Sunday, March 14, 2010

Loop - Philly Style

Hi Knitters,
I was at Loop yarn shop in Philadelphia last Thursday evening and it was a treat beyond all treats. The beautifully set table included kumquats, chocolate covered ginger and several delicious cheeses. It was so nice and springy to see those tulips on the table.
The event started with a bang. There were kids everywhere playing with the toys and having a great time. The table was bursting with activity right from the start. It was great.
Fruity fingers!
The event was great because there were lots of people in and out of the shop but there was also a core group of about 10 people or so that stayed the entire 3 hours. I loved it. I got to spend so much one on one time with the knitters just chatting, listening to stories, laughing and getting to know them. Nothing is better than that.
This sweet girl brought her own Bunny from Itty-Bitty Toys and it was all ragged and worn and well-loved. That is the best. Her mom is a wonderful knitter. I enjoyed meeting her very much.
This is Julie Bierlein who created the Portsmouth Skating Hat. I did a post on this hat for the Spud & Chloë blog. Click here to see that! It was a joy to meet her in person. Thanks for coming, Julie!This is Linda. She made a sweet little pin for TC but I wore it in the meantime. It is really cute so I'll have to get a better photo later. Linda drove a couple of hours or more to get to the event and stayed over at a hotel that night. She was great fun!
Yvette, on the left in pink, was a toy knitting convert (that's a quote). When she came to the shop she said she thought toy knitting was a waste of time. When she saw the groups of kids enjoying the toys and diving right in to the trunk show it completely sold her. She bought a book and is starting on her first toy right away for an upcoming baby gift. She is making the baby doll. Yvette was fun and entertaining. She made me laugh.
Craig, the owner of Loop, did a demonstration of Portuguese Knitting, which is a style of knitting where you wrap the yarn around your neck for tension or there is some kind of clip you can wear on your clothes to hold the yarn. Here is a great youtube video of this technique. Craig received a nice round of applause. It was a crowd pleaser. It was such a fun, laid-back type of evening. I absolutely loved it.
Yvette was sold on toys. I was sold on Yvette!
I am sorry I can't remember every name but I know that is Margaret sitting on the arm of the couch.
Here's Linda again. She was adorable, sweet and friendly. She has told me how knitting has carried her on through difficult times. I feel the exact same way. I loved meeting Linda.
Beth made a knitted moose (her own pattern) and the moose has on an orange hunting vest and hat. It was so funny. I wish I had a better photo of the moose. You would all love it.
Jaime sat by my side most of the night and knitted a reversible mouse and elephant from the book. She was using a textured yarn and the toys looked so great. She actually finished later that night and posted the finished reversible toy on Ravelry.
That's Laura from Spool on the left. I didn't know that Spool is a c0-store to Loop. I have ordered lots of sewing stuff, mainly fabric bundles, from Spool. Now that I know Craig is the owner of Spool I will be ordering lots more!! I love that. I have lots of photos of Spool that I will share in a separate post. It is gorgeous over there. Loop is gorgeous and slick and there is eye-candy everywhere you turn.

Both Spool and Loop have great blogs and free patterns. Spool blog! Loop blog! I made the bird from Spool and my sister is making the Seeded Rib Scarf free pattern from Loop right now.
This is Cindy. I know her through Ravelry and our Itty-Bitty Knits group (come join us). I was completely thrilled to meet her. She is always so positive on the forum, cheering people on and making the kindest comments. She traveled far, too, to come to Loop. I appreciated her effort. What an honor to meet you, Cindy.

By the way, my sweet sister took all of these photos as she tagged along on my last tour stops.
She came with the sweetest box of gifts for me. I kept pulling things out one after another, each gift sweeter than the last. Thank you, dear friend.

