I took some knitting!

Yesterday was surgery day! 'The Farmer's'injury was almost a year ago, by the time he realized that it wasn't going to get better it was July, then the ultra sound was booked. It confirmed there was a tear in the shoulder tendon.  A letter to the surgeon was sent, the appointment booked and then we waited. 

Timing isn't perfect, especially during spring planting for a Farmer.  There have been offers of help and he does have partners so things will get done without him.  

We were pleased when we were told that the surgeon works out of our local hospital.  It meant I could drop him off and head home to wait.  

Today we are home, both kinda tired as sleeping was difficult last night.  So we are both recovering!

Another day for the shop to be closed.  There will be appointments so there may be other days that we may need to close.

Why close, why not just have others fill in? 

1. Closing means there will be no phone calls and questions that only I can answer.

2. There currently isn't enough staff to completely fill in full days.  (Moms with school aged kids need to think about their families first!)

3.When you come to our shop I want staff that can answer every question about yarn, gauge, yardage, needles, washing instructions.  (We are not a big box store, we are a full service shop!)

4. It's a Yarn Shop, you more than likely have something in time out you could be working on until I get back.

See you tomorrow!

He said I could take my Knitting

I knit to keep those times when I have to sit and wait productive.  There will be a lot of that this week!

Today I am at the truck dealership! 'The Farmer' booked this appointment last week and we planned a date as it was a Monday, one of my days off.  The weather turned nice! He is out planting oats and I am here knitting and catching up. Fortunately they have a bit of Wifi I can steal!

Unfortunately I did not bring enough!

A reminder that the shop is closed April 19 and 20 as 'The Farmer' has a bit of surgery planned.  We are back 10 am on the 21st!

So nice I made it Thrice?

I solved 3 problems with these?

1.  I needed something mindless to do, but also wanted an bit of a challenge.

2. The pot holder, hot mat drawer in my house was filled with the most tattered looking, slightly burnt and over washed remnants of things received as Wedding Gifts! 

3. There  was that one big ball, or at least a part of a big ball of dishcloth cotton in my stash, it was either find a new home or use it soon!

I made the smaller one during. 'Father Brown' and 'Vera'.  The middle one was completed during 'Call the Midwife' and 'Grandchester'. I Finally finished the last one during a repeat of 'Miss Marple'  Needless to say they were an easy project for good tv 'busy work'

The pattern is a free one on Ravelry:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bevs-turn-on-itself-potholder

Follow the links to the video and it will give you all you need to know?

Surprised by the change of craft? I do crochet, but without much skill.  They may be a bit wonky, but they will be good replacements for those occupying space in our kitchen.

You will see by the photo there is some Alpaca to process too!  

Tonight Survivor is on, 'The Farmer' enjoys that program, so back to my usual projects!

See you soon!

Yarn Challenge 2016 ...the entries and winners

The voting is done, the ballots were tabulated and the winners announced!

First the entries, not in any particular order:

First time entry for this knitter! Lovely sweater and wee booties!

Vintage Bear, crochet, again a new entry!

Sometimes the challenge is to use all or most of the kit to complete a single item!

This project went on holiday, bits and pieces were knit while somewhere warm and sunny and put together when she arrived home!

Another project created to use up the yarn given, a table runner ready for Easter!

This knitter had never done a project using 'Intarsia' knitting!  Time to use a new technique!

The beginnings of a larger project, we called it a runner for now! 

This is the first time in 8 challenges that 2 projects were made using the same pattern! 

It's unfortunate that the photo does not show you that there are Birds on a branch in the yoke of the dress.

3 dragons, each could be a separate entry!  Adorable!

This shawl is made as part of a Prayer Shawl Ministry, we wish the recipient comfort!

Fake Isle hat, a free pattern on Ravelry. 

The Winners!

3rd place, a lovely little vest and booties!  There is a new baby Girl born just yesterday who will look adorable in this knit by her Mom!  (Sarah you are a Mom! Congratulations!)

2nd Place, This lovely Pip blanket made by Frances!  A perfect use of the yarn and colours!

