Live Stitch @ Little Knits

Just a quick blog entry to let you know that our retail location will be closed on Saturday the 21st in preparation of a large end-of-year inventory sale.

We will reopen on Sunday, the 22nd at 11 AM for the first day of our sale.  New and old inventory from lines such as Debbie Bliss, Mondial, Katia, Cherry Three, Louisa Harding and Rowan will be reduced from 50-75% including books and magazines.

We hope to see you at Little Knits in West Seattle this Sunday and during the rest of the year when you can make it over.

I cannot leave you without a little eye candy.  We have new and beautiful color lines in for Handmaiden’s Sea Silk.  Here is Boreal and The Ozarks in all their beauty:

                 

 

Today was one of those days where I kept trying to get things done, picking up one thing and getting distracted by another, and not getting much done.  While this can be rather frustrating I like it, most of the time.  First because it makes for a fast paced day and I am never bored.  And, second because once things start getting done it is like a great Tetris game, pieces start falling in place all at once and your box is suddenly empty (I love Tetris).

Here is the good – I can tell you that we received over 700 pounds of new yarn that I think you will like.  Here is the bad – we recently lost some storage space and therefore have a bunch of big boxes in our retail space.  So if you come in to our retail store be ready for an impressive array of boxes.

I am off to bed.  My apologies for the lack of photos.  I promise there will be plenty of eye candy in my next post. 

Hope to see you here tomorrow.  I have decided to continue posting to see how long I can keep the streak going. 

So tomorrow morning I run my first race in a while.  I signed up for the Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run at a moments notice and with no preparation at all.  I am excited and a tiny bit nervous.  Wish you could be there with me.

On another bit of news, more Kauni made it to the store.  We opened the box and…new colors!  The first new color is a combination of cinnabar  earth and chocolate browns,

russet and oatmeal hues.  And the second new color comes  with

pinks of all hues and white. 

We also had another surprise and got a new lace weight Kauni in EQ color line that is a single ply yarn with more yardage per hank.   

I am off to bed early tonight.  Hope to see you here again tomorrow.

We are working on our most populated sock sale ever with new lines and additions such as Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock and many new colors of Schaefer Anne.  I have over 250 frames of photos; wait till you see the lovely color lines.

In the interim I have listed Mondial Ciao (one of the softest sock lines ever),  Fortissima Mexico Colori (beautiful colors and a great pattern),  and many OnLine Supersocke yarn lines including a line with aloe  under the All Socks All the Time category. 

Working on it as fast as I can.  Uh oh, I just remembered a few more but I am going to keep those to myself.  There has to be an element of surprise right…just a little bit?

Just a quick post to let you know of this lovely new yarn.  Indie III is a 70% Merino Wool and 30% Seacell fingering weight yarn with a beautiful drape, stitch definition, and a subtle silky sheen. 

 

Indie III comes in GIANT 400 gram hanks that has plenty of yardage for a shawl, stole, a cardigan (if you shall so desire), and/or 4 pairs of socks.

This lovely yarn also makes a great base for dying.

 

 

 

 

We had a beautiful sunset here in Seattle.  Everyone keeps telling me that fall is here but today sure did not feel like it.  Good night all.  Hope to see you here tomorrow.

May I cheat a little tonight?  Just a short blurb and a cup of tea?  Well the cup of tea is right by my keyboard and I am typing up my entry as quickly as I can.

I collect knitting magazines.  I use them when I can and then they go back into their boxes or shelves.  When I see a gap in my issues I am sad.  This is why I called Interweave, to see if they had some of the issues I was missing.  I scored on a few dates and failed on some but I brought in every back issue they had in print.  I listed a mix of Inteweave magazines, including back issues of Interweave Knits, Knitscene, Spin-Off and the new Weekend Knits.   I hope you can find something that you need or an issue you have been wanting.

Have a great weekend and see you here again tomorrow.

I am going through Tilli Tomas and posting all the lines we have received albeit a little slowly. 

Tonight I was able to get in Pure & Simple   and the Beaded Lace lines.  

There is more.  Tomorrow I hope to be able to get everything in, which includes Sequin Lace and Beaded Silk with Sequins.  Tilli, as usual, is beautiful so while these lines and the colors we have gotten in are closeouts I think we should have at least Pure & Simple and may be the Rock Star at Little Knits regularly.  What do you think?  If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

On a completely unrelated matter, school year starts for my 6 year old tomorrow.  And then there is my 4 year old.  For those of you who know the story, I still have not been able to find a preschool for him.  We did try a preschool/daycare that came highly recommended and it was an absolute disaster. 

Both my sons have nut, dairy and egg allergies (nut being the most extreme).  During the first few days of my son’s attendance I found out that none of these facts were communicated to the day care staff appropriately by the administration.  Or if they were, no one stressed the significance of the matter and I guess the epi pin I brought in with my son was not enough of a clue.  They were/are nice folks but to say that the place was a mad house is a very accurate assessment.  Everyday, while at work, I expected my phone to ring with the news that my son had to be taken to the ER.

In his second day my son broke out all over as he came in contact with an allergant – what, we have no idea.  In his third day I went over to deliver lunch to find three kids eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the same table and when I expressed concern a solution was found: my 4 year old were to sit at a small table away from the other kids and eat on his own. 

During the month my son attended this daycare/preschool I kept him home for a total of 5 days out of concern for his safety for a number of reasons (and paid for those days).  Toward the end of his attendance my 4 year old was given a cheese cracker by a very nice and well meaning teacher who forgot about his allergies (he did not like it, spit the cracker out and did not have a reaction).

