The holidays are almost here!

A great holiday scarf out of Berocco Lanalux The holidays are fast approaching, it is supposed to be a high of 30 degrees on Friday and what were Julie and I doing this morning?...buying yarn for spring! It always feels so incongruous to look at silks, linens, cottons and rayons in the frigid weather when all you want is a nice thick wool or cashmere to knit up a scarf or hat that will keep you super warm. Nonetheless, we got some very nice stuff! We saw Stacy and Diane of TahkiStacyCharles. They had a more modern, hip new look with many of their pattern books and a few yarns that were really exciting. From their StacyCharles line they had two great yarns - the first SARI is a 100% raw silk that knits up on a large needle and comes in earthy colors. The next, SAHARA is a viscose, linen and bamboo blend that is a ribbon. They had a great sweater done in it that had these drop stitches and looked adorable on. The sweater had a great light feel and wonderful drape. they are sending it to us in a fantastic orange color in January. From their Tahki line we are getting a very cool, nubby thick and super soft cotton called MIA. It is a great transitional yarn that I think will make a great quick sweater! We are also getting a yarn called REPLAY. It is made out of 100% recycled cotton - a nice concept - and comes in great heathered colors. I really liked it because you don't usually see cottons in heather colors. We are also getting some great new colors in cotton classic - and of course millefili fine will return. Stacy and Diane were also excited to see pictures of my 2nd graders knitting with the yarn they donated. And they loved our patterns using their yarns on our Ravelry pattern store! Finally....as I said the holidays are fast approaching...I cannot believe Chanukah starts on Friday night (until moments ago I thought it was saturday night...) - luckily I am very prepared this year - I have everything wrapped and ready and torturing my children as all those wrapped presents are in a corner of my bedroom in plain sight. Every morning at 6:30am when Zoe wakes up - she comes in and demands that she be allowed to open a present NOW!!! We have to tickle her a lot until she forgets. Max has been really good about it though - he saw them - said I bet the ones in the soccer/baseball/football wrapping paper are mine. I said yep. and that was it. Is that a sign of maturity or that he is already bored with channukah? I hope the first because I got him some good stuff - if you are a 7 year old boy who loves Well - if you are not as prepared as I am this year - always remember - you can knit a quick scarf or hat in no time, or we do gift certificates! Also - for those celebrating Christmas who have a little more time - we have great stocking stuffer ideas and lots more! Come in and check it out!!!

PRISM TRUNK SHOW

The beautiful and inspiring Prism Trunk Show is here at the Yarn Company for the entire month of December! They have really outdone themselves this year and sent us a dazzling array of beautiful fibers and hand-dyed colors. It is always so much fun unpacking it and the yarns always give the store a wonderful holiday feel. I took some pictures of some of the yarns they sent. And to answer the question that often comes after I make an announcement like this..."What is a TRUNK SHOW??" A TRUNK SHOW is when a company sends me lots and lots of beautiful yarn on consignment. Basically, I could never afford to carry all these beautiful hand-dyed yarns in these luxurious fibers in the quantity that we currently have in stock - but the beauty of the TRUNK SHOW is that I only pay for what I sell and send the rest back at the end of the month! It is a win win situation for everybody! So be sure to come in and check it out - the yarns are truly exquisite!

Second Graders Master Knitting

I have just come from Max's class - and am happy to report that I have 26 new knitters! After our fourth week of knitting in school - the entire class has grasped this new skill. It is great, everyone is very excited and I feel very satisfied. It is different from teaching knitting last year in Max's first grade class...first, the difference in motor skills is huge. I was surprised at how much easier the 2nd graders picked it up than the first graders. Also, this year instead of just a handful of kids knitting- the entire class is doing it. That's a lot of mistakes to fix, rows to help turn and balls up in the air. Luckily I have a helper this year. Nicole who is a customer at the store and the babysitter of one of the boys in the class and an excellent knitter - comes in and helps out too. Some of the kids have already completed a handwarmer, others are working on scarves and a few are working on a bag. Take a look:

And America's Next Top Model Is........ZOE!!!!

I don't know why I ever think things are going to clam down and I'll have time to sit and knit, read, blog etc. I must live in a little fantasy world. Needless to say, things have been hectic in life lately with the start of school - getting two kids out the door every morning (clothed, fed and teeth brushed) is a challenge for me. I know some people seem to do it with ease - but I am not one of those people - I think my head spins and my voice hits octaves I never knew it could- as I scream: "EAT YOUR BREAKFAST!!!! STOP SPITTING YOUR EGG OUT ON THE FLOOR!!! ARE YOU TWO YEARS OLD??? WHY CAN'T YOU SEEM TO GET YOUR OWN SOCKS ON???!!! GET OFF THE $#*!! TOILET WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!!!!" I am sure you are wishing you were at my house at 8am on weekdays. Anyway, that coupled with the fact that my husband made me cut my nanny's hours - so that the free time I once had is cut in half....and the curriculum meetings, class picnics, class potluck dinners, leaf hunts, holidays, etc. - I don't feel as if things have calmed down. But - that being said...I have been busy putting patterns onto our Ravelry store that people can download. I must have 15 or 16 up. It is very exciting. I have put mostly adult patterns, hats and scarves and blankets on because I did not have a little model. But last Thursday that all changed. Zoe (my daughter) came to the store for a visit before we had to go to her school picnic (for which I brought no food) - and she modeled a bunch of kids sweaters for us. It was a huge success! She was a great little model - and had a ton of fun doing it! So, hopefully I will get some of these great kid's patterns up for sale soon. I have also been busy trying to come up with a few cool, easy designs to submit to the magazine Knitscene. Over the weekend I knit a very hippyish handbag out of Punta Yarns, Flame. I knit it in garter stitch and sewed it so the ridges went vertical and then made a handle by casting on lengthwise - so that would have vertical lines too. And put some fringe on the ends. I like it. Will post a picture of it soon. And here at the store, things are moving along. We have almost all our new yarns for the season. Will write more soon....