1st Place!  The Pattern is the Knitter's version of Little Cotton Rabbits!  We loved the details, there is actual knitting on the knitting needles in her Knitting bag!

Diamond Yarns, who are the makers of the Yarn we used send along a door prize.  Bonnie helped us out by picking a winner from the names of those who participated in the Challenge.  Nancy is the winner of a Knitter's   Pride interchangeable needle set! 

Thanks to everyone who participated!

The entries are tucked away and waiting to be picked up!

We look forward to Yarn Challenge 2017!

You be the Judge!

Yarn Challenge Entries have arrived! The window looks amazing filled with these fresh spring colours!

18 kits were purchased and 15 returned in completed projects, it's never too late to be added to the ballots.

In order to select who is deserving of the First, Second and Third place prizes we ask everyone who comes into the shop to pick their favourite projects. A complicated math algorithm is applied and we tally the ballots to choose the most deserving project!

When you vote, only one vote per person you can enter a draw for a lovely BlueQ tote.

Voting ends Saturday at noon!

See you soon!

Socks!

We have them!

The shop is ever evolving, trying to expand the inventory to keep the shop fresh and fun!

We love sock yarn, and we know that sock yarn does not count in your stash.

When the shop opened 7 years ago we had a small selection of sock yarn!

The shop now stocks sock yarn from Regia, Jawoll, Opal, Malabrigo, Sweet Georgia, Fleece Artist, Diamond Select, Cascade Heritage and Briggs & Little! 

The problem is that although there are some that like knitting socks, not everyone does so there are a lot of feet that need socks from another source!  After a few requests for nice wool socks already knit we went looking!

First we found some beautiful wool socks made in Quebec. A machine washable wool, almost the same price as some of the sock yarn, but already knit and ready to wear!

After that came these fun socks by the BlueQ company. Some of them have naughty words on them, they are the most popular!

 Finally we found some squishy cotton socks produced by a small company in the United States!  Designed by a knitter, they are highly patterned and designed so that they don't match!

In January I travelled to the gift show and ordered all of them, they arrived this week!

I don't think you can have too many socks, well maybe I do right this moment!  I am sure you can help me with that?

You never know what you will find in the shop next! 

I can't wait to show you what is coming next week!

Taking time?

This past week things became clear to me.  I discovered that I cannot possibly continue the schedule I had created for myself.  Even though the shop is actually only open 35 - 38 hours per week. It doesn't count the time I spend working for the shop.

The staff (Helen and Mary) can only come at certain times and juggling all the tasks that need to get done in a day sometimes means they have to be done after the shop is closed or from home (like writing the blog on Sunday afternoon!)

This week things kind of fell apart as we tried to fit everything in and  then we face the fact that 'The Farmer' faces shoulder surgery soon!  

It took a couple of days to figure out and a few conversations with others and so this is the new plan:

1. We are 'suspending' the Wednesday evening Knit nights and clinics, but are staying open later on Thursday nights.  The sign will say 6 pm, but I can stay until 6:45. 

2. There will be a knitting clinic from 5 pm - 6 pm on Thursday's ($10.00 for the first 1/2 hour, $20 for the hour!).  The maximum we can accomadated is 3 students.

3. We may attempt a daytime knitting clinic as summer approaches!

This actually means that the shop is open more hours than before? 

Soper Creek Yarn is an important part of my life, I love the people I meet and the fact that I can be inspired and work with the materials I love.  I will work hard to keep this place a positive peaceful place where we can come and share our crafts!

We have gone from a small shop with basic supplies to a shop filled with all kinds of surprises!  As the inventory expands so does our knowledge!  

March will feature more felting ideas.  There is a demonstration day on March 5th for needle felting.  We have 2 workshops that day and they filled up very quickly.  Come and watch Rosemary demonstrate how easy it is to create items with a vey sharp needles and bits of wool!

Oh yes! For the next week the clearance sale continues, but it all gets put away on March 1st!  As the buckets get smaller so do the prices! 

See you soon!