I love the yarn hanging on the wall.
This was the core group I was talking about. I have never had a more relaxed fun time at an event. It was truly awesome. Isn't it a gorgeous shop?
This is Kathy who works at the shop. The shop is known for customer service and they carry all of the Blue Sky Alpacas line AND the Spud & Chloë line. Please hop on their online shop to see more about this. They have lots of other lush yarns and accessories and books and patterns. It is a well-stocked shop to say the least.
Here is the other Loop staff member, another Kathy. The Kathies as Craig called them. She made two Baby Bears from Itty-Bitty Toys. Aren't they cute?
I think this woman's name is Donna and that is her little lovely daughter. They had a great time at the event.
These three met at Loop this night and were like life-long friends sitting on the couch together. There was a warm feeling going on all-around.Little Lovely likes to shop for yarn. I love a little girl in a knit stripey dress, white tights and black patent leathers. Can't beat it. She has a thing for Blue Sky Alpacas yarn for sure:)
This is Nicole. She traveled several hours, too!!! I can't believe all of the traveling this weekend by the knitters to come. That is so fun. Nicole is the mother of 9 kids and she has one more on the way. And she knits. A lot. She is fun and happy and she brought her beautiful mother Annette with her. They stayed for such a long time. I feel like I really got to know her a little more. It was awesome.
Marlon is a joy. She is so enthusiastic and smiling. I adored hanging out with her.
Here is a blurry shot of Nicole and her mother, Annette. They were really fun and easy to be with.
This little guy, Matthew, got his hands on the ducks and it was over for him. He ran around the store pulling the Mama Duck and Ducklings for the rest of the night. His mom couldn't believe how much he liked the duck pull-toy and ended up buying all of the Blue Sky Cotton to make the ducks for him. He cried when he had to leave.
Here is the entire crew at Loop. Craig treated us for a lovely and delicious dinner after the event and we ate and laughed and chatted until really late. Thank you for everything! The event was an enormous success. Craig knows how to put on and host a great event. I would recommend that everyone stop by in Philadelphia to check out Craig's shops or to check out his online shop. Craig is a very talented yarn shop owner and knitter. I promise Loop and Spool won't disappoint.

best, susie
p.s. New York is coming up next. You won't believe all of the cool things I got to do in a short couple of days. I don't want to spoil it so stay tuned.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Milwaukee Knitting Guild Recap


Hi Knitters,
Well, we got back pretty late last night from Milwaukee. My sweet husband and The Collector came along. They went out for a quick bite while I was speaking and TC came back to draw names for the raffle prizes I brought along for the end of the meeting. It was fun.
The knitters enjoyed the table of projects. I brought along projects from Itty-Bitty Toys, Itty-Bitty Nursery and Itty-Bitty Hats. Since we were driving to the event and my husband was there to help lug stuff for me I took advantage. It is fun to see projects from all three books together. That's a lot of knitting! These photos were before the meeting began.
The toys are ready to go! Waiting for the knitters to arrive can be difficult.
The toys and baby items were played with and loved. I love how the adults adore the toys. They love to play just like the kids. Two die-hard sweater knitters told me after the meeting that they are quitting sweaters and starting toy knitting! I loved that. They may never go back to the sweaters again. We'll have to see....
There was a charity knitting drive going on with lots of donated baby items. The guild sold Itty-Bitty books with the proceeds going to the guild and I think they sold out which is good.
The meeting was well-attended. The knitters were enthusiastic as they always are.
The Collector took these photos for me at the end. I love to see what she sees.
The baby always gets lots of attention (the woman on the left). People love her belly-button and her ruffled underpants. They always look under the dress and I think that's funny.
I saw some of the free Spud & Chloë patterns knit up for the charity knitting. The ladies at the end are holding the Heart on a String Hat and I saw a Watermelon hat, too. That's wonderful to see as I love the charity knitting.
The woman on the right loved the reversibles. She was very sweet.
Toy inspectors were everywhere. I hope I passed the test.The woman on the end is another Susan B. with a Forbes on the end. She makes sock blanks and they are really neat and intriguing. She is selling as a vendor at the Madison Knitters Guild Knit-In (the Mason-Dixon ladies will be the guest speakers) this weekend. I wish I could attend but I will be in NYC.

