CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!!

Good Morning Everyone!

177 days or 25 weeks until Christmas, YOU ARE WELCOME!!! And guess what? I am here to help!! The Great Northern Yarn Haul starts TODAY and runs the entire month of July. This year, I decided (Carrie decided) to offer a special every week to celebrate. So this week, in honor of July 4th, anything RED, WHITE OR BLUE will be 20% off. In case you are wondering, the shop hours this week are July 3rd 10-5, July 4th CLOSED, July 5th 10-4. To help you start thinking about holiday gifts, I will be offering specials and putting kits together, sometimes it takes a village.

I am still working on my Anita cardigan, just inches of ribbing to go on sleeve #2, then the fun starts lol...I-CORD EDGING ALL THE WAY AROUND!!! I will say, the design details for this garment really produce some bang for the buck. The pattern stitch is super easy to memorize, you can knit for hours (just don't forget about those decreases). As beautiful as I think this sweater is, what's going to completely pull it all together? THE BUTTONS!! I have known for a VERY LONG TIME, how important buttons are, my Mimi was the QUEEN of finely appointed details. Putting the wrong button on a garment is like serving ketchup with fish (not breaded in the shape of a stick). It's no secret, I am not too crazy about the color of this sweater. It is in my wheelhouse of "green" and was just sitting there patiently waiting to be made into something pretty (mission accomplished). I am a real sucker for green, more importantly, I really wanted to knit the pretty cardigan, the yarn will work. Serendipity came knocking on my door when I discovered I had the most gorgeous buttons for this sweater, beautiful, green, glass, buttons, THEY ARE PERFECT! Stay tuned, it will be done soon.

Yesterday, my friend Emily stopped by to do a quick check-in on the fit of my Stromboli sweater. She graciously offered to knit this shop sample for me, I CANNOT WAIT FOR YOU TO SEE IT!! She's using Juniper Moon Farm Marilyn, you know, the lovely fingering weight organic cotton with the paillettes, IT'S GORGEOUS!! I am absolutely shocked that she needs to add 2" to the length. I'm so short, but unwilling to wear this sweater cropped, like really cropped lol...Each of the sizes calls for 9" from the underarm to the bottom of the hem, that's a hard "NO." All I could think of was Winnie the Pooh in his "too short looks adorable on me" little red shirt, nope, definitely cannot pull of that look. And believe me, this is a sweater I am going to want to wear, it is stunning!!! So stay tuned, I will be getting another shop sample to inspire you....how very thoughtful of me.

We had a great time last Saturday for KAL, so many beautiful Elise Pullovers!! Thank-you to those who participated, it meant a lot to me and to Kirsten. We were able to Zoom with the designer, Kirsten Ascanius, she was able to see many of us in our sweaters. Wouldn't you know it, I ordered the perfect, chilly, rainy day so we could wear them comfortably. We also spent some time talking about the next KAL, The Florence or Renaissance sweater, due to start July 26th. The pattern gets released, one week from today, July 8th. Many of you have already picked out and have your yarn. I do have a great selection at the shop or you can get on their website, junctionfibermill.com to look at their colors of Making Tracks Lite. We will be using Berroco's Lanas Light for the Main Color, I have most of the colors in stock. If you would like to participate, stop on by.

We are in the process of planning our Great Northern Yarn Haul road trip, we will be cruising around on July 23rd. I say "we" but it's really Carrie who is organizing the route and where we will be going. I don't have an official list, we raised hands last week at Stitch and Bitch, but I didn't pay a ton of attention. I will get a list going, let me know if you'd like to join us for a day of fun, fiber and FOOD!!

We will be meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday 6-7:30, for Stitch and Bitch, I hope you can join in the fun. Make it a great day and I'll see you soon!

Katy

P.S. Did someone say Advent Calendar? YARN IS ORDERED!!!