Happy Halloween!

Just catching up on some blogs I follow and Kristin Nichols Blog sent me here. Amazing isn't it.

The Farmer was off today so we drove around visiting and doing a bit of shopping. He is now in the workshop making another wooden stand for yarn that is still packed in a box because the bins are all filled.

I even managed to get him to carve the pumkin!

I am supposed to be making supper and cleaning up.......

(We did buy a huge box of chocolates for our "Trick or Treaters", just in case any one is brave enough to come out our way!)

See you Tuesday!

Facebook?

Have you noticed how much I use and exclamation mark?



Did you know that I am now on Facebook?



I have joined the flock, sort of.



Busy week this past week, I really am looking forward to a couple of days off?



See you Soon.

Friday!

Already?

Tonight is Mitten club night, I am here till late. Instead of doing errands I am staying in and attempting to create order out of chaos. I would show you pictures, but we are having camera issues. (Perhaps that's a good thing, because it really is chaotic in here.)

Boxes of yarn arrived:

Northern Worsted, 100 grams, 100% acrylic loads of colours.

Marble Chunky, there always is an order of Marble Chunky!

Mille colori from Lang yarns a few new colours, remember the multi directional scarf?

New sock yarn from Cascade, very nice!


and new Buttons, I love buttons and these are very nice. You can buy them one at a time! (I just haven't figured out how to display them yet.)

There's work to do!

See you soon.

Monday is for Voting!

Did you Vote!

The results here were very interesting. Not only did I vote, I worked at a Voting Location. It was a long day. Started at 9 am and I was home again just past my bedtime!

I took knitting, good thing the gymnasium was cold.

I would show you what I was working on, but the battery in the camera refuses to co-operate.

Tuesday is for..tired!

Funny!

It's 5:08, winding down for the day getting ready to leave. Music blaring and I realize it's Alannah Myles singing:

You ain’t goin’ anywhere baby, You ain’t goin’ anywhere but home
You ain’t goin’ anywhere baby, You ain’t goin’ anywhere but home


See you Tuesday!

ALT (BLT, VBLT and ULT)

Alice's Lace Thing

Alice is one of my favourite customers. She has been a pretty regular knitter and her visits are always welcome.

Every once in awhile she wants to try a new thing. Her sister was visiting and asked if she would knit a shawl for her, we checked out the patterns and came up with Angel Lace Shawl from Fiber Trends. It took a little while for the pattern to gel but once she got going there was no stopping her! Alice's sister wanted a big shawl. Big shawls require a big space to block them. I volunteered the table in the shop. Wednesday she arrived with a damp shawl ready for pinning.

It's in the mail today. (Someone said 'She must really love her sister to do a shawl in black wool!)

A couple of orders, a few things put into the sale bin.

Time to think about changing the windows,

See you Soon.

New, Old, and on Sale!

Look what is growing in the field south of the house!

Although the oats and the clover have been harvested, this nice weather has brought on a second crop.

Saturday was a beautiful day and the Downtown was a busy place! We had a good day!

Busy days are exhausting! This morning I placed a couple of filler up orders. I am glad you are liking the things that I choose for the shop. A few new yarns are making there way into the shop, and finding a home for them has become a bit of a challenge. That means a few things are going into the clearance section:

Mango Moon yarns are now 40% off, there's not much left.

Shepherd Classic Yarn, the remaining stock is now priced at $4.95 for 100 grams, it was $6.95. Felts well and nice pretty colours remain. Again the stock is limited.

New this week:

Great Chunky scarf yarns from Katia and Filatura Di Crosa. A box from Manos del Urauguay delivered some solid colours in their Wool Classica.

Yup, finished another shawl! Sand Dollar shawl from Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark. Everything was going along really well until I didn't 'do what it said' and had to 'tink' back 4 rows of pattern at the end of the shawl.

It's made from some of the Mooi sport weight. Bison, Cashmere....."Echt Mooi!"

See you Soon

Random thoughts, or I don't want to tidy the shop...

When it’s slowish in the shop I read blogs! One that I follow quite regularly is Seth’s blog. He has great insight and I have sent you in his direction before. He wrote a section about people you interact with.

