We have only a few spots left for this Sunday’s program: LACE EDGED VEST. We will be focusing on the lace part, although of course we will give you guidance to complete the entire vest. And we promise to post a picture of the finished product tonight when we get home. How great is this pattern? We have already made two summer ones, and a fall/winter can’t be far behind. As always, the program is free and runs from 2-4 PM. Just give us a call so you have a seat!

Want a perfect yarn for it? Check out the new NEUTRAL COLORS of NORO YARNS. We received the colorway in both SILK GARDEN and KUREYON, and our lovely customer Eileen has already bought enough SILK GARDEN to make the vest described above!

Also in, new patterns from BLUE SKY ALPACA and a lovely SAGE colorway of their ALPACA/SILK.

Don’t these students look proud? They should! Check out the baby hats they made in the ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS class. Four hours of lessons and they can knit, purl, and seam a hat!!!

And we are almost finished with an upcoming SUNDAY IN THE SALON sample. Thanks to KATHY CEA for turning us on to a great way to learn lace and chart reading, the LACE ANKLET shown below iis in progress. Join us in August for this program—we think these will make a great gift for the tennis player or even walker in your life:

TAGUA NUT BUTTONS are gorgeous! We are now stocked with 24 colors of this unique accessory. Derived from the TAGUA (IVORY PALM) tree in the Amazon, the fruit is carved and dyed for many uses. You can purchase these buttons knowing that you are supporting the employment of indigenous people and helping to maintain the trees.

And on a less P.C. note, we also have restocks of IVORY, PINK, AQUAMARINE, and BABY BLUE Baby Cashmerino, the ultra soft/machine washable sport weight yarn from Debbie Bliss.

The SUNDAY IN THE SALON is filling fast. Come join us and learn how to knit the HAIKU or SONNET sweater from knitty. You will practice your knitting math and have lots of fun, we promise. Give us a call to reserve a spot from 2-4 on SUNDAY.

We had just settled down to knit for a bit when a new UPS Guy walked in (Javier must be on vacation) with four ginormous boxes from LANTERN MOON! Guess Bruce was telling the truth when he said they were fully stocked. So come check out the new needles (straight and circs, including 40” cords!), bags and accessories. We are in love with the ASHLEY bag and the new BIRTHDAY CAKE measuring tapes.

XRX books has weighed in with our TNNA order: VICTORIAN LACE TODAY, SHAWLS AND SCARVES, SALLY MELVILLE’S KNIT STITCH AND COLOR KNITTING, BABIES-TODDLERS: A KNITTERS DOZEN, AND BAGS; A KNITTERS DOZEN are all in stock. Need inspiration? Books from three major publishers should do the trick!

And our SUNDAY IN THE SALON program resumes this weekend with the adorable and fun HAIKU sweater. We made this in a toddler size and can’t wait to start the adult version, SONNET. This is a great sweater whether it is your first or fortieth! Come learn all about gauge and knitting side to side. You can use any yarn and corresponding needles, so feel free to come in ahead of time for the pattern and some guidance about fiber selection. As always, the program runs from 2-4 PM and is free of charge; just give us a call to let us know you will be here!

Well, we can’t fault the book dealers at TNNA!!! They have been quite speedy about their shipping; yesterday we were greeted with two boxes from INTERWEAVE and RANDOM HOUSE. We feel very well stocked in the book department now, thank you very much.

Back in stock the indispensable reference KNITTERS COMPANION. We continue to love this small but mighty spiral that fits so neatly in whatever knitting bag we carry and containes the answers to all sorts of knitting questions. If you don’t have this, pick one up before your vacation! You will thank us later.

And from Random House: BIG GIRL KNITS, MASON DIXON KNITTING, RUNWAY KNITS, YARN GIRLS GUIDE TO KNITS FOR OLDER KIDS, NATURE BABIES, AND INSPIRED CABLE KNITS. The last is our favorite book from the amazing FIONA ELLIS, who will be back at the shop to teach this fall. We have made two sweaters out of this book already, and have all our materials lined up for a third. We have peeked at the other books as well, ok, drooled over RUNWAY KNITS. Come on in, sit at the table, and peruse these beauties. You will be inspired….

Our SUMMER NEWSLETTER will be out via email tomorrow. Not on our mailing list? Simply scroll down to the lower left side of this home page and sign up. Be sure to follow the prompts and respond to the email you will get from us-this assures us you want to be on the list!

Huge boxes awaited us, and what treasures were within! First up, books from MARTINGALE: Knitted Shawls, Stoles and Shawls; Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques; Saturday Sweaters; Silk Knits; Top Down Sweaters; More Sensational Knitted Socks; Special Knits from Just One Skein; 365 Knitting Stitches a Year; Modern Classics and Sarah Dallas Knitting.

And from SCHAEFER YARNS, fabulous new colors of LAUREL PIMA COTTON as well as beautiful colorways of ANNE SOCK YARN, SANDRA, and ELAINE. So come on in and match up a pattern from a new book with one of these gorgeous yarns!!!

The goodies from TNNA keep coming! Today we received a box of books from STERLING PUBLISHERS: GORGEOUS KNITTED AFGHANS, LACY LITTLE KNITS, TODDLER KNITS ON THE GO, and SHAWLS ON THE GO. We have glanced at a few of these and let out a huge sigh of relief-they are indeed as nice as we remember from the show. And we also received two great reference books: KNIT 101 and VOGUE QUICK REFERENCE.

Also in, new buttons and clasps from BLUE MOON and RENAISSANCE BUTTONS. We confess we haven’t had a chance to check these in yet as we have been off this week for a brief respite, but we promise to have them done by Saturday! In the mean time, be sure to swing by the shop—Marietta has been working all week and has brought the ever-growing MAXIM.

Sometimes we knit to improve skills, learn something new, or challenge ourselves. And sometimes we knit for just plain fun. We are having a blast with the HAIKU sweater, the subject of our SUNDAY IN THE SALON on JUNE 24. First off, the design is amazingly clever. It is knit side to side and looks like this when all but the sleeves are complete:

And then, WHAM! you fold it over and voila! A sweater:

How much fun are we having with this? So much so that we have decided to make the adult version, SONNET, next. We are going to use the yummy metallic wool that we will have in the shop this fall from BLUE HERON YARNS. Stay tuned!

One of our best sellers from last season, BLUE SKY ALPACA/SILK yarn is back in stock. And if you are looking for a yarn to knit into a lace shawl or top, check this out. It is a sportweight fiber so you are on a decent sized needle, and the fabric created is just elegant. The colors, according to KARINA, are magnificent. And we have terrific patterns in as well.

For those of you who signed up for the NONI BAG class, we have copies of a terrific article that appeared about NORA BELLOWS in a British knitting magazine. Please ask for a copy when you come in to pick out your pattern and yarn. And as a reminder, please do this ASAP. We have to send your choices into a distributor so that you have the right purse handles, snaps, zippers etc.