For that Special Crocheter

When I was around 11 or 12, my grandmother bought me a set of crochet hooks in a leather case. I still remember the excitement I felt and how I loved looking at all the pretty hooks so neatly lined up in a row. The case was so easy to carry with me and I didn't have to go sorting through a pile of hooks to find the size I needed. Fast forward a few decades and I've got a couple of the original hooks but the majority have been lost. Luckily I never lost the case. It's still in great shape and to this day I carry it in my project bag and use it frequently. I'm so glad that they continue to make the cases and now have it in red. This is a case sure to be treasured!

Case retails for $27.

It's Cha-Cha Time!

The Plymouth Poppin Scarf is a huge hit. So much that the company ran out of the green and pink colors and we've had a back-order on the colors for two months. Hopefully it will be in soon since we have a long list of people waiting on it. We had a double slammer with specialty scarves when the Cha-Cha Scarf came along:

The Cha-Cha Ruffled Scarf by Trendsetter is a fast knit using only one hank. A couple of months ago we had a back-order on this yarn also but luckily we received a large shipment before Thanksgiving and we now have 9 colors in stock!

Liz has been very busy lately. She's taken several classes and has finished the projects. In her right hand is MG's Fair Isle Headband. Talk about a fast last minute knitting project! In can be done in an evening. In Liz's left hand is Plymouth's Easy Market Bag knitted out of Plymouth's Fantasy Naturale.


However the star of the show was Liz's Undulating Waves Scarf:

I love her color combination!

Liz has spread the knitting fever to several of her co-workers at the Civic Center Box Office. So far, 4 employees have taken the beginning class and they're doing super! Justin has definitely caught the fever and has been knitting at an unbelievable pace! He was at the Men's Knit Night last night and showed us a dishcloth he knitted out of Plymouth's Fantasy Naturale:


Look at the intricate stitching he used! Yep, he's a natural!


Joan knitted her granddaughter an afghan out of Plymouth's Encore Worsted (must be a Plymouth theme today) by using one strand of black and one strand of white together:

Love it, Joan!

Justin may have caught the knitting fever but Stacy has caught the Alp Oriental fever! Poor thing kept knitting herself a scarf only for her friends to see it and want one! Actually she loved being able to give a good friend something special.


Today promises to be great weather for knitting or crocheting. The coffee pot is on...come on by!

Gift Baskets

Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is over. Every one's thoughts are now focused on Christmas. I love Christmas but I know how it can be a time of great stress. There's not enough hours in the day and we can't decide what to give people. So the staff and I put on our elf hats and started thinking of ways to help shoppers pick out quick gifts. For years, I've been wanting to make gift baskets but time always seemed to get away from me. Then along came the answer all the way from Stroud. Thank goodness for Shirley. Shirley has been a lifesafer at the retreats and then I found out that among her many talents; one of them is creating store displays and gift baskets. So she recently spent a day at the shop and created a couple of different types of baskets for the store. One of them is an Oklahoma Yarn kit complete with the pattern for the Oklahoma Scarf. She created another basket with a coffee mug from Knit One Sip One, a bag of Bolivia coffee, and a few truffles. She also started getting the store in a festive mood!

If you would like, you can also create your own special gift basket!

Lena had this week off from school for Thanksgiving and she came into the store to get help on finishing her bag.

She hasn't decided if she's going to give it away as a present or keep it for herself but she was busy plotting and planning Christmas gifts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We will be closing today at 4pm and will be closed tomorrow in observance of Thanksgiving. We will be back to normal hours on Friday.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday!

Lavishea Lotion Bars

Sometimes I go around with dry hands because I want to make sure I don't get any oils on what I'm knitting or crocheting. Now thanks to Lavishea Lotion Bar, I do not have to worry. LaviShea Lotion Bars are made with the finest natural ingredients. The lotion bars contain shea butter and 100% natural soy, with premium botanical oils, essential oils, and/or skin-safe fragrance. The bars melt with your body heat and absorb quickly and completely without leaving a greasy residue, penetrating deep into the skin to re-hydrate and moisturize.

