Many fall favorites are back in stock!!!

Finally our fall yarns are beginning to arrive. The shelves are beginning to fill up and my fingers are beginning to itch. I need to decide what to make. I am looking at the beautiful wall of Zara and I want to make the moderne baby blanket from the first Mason Dixon knitting book for my friends that are expecting their first baby in September...BUT they aren't finding out the sex of the baby and that makes it so difficult to choose colors. I also want to make Zoe some things from the MilaMia books but there are so many great items to chose from that I cannot make a decision. I am almost done with the front of Jeff's aran cashmere cabled sweater. I still have both sleeves to go. I thought I might have it done for his 45th birthday, which was yesterday, but no such luck. Maybe for Channukah. It is the never ending project. I also just made Zoe the creative focus silk cardigan in black that I need to sew together. I told her I made her a black sweater and she looked at me like I had 4 heads. I told her black was stylish - I don't think she was buying it. But it is. Also we have been very busy trying to get our web store up and running. Hopefully we will be able to take orders for all our beautiful yarns, needles, accessories and books over the internet by mid September. It's a lot of work getting it all set up - but I think in the end it will be worth it. Lastly - just a quick list of yarns we now have in stock: Filatura Zara and Zara Plus, Sirdar Baby Bamboo, Koigu Kpppm, K1C2 Brae Tweed, Ela Rae Lace Merino, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and Cashmerino Aran and Prism Saki. And Finally we got a beautiful new yarn by Filatura di Crosa - Nirvana it is a lace weight merino that is superwash - and can be used for lace or stranded to knit things on a bigger needle.

HOT SUMMER IN THE CITY

Wow is it HOT outside!! But inside at The Yarn Co we have been checking in some great fall yarns! Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino is back this year - you can make some of the great kids projects from the fantastic MillaMia Books with this yarn. The books have the most adorable patterns for babies and children! The coat on the cover here is amazing and there are adorable sweaters, dresses, scarves and hats too. Come in and check the books out and get started on a project for your little one. We also got some great colors of Ella Rae Lace Merino. I've made Zoe two of these skirts, they are fun and easy to make and the yarn is great to knit. Lace Merino Skirt We also got some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, beautiful colors of K1C2 Brae Tweed and I can't forget Sirdar, Baby Bamboo. Check out some of the great projects you can start with these yarns! Baby Bamboo Rainbow Blanket Brae Tweed Jacket Cashmerino Baby Blanket

Live From Columbus, Ohio....

We are in lovely Columbus, Ohio. We just decided on 23 beautiful colors of Koigu, kpppm. We've also bought some great new yarn. A super chunky yarn called Big Stitch Bumps that is a soft alpaca and knits on a number 50 needle - no kidding! One skein retails for $120 but makes an awesome vest or a rug. We also bought some great new scarf kits from Jade Sapphire - they are called Quattro Kits and come with 4 different colors of cashmere and patterns to make scarves with the four colors. We bought a great merino/cashmere blend yarn from Muench that knits at 3 stitches to the inch and is sure to be a huge hit this fall. And a new yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca called Brushed Suri and is so soft and light - it makes an amazing sweater. We also got new colors in the beaded mohair and single ply cashmere by ArtYarns. And if you are ever in Columbus, be sure to visit Jenni's ice cream... it is delicious.

HUGE BOOK SALE

We are having a HUGE BOOK SALE during the month of May. 40% OFF all books and magazines in stock. If you are on ravelry and would like to see a list of titles available go to http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-yarn-co-nyc/1126096/1-25. Or email theyarnco@verizon.net and we can send you a list of available titles. We are happy to ship - via fed ex ground or media mail. ALSO We now have a FACEBOOK PAGE. We had a group - but realize that it is easier to keep in touch via a PAGE - we will be updating it frequently. Find us on Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/The-Yarn-Co/95344656072?ref=ts - Click that you LIKE us to join and get updates via the PAGE.

