1.16.2008


A customer came in last week to make some baby things from some patterns that she found on the "Nitty Gritty" site from the DIY Network. These are called "Suede Booties" and they asked for a chenille type yarn. But when we looked at them in the picture, they just seemed to scream for our Ecoknit organic cotton. The customer brought the finished booties in on Monday and I couldn't get over how cute they were...I want some too. (Unfortunately they don't feature the pattern in ladies' size 9 1/2.) She used Paton's Allure for the "shearling" trim and they're just perfect. Link to the pattern site below for a quick baby gift. (Is it just me or do there seem to be a lot of babies coming in the next few months?)

You'll be seeing a new face at the store...Maureen has joined our team and is a fine knitter/crocheter and is a real "people person". We're so pleased to welcome her. Drop in on Monday mornings or Tuesday afternoons to say hi.
In showing Maureen around the store and in dealing with customer requests while training her, I was reminded how much of our activity and product involves sock knitting. It truly is amazing how many people cherish their time with socks and use it as a break from all other types of crafting. How many of us make socks for ourselves, I wonder? I only have one or 2 pairs that I wear of the ones that I've made (I'm a bit of an "odd sock knitter" though, as I often only get to make a single sock ... you only need one sock to show off how great the yarn is, and I'm usually seduced on to the next new colour group before I have the discipline to make the second one of any set.) Somehow our shelves seem empty if we don't have 4 laundry type baskets full as well as all the display cubicles designated for sock yarn.
The Arequipa sock yarn, of wool/alpaca/nylon, continues to be an amazing seller. Just before the Holidays, we had backup stock of about 80 skeins in our back room. Three weeks later, we're down to just 20 skeins of extras. I finished my single AREQUIPA sock during our "24" fiesta over New Years (see the previous post) and it truly is as lovely as the yarn on the skein would lead you to believe.
One last bit of housekeeping...I'm working at getting the spring lineup of classes and workshops organized and would ask you to let me know if there is anything that you would like to have offered in the near future to increase your knitting/crafting pleasure? It's nice to arrange classes in things that I think may be of interest to our customers, but it makes a lot more sense to offer what you actually do want. Please email me with any suggestions: wooltymekingston@gmail.com or just post a comment and I'll get it that way too.