Back from the Beach

Zoe turns 3!! Miss Zoe at a bon fire on the beach Max Boogie Boarding I cannot believe summer is over! I am officially sad. We had such a nice family vacation - even with our two crazy kids - I am just so not ready to be back in the real world...to make lunch, get kids places on time, to tell Max "no, you cannot play your PSP baseball game 8 hours a day" and Zoe -"No, we cannot watch High School Musical for the 999th time!" and to come to work! I got back on Monday after two and a half weeks away - and on Tuesday I just could not bring myself to come back to work (so since I am the boss - i didn't - although I did come in and get work to do at home.) But yesterday I had to reenter society as a productive human being. I brought both my kids to school and came to work. I have to say - that as far as a place that one has to go back to work to - a yarn store fully stocked with fabulous fall yarns isn't the worst way to go. The store really looked amazing. Almost all our yarns are in - and it is so colorful and textural - it's great. All the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran is here in a beautiful array of colors. The Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK is to die for and Sirdar has outdone themselves with their colors in Baby Bamboo! We got this luscious yarn by Filatura di Crosa - Karma - it is angora and merino - so soft! And Mercedes already knit up a great sample cardigan out of it. I am sure I will live in it this fall. We also got a Teva Durham yarn, Granite - and I am almost done with a super Cowlneck sweater. In her book for Tahki/Stacy Charles - she has a great cabled cardigan out of the Granite. It is soft and super chunky. What else? Oh yes, Rowan came - the books are outstanding - a million things to make! And we got a beautiful new Rowan yarn called Lima - and old favorites - Cocoon and Felted Tweed. From Nashua - we got Vignette and Grand Opera and we are now carrying Twinkle Chunky! I know I missed tons but check out our website - we are adding yarns as fast as we can.

MEET VERONIQUE

I have been very busy the last week and a half! I have added 14 yarn girls' designs to our Ravelry Store. These patterns are available to download for a fee (between $3.00 and $5.00) if you are on Ravelry - check it out and tell your friends to check it out. If you are not on Ravelry yet - get on it. It is a great resource for finding patterns to knit! I found it very overwhelming at first - but now I really think it is a great place to get exciting ideas. I have lot's more patterns to add and will add all the new items we design with the new yarns that come in. Last week, we got the mannequin that we ordered - her name is Veronique and aside from being rather broad shouldered, she is quite hot! So, we packed her and a bunch of sweaters up and headed to Riverside park for a photoshoot! You should have seen the wacky looks we got - toting this 6 foot bald lady around - prone - across our shopping cart. and on the way back - we separated her torso from her legs and stuffed her in the cart - people were stopping us on the street left and right - everybody had a comment! It was fun though - and the pictures look good. She wears our sweaters well. Getting Veronique ready for the photoshoot: Veronique in our Koigu/Superior wrap: And in the Alpalite cabled sweater: I have also been knitting up a storm. I knit 5 bracelets out of this great Lopi wool we got by Imperial Stock Ranch. Check out their website - they are a new company that we are doing business with this fall and I think they have a really interesting story. also we will be getting some roving from them later in the season that you can make some really cool scarves with - I am very excited. I am going to felt the bracelets next week and then we are going top make up kits - with different colors - to make 5 bracelets and you'll get the bag and the pattern. The yarn comes in awesome colors and is supposed to felt magnificently! I am also knitting up a sample in a new Teva Durham yarn - Granite that we are expecting shortly. And I worked on my Zara jacket for Zoe. Things have also been busy at home - we are redoing the kids' rooms since Zoe is going to go into a big girl bed when we get back from vacation. But I couldn't do things in a simple way - I decided that Max needed a new bed because his room is so small. I found this great bed at walmart that is a low loft bed - and has a desk, drawers, bookcase and mini closet built into it. Jeff drove out to Walmart the other night to pick it up (it came in 3 150lb boxes...we live in a 4th floor walk up...) - and last night we were up until 1:30 am putting it together. Actually - Jeff was putting it together - I just was there for the moral support and to hand him the proper screws. But it is done and Max can sleep on it tonight! Then on Thursday night we went out to Ikea to get Zoe a new dresser and bookcases - she is taking Max's old bed - we had it painted white. It was a very long nite at Ikea deciding what bookcases were right etc. We came home with 4 extremely heavy boxes. Jeff is obsessed and wants to put that stuff together tonight. We kind of need to at least do the dresser because all of Zoe's clothes are all over my bed because I gave Julie her dresser and the double bed that was in Zoe's room (as I write this Julie is now moving to New Jersey!). I am here for another week and then VACATION! I can't wait! Hopefully I'll blog once more before I leave and give an update on the new yarns that we've gotten!