Technology Anyone?

Just added to our Ravelry store: Big News! Julie and I have made a momentous decision. The Yarn Co. is going to enter the age of technology. Yes, we have a website...but no shopping cart. Yes, many balls of yarn have bar codes on them...but we have no computerized inventory system. Yes, we have a blog, are on Facebook and have a presence on Ravelry...but we still hand write our reciepts! We are on the verge of purchasing a point of sale system that will hopefully revolutionize he way things are done here. We will have an integrated website with a shopping cart, we will have customer info at our fingertips...(you love zara? - we will let you know when a big new shipment comes in...) and we will be able to keep track of credits, gift certificates and oh so much more. We are hoping to have all this up and running by August. Start the fall season in style. Exciting, no? On another note: I made Zoe model this weekend and am going to try to put the skirt and a zara cardigan I made in the fall on Ravelry. Check her out:

Knitting in the news

I just finished knitting Zoe's skirt out of the beautiful Ella Rae, Lace Merino. It is sooo cute. And I love the lace detail at the bottom. It was very easy -- only a two row repeat. Zoe is supposed to come in for a modelling session tomorrow, so hopefully I will get some nice shots of her in it. Now I am knitting an adorable dress as a store sample out of the Katia, Tobago. I started out making a garter stitch sweater but wasn't loving it, so I said "hey, I think I'll turn it into a dress" - and voila. I am very happy with it and I think I may need to make one in a bigger size for Zoe--although she really really does not need another piece of clothing. I really need some more time to knit - I also want to make myself something out of the Arucania, Chaiten. The colors are amazing (I love earthy colors) and I think it is my new favorite summer yarn. It is 100% silk and so light. I am wearing the one we made as our store sample all the time. I think I might make our Seduce tank top out of it...we'll see. On another note - there has been some fun/funny stuff in the news lately (Wall Street Journal and CBS News --not bad). Take a look: Check out the CBS News piece! And hey - Truckers are knitting!

And the blanket went for....

Max's school auction has come and gone once again. It was this past Saturday night and was lots of fun. The school raised a ton of money. Our beautiful blanket - which you can see below - went for a staggering $800!!! I was so excited - our project raised the most of any class project. (All the kids knit a square for the blanket and I sewed them together and crocheted around - to make an awesome 40x60 blanket). Bill Telepan once again put his services up for auction - dinner for 8 cooked by him at your house - including wine - he offered it up 3 times - and each one went for $12,000. Truly unbelievable. We ended up going home with some wine, a big Simpsons basket for our downstairs friend, and I won the raffle for lunch with Max's teacher (the second year in a row - is it rigged or am i just really lucky?) - oh - and I got a package that included a Bliss gift certificate a private yoga lesson and some antiaging cream. When I went to pick up my items they told me they couldn't find the antiaging cream and I though - no big deal - but when I went home I saw that its value was $158. I want my cream! I need to try a cream that costs that much money - maybe if I apply it religiously I will look like I did in high school again...I need to remember to see if they worked on locating this cream that must certainly have magical properties! On the knitting front - I am trying to finish up a new skirt for Zoe - it has a cute lace bottom and is made out of Arucania, Lace Merino. I've already bought her several tee shirts to go with it. I also just finished a great sweater out of the S. Charles, Sari. What next? There are so many possibilities - I just can't decide.

PHOTO BLOG

Never any time to sit and write - too busy knitting... lots of great new projects. Take a look. Right below is the auction project my 2nd graders made - each kid knit a square...it better go for a lot of money!!!

WHAT'S NEW...