Click here to check out Susan B.'s site. Please look for her at the Knit-In and tell her I said hi. Her sock blanks are incredibly interesting and beautiful. The main thing is that they knit up beautifully as I saw some samples. Click here for Susan's blog. She was really fun to meet. Good luck in Madison. That is one crazy huge crowd so I know you will be an enormous hit, Susan B.
Pat, the woman on the right with the name tag was so fun to meet. She actually won 2 prizes, one from the guild and one from me! It was her lucky night. She was fun and had lots of good stories. I could tell she loves her knitting.
The hats were a huge hit!
The books were going, going, gone.
I loved this photo TC took. Now my friends are waiting to be packed up to head home.
This sweet young woman, Monica, is a Madison to Milwaukee transplant. She had two books for me to sign. One for her and one for her knitting buddy who got married and moved to Austin. I can't believe the nerve of some knitting buddies out there:) We are holding Monica's giraffe in progress. We were laughing at how the body looks like a squash. It was nice to meet you Monica and thanks for coming.
Please Sir, can I have some more? (Lame I know but it's all I can think of when I see this photo:)
TC took this shot of my husband. He is an awesome supporter. Couldn't do any of this without him. Big love.
I don't know who took this photo but that TC is a cute little thing. Loved having her around.
My forever buddy.

Thanks for a fun night in Milwaukee. I appreciate it!
I have a couple of side notes here.

The photo above is so incredibly sweet I asked KimPossible on ravelry (click here to see more photos and information) if I could share it with you. She said sure! I just love that sleeping little cupcake. The pattern is from Itty-Bitty Nursery and is one of my all-time favorite projects. You can't go wrong with a cupcake on your head, right? I wish I could sleep like that.

This is a cool project for sewers. A fantastic pillow tutorial on Design Sponge by Brett Bara! Click here!

Here is a beautiful free pattern for a cowl that I will be making at some point. I LOVE this one. Click here to get the free pattern from Webs America's Yarn Store. I have used the Berkshire Bulky before and love it. It is a great deal and there are tons of colors.

My final tour dates are coming up tomorrow, March 11th and March 13th!! I will not be touring again for a long time so this is it! Here is the run-down:

March 11th, 5-8pm

4:30 PM ARRIVAL Loop

5:00 PM 1914 South Street

Philadelphia, PA 19146

Contact: Craig Rosenfeld

Store: 215-893-9939

Email: craig@loopyarn.com

We are doing a fun optional knit-a-long! Bring your US size 6 dpns if you want to participate. If not, just bring yourself!!!!


Saturday, March 13th, 1-3pm:

12:45 PM ARRIVAL Knitty City

1:00 PM 208 West 79th St.

New York, NY 10024

Contact: Pearl

Store: 212-787-5896

e-mail: pearl@knittycity.com

The Knitty City event is a very casual meet and greet and book signing! Drop-in style! No formal presentation but I will have the entire IBT trunk show for all to enjoy. Can't wait. I have some special Ravelry friends coming so it should be fun.

There you have it!! Hope to see you there, sweet knitters.

best, susie

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Needle Case Flurry

Edited to add: Well, look at that! Moments after I posted this Linsay found the link and dpn cases for this same case. Click here to go to the site!

Hi Knitters,
I am laughing about the response I got to my old plastic double-pointed needle case in a photo from a couple of posts ago. I can't even tell you how many emails I have gotten about this dpn case. Really, it's a lot of emails. This cracks me up. Go figure. Instead of trying to answer everyone separately (some have even written me back a couple of times because I didn't answer promptly enough) I am posting all I know about the dpn holder right here for all to share:)

You know sometimes I feel like it is overkill for me to put up links and explain every item in the photos I put on here but if I don't include the information and links I'll get asked about it and probably multiple times. I'm saying this so you know why I include information or sometimes I'll specify if I don't have the information about something.

