It has been wonderfully busy in the shop this past week. 

I was excited all week because the "Girls from Gainesville" were planning a visit on Saturday.  They first came into the shop last November when they were on a yarn crawl, and you can read about their adventures on that trip in Lorena's wonderful blog.  (Be sure to click on the link about the Zebra in the field.)  They have so much fun on their yarn crawls that I am always tempted close up the shop and go with them when they come down.

Lorena sent the group photo from this past weekend:



Lorena has posted all of the photos from their trip.

Herta has a sweater workshop going with some dedicated knitters who are driving in from as far away as Tampa and Winter Haven.  Ginger is making a short sleeved top out of Twisted Sisters Daktari cotton.  Judy is making one out of Feza Alp.  Linda is making the Twisted Sisters Double Happiness Sweater, and Brigitte is making a top out of Daktari in Thai Chili (Brigitte loves red). 

Herta has been teaching knitting for years and years, and long ago they started calling her "Herta the Ripper".  If you make a mistake that you do not want to rip out, do not let her get her hands on your needles.  Her mantra is "If we are going to do something, let's do it right."  It is difficult to argue with that, but there are times when you need to just let it go and move on.  Unfortunately, there are lots of times when you really do have to rip it out and start over.  Almost everyone in the workshop has had to start over for one reason or another.  Ginger had to rip everything out because her cat got into her yarn basket, but she has bravely soldiered on and is now almost done with the back. 

It can be discouraging at times.  Herta, who really is an amazing knitter, always says that she rips more than she knits.  All the knitting gurus, like Sally Melville, say that not all projects turn out.  But every mistake is a lesson learned. 

I definitely do not have Herta's perseverence.  When a project really is not turning out right, I usually end up putting it away it away in the "time-out closet for badly behaved yarns."  I picked up that wonderful phrase from the owner of one of my favorite yarns shops in Chicago (Have Ewe Any Wool?). 

Sometimes we just need projects that are guaranteed successes.  I have become addicted to the Tilli Tomas silk purses because they all turn out so wonderfully.  When the last shipment of the silk bags came in I was thrilled because it included a drawstring rucksack in an unusual shade of lime green that went perfectly with a skein of Prism Cool Stuff in Captiva that I have had in my stash for over two years.  I bought it long before we carried Prism yarns.  I simply fell in love with the colors, even though they are not colors that I can wear, and I had to have it.  Since then, it sat there while I tried to figure out what to do with it.  Now it has become my outrageously luxurious bag for my sock projects:



This picture does not do justice to the richness of the colors.  I am always disappointed by pictures of the Prism Stuffs because they never seem to capture the beauty of the color and texture combinations.

It is the time of year when the manufacturers introduce their new yarns and colors for spring and we will be announcing several new arrivals over the next few weeks. 

Fiesta has just introduced a wonderful new yarn called Ballet.  It is 50% superfine alpaca and 50% tencel and knits up at the 4.25 stitches per inch.  Here it is in Rainforest:




The colors are simply stunning and this yarn will make wonderful sweaters, and I think that it may be just the yarn that I have been looking for for a very special throw that I owe someone.  Fiesta also has several sock patterns for the Ballet that have not yet been printed.  I will add them to the catalog as soon as they come in.  We have four colors in stock now, and four more coming in a few days.  Unfortunately, no pictures are available of the colors that we don't have, so it is a bit of a guessing game to figure out what colors to order.  If you have any special requests for colors, please let me know.