On!
For anyone that missed it on New Year’s Day, Emilie has
kindly shared her DELICIOUS cheesy vegetable soup recipe. For anyone that didn't see it on our Facebook posting, here it is again. I made it last week and Wade LOVED it – so did
I. It will now be a regular menu
item on Canfield Mountain. Great way to have even the most
avid cabbage-hater eat greens.
Vegetable (Cabbage) Soup Recipe
from Emilie Eskridge
9C water
9 chicken bullion cubes
2tsp butter buds (or a tbsp of butter)
1C chopped carrots
1C chopped celery
1C chopped onion
1 small head of cabbage chopped
3-5 (or more if you love potatoes) baking potatoes, cut up
into chunks
1lb Velvetta cheese cubed
-Put Water, Bullion cubes, and butter buds in pot
-Add Celery, Carrots, and onion, cook until tender.
-Add potatoes and cabbage, cook until tender
-Add Velvetta cheese
When cheese has melted, Soup is ready!
Till next time, Happy Yarning!