Things have been busy here at The Yarn Co. We've been ordering lots of new and exciting spring yarns - which will begin arriving in February. We actually already got one of the new yarns - Tahki, Mia - which is a great nubby cotton that gets 3 stitches to the inch and is super soft. We are knitting a cute raglan pullover with it. We also just knit a great new baby blanket out of the Sirdar, Baby Bamboo. It is a 5x5 rib using the yarn held double and striping it in the colors of the rainbow. It came out really great. We substituted pink for blue in the rainbow (we do know it's roygbiv, not roygpiv!) because we didn't have a good blue - but it works. Julie also knit a GREAT jacket out of the Wooly Merino yarn - the yarn is soft and fabulous to knit with and the jacket looks great on - I think I need to make one for Zoe for next fall. I finished Max's sweater out of the cashmere I pulled out of an old sweater. I did a 5x5 rib and it looks good on him. One of these days I really need to make him model his sweaters! I picked up Jeff's cabled Aran Cashmere sweater again and finished knitting the back. All those cables are slow going at this point in my life - but maybe I'll really finish it for his 45th birthday in July...or his 46th...I also want to make Zoe a skirt for the spring out of the Lace Merino. I think I will make it A-line with a lace pattern at the bottom and stockinette the rest of the way. So much to knit, so little time! Also - if you have any pictures of items you made from here that you'd like to share - email them to us at yarnco@verizon.net! it's always fun to see things people have made. Check out the great stuffed animal by Sam: And the adorable torino polka dot blankets by Karen: Also, as an aside...Leslie, who works at The Yarn Co. is making a sweater out of an old Bottega Cashmere and needs another ball or two - anyone knit with this and willing to part with their leftovers?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year! I cannot believe it is 2010! I am happy to have the holiday's behind me though - December is such a hectic month, between Channukah, Max's birthday, holiday parties, school functions and the store at it's busiest. Now that it is January I am hoping things will calm down a little. Although, I read this article in the NY Times recently that talked about how we are a nation of people who put off pleasure because we always think that we will be less busy in the future and will have more time to go spend that gift certificate or use those miles...but it never happens that way. We are always just as busy, life never really slows down. After reading the article I decided to try to do many things that i have been putting off and to do as many things that I enjoy as possible. So, I got industrious and CLEANED my disgusting bedroom. We had papers, clothes and everything under the sun all over the place. You could not see our desk, either of the chairs in our room,the mantel over the fireplace...it's been that way for 5 years or so. I became a machine. I filed, I folded, I threw out garbage bags full of stuff...And I now live in a beautiful room! When Jeff comes home from work and tries to put his tie on a chair I swoop in and say "you are not going to put that THERE are you???" I then moved onto Max's room and to the living room and organized all the toys (I even organized the lego into similar sized pieces). It was very fulfilling! Next, I ripped out a cashmere sweater that I had made years ago. It was heavily cabled and very wide and short - basically unwearable. So I am now making a sweater for max out of it and I think I will be able to make one for myself too. I also knit Zoe a new hat to go with her new jacket, lengthened the cute shrug I'd made her over the summer and organized all of my yarn and needles. I also made my friend who just had a baby a blanket and went downtown to Purl fabric to get a backing for it. (I still have to sew it together). I finished reading John Irving's new book - Last Night in Twisted River - which I LOVED. If you like John Irving (he is my all time favorite author) - it is classic John Irving at his best - although it took a little to get into it. And I have watched a bunch of movies - and added to my queue all of the movies that are out now that I know I won't get to and will forget about later--making use of my netflix account that usually sits dormant. I also baked Max a cake for his birthday and cupcakes for school. And then we had a dinner party for New Year'eve for which I cooked up a storm, hosting three other couples and their kids, two of whom slept over. After all that, I was exhausted for 3 or 4 days. Then I had to go back to work and had lots of back office stuff to do, had to send all the Prism yarns back, and we did an inventory of ALL of our yarn. The benefit of that is the store looks terrific now. It is organized and neat. There are also lots of new Sale yarns in the back room --some excellent deals. Come in and check it out. Well, my burst of blogging energy is running out--I have to go and make some baseball cookies for Max's birthday party tomorrow. Maybe after tomorrow things will slow down and I will have more time - or maybe I'll have nothing left to do...ha ha ha.