dipping my toe...

...back in the teaching water. I feel like I'm coming out of baby hibernation, having not run a workshop since March. What will happen?

Will anyone comment on my dizzying height or ask me how the air is up there?

Will anyone tell me that my hair looks matronly or whackadoo?

Will anyone inform me that my lipstick looks dark or my dress wrinkly?

What will happen, internet, WHAT?

I am on the edge of my seat.

Here's what I hope will happen:

You will come see me. Perhaps sign up for one of my classes. You will come see our new collection and trunk show. Maybe you'll bring me a cookie or a piece of fudge. Maybe you'll just bring me a Norwegian royalty wave.

You'll have a fun time looking at yarn, and maybe, if the mood strikes, you'll adopt some of it.

What do you say?

I'm going to be at Amazing Threads in the Maple Grove, MN, on October 13th.

Here are the details of the workshops and trunk show info. Scroll down - it's about 2/3 of the way down on the right.

I'm especially excited to be teaching Yarnography, where I can help you take better pictures of your yarn stash and projects. I can't tell you how many posts I've seen on Ravelry where someone says, "Sorry, the picture sucks, but..." That can change in just two hours, with no fancy equipment or overwhelming technical jargon.

On to my other exciting news... the premiere of our new colorway collection. If you haven't liked us on Facebook yet, you should. There's a special offer there.

So, which colorway is your bestest favorite? I put them on the website and in the poll in the same order. You can take another look here, and then vote below.

Thank you all for your awesomeness. Our retailers were really excited about the response to the new colorways!

It's really, really here!

I am dying -- DYING -- to know what you think of the whole collection. What are you surprised by? What are your favorites? What can you see yourself making?

Don't keep me in suspense!

In each of our new colorway listings is a link to the shops that currently stock it. You can call, email, visit their web stores, or stop by the brick and mortar -- whatever floats your boat. Because everything is instock, you get the instant gratification of knowing your yarn will be on its way shortly -- no waiting for us to make it for you. And you get the warm fuzzies from patronizing a local shop.

I know our premiere is a bit unorthodox, but then I've never been known for following the already-charted path. I know it might take a bit of extra effort to shop in a local yarn shop this weekend, but I know I am speaking for every one of our Awesome Retailers when I say thank you for doing it.

When you buy our yarn in an LYS, you're not just supporting us, you're voting with your dollars. You're saying to the small businesses of the world, the ones who provide you with knitting help, classes, and the ability to see and touch things in person, that you want them here, and that you value their contribution to the knitting community. They appreciate your business, and so do we.

We are proud of what we do, and proud to be part of the most amazing community of people in the world. Thanks for being such amazing fans and friends.

Happy knitting, ogling, and caressing (the yarn! the yarn!) this weekend!

Visit our new colorway babies here.

guess what i made?

Yarn.

A charming baby girl.

A wooden photo backdrop.

Just to give credit where credit is due, lest I hear about it in the morning:

-- I had my husband buy the boards.

-- I had Boy Aaron make them into pallets. (Or as we like to call them, Zombie Apocalypse Emergency Rafts)

-- I painted many layers of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint and then distressed them to add interesting texture.

Guess what else I made?

A kindergartner.

And yarn.

An eight year old.

Some things in Photoshop having to do with yarn. And yarn, actual yarn.

A giant ten year old, who is almost as tall as his teacher (5'4"), and who eats everything in sight. Apparently it requires a lot of caloric intake to grow a 6'9" skeleton and the muscles to support it.

6'9" is just an estimate. He is in the 140th percentile for height.

The horsedog? That I did not grow. I am only her adoptive mother.

The final boxes for our Fall Premiere Weekend are heading out in the morning! We did it!

knitting truths from snooki

Sometimes I just want to knit awesome things. Things that will make people stop me on the street and say, "Where did you get that GORGEOUS sweater?" So then I can reply, "Oh this? I made it."

Then they can fawn all over me and make me feel like a knitting goddess.

But let's face it. If people are staring at me, it's not because of my knitting. It's more likely that they want to talk about me being tall, or about the fact that my lipstick is too dark or my hair needs fixing.

And often, my knitting goes awry. I get derailed by stinky knitting needles and lose sight of my desire to be a knitting deity.

I start out thinking my knitting rocks, and within short order am saying aloud,

My bronzer is leaking off my face.

After I read the book Sweater Quest, I thought, "I am going to knit me an Alice Starmore Tudor Rose sweater like that girl Adrienne Martini."

And that's exactly how I said it too. "I am going to knit me an Alice Starmore Tudor Rose sweater like that girl Adrienne Martini."

Reality set in. I was not going to spend a year knitting a sweater that, while stunning, is more of a museum piece than a wearable garment. (Why is reality always late to the party? Why can't reality be freakishly early?)

I'm probably not even going to spend a year knitting something I'll wear every day. I just don't have it in me.

What exactly am I hoping to accomplish, I asked myself. What am I trying to achieve that has eluded me thus far?

My ultimate dream is to move to Jersey and find a nice, juiced, hot, tanned guy and live my life.

And wool will just not fit in on Jersey Shore. It's too natural.

Last November, after a string of knitting failures, my family and I took a vacation to Florida.

Isn't that where all families with small children pilgrimage to? The Mecca of the Mouse? I distinctly remember asking Twitter what I should bring to knit. "Nothing," a lot of Twitter said. "You will be too tired."

I didn't listen to Twitter. I brought an entire bag of knitting, got on the plane, and said to the flight attendant,

I am so excited because we are going to see the crocadillies!

She nodded politely. I'm quite certain she thought, "Wow, she is a knitting goddess."

I mean, what else could she think?

I got nothing knit on that trip. Fine, Twitter. You were right.

I'm now at a knitting impasse, with a sweet new baby and 12 hour workdays.

I love my life, but sometimes I have those Calgon moments, where I just want to be swept away to a remote location that is silent and full of mangoes.

I wanna go on a boat, an island...filled with gorillas.

Correction: gorillas on a quiet island who think I'm a knitting goddess.

fall premiere weekend, 9/22-9/23

Dudes.

Fall premiere weekend is almost upon us.

Do you know what that means?

Our collection is going to debut at Local Yarn Shops (and online retailers) the weekend of 9/22 - 9/23.

You get to see the yarn in person.

You get to support your LYS.

You get the instant gratification of not waiting [a long time] for us to make yarn for you.

This is very exciting.

Let me direct you to our list of amazing shops that are participating in this premiere. They are looking forward to seeing you!

A Good Yarn -- Sarasota, FL

All About Ewe -- Clark, NJ

Amazing Threads -- Maple Grove, MN

Cat and Crow -- Mt. Horeb, WI

Conversational Threads -- Emmaus, PA

Juniper Tree -- Austin, TX

Knitting by the Sea -- Carmel, CA

The Net Loft -- Cordova, AK

Purlescence -- online (United Kingdom)

Woolbearers -- Mt. Holly, NJ

The Yarn Cupboard -- Jamesville, NY

Yarn Garage -- Minneapolis, MN

Yarn Harbor -- Duluth, MN

The Yarn Haven -- Knoxville, TN

The Yarn Spot -- Wheaton, MD

Yay! for Yarn -- online (Australia)

Many of these stores are willing to do mail order, and we'll have more information about that here on the blog soon. 

Mark your calendars!

Questions? Leave them here for me, and I'll be sure to answer in the comments!