New Fall Yarns & Ravelry Downloads

It is hot out there!! But that doesn't stop beautiful new wools from coming through the door on a daily basis. I have spent the past two weeks unpacking boxes and stocking shelves. The store is beginning to fill up and look enticing. We have gotten all of our fall Zara colors in. That's thirty-five scrumptious solid colors with which you can make baby blankets, adult throws (the zara garter stitch throw has been flying out of here), pillows, sweaters, skirts, hats and scarves! Zara is my absolute all time favorite and I think that this year it came in even softer than ever. It also washes wonderfully. I am currently working on a sweater jacket for Zoe - I am copying a sweater that I saw on the tv show Charlie & Lola. It has a charcoal bottom, small black line, and the rest is in dark brown. Then the front has srtiped pockets that are bright orange, pink and red. It's going to be adorable. We also got in Zara Chine - a tweedy zara that comes in fabulous color combinations; Zarina Print - a wonderful multi colored yarn that is slightly thinner than Zara; and Zarina Tweed - which has little flecks and looks very baby - perfect for baby sweaters and blankets. Zarina Print and Zarina Tweed: We received Koigu - half of our multis and most of our solids. People are having a ball picking out colors for the Koigu Wrap - it takes 7 colors, one ball of each. We received Punta del Este, Merisoft. It is a beautiful hand-dyed yarn that knits on a number 9 needle. It is super soft and the colors are to die for! We received Zara Plus in great colors. Here are some of the new ones: And Torino Bulky in a full range of colors. Start picking your colors for the Torino Dot Blanket now. Finally, we received Maxime Print for those of you who want to make a quick pair of socks. And quite a few colors of Karabella, Super Yak. And for those of you on Ravelry - we have begun to set up shop! We now have 5 of our favorite patterns available to download for a small fee. If you search Yarn Girls" they should come up. We have lots more on the way - just have to take pictures, and size patterns - so they will go up slowly but surely! Tell everyone you know to check it out. Foe those of you not on Ravelry yet - join - it's fun and then join our group The Yarn Co. And if not, we are still planning on putting up a Yarn Girls website with new designs available to download for a fee. Happy Knitting until next time!

Fall yarns are coming

It's been a while once again. Sometimes life just spins out of control and before you know it - 5 weeks have gone by. Crazy. First, there was all the end of school stuff to deal with. Picnics, publishing parties, a dance festival and more that I have blocked out of my memory I am sure. Then school finally ended and Camp began - and Jeff has had me on a whirlwind schedule of mooching off people who have summer homes, having barbeques and just making me so tired that I can barely think. And then for the first two weeks of July, Julie and I gave our whole staff off. It was like when we first opened - the two of us here, everyday - all day. Actually when we first started - we had Petra - for these two weeks we did not even have her. Petra was definitely missed - but we did survive and the store was neat and in tact when she returned. (She was a little surprised). Now, things are getting back to normal- so I finally feel that I have a few minutes to sit and write - plus its raining out and I guess everybody is hiding out at home instead of coming to the yarn co... We have gotten in some fun accessories recently. First, THE CIRCULAR SOLUTION. It is a handy storage solution for all your circular needles and it hangs anywhere! Only $22! A longtime customer of ours wrote her endorsement for the product:

The Circular Solution changed my knitting life!! After 10 years of trying various circular needle holders, I had given up and resorted to a Yarn Company shopping bag crammed with 80 needles of various sizes and lengths – I never knew what needle I had for a given project, so often bought duplicates. A friend suggested this product – I bought one that day, went home and organized my needles. Now there are no more kinks in the needles and a quick glance tells me exactly which needles I have. Ah, order has returned!! I whole heartedly endorse this product (and am not a paid spokesperson!!)

We also got THE KNIT KIT. It is a small plastic oval (that looks sort of like a diaphragm case - as everyone who sees it on the counter seems to point out) - but - looks aside - it is great - the kit includes a tape measure, stitch counter, thread cutter, scissors (TSA approved), a crochet hook, stitch markers and point protectors. It is a great item to have when traveling! I keep forgetting to take one and keep wishing I had one with me! It comes in black or white and is only $20! Hopefully,I will once again become a consistent poster- especially since fall yarns are beginning to arrive. We got our Zara shipment and have lots of beautiful colors in stock. We also got unbelievable chenille and multi chenille colors. Now would be a great time to make a baby blanket! I love getting fall yarns in, it makes my fingers itch and want to knit everything in sight. Right now I am knitting a reversible cable scarf with an amazing new cashmere by Jade Sapphire that we will be getting. Enough writing about knitting - I think I will actually go knit now that I have some free time on my hands!

THE YARN CO SALE HAS BEGUN!

Hello everyone. Things have been very hectic around here with year end school activities, the sale and various other activities. Just want to remind everyone that the sale is still going on until June 30! While the yarn is moving - we do still have lots of yarn to be had at great bargain prices! My new favorite yarn is Linen Jeans - I just swatched it up yesterday on a #9 needle and I am hoping to make a loosely knit cardigan out of it - it has great drape and will be the perfect weight for cool summer evenings. I am almost done with Zoe's Ulmo skirt - and I've had a piece of it on the table and the Ulmo has been flying off the shelves. Finally - I have to show you Zoe wearing her Sublime Organic Cotton sweater. I love it on her.

