Well...I've wondered what the next knitting "craze" was going to be and it's looking a lot like lace! The spring issue of Twist Collective has seven patterns for lace shawls. Here are some of my favorites from the issue:

We have a special section of the shop devoted to lace weight yarns...There's Lacy Lamb, Lace Ball, Winter Lace, Ultra, Panda Silk, Bonnie's Bamboo, Tili Thomas silk, Alpaca Lace, Mericash Thousand Color and Mericash Lace. Not-to-mention all the other fingering weight yarns we carry, which works up in lace beautifully.

And here are some new lace yarns from Mountain Colors. It's called Winter Lace and it's 50% merino/50% silk. 600 yards per hank. The lace balls below are Skacel's new Lace Ball. It's 75% merino/25% nylon at 800 meters per ball.

Betsy McCarthy is teaching a lace workshop here on Sunday, April 25. You learn three lace patterns and come away with tips and tricks for making lace knitting easier. You will also learn to read lace charts and leave with ideas to design your own shawl or scarf pattern. The class is $60 and there are five spaces left. The class is from 9am - 4pm with a break for lunch. Here's a picture of Betsy with one of the queens of lace, Evelyn Clark.

We just love the Zauberball yarns. Here's the latest - a sport weight ball called Starke 6. What fun socks to make!

And here is the new Lace Ball by Skacel. 800 yards of lacey goodness.

We just got some AWESOME books in the shop. Here's the review:

Weaving Made Easy is a must have for beginning weavers that are using the Rigid Heddle Loom. This book provides great instruction with great photography. It's like taking a beginning weaving class. Alabama Studio Style is another great stitching book by Natalie Chanin. You can make everything in this beautiful book by hand. No sewing machine necessary. 60 Quick Knits is just what the title says, but it's all made out of one of our favorites - Cascade 220.

The lace book you've been waiting for The Haapsalu Shawl, a book filled with knitting history and information on the masters that knit the garments. There are a ton of charted Estonian lace patterns as well. Crochet in Color has some of the most interesting colorwork for crochet that I've seen. This isn't your grandmothers crochet poodle-toilet-paper-cover book. Itty-bitty toys is an AWESOME book of toys! She even has five reversible toy patterns in this book. If you liked Itty-bitty hats and Itty-bitty nursery you're gonna love Susan B. Anderson's new book.

Knitwear Design Workshop is a comprehensive guide to handknits by designer Shirley Paden. There's lots about math in here and a lot of detailed explanation on the design process. Embroidered Effects is the latest book out by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. Not exactly new, but restocked, How to Crochet is a really great guide to beginning crochet. For those of you that like to teach yourself your needlework skills, this is a good place to start for crochet.

Tomorrow between 8am and 9am PST, Betsy McCarthy, my mentor, very close friend and StitchCraft knitting instructor, is going to appear on the Today Show. Please watch! Betsy talks with Jane Pauley about her career change from hospital administrator to knitting instructor. The segment that Jane is doing right now is called Your Life Calling. It's about people making career changes and following their passions, later in life. Very applicable to our job market today. The complete interview with Jane will be available on the AARP website.

Here is the AARP "trailer" for the interview with Betsy and Jane.

http://www.aarp.org/money/work/your_life_calling/

And, Betsy has a new website:

http://betsymccarthyknits.com/

Betsy's book Knit Socks is going to be re-published in this summer. If you would like to reserve a copy of her updated book, please let us know. We're going to host a book signing too!

How exciting to have a knitter in the spotlight! I hope it inspires others to take up the art of handwork.

This basket is stuffed with knitterly goodness:

• Three books, two of them new from publisher Stewart, Tabori and Chang. They are Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans, Knitted Socks East and West, and Knits Men Want.
• Copy of Knitting Traditions Magazine
• Imperial Stock Ranch Kit
• 8 balls of yarn
• Takki Yarns Kit
• Lantern Moon Circular Needle
• Lantern Moon Basket
• Lantern Moon Needle Case
• Berroco Kit
• Unicorn Wool Wash
• Pocket Pals Pattern Booklet

Happy crawling (or running!) to the shops!

This stunning hat is the creation of Maya J. She designed the hat based on the colors she sees on her morning walks with her dog. I especially love the tassels representing lichen, pine cones and pine needles. Fair Isle is beautiful isn't it?

Next, a couple of hats by Kathy B. She calls them "hats for the family". They're done in Spud and Chloe sweater. I love the color combination.

And, there is a lot of new colors, patterns and new yarns from Blue Sky Alpaca and Spud and Chloe.

Above left, we're restocked with Blue Sky Bulky. Above left, new to the shop, Blue Sky Melange. Below left are new colors in Blue Sky Dyed Cotton and below right is Blue Sky Multi Cotton - a new yarn.

