Do You Really Have to Ask?

Yes, there's Knitting Circle tonight. It's not too late to equip yourself with some sanity-preserving knitting before you go off to see the family.

No, we're not open on Thursday.

Yes, we're open Friday -- regular hours, 10 - 7.

Yes, we're open Saturday -- regular hours, 10 - 6.

Yes, we're open Sunday -- regular hours, 12 - 5.

Yes, we'll listen to your stories of cooking crises; no, we won't help you eat the leftovers!

Don't forget to knit with balls tonight!

This evening, Michael del Vecchio (known in the blog world as Tricky Tricot) will be signing copies of his book, Knitting with Balls: A Hands-On Guide to Knitting for the Modern Man.



He'll be starting around 6 ish and staying until 8. Sadly, we do not believe he will be accompanied by any of the studly models featured inside his book, but having met Michael at Stitches, I can assure you that he is loaded with charm and plenty studly himself.

Diarufran

Hey! For all you Diakeito freaks (and I mean that in the most loving way) we just got three new colors in! More later...

We're Baaa-aack!

And we have all kinds of new goodies!
The Smith Island Pattern Factory patterns were a HUGE success, so much so that I ran out of Parthenope and Beatrix on Saturday. I have hard copies of Maude in the shop though.
We had all manner of new and luscious Black Bunny in the booth and came home with more! Get your behinds in here and check it out! Ed has knit up a cute baby hoodie in the black bunny bulky that is super cute. Everyone loved it! But, how couldn't you love anything that came from Ed's needles? Oh oh! and we have some new shelves! I love it.

And 55 POUNDS OR NEW KOIGU! Oh yeah, baby. And it's damn good.

We came back with so much new stuff that I don't have photos of it all, but if you come to knitting circle you will see it all, live and in person. Here's a rundown:

Nature's Palette, a vegetable dyed organic wool, similar weight and spin to the koigu but with a softer, more lofty feel.

NEW BLACK BUNNY! But of course. We have a bunch of the DK weight, which is 100% merino and perfect for babies (machine washable and hand dyed, the woman is mad!) and is great for a heavier weight sock. And you need more sock yarn, oh yes you do! There are too many feet in the world not wearing hand knit socks. Get knitting! We also have new colors of the Black Bunny Bulky and a great new Rosie Knits pattern written just for it for a easy cabled hat and mittens. There is also the ridiculously cute top down sweater that Ed made. It's construction is similar to the Elaine Hooded Baby Jacket but the gauge different here and the knit side is the right side, among some other ingenious changes.

Shokay, the Tibetan word for "yak down" is just that, yarn spun from yak down. It's worsted weight, as soft but stronger than cashmere (codeword: not as much pilling on your pricey sweater) and from a fair trade company. The money for this yarn actually is making it into the pockets of the workers, herders and village folks. Take that Nike!

Victorian Lace, the new book from XRX (those wacky folks who brought you A Gathering of Lace) by Jane Sowerby (who is a lovely person, by the way) is to die for. For real. This book is so right up my alley that I am pissed that I didn't write it. She took actual Victorian era lace knitting patterns and reproduced them with charts and updated instructions we can all understand. The woman is truly a mad genius and I wish I could do her grunt work.

New issues of Piecework and Spin-off are in, just in time for our drop spindle spinning class this sunday (because maybe you, like me, bought some beautiful roving and have no freakin' clue what to do with it, although I have looked at it every morning since I bought it on Friday).

Nature Babies by Tara Jon Manning, one of our favorite gals. This book uses all organic and naturally dyed yarns. There are cute knitted projects and a lot of cool felt projects for dolls and toys, also some sewing projects for those of you who are venturing out into the world of *gasp* fabric!

Oh oh oh!! New sock yarn (as if we didn't already have enough, but when is enough, really?) We have some new luscious jewel-toned colors of Silky Sox and Soxie from Great Adirondack.

I know I am forgetting fifteen other things...

Oh and again, it's Wednesday, so there's new Anne. Okay, in all fairness it got here last wednesday, but we were all packing the truck like mad so no one got to see it.

grrr... and i keep trying to load more pictures and it won't let me! Curses!

Knitty D and the City at Stitches

Hey! We're at Stitches!
We saw a lot of you over the weekend and hope to see some more familiar faces today because our favorites, Knitty D and the City
will be in our booth meeting and greeting at 11:00 today!
We have had so many great folks at our booth this weekend, Michael Del Vecchio author of the fabulous new book Knitting with Balls was visiting us and signing books yesterday ( he is sooo NICE!) and he'll also be at Rosies on...the 11th? I don't have my calender with me. More on that later. Anyways, I'm running late to the convention center! See you there!

Stitches is here....

Don't forget: if you're at Stitches, please stop by the Rosie's booth and say hi. We'll have lots of handpainted goodies, including Anne and Andrea and Koigu and some Black Bunny stuff, too! Not to mention a great selection of Manos and some Nashua Handknits yarn. This year, Stitches is being held at Baltimore's Convention Center. Bring the family and drop 'em off at the Aquarium so you can have some uninterrupted market time...