THE SALE IS COMING!!! THE SALE IS COMING!!

I want to let everyone know that THE YARN COMPANY SUMMER SALE starts on Tuesday June 2 at noon! All summer yarns will be 10%-30% off of original prices as well as selected winter yarns also. So be sure to come in or phone your order in - and stock up! We've still got lots of great yarns left and need to make room on our shelves for incoming fall/winter yarns! The sale prices are not listed on our website so feel free to call 888-yarnco1 to ask how much your favorite yarn is on sale for. I'll list a few great ones here that will be 30% off: 1. Taris - I wore this tee shirt the other day and got a million compliments! And the yarn comes in great colors. I think it would actually make a nice skirt also. 2. Ulmo Multy - This is a great yarn! The colors are FABULOUS - and it knits beautifully. I am making Zoe a skirt out of it now in the orange/purple/brown color - the banyan one I did last year. It is a bit hard to picture what the yarn will look like when you see it in the ball - but if you take a chance I am sure you will be delighted! The sweater that we made last year which is on the website is also a great little project. 3. Nepal - This is also a wonderfully soft cotton yarn. It comes in some fun colors. The wrap we made is not for beginners but if you feel up to the task - it is a great sweater. Otherwise - you can do anything with this yarn: baby sweater or a great pullover for the summer - you name it - you can do it! 4. Mulberry Silk - This 100% silk yarn is beautiful and great to knit with. A true luxury - and at 30% off - a great time to give it a try! Also 30% off - some other yarns I love - without the commentary - banyan, jeans, linen jeans, ayala and jamaica. Don't forget there will be LOTS more on sale too. And if you spend $200 or more you get a FREE Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons - A $30 value! Other than the upcoming sale - I thought I'd share a few photos from memorial Day weekend. - Max & the Mayor! How cool is that?! The happiest girl in the world - Zoe had a smile on her face all weekend. She just loved running around and playing in sprinklers and eating ice pops! And here is Julie's son, Nicholas. Also, happy as a clam!

KNITTING REDUCES RISK OF MEMORY LOSS

As a mom of young kids with a house to run and a store to operate – I am busy and probably over extended. Usually, I don't mind. But what bothers me is my startling lack of memory. For example, today, on my way home from dropping Max off at school, I stopped off at the store to prepare a bank deposit. I put it in my pocket and figured I would stop at the bank on my way home since it is right on the way. About a block or so before I reached the bank I put my hand in my pocket and said to myself "oh yeah, I have a deposit, I have to stop at the bank" (mind you this was only 10 minutes after I had put the deposit in my pocket in the first place.) Anyway, five minutes later, as I am walking up the steps to my apartment I once again put my hand in my pocket and this time I said "What the ---!!!" The deposit was still there! Next anecdote...Today, on my way to work, I decided I wanted to pick up something to eat at Corner, a new little place between 84th and 85th street and Broadway. On 86th and Broadway, I reminded myself that I needed to cross Broadway on the next block so I could get my food. Next thing I knew I was in front of The Yarn Company with no coffee and no food in my hands. I had to order from Lenny's. Why am I telling you this - my woes with loss of extremely short term memory??? (I just read this great book - Still Alice - about a woman who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers - and although her symptoms were more severe and even though I am really not a hypochondriac at all...I have my worries) - But that is not why. I am telling you this because, while there are many reasons to love knitting: the sense of satisfaction from completing a project, the beautiful colors and textures, the joy we get when making things for others... the list goes on and on and is different for everyone. But now there is another reason – knitting is actually good for you! I just read an article in Yarn Market News (a trade publication) - that says that two studies were recently done regarding the health benefits of knitting. At the Mayo clinic, Dr. Yonas Geda reported that " in a study of 50-65-year-olds that those who knit, quilt and engage in similar activities were found to reduce their risk of memory loss in later years by 30 to 50 percent." Also, in an article in March "Ways to fight Demential in your 20's, 30's and 40's", Dr. Paul Nussbaum, a neuropsychologist said that "using both hands works both sides of your brain." Thus helping to ward off dementia. So, it's good to know that had I not been knitting for the past twenty years - things could be much worse for me - maybe I wouldn't remember my kids names, not just forget to stop some place.

Zoe's Skirt, My Plants & Max's Poems

Zoe's Zara Chevron Skirt - Zoe made her mommy happy last week and wore the skirt I made her this past fall. She was the hit of the birthday party! We just got our Zara colors filled in - so come check them out. It also looks great in cotton classic! If I ever finish my Mondrian dress for her I want to make her another one of these skirts - just in cotton. Well, we saw some great new yarns for the fall last week from Tahki Stacy Charles. Despite wanting to buy very conservatively, Julie and I may have gotten a bit carried away. They had some beautiful new yarns, very soft. Stacy Charles, Karma, is a beautiful wool/angora blend. They had it last year - but it will be new for us. It is super soft, knits on a fairly large needle but is light and airy feeling. And Teva Durham has a great new yarn called Granite. It is a very soft merino wool and nylon that knits on a #13 needle but again is not at all dense. We also got some Zarina print and zara in new multi colors. I think we are off to a good start. We see Jay on Thursday. He has Sublime, and Debbie Bliss. I spent the majority of yesterday doing more planting on my roof deck and various other decks. It was exhausting - but I must say - it looks wonderful! I took the advice of one of our customers and planted all marigolds on the roof in the window boxes - it looks very fresh. Maybe if this yarn thing doesn't work out she can give me a job as a landscaper! Take a look: Now some close ups: marigolds daisies Also, yesterday I went to Max's class publishing party. They published poems that they'd been working on. Because what mother doesn't think that their kid is a genius - I'll share his poems with you: AQUA BLUE IN THE AIR Aqua Blue is every fabulous sea floating up and down. Coming on the shore,Singing it's sweet tune: Woosh, Woosh, Woosh! Aqua blue's smell is so charming it fills the air with brightness shimmering in the sunlight so bright. WRITE, WRITE Write write, write. Fast as you can You can't catch me I'm the little writing paper man! The pencil chased the writing paper all the way to a lake The paper jumped in And got all soggy Pretty impressive for a first grader, huh?