New colors came in Spud and Chloe Fine - how about a bright pair of socks for spring? And, new colors in Blue Sky Skinny Dyed Cotton.

These are the latest, special edition travel patterns from Blue Sky Alpacas. We received all the latest patterns for spring by Blue Sky and Spud and Chloe. So come on in and check them out.

Lastly, a new yarn by Knit One Crochet Too. It's Ty Dy Dots. It's just begging to become a baby sweater. It's 100% cotton and in ice cream colors.

There's nothing like a knitting retreat to help you remember why you opened up a yarn shop. The people, the students, the teachers, the yarn; the amount of information at Madrona Fiber Arts retreat is absolutely astounding. This year, I was told from one organizer, that there were 700 students. This number doesn't include the amount of people that came only for the fiber market. 700!!!!

And if you're wondering where the retreat got its name, the Madrona tree grows on the Pacific Coast of the US and Canada. It's the symbol of the retreat and boy...the branches have grown many times from it's early beginnings. Here is a picture of the banquet room on Saturday night. There are just as many fiber arts enthusiasts behind me as you see in this picture which was taken from where I sat.

I took two classes this year, both on intarsia with Jane Slicer-Smith. I've taken workshops on intarsia with Kaffe Fassett and Sasha Kagan, and I really liked Jane's class as she explained her methods of design. Each teacher has their own way of looking at intarsia and I'm happy to take great things from each of them. You can expect an intarsia class taught here in the Fall. We'll start with something simple. I'll get my gears turning. Here are my swatches from class:

Every Saturday night at Madrona, there is a banquet with a lecturer, on an interesting topic. This year it was presented by Linda Cortright, publisher and editor of Wild Fibers Magazine. Linda is the representative of the United Nations mission to protect the world's natural fiber industry. The UN mission is called Keep The Fleece. Check the website for more information on natural fibers and to raise your awareness from where these fibers come. Linda told us of her adventures to New Zealand (merino wool) and Tibet (cashmere goats).

Here's a picture of us taking photos at dinner. From left to right Betsy McCarthy, Evelyn Clark, Mary, Charlene Schurch and April.

This year was my first year teaching at Madrona. I had a blast. The students were so sweet and a good time was had by all. I learned to weave too!  Here is my first woven swatch thanks to Syne Mitchell, who brought her 8 harness loom with her and gave demonstrations all day on Saturday. She said I had good selvedges.

So, I'm completely hooked on weaving now. I'll be purchasing a Rigid Heddle Loom soon and I will set it up in the shop so you can all try it. If you read the newsletter, my interest in weaving sparked last summer when I had the opportunity to see some beautiful looms in a weaver's studio. A few of you have expressed interest. Let's see where this takes us.

So this was the scene at the shop this week...

What is that behind the counter?  Yup, a sick child. First, child #2 got the virus and now, child #1. But, I am fortunate that I can bring my children to work and take care of them when they're sick.

My husband can work from home too, so he got the sick one on Tuesday, which was really nice because it was our Groundhog Day sale and we were very busy. To top it all off, I feel like I'm getting something too. Not good since I'm teaching at Madrona next week. Let's see if I can fend it off.

On a happier note; there are some new books in the shop. Nature's Wrapture is a nice little book dedicated to the garment called a wrap. Keep yourself warm on cool nights with some of these really nice patterns.

This book is GREAT! Knitting Brioche is really the first really technical book with beautiful patterns for this interesting stitch.

And yet another sock book. I especially like the patterns in this one.

Candy P. Made this beautiful chapeau from Louisa Harding's new book Little Cake. The hat uses Thistle; a luscious blend of merino wool and baby suri alpaca.

And, Leah has more spaces available for her Lace Fingerless Glove class. You'll learn how to knit lace in the round and make these lovely gloves for spring.

Details:

Tuesdays 2/9, 2/16
6:30pm - 8:30pm
$45
Prerequisites: Know how to knit, purl, cast on, bind off.

Patti C. brought in her finished Fair Isle tam last week. It's stunning. Patti designed the tam with the help of our fantastic Fair Isle instructor, Charlene Sabin.

And there are a bunch of new books and magazines in the shop. The latest Vogue Knitting, Interweave Crochet, Piece Work and Knit Scene.

New books that arrived are:

And we just got the most spectacular shawl pins and shawl lollipop sticks. When I was on vacation in Florida, I naturally visited the local yarn shop and the ladies behind the counter kindly gave me the name of their local artist that makes these lovely pins. They're made of unbreakable clay and fired with beautiful metallic foils and color. Just look at the detail. Each one is one-of-a-kind.