We have several different fragrances, (including non-scent for me) with Winter Berry being the highlight for the season:


And we have not forgotten our many male customers and have included the Man Bar:

Shopsmanservant confided in us that he was the one that posed for the picture. Well done, Shopsmanservant.

The bars are 3 oz. and retail for $12. Come see all the different scents or should I say smell?

Debbie has been working almost a year on a very special project for a friend who is a priest in Italy. She plans on hand-delivering the sweater this November. You ought to see all of the intricate work on this sweater. Absolutely gorgeous.

The sweater is from an XRX pattern book and the yarn is Lamb's Pride Bulky.

Sarah finished her beret knitted out of Berroco Vintage Wool. I believe this is the beret she is planning to wear to Paris. What a lucky beret!



Judy finished a lovely shawl out of Cascade Alpaca Lace Paints (on the left) and a scarf out of Seven Dimes Fun yarn.

Thanks, Judy, for sharing! They were lovely!

Nov. Knit-In

We had a great time at the Knit-In with Buffalo Gold Yarn as our host:

They had a great display, great deals, and great food. I am now a lover of Buffalo Sticks. In fact, I had two for breakfast. ;-)

Speaking of great food, as usual we had a delicious assortment. One thing about being busy, it keeps me from having time to pig out.

Lil won best of dish for her vegetable lasagna.

We had so many prizes to give out that it was mounting to too many pictures so here are the two big winners:

Judy from Stillwater claimed her prize yesterday. She said it was also her birthday. Wow. Now that's a great birthday present!

Sherry won the other large prize and immediately started dreaming of things to knit with it.


Customers have really been busy knitting/crocheting this past month! We had a lot of great Show 'N Tells. This is my favorite part of the evening!

Pat L. knitted her brand-new grandson the Hoot Hat by Susan Anderson using Spud & Chloe yarn. (We do have the pattern and yarn in stock.) Pat couldn't have picked a better model for her hat than Cody. He's a hoot!


Nancy finished her Plymouth Kimono and doesn't it look great?! I hadn't seen it worn like this and it looks sharp. It's obvious that Nancy works in the fashion industry.


Diann is always the busy knitter or crocheter! I love the sweater she knitted out of Plymouth's Encore yarn:

Diann also knitted a shrug (Beverly is modeling) using the entrelac method and JoJoLand yarn:


Vanessa knitted two different hats:

The purple hat is Jack's Cabled Hat and I forgot the name of the other one. I wish the stitch patterns would show in the pictures.


Lil knitted a yoke sweater:


Anita shows her Boomerang shawl:


Nikki knitted two hats this past month:

She also showed an afghan that she crocheted some years back:

What a beautiful blanket!

Okay, the following scarf required a village to get it done. Adrian decided he didn't like entrelac so Jane finished knitting it for him. Jane doesn't like to crochet so she had Bev crochet the edging. I just love it when things come together.

The scarf was knitted out of JoJoLand Rhythmn.

This yarn was originally intended for an entrelac project. Adrian decided that wasn't happening so instead it got knitted into a scarf:

Good choice, Adrian.

Denise showed us the sweater that is almost finished:


Sherri B. knitted another hat from the Brooklyn Tweed Collection and Bev modeled it:


Erica knitted a beret:


Bethany shows us the beautiful cabled sweater she knitted out of Malabrigo Worsted:

Everyone is so talented and did a great job!!

I had a great time on Saturday and it seems like forever until the next one! Phil and Don are going to perform for us and I know from the retreat what great vocalists they are. I can't wait to see what they have planned!

Veterans Day

I hope everyone takes some time today to reflect on this holiday.

Do you remember your history class and know why we celebrate on November 11? If not, this article is interesting.

I think I'll knit on a helmetliner today.