Time to Buy New Yarns

We see our first line of Fall/Winter yarns on Thursday morning. Stacy & Diane from Tahki/Stacy Charles yarns are coming. I love seeing all the new yarn but it is so hard to choose. Also, this year I think that Julie and I will have to be very disciplined in our buying...the darned economy. Gone are the days of "We'll take 10 bags of that color and 20 of that one....ooh and this yarn too..." Now it's more like "Should we get this yarn or that? What colors can we do without?" Not quite as much fun as it once was, that's for sure. But hopefully we'll see some exciting new yarns and it will get the knitting juices flowing again! Next week we see Jay from Knitting Fever -- he has Debbie Bliss, Sublime, Noro, Katia....then it's Toni who has Gedifra, Rowan, Nashua and Louet and then Donna who has Skacel! After that we go to Columbus to the show to see all the lines we still need to buy. We weren't sure that we were going to go to Columbus -I have a Bar Mitzvah that Saturday - but Jeff kept pressing me for an answer so he could RSVP - so when push came to shove - I decided Columbus - here we come! We've gone every year for the last 12 years...how could we miss it? And really when I think about it...a weekend away from my kids, looking at yarn and eating out vs. a weekend with my kids, driving an hour and a half on Saturday morning to Long Island - with Max asking non stop about God and taunting me that he and his dad are believers...only to then sit through a 2 hour bar mitzvah service where the men are going to be separated from the women (or more likely chasing Zoe around the parking lot in 90 degree weather for 2 hours while I am wearing a nice dress and heels)...hmmm. Really it was a no brainer I suppose. Speaking of fun with the kids....Zoe has a new hobby. Biting. This past Sunday we had a surprise 70th birthday party for my Mom. Zoe's cousin, Julia, was there. Zoe did not want to share her scooter so she decided the most effective way to get Julia off the scooter would be to take a chunk out of her arm. Granted, Zoe did not break the skin - but Julia has quite the bruise. Then yesterday - I come down from our roof where I was planting flowers for several hours in the rain and I see that I have a message...it was Zoe's pre-school teacher..."We had an incident with Zoe today...she bit another child..." Ugh! Then last night she bit Max! What is going on with her? I asked her why she was biting people and basically she said she just didn't like what they were doing at the time. She is a VERY verbal kid - so I asked why she didn't use her words and she just gives me this evil smile and shrugs her shoulders. It's always an adventure. I took a picture of the little monster wearing her Zara chevron skirt to put on the blog - but I forgot to load it onto the computer - so I'll do that tomorrow...It looks so cute on - I think I will make a cotton one for the summer . she does love wearing the skirts that mommy makes her! Lastly, I cannot for the life of me figure out why when I publish my posts the paragraphs disappear! They are there when I type the blog and they are there when I preview it - but once I publish it - poof - no more paragraphs! Just so you all know - I have nothing against paragraphs - i like them in fact - I just cannot figure out how to keep them!

I've figured out Ravelry and more...

So, it seems that we skipped spring and launched right into summer. I was wearing my summer knits all weekend. Saturday I had on the great Ayala tank top. Saturday night Jeff and I went to a wine tasting party and I wore a little black dress and my linen shrug (I was woefully under dressed - but everyone consumed too much wine too quickly to really take too much notice.) Then Sunday I actually didn't wear a knit - but I did dress Zoe in her Banyan skirt which she loved and it looked just adorable on her! I need to hurry up on her Mondrian dress - I have one side finished - but I guess that is not going to cut it. I seem to have little knitting time....between trying to get stuff done on the computer (I will elaborate on this in a minute), reading (I've just read two good books --The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards- both really good- and I am engrossed in Still Alice by Lisa Genova right now), work, kids, and life in general I feel like I need 48 hour days - not 24! On the computer I have been working on two main things. First - I have finally figured out Ravelry! I am really not sure why it took me so long - but someone finally showed me and it's really easy. I have put some projects up - so look at my page - or join The Yarn Company Group - I think you can just click through above... I am also working on setting up a Yarn Girls' Website that will offer downloadable patterns. We have tons of new designs but no platform for them really - publishing is in the tank and I don't see us doing a new book - so I thought a good way to get our patterns out there for those who want to purchase them without purchasing the yarn from us is to join the bandwagon and set up a site! I am trying to do this as much by myself as possible - my lessons at The Apple store need to pay off. I have the general format of how to go about it down - but before I can do do much I need to size all the patterns and we need to redo photography. Then I can set the whole site up and hopefully only need to engage an outsiders help for the e-commerce aspect. Lofty ambitions but I think I can do it. My goal is to have the site up by sometime in August. I can't believe it is May next week - we start seeing reps to buy Fall yarn! I am not sure I can wrap my thoughts around wool at the moment - but I guess I have no choice...and it is suposed to get colder tomorrow. Until next week...happy knitting. Check out Zoe in her Tahki, Sky cardigan.

