Wow! January has flown by. We are getting settled in to the new place more and more each day. If you haven’t been by to see it yet, you should come check it out. With the new place comes a new look for the website. I hope you like it.
New Canvases.
Look at the super cute tooth fairy canvases that arrived this week. There’s bound to be some little cutie in your life that needs a little tooth fairy pillow.
Recipes and Special Scheduled Shopping
We had a group of ladies schedule a special “private” shopping time this week and it was a great time. For their visit, Meg made soup and salad. It was so tasty that they asked us to post the recipes for the meal. So here they are.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 cup carrots, diced 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped onions ½ stick butter 4 15oz cans chicken broth 1 packet Taco seasoning 1 15 oz diced tomatos 1 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes, original style 10 8 inch corn tortillas, cut into pieces 2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded 1 cup milk 8 oz Mexican style shredded cheese
Saute carrots, celery and onions in butter till soft. Add broth, tomatoes, rotel, taco seasoning and chicken. Bring to a boil. Add cut up tortillas. Let boil for 20 minutes. Reduce heat and add cheese and milk. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
Town and Country Salad
Lettuce, sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, sugared nuts. You can be creative with this. Pears and brie cheese can be used. The dressing is the secret.
Poppy Seed Dressing
½ cup sugar
½ salad oil 1/3 cup vinegar 1 tsp yellow mustard 1 ½ tsp poppy seeds 1 ½ tsp onion juice
Speaking of Scheduled Special Shopping… If your group would like to come on a Monday and have the store all to themselves for a time of shopping, we’d be happy to accommodate you. We need a two week notice and a minimum of three in your group. Call us to discuss.
Classes
We’ve scheduled several beginner level classes. Three each for Crochet, Needlepoint and Knitting. We are calling them 101 since they are intended to get you started. These classes will be great for the absolute beginner and for the person who has been inactive for awhile. We will do one of each class in February, April and June. You can see the complete schedule on the classes page of our website or at the bottom of the page where events are listed.
We have also scheduled a knitted cable class. You can pick a project with cables that appeals to you or if you don’t have one in mind, we will use Bowlegged Washcloth from Needyl. All you need is some cotton yarn and the appropriate needles for the yarn. The cable class is March 14.
Our Grand-reopening party was a great success. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us. We appreciate your support.
To find our new place…
Welcome! Come in.
Take I-10 to exit 16 (same exit as before). When you exit, go north. At the 4-way stop, turn right on West Aloha Dr., the turn left on Indian Hill Blvd (just past Coldwell Banker, across from Family Dollar). Turn right into the parking lot. We are on the end, next to Aloha Dr.
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Crochet-a-long
We are still planning to do our CAL with Michelle. You can read all about it here.
These are the squares for January
Harlequin Shells 12″ Crochet Square by Carolyn Christmas
Winter Burst 12″ Square by Aurora Suominen
Trunk Show
We have needlepoint trunk shows planned this year. Patti Mann is the first one coming in March. Stay tuned for more details.
Attention Crocheters! Coming in January! Michelle wants to make an afghan and she vows to finish one in 2015. She is inviting you to join her. I’ll just let you read her invitation yourself…
I’ve always wanted to make an afghan…not a baby blanket or a chunky blanket, but a proper honest-to-goodness afghan. This will be the year that I tackle my afghan…one lovely block at a time. And I would love it if you would join me!
This 2 Blocks a Month CAL is for those of you who feel like you will never be able to make an afghan. By breaking it up into individual squares and doing only 2 squares a month, the project becomes infinitely less frightening. Add to that the fact that you have a whole community of people behind you, doing the same thing and happy to help you out should you need it, and VOILA! “I could never” turns into “I can’t wait for the next one!” And the icing on the cake? Each block is a surprise!
The When
We will work on them together every 3rd Tuesday evening from 4-8pm and all day the following Saturday! Links for the Blocks will be posted in the store and on the blog (so you can print the pattern) prior to our coming together to work on them.
The How
If you would like to be part of the mystery afghan crochet-along (2 Blocks a Month CAL), please join by signing up in the store so that you can be a part of the group of folks who also want to be a part of this great project. This will go on for the entire year and at the end, we will put our afghan squares together to have our very own afghan to take home and enjoy for years to come!
I hope that you will take up the challenge and join along with the 2 Blocks a Month CAL. Remember, you don’t have to be an experienced crocheter to take up the challenge. If you are a beginner at the start, you won’t be at the end.
Additional Information
Size
If you are using the same hook and yarn for each square, your squares won’t all come out the same size. I will help you with adding additional rounds for some of the squares so you get all the squares to the same size and final-round stitch count (more or less).