Anyway, back to this needle case. It is very old, honestly I am not even sure how many years I have had it but many. I wrote the numbers myself with a black Sharpie on the pockets. I cram multiple sets of needles in the pockets. I think I originally ordered it from Patternworks, I am not 100% sure of this. However, when I just looked I didn't see anything like it on their site.

I looked on the case and there is a tag that says Ashland Sky as the brand with a site called, ashlandsky.com. When I go to this site nothing pops up. There you go! That's all I know about it. The case has served me well. I think there are way nicer and much prettier cases available now for dpns. I saw some lovely fabric cases when I was looking around.

A quick reminder, tonight I am the guest speaker, March 9th, at The Greater Milwaukee Knitting Guild:

March 9th, 2010
7pm
Bergstrom Hall
Mount Mary College
2900 N. Menomonee River Parkway
Milwaukee, WI

Hope to see you there!
best, susie
p.s. Thanks for joining me over on Facebook! Fun! I think I am going to like it over there.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Greater Milwaukee Knitting Guild

Hi Knitters,
Kelly brought in these two knit hats to Nina's in Chicago last Friday. I love the Sweet Pea Hat in chocolate brown. She is expecting a boy in June so this will be adorable. The Spud & Chloë Hoot Hat is behind.

Another quick note, I am getting my Facebook account going. I joined a long time ago and have let it sit quietly. Yesterday I took a bit of time to update and get it going over there. If you're a Facebook person please join me! I will be doing both personal updates and Spud & Chloë updates.


Now for some business! Tomorrow, March 9th, I am the guest speaker for the Greater Milwaukee Knitting Guild. The event starts at 7pm. I will be speaking and sharing my trunk show and I will bring along items from all three Itty-Bitty books. Since my husband is driving me to the event I will be able to bring more book samples to share. There will be books for sale and I will be happy to sign your book for you if you'd like.

The event is open for the public. You don't have to be a guild member to attend!

Here is the information for the event:

March 9th, 2010
7pm
Bergstrom Hall
Mount Mary College
2900 N. Menomonee River Parkway
Milwaukee, WI
I had a little fun at Nina: a well-knit shop. I have been wanting to try some Madeline Tosh for a long time and they have all kinds of it. I bought a sweater's worth of the dk weight and 2 skeins of the sock weight. I also threw in a few skeins of Malabrigo in the color Sealing Wax and the pencil roving on the side is dreamy. I love that little peppermint tape measure, too. Give Nina a call if you want some, too. They have a huge selection of Madeline Tosh!

Have a good Monday, Knitters. I'll be back soon.
best, susie

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Nina's a Well-Knit Shop

Hi Knitters,
All I can say about Nina: a well-knit shop in Chicago is a big huge WOW! It is a sleek, modern, gorgeous knit shop and I was impressed. Love the giant needles in action in the front window. The shop is set in a hip neighborhood surrounded by lots of little shops and eateries. The buildings are old and that is why it is intriguing to step inside the older facade to find this ultra-modern knitting haven.
I feel like Nina (the owner) has thought about every inch of her shop. The placement of every item, display, seating, storage, lighting, shelving... just everything is so well-thought out. The shop is incredibly well-organized and thorough. This makes the shop an experience everyone can enjoy with ease. It is like a breath of fresh air. The yarns are all within reach, patterns and books are placed with yarns. It all makes perfect sense. The staff is friendly and attentive but not over-bearing. They were really fun and courteous. I enjoyed every aspect of this shop. You will, too!
I arrived about an hour before my event started and I used that time to get some photos of the shop and to set up the trunk show of projects. I signed a small stack of books that people had bought ahead of time for me to sign. You know you can do that if you can't make an event and you want your book signed, just call the shop to let them know. Any shop will send the signed book out to you after the event. Nina is a huge supporter of Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud & Chloë which is fun to see. People started arriving early so I was glad I was there and set to greet them.