Well I am back from Jamaica. A week of sun and fun was very nice. The trip was good - easy travel - the place we stayed was fine...very kid friendly and we all had a nice time. I read on the beach and was about as lazy as I could possibly be. Jeff relaxed and enjoyed all things Jamaican. Max loved the big waterslide and playing soccer on the beach...he loved making his schedule each morning and sticking to it. And Zoe loved the jamaican men. She cooed and batted her eyelashes --it was quite a spectacle. She named the grill guy "ya man" and stood at the grill demanding ice cream, popcorn and attention. This is Zoe dancing the night away with Kervan. Here is zoe loving her daddy. Max also went sailing everyday with one of the lifeguards. He loved it - I think he really got a thrill going way out into the ocean - I got some palpitations but I love that he has a sense of adventure. That is Max on the boat all the way out.... And here he is a little closer to shore. I did not get much knitting done - almost the front of Zoe's dress. I am happy with my color choices though - it is going to be super cute if she actually wears it. Well - it's nice to be back (kind of)...and hopefully I'll have more knitting news next week. Until then - happy knitting!

I am on my way to Jamaica on Saturday. I cannot wait- I am so ready to get away! I am in the packing/gathering/stressing out phase that always accompanies getting ready for a trip with kids. I really hate packing for trips with my kids - I always feel there is so much stuff to bring because of my uncertainty as to what the kids will actually need... will they wear one or two pairs of shorts in a day? Will Zoe drip ice pop all over herself everyday or every other dayor twice daily? So I almost always end up overpacking their clothes. Then I pack medicine - what if they get a fever - bring motrin, what if they have a cough, a stuffy nose, diarreah etc. And I always like to have an antibiotic for strep on hand and the pink eye eye drops(because who knows if I can get medicine where I am - or my medicine of preference??) I really turn into a nut in such a situation! Then the kids need entertainment for the plane, food for the plane...I need to make sure I pack special animals that they sleep with, that special blanket (Zoe likes to sleep with 5 blankets on top of her, in a specific order...she has a little ocd with that...but I have already told her I am limiting her to one blanket - we'll see how that goes over)...and then I need some books, and who knows what else? If it were just me I'd bring a bathing suit, flip flops and a few shirts, shorts and some nyquil(just in case). Anyway, between the packing, the upcoming seder at my in laws, my husband's partially torn achilles, and my father sending me an email that he "needs to speak to me about something urgent soon" -- it all made my eye start twitching. It was very annoying, so today I am trying to take a lot of deep breaths! Today I am trying to focus on what knitting I should bring with me on vacation. I have decided to make Zoe her own Mondrian dress. I am going to use pink, off white, brown, turquoise and green. I am very excited. I am also trying to figure out one more project and I can't decide between a sweater for me out of black Gedifra, Ayala - or something else for Zoe -- maybe her own Creative Focus Silk cardigan. We'll see. Tomorrow I am taking Max to see the Bodies exhibit down at South Street Seaport. I am looking forward to it. I think it should be interesting and he is fascinated by the human body so I think he will think it is really cool. We are bringing my computer to Jamaica so I should be able to post from there--if not maybe Julie will or I'll be back in two weeks. Happy Holidays. Oh - and I almost forgot...we now have groups on both Facebook and Ravelry - The groups are both called The Yarn Compamny...please join us! Also - anyone know why even though I type my blog with paragraphs and my preview shows paragraphs - there seem to be no paragraphs when I post....I am confounded!

Aaaah Life.....

Sometimes I feel like it's hard to keep my head above water. Our phone system (that we've had for 10 years) stopped working the other day. Now the phone rings and if we pick it up with the phone system then the person on the other end can't hear us - so we have to go through this convoluted process to answer the phone so that we can be heard. We ordered a new phone but it can't come soon enough! Then our printer ran out of ink. Last month our laptop that we use in the front of the store died. At home, we have a mouse. Our roof is leaking. And Zoe has pink eye and vomited last night because she cried so hard when I was trying to put the drops in her eyes. And I finished the beautiful Sublime sweater for Zoe - the one with the cables and bobbles, it looks great. I had her try it on this morning - after I sat on her for quite sometime trying to get drops in her eyes - and it fit very nicely. She wore it for all of three seconds - not even long enough to snap a picture of her in it for the blog - and then she threw it on the floor. I am finding this series of unfortunate events to be rather mentally exhausting! But on the bright side - we went to Max's school auction on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. I went a little crazy bidding for things - but it made me feel better. We ended up coming home with a great framed and autographed picture of Mike Richter - former Rangers all star, skating lessons for Max, a tour of the 20th police precint for Max - plus he gets photo ops in a police car and he can get fingerprinted, some tickets to kids shows (Dear Edwina and Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny) - and a giant snake that was a class project (I thought someone would outbid me for it - but I was the only sucker crazy enough to bid for it. Jeff was not so happy about that one.) We also won a day with Max's teacher for Max in a raffle. All in all we did pretty well. Richard Kind, the comedien, was the auctioneer and he was great - so funny. He really got everyone into the giving mode. And Bill Telepan outdid himself at this years auction - offering up 3 dinners cooked in people's homes - each going for $9,000!!! (last year it was for $7,500 and I was amazed) - so again - I let all of you reading the blog know - he is a very generous man - support his restaurant - it is delicious! He also is an advocate for wellness in the school and has come in and made lunch for the kids - which is a huge hit. He has a salad bar and made wonderful wraps...it's really a great thing! Anyway, they say the school brought in 20% more than last year, pretty impressive!