In their defense, I would like to say that at the end of the month they made an effort to keep the room nut free and attempted to sit my 4 year old with the other kids (pursuant a request from me).  By then I was scared, had lost my confidence in their ability to take care of him and he did not want to go. 

On the bright side, my older son goes to a school that is supportive and has taken care of him.  His classmates and their families have been simply wonderful and they all have done everything they can to create a safe environment for him.  Last year, one of his classmates made sure that the treats she brought into the class for her birthday were OK for my 6 year old.  I cannot tell you how touched I was.  I acknowledge that my son’s allergies limit his classmates’ choice of food and we do infringe on their rights.  With all that l am very appreciative for everything they have done.  I hope that I can find a safe environment such as this for my 4 year old.  What makes me smile is the fact that despite his allergies he is a healthy little boy who is a rascal and has absolutely no fear.

If you are reading this post, my apologies for the above narrative.  For some reason I felt the need to write, I hope you do not mind.  For those of you who have kids in school, here is wishing all of you a great school year and healthy kids.  And for all of us I wish for scrumptious yarn, beautiful projects, many FOs that may be enjoyed in good health with a smile.

It was a beautiful Saturday in Seattle.  Not too hot, not too cold, a little bit of rain and lots of fun folks stopping by the store.  

We did have a yarnplosion and there were boxes and bags everywhere but we are working on it.  Mr. Little was kind enough to bring the gorgeous Divine in to the store and a few other surprises that were still in their boxes.  I opened one of the boxes and then suddenly all the boxes were open!?   

Sometime during the day we had a gentleman come in with his wife/girl friend/the main knitting party or so we assumed.  And, boy were we wrong.  It turns out they both knit and the gentleman in question, David, knitted his own kilt-hose as shown in this photo. 

We all though he was pretty crafty until he showed us his blog, Sweater Project and from there took us to VisiKnit.  VisiKnit allows you to type in your cable pattern, one click and presto your chart is ready to be viewed in jpg.  Thank you for sharing VisiKnit with us David and for allowing me to take your photo!  Please make it so that we can use VisiKnit for our lace patterns. 

I am off to go get a cup of tea and then work on some photos.  Good night everyone (or good morning)!

Today we started the day with a trip to the local bagel shop, Zatz A Better Bagel.  We took the kids with us and the dog.  The first half of the trip to the bagel shop was great.  While there we got bagels and a couple of hot bagel dogs.  Return trip was another matter thanks to the conflict between the dog and our 4 year old. 

Our 6 year old tried to manage Rontoo the dog during all this mayhem and his poor little left arm was pulled rather harshly.  This compounded the fall he took from his bike last weekend and his arm swelled.  So off to the doctor we went and my sweet boy, who tries to settle any conflict that he has ever seen in the most amiable manner, got a splint.  For his discomfort he was rewarded with a lollipop and later a trip to Wendy’s.

Instead of returning home I took him to Skacel, which I told him was a yarn factory (distributor just does not sound that interesting).  I was in hunt for Divine and could not wait for it to be shipped so we went and picked it up.  Divine has 70% alpaca, 20 silk and 10% cashmere content and from the feel of it (I have a skein sitting right beside me), it is simply scrumptious.  I will be photographing and listing this beauty later this weekend.

While we were at Skacel we noticed that male to female ratio was highly in favor of the gentleman!  As you all know this is rather unusual.  I believe there is a manly knitter gathering in Seattle and my son was impressed.  He shared with one gentleman who was kind enough to listen that he too knits and that I taught him how to knit.  While this was going on I saw a face that I recognized, Franklin of The Panopticon!  At least I am fairly sure it was him.

Once we picked up the yarn we hit Wendy’s and from there it was back home for us.  By then it was getting dark, the sun we enjoyed frequently this summer went behind the clouds and it started to rain.   Once again I had managed to stall, postpone and delay what I should have done first thing in the morning: my run, walk, or whatever exercise I could squeeze in.  I put my running clothes on and procrastinated further by checking my emails.  Finally, I put my earphones on and this time That’s Not My Name by The Ting Tings got me out of the door.

I cut my run short as it was getting dark but before I headed up hill (why is there always a hill at the end of every run), I took photos of the Seattle skyline.    I am not an Aquarius, in fact I am a little Libra and some Scorpio; according to my mother I was born on the cusp (is there such a thing), but I love water.  I cannot tell you how much.  I feel lucky to live near it and blessed to be aware of its beauty, even when its cold and raining.

I hope you are well and knitting and crocheting with a smile.  Wishing you plenty of beauty in your lives.

We have been working on moving the store to a new location, which started with the effort of first finding a new location.  Once that was done we had to get the new place into shape so that we could move in. 

Just in case you did not know, we are now in our new place at 3221 California Ave SW still in West Seattle.  Thus far we have decided on 3 retail days; Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays we are open from 11 AM till 5 PM.  We hope to add at least one more day and possibly a knit-together evening.  Please let us/me know any suggestions you may have.

Then there is the website, which we have been working on everyday and the beta Little Knits site is finally up.  Please note this is work in progress so we would love to have your feedback.

So I thought it is time to wake this blog up.  And who better to help me do this but Rontoo.

If I am not here, I am at the store and during the day often I stop by Little Knits at Ravelry.  Please join us there for daily happenings and news all kinds. 

As always, I hope you are all well, knitting and crocheting with a smile.