This Saturday, November 15 starting at 10am is Crochet 101. Come learn the basics of crochet, starting at the very beginning. $25 plus materials.
In this class you will learn how to: Make a slip knot How to crochet a chain How to make a slip stitch How to single crochet How to make a Half Double Crochet stitch How to make a Double Crochet Stitch
Even if you know how to crochet, you will learn something to make you a better crocheter.
Stash Buster Class. December 6. 10am – 1pm. $25
Bring yarn from your stash and will will choose a project you can get done for Christmas gift giving. Trust me! You can do it! We will have several free patterns to choose from based on the yarn you have. Of course, if you don’t have a stash, we can help with that as well.
New Canvases
Charley Harper Canvases
Well, only a few of the Charley Harper canvases are new, but I thought you might like to see what all we have available.
Some New Christmas Canvases
Good times around the table…
Come join us when you want some company stitching or knitting. You’ll get encouragement and help if you need it… and I bet you can help us learn something new as well.
Knitters around the table.
Please make a note of it.
…2014 Holiday Hours…
Thanksgiving: Closed Wednesday-Friday, November 26-28
Christmas: Closed Wednesday-Friday, December 24-26
New Year’s: Closed New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day.
It’s November… Thanksgiving month. So let’s start the month with a little gratitude. First up, we would like to thank everyone for the great response to the cash and carry sale. We hope you found some great deals and will enjoy stitching on them. Remember, if you need a little advice, or just want to hang out while you stitch, feel free to come in and sit for awhile.
We are also thankful for our great classes. What makes our classes great? Well, not only will you learn the skill you are here to learn, but you will also learn new tricks and techniques from your fellow students as well. It’s also a lot of fun meeting new folks who share your love of the craft.
The classes coming up are:
Crochet 101. November 15. 10am – 1pm. You will learn the basics of crochet, starting at the very beginning. $25 plus materials.
In this class you will learn how to: Make a slip knot How to crochet a chain How to make a slip stitch How to single crochet How to make a Half Double Crochet stitch How to make a Double Crochet Stitch
Even if you know how to crochet, you will learn something to make you a better crocheter.
Thanks, Deidre, for your amazing directing and editing skills! The CAL sung about in this amazing video will start in January… stay tuned for more details.
Stash Buster Class. December 6. 10am – 1pm. $25
Bring yarn from your stash and will will choose a project you can get done for Christmas gift giving. Trust me! You can do it! We will have several free patterns to choose from based on the yarn you have. Of course, if you don’t have a stash, we can help with that as well.
Speaking of Thanksgiving… we will be closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week (November 26-28).
This yarn will be great for adding a contrasting cuff/heel/toe color to your socks. Or buy two separate colors and make striped socks.
Knitcol 100% Merino wool 137 yards US 7, 5 st/in
From Adriafil’s website: “Another exclusive innovation of this collection: the user-friendly jacquard! The dyeing has been worked out on an eight-colour thread just to achieve a real jacquard effect. This implies that, by simply working with plain and purl stitch, you will get coloured striped pattern with jacquard elements. Forget the hard manufacturing to achieve this particular pattern. The composition and the count enable you to create wonderful garments which suit everyone. Obviously with an unparalleled easiness, you really must have a try..”
Lisa (she blogs here) has a friend in NOLA who is working with the veterans home there and they are hoping to gather 155 new knit or crochet lap blankets to hand out at Christmas. She needs any contributions by Dec 1st. You can drop blankets off at the shop and we will get them to Lisa.
Classes
We have put another crochet class on the calendar. On November 15 from 10-1, Michelle will guide you through the basics of how to crochet. Her last class was a great success and was helpful for new and experienced crocheters both. $25 plus materials.
The knitted Christmas Stocking class is full, but keep checking for more knitting classes.
Needlepoint 101 is October 25. You will make a simple mini stocking that will have you learning eight different stitches and youll have fun doing it.
This ‘n That
Do you need a stitch guide? We want everyone to know that if you need help choosing stitches for your newly purchased canvas, we can help you out with that! We are happy to do stitch guides for you when you buy a canvas from us.
Thanksgiving Closing Dates. The shop will be closed Wed-Friday November 26-28 for Thanksgiving. We will reopen on Saturday the 29th ready to help you with your Christmas knitting (or to help your friends and family buy you something great).
October Sale. During October, all Halloween canvases are 40% off and all orange yarn is 25% off.
Lots of finishing came back last week, but it went right out to eagerly waiting needlepointers so fast that we didn’t get many pictures. Here are a few for you, though.