The Modrian Dress

We finished the Mondrian inspired dress. Check it out on Zoe.

Something to think about....

I was reading an article in Sunday's NY Times about an independent book store that was closing down in Chappaqua, NY. As an independent retailer, with a small "local shop" myself, the article made me a little sad. It basically spoke about how hard it is for an independent local retailer to survive not only in today's economy, but in today's world of mega stores and the internet. The article discussed that it has become a game to look on the internet to see where you can find the cheapest item you are looking for. I'll admit that I do this myself sometimes. But then the article pointed out that "there are things you lose (when you do this) in ways that are not numerically measurable when a place like this (the bookstore) closes." "Downtown" loses it's vibrancy, it's uniquesness, it's excitement when there is little or no community support. When I think about New York City now compared to how it was when I grew up - it has certainly lost a lot of the neighborhood feel that it once had. There are still some local merchants left that you get to know, say hello to as you walk by and frequent because you know and like them....but for the most part - the drug store is an impersonal Duane Reade or CVS, the bookstore is a Borders or Barnes & Noble, the coffee shop is a Starbucks, there is a bank every other step, the furniture store is a West Elm or Pottery Barn...you get the gist. And it has certainly become harder in the brick and mortar world of Yarn too. While there are of course less "Mega" yarn stores, there are the internet Giants and the internet in general, free patterns, yarn swapping and gossip...all things that make it harder for the LYS (local yarn store - for those of you reading this that are not immersed in the whole online knitting universe) to survive. Anyway, it is just something to think about in general...what is our world going to look like in ten or twenty years from now? Will we ever leave our homes and our computers? Or just have things delivered to our doorsteps and then retreat into our own little worlds? I guess we'll see. And don't forget to sign up to follow the blog - or join us at The Yarn Company group on Facebook!

FACEBOOK, BRIDGE & CABLES

I set up a Facebook Group for the Yarn Company yesterday. Please join it - I am not sure exactly how I will use it - but I'd love for it to be a place where people can show sweaters they've made - ask questions, talk about knitting in general.... I also went back on Ravelry the other day - thinking we really need to put ourselves out there on it - but I just find it very overwhelming. How do stores use ravelry exactly? I wish I were more techno savvy. But alas, my interests lie elsewhere for the most part. For example, I am going to start bridge lessons tonight! I am very excited. I used to play a little many years ago- at camp actually (I went to a completely unstructured hippy dippy camp where half the time we went to our bunks and played cards instead of softball - and the other half of the time we were skinny dipping at Tushy Rock and singing union songs..."Oh there once was a union maid, who never was afraid, of the goons and the ginks and the company finks....." Okay - I am going off on quite a tangent...) Back to bridge lessons - - we have an instructor and another couple coming over to our house tonight...I think it should be fun. I remember really enjoying bridge and would love to become good at it - I should have been born several decades before I was - bridge, knitting - and I'd love to learn mah-jong too. Anyway, because they are coming over at 8pm - I really want Zoe to be asleep by then. I asked my babysitter not to give her a nap today so that when I get home I can just put Zoe down and she'll fall right asleep. BUT my babysitter just called and told me that Zoe passed out on the floor. Poor baby. It's not like she doesn't ever not nap. Pretty much every weekend she skips her naps and has no problem with it...of course on the one day I want her not to nap she passes out. Is that kind of like a Murphy's Law situation? I think so. Well, we'll see what happens tonight - I'll keep my fingers crossed. On the knitting front - I am still plugging away at Zoe's sweater. I am almost done with the 2nd front. The other day though I was almost done with the 1st front and I looked at it and about two thirds of the way down I saw one cable that was wrong, so of course I had to rip it. It was a bummer - I had to rip a few inches out of Jeff's sweater the other day too. It is very unlike me to make mistakes but I guess I am so tired - I am not paying so much attention. Also - we just started watching the Tudors on HBO. We love it - and I am absorbed - so I am not paying proper attention to my cabling.

Vacation Knitting Anyone?