Basically you have to treat everyone according their position on the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition.

According to Dreyfus there are five stages that people go through:

(I think that this is the same with knitters!)

“1. Novice--wants to be given a manual, told what to do, with no decisions possible
(Needs a pattern, exact yarn and needles and perhaps a garment already knit as an example!)

2. Advanced beginner--needs a bit of freedom, but is unable to quickly describe a hierarchy of which parts are more important than others
(Chooses a pattern, but willing to change colours and perhaps make small changes)


3. Competent--wants the ability to make plans, create routines and choose among activities(

Can take a basic pattern, incorporate a design element)


4. Proficient--the more freedom you offer, the more you expect, the more you'll get

(Purchases a yarn, and a pattern that don’t correspond but will make it work anyway.)


5. Expert--writes the manual, doesn't follow it.

(willing to write down a pattern, but never make it again…why do it twice.!)

Although I have a lot to learn, I think I could be classed as an expert, I can give advice, but I don’t always take it!

The Boss is telling me to get back to work.

Don't forget about Mitten Club tomorrow night..email me if you are coming!

If you are looking for something to do on Saturday come downtown and visit Applefest, if it's sunny it will be a busy place!

Applefest 2010

Thanksgiving is done, we stayed home visited with The Boy, ate with The Husband's clan and I had a lazy day yesterday. The Boy brought laundry! I knit on about 3 things and finished another Shawl. It's currently drying on the floor in our Family room, with chairs around it to keep 'The Dog' off of it.

I am hoping to get a sweater knit out of 'Purity', a new yarn from Twilley's, before Saturday.

Saturday is Applefest! Applefest is a big event for Downtown Bowmanville. Vendors from across the Province come and display their crafts and products in tents placed along the Main Street. I am giving you a heads up, parking is limited to side streets and the few parking lots along Church street. Come early in the day and stay and wander the Downtown. There are Apple treats of all kinds. Activities for kids and grown ups. If you come after 3 you may find a few parking spaces have opened up. If you don't like the chaos, come early this week or wait until next week to visit.

Apparently the Bowmanville Swim club will have their dunk tank just outside the Shop!

Friday is Mitten club and Saturday the first lot of Mittens are available for Sale!

See You Soon.

Grateful

It's Thanksgiving weekend. It's early and yet we haven't quite figured out what we are doing. It's time for Family to get together and although The Boy is home, The Girl is away. Last year it was the opposite. The dilemma is that we could travel to see The Girl, but that means we would miss a visit with The Boy! (So which one will be more upset if we choose the other?)

Thanksgiving, traditionally a time to reflect and give Thanks for a good growing season as crops are being harvested and tucked away for the long winter.

In a world where over 1/3 of the population lives on less than $2.50 a day, Canadians should be truly grateful. We have great opportunities and although many have struggles everyday we are very 'blessed'.

I have a lot to be grateful for but I won't bore you with the list.

It's time to give back a little.

When The Boy was off to school I decided it was time to do a little Charity work. I became involved with UNICEF during October and November as a support person for the school fundraising programs. (I counted a lot of pennies!) During the past 2 years I have only done a very little amount. This year we will be doing a little fundraising through the Mitten club and a little draw for a prize donated by a lovely customer.

When you come into the Shop during the rest of this month, drop in some change, enter the draw, donate a pair of mitts for our fundraising and support UNICEF.

Thank you...

Today's My Mom's Birthday, Happy Birthday!

Citron

I finished this a little while ago. Citron from Knitty.

A little light knitting, one 50 gram skein of Super Alpaca Lace. I actually followed the pattern exactly, I may have used a slightly smaller needle.

Sometimes you need to do something, fresh!

I think that's my 4th shawl since April!

No Mitten club this week, as it's Thanksgiving weekend.

We may do some travelling..see The Girl!

Be safe,

See you soon.

Monday's are for..,,Shopping!

I know I won't have time to post tomorrow.

Today I made the trek into the big city and picked up:

1. Quick lunch
2. Boxes of bags
3. Cute tubs to merchandise stock
and
4. big bags of yarn!

See You Soon!.