There was a great turnout which is always fun. When it was the most busy and crowded I didn't have a chance to take photos but I'll share some of the special moments and people I did capture. It was a fantastic event! The shop was really bubbling over with people and I signed a ton of books, including lots of sets of all three Itty-Bitty Books. There was a long line at the register and people had books and armloads of yarn to purchase. It was a happy, happy event!
This beautiful mother/daughter team were so fun and adorable. The mom, Mary Jo, made me the most interesting brooch. It is like the one she is wearing. I didn't notice until I got home but the rose is made out of an opened zipper. I'll get a good photo of it later, it is way cool. The Collector actually noticed the zipper aspect. I popped my new pin right on my sweater and enjoyed it for the rest of the day. A handmade gift to me is better than gold or diamonds any day. I will wear my pin with pride. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Mary Jo. Her daughter, Kelly, is awaiting the arrival of her first baby in June. It was funny because her friend, Becky (Hi Becky!!), had come to an event in Dayton the day before and told me about Kelly. Love that small world stuff.

I hope I am getting the names correct.
I can tell I am still a little under the weather because I keep blanking on people's names and usually I remember names easily. The knitter above (I think it's Michelle?) emailed me photos of her little girls wearing the Sweetheart Hat and I do remember the photo and her girls being so adorable. She was really fun and stayed a long time. She was so joyful about her knitting. It was contagious. It was a treat to meet you!
This group of women came early and stayed to the very end of the event. They were so fun and enthusiastic, I loved it. This photo was after almost everyone had already left.
This is Maggie and she made a reversible cat and mouse toy and a lamb and a cupcake hat from Itty-Bitty Nursery. They are wonderful!!! I love it when people bring their knitting to share. That's always the best.
Kelly knitted up all of these Spud & Chloë gems. Ribbit, Rabbit and the Heart on a String Hat are all free patterns that you can get here. The other hat is the Hoot Hat that you can order here. She did a wonderful job. Oh and that's her sock monkey from Itty-Bitty Toys face down on the counter. She did a great job on that, too.
Here is a closer look! Look how good those are. Kelly also made a bunch of Itty-Bitty Hats that I was so glad she brought to share with me. It makes all of the hard work worthwhile when I get to see people knitting and enjoying my patterns and books. That's really the best thing of all.
Another friend popped in to say hello. Remember this post? I was thrilled to get to meet Kris in person. I recognized her giraffe before I recognized her. I love the face on her giraffe. The eyes look twinkly.
Kris is so cute and just look at all of us together. We belong together. lol. Here you can see my flower pin. So sweet. That's Nina right behind us, too. She had the cutest green jacket on that had an orange ribbon tie at the waist. I want one of those:)

This woman has a daughter who owns a preschool named, Olive You Nursery School. She, of course, had to make the Olive You! hat from Itty-Bitty Hats. She is moving to Wisconsin, not too far from Madison, very soon to start her dream mini-farm with a prairie and bee keeping amongst other things. She was so excited and sweet. Good luck!! Love the hat. It is one of my favorites.
Kris's giraffe is called, Geoffrey, and I thought this was such a funny shot of him sticking out of her bag for the train trip home. There is something so sweet about her giraffe. It is well done.
There were quite a few kids and babies. At one point when the shop was packed full with knitters, two women with a huge double-wide stroller came inside with a couple of babies in knit hats. I'm not kidding that I was worried about the stroller in the shop with all of the people. The babies started fussing and crying and one of the women made a quick exit along with the stroller but I think the other woman got to stay at the shop which is good.

Two brothers became obsessed with the Baby Doll. As her boys were playing with the doll the mom said to me, "It's too bad I didn't have that pattern when my boys were younger (they are 3 and 5). We bought a plush doll for them." As she said that we looked over and her boys were both hovering over the baby on the couch playing with her clothes and hat. I think she still has plenty of time to make that doll for her boys! They were in love with the baby doll.