There is nothing like an upcoming warm vacation to get the summer knitting juices flowing. With many school's spring breaks coming up - we have been doing a steady business in "vacation projects." Smallish items that can be easily packed, to knit on the plane and on the beach...in cotton, of course. Baby and children's sweaters are always good. Purses. Stuffed animals. Or even a cute tank top for an adult is not to much to lug around! Take a look at some of the items people have been picking up and if you come back from your vacation with anything cool send us a picture and we'll post it on the blog! Creative focus silk kids' cardigan: Daria bag: Banyan skirt: and the Snake: I am going to Jamaica in a few weeks - and I am trying to figure out what to bring. Definitely not Jeff's sweater - too big, too hot and too expensive if I lose it! Hopefully Zoe's cable/bobble sweater will be done by then and I am going to start a dress for her - but it is intarsia (color knitting) and that might be a pain on the beach - so I have to figure something out. I am going to need some good books too. Suggestions are always welcome. This past week I haven't been knitting much...I don't know if I mentioned it but I got an Apple laptop for my birthday and I have signed up for private lessons at the Apple store to learn how to use it. ($99 for the year and you can have an hour private lesson once a week!) I am currently learning how to "make movies". I've downloaded all my videotapes of family vacations, birthday parties etc. and last week I learned how to edit them. I can add text, still photos, music and have scenes fade into each other - it is very cool! Next week I will learn how to share my movies - maybe I will try to share one here. After that I am going to learn to build a website. Should be interesting...

Follow our blog!!!

First things first - did you know you can become a follower of this blog and I think you get notified everytime I post (so exciting right???) - Well I have one follower -thank you! For anyone else out there reading this - I think you should become a follower too. It would make me feel like I am writing and people might actually be reading it - it would be so nice. So I am beseeching you - (is that right??) to please follow the blog! Just scroll down to the bottom of the blog and click the "follow" link. Anyway - is it cold out there or what?! I could barely breathe on my way home from bringing Max to school this morning. I waited or the bus for what seemed like an eternity and when it finally came I could barely feel my fingers. I decided that there was no way I could go to the gym - how could I even think of taking any of my clothes off? (pretty lame excuse - I know). Instead I went home to work on one of my many non knitting projects that I've undertaken in the last week. First - I made a poster for Max's school of the kid's in his class knitting. His principal asked me to put together 5-10 photos that they could hang on the wall outside the office. So, I had some of the photos of the kids developed and taped them to a nice piece of black foam board. Then I used silver marker to write on it. It came out pretty well - I probably should have used a stencil for the writing part - but it's fine. Next I worked a little on my anniversary gift for Jeff. Times are tough so I am making him a present. I am making him a corkboard out of all the wine corks that he has saved over the years. I think you can buy something like this from the skymiles catalogues for not to much money- but it's the thought that counts. Yesterday I went to the lumber store and bought molding and plywood - and had them cut the molding so I could glue it onto the plywood to make a frame. I also bought some wood glue and antuque gold colored paint. (All of this cost more that if I'd purchased the damn thing from the airline catalogue - but I have to remember that it's the thought that counts!) So yesterday I put my frame together and painted it. Today I began gluing the corks onto the plywood. It takes a long time to do this - and then I have to hide it somewhere that Jeff won't find it...I also hope I have enough corks - I laid them out - roughly before I bought everything - but it may have been too rough. We'll see. Unfortunately, I did not have time to work on my other project - putting my videos from my video camera onto my computer! I've been doing this all weekend - I only have one or two left. I has been really fun seeing videos of max when he was 1 and 2 years old. He was so cute! On Friday I have a lesson at the Apple store and I'll learn how to edit my video and make cool movies. I am so excited! I also worked on my knitting projects over the weekend. Max and Jeff went back up to Vermont to ski - (Max is now doing double black diamond trails-he is a far cry from the adorable two and a half year old that dressed up in my black sundress and a withches hat and recited Beauty and the Beast word for word. It's true - I have it on tape) Anmyway - I plopped Zoe down in front of several hours of Dora, Diego and Lola & Charlie (a bad mother...?) and I worked on my organic cotton cardigan for Zoe - I am almost done with the back. And I worked on Jeff's aran cashmere cable sweater. I had put it down for a while because I made a mistake - and it is tough ripping out all those stitches...all those cables - but I did it and am almost back to where I was. Take a look at Zoe's organic cotton sweater in the works!

So much knitting....so little time

I went skiing at Stratton mountain in Vermont last week. It was great - snowed 9 inches one night! There is nothing better than sitting in an outdoor hot tub with the snow coming down... Max went to ski school. He is really becoming a great skiier - he can ski black diamonds! I put Zoe on skis one morning. It was probably the worst $25 I've ever spent - but it was fun (for me). I dragged her around for a few minutes and then made her walk in the skis. She cried a little, laughed a little and then informed me that now it was time for a treat! I couldn't disagree - we went and got sour gummies which she then proceeded to eat while plopped down in the snow. It was pretty cute. I thought I'd get a lot of knitting done while away - it seems I always think that and it is never the case. I did knit in the car on the way up to Vermont. I worked on Jeff's sweater a little - I am almost done with the back. Then I worked on my little girls' swing cardigan out of the Nashua handknits, Creative Focus Silk. It is a great 100% raw silk yarn with great drape. I love the little cardigan - it really came out adorable. It only takes 3 balls for a size one. Zoe told me she wants me to make her one. I think I will. I just started a cardigan for her out of Sublime Organic Cotton. It has cables and bobbles - it will be adorable when I am done. When I got back to work on Saturday - I walked in to a transformed store! Despite the freezing temperatures outside - it is definitely spring here at The Yarn Co. You should definitely check out our site, www.theyarnco.com to see all the new yarns we've gotten in. There is an unbelieveable yarn called Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. It is so soft and luscious and comes in a wide array of beautiful colors. Berroco, Seduce just came in - and it comes in some great multi colors now too. Those will be up on our site soon. I need more time to knit! All this yarn, so many ideas and so many other things to do too....aaargghhhh!