I asked her if I could take a photo or two of her boys as they were so excited and interested in all of the toys. She told them to hold a toy for the photo. The older boy quickly scrambled to pick his favorite toys. I love what he chose. The egg to bluebird and nest, the baby doll and the bunny. Isn't he the cutest thing?
The younger brother went straight for the reversible lion to elephant toy. He did a series of flips for me to make sure I saw how it worked. See how the toy is blurry? He was flipping it back and forth as fast as he could. It was the best. Love it:)
I loved the toy clutching of the older brother and the fantastic demonstration by his little brother still flipping away. They were wonderful boys. The older boy told me his mom is going to make him the egg and bluebird first! Good choice.
Look at these visitors. Aren't they cute? They were both so happy. The baby is wearing his Turtle hat from Itty-Bitty Hats. I had to catch these lovelies as they headed to check out with their arms filled with Blue Sky Cotton and Spud & Chloë Sweater. That's a good choice as those are about the best baby yarns ever.

One other funny thing is that I had one man come to have me sign Itty-Bitty Toys for his ex-mother-in-law. That's a first. He told me they are still very close. I loved that story. I also had another man come in to have me sign a book for his wife as she couldn't make it. Both men ran for the door right after I signed their books. Too good.
This lovely woman lives in Madison not far from my house. I have known her for years and she has been a constant positive supporter. I adore her. Her name is Susie, too. I am holding her bear from Itty-Bitty Toys that she made out of Noro Kureyon sock yarn. Susie drove down with her husband to come to the event. He waited patiently for her in a nearby parking lot and did some work to pass the time. He deserves a gold star because Susie stayed a long time. After the event they were going to go over to visit some of her family that lives in Chicago. I was pretty touched to see her walk through the door. She had come to my first event in Madison, then showed up to bring her friend at my second Madison event and now to make the effort in Chicago? That's a good knitting friend right there. Susie has grown children and grandchildren. She knits for everyone. What I love most about Susie is how she loves to try new things. She's game for about anything! I wish you could have seen her beautiful knitted green sweater under that coat. It looked perfect on her.

One more funny thing about Susie is that her nickname is Sooz. I had never met another Sooz before her. When I was in high school all of my friends called me Sus and Shoosha (which is the shortened version of Shoshana with a twist) and Sooz. I used to sign my name Sooz and sometimes, and I am embarrassed to admit this, it was The Sooz. That is so funny. I was like The Fonz. Yeah, pretty cool, right? Oh my gosh I was such a goof.
Here is another amazing blog friend who made a huge effort to show up. This is Chris Fleming. I feel like I know her. She comments on the blog all of the time. She sends me sweet emails. She is a happy knitter and I can't tell you how much it means to me to get to meet her. I teared up when she walked through the door. She brought me a wonderful gift basket and she even knitted something for me! I'll share more about that later. It was a HUGE treat to meet you, Chris. Thank you so much for all of your support and good will. You are an awesome and positive force.
Chris brought another treat to share with me. She was inspired by my book review of Kristin Nicholas' book, Color by Kristin. She made this gorgeous pillow top from the book. I love it. Kristin, if you are reading isn't this fun? Chris just loves Kristin's work and so do I!

Anyway, I have been working on this post all day in bits and pieces. If you are still with me, thank you for reading. I want to extend a huge thank you to Nina and her wonderful staff, Sam and Hillary. You were such great people to meet and you hosted a fabulous event. It was seamless and busy and fun! Great work and a heartfelt thank you from Artisan and me!

I hope to come back again sometime soon! Nina: a well-knit shop knows how to be a gracious host. It was so well done. Wow. I can't get over it. Nina thought of everything to make it a successful event for everyone. They had delicious cookies and water and appetizers. I was eating the cookies by the end of the event, not sure how many but lots. I am singing Nina's praises for sure. Please make an effort visit Nina's or to call and order from this shop. They will ship whatever you'd like straight to you! Nina's shop carries the most extraordinary and beautiful yarns and accessories.

What a good way to end this leg of the tour.
best, susie