10.03.08
1 Year Anniversary Celebration! – 3
On Saturday September 27th The Local Needle had a grand celebration…cont’d.
Next…we had our first Yarn Tasting! Customers were able to samples some of our new Fall yarns, like Classic Elite’s Portland Tweed and Moorland, Alpaca With a Twist Temptation, Zaol Angora and more (all of which are available for sale from our website).
For our grand table setting Jeff was grateful enough to spread his first crochet-design on the table. It is exquisite and he promises a pattern soon!
Please note the beautiful orchid, just one of several that Kaycee loaned us for the day. Another way of making the day special. Funny, I didn’t notice it the day of, just too busy I guess however, the stole on the table is a perfect match to the orchid!
01.17.08
OMG – Has it been that long?
OH MY!
I can’t believe it has been so long since my last blog entry. I often feel like that magician on “Frosty The Snowman” that is trying to steal Frosty’s hat. He runs around yelling “Busy, busy, busy!”.
We’ve had so much come in the door this last month…
Classic Elite: Wool Bam Boo, Alpaca Sox, Lush and Twinkle Soft Chunky – all have been posted to our “click and mortar“.
Schaefer Yarns - Elaine, Kathleen, and Sandra (which is the one shown below).
The Elaine and Kathleen are no-names , or as I prefer to call them, “one-of-a-kinds” (the colorways are not offered by Schaefer for ordering). Sandra is a cotton/rayon blend and is shown above in colorways: Frida Kahlo, Isabella of Castille and Empress Wu Zhao.
For the alpaca lover:
Alpaca With A Twist - my shelves runneth over! Highlander on the left, Jumbo Baby Twist on the right. Fino, who resides in the upperclass lace-weight area of the shop, is also in great abundance.
and more underneath the shipping table.
We also have yarns from Crystal Springs Alpacas, based in Zephyrhills, Florida. All natural colors and like no other.
Pagewood Farms- this sock yarn is a hot seller! We carry 100% superwash, 80/20 superwash/nylon, and 70/20/10 superwash/bamboo/nylon.
We’ve also received in Jade Sapphire Cashmere/silk 2 ply as well as Lacey Lamb
Oh, and more sizes of HiyaHiya bamboo circulars, although the sizes over US 10 have not yet arrived.
Patterns, patterns, patterns…mostly lace patterns – my personal passion.
And if it’s not been coming in…it’s been going out…
Getting started on the day's shipping
So that sums up the product activity at the store. Coming up in the next day or so….OMG – part 2: catchup on life at The Local.
12.08.07
Alpaca With A Twist Fino and Highlander
Glad you found us!
The Local Needle carries a rather large inventory of all colors available in Alpaca With A Twist Fino and Highlander.
Please follow the link and visit us at http://www.localneedle.com/AlpacaWithATwist.html or email joan@localneedle.com for more information.
Enjoy your knitting!
Joan
09.03.07
Bigger space, More Yarn!
No I have not dropped off the face of the earth…We’ve just been busy moving to a new location!
The Local Needle yarn shop located in the lil ’ol town of Macclenny Florida (just west of Jacksonville) has outgrown it’s previous location, and we are pleased to announce that we are in the process of moving to a bigger and better place.
Bigger means More!
We have more Louet Gems (and we are introducing Riverstone) , Mango Moon, Alpaca With A Twist, Lorna’s Laces and Schaefer Yarns – all on their way here.
We are located just off I-10 between Jacksonville and Lake City on U.S. 90 (Macclenny Ave.). AND…we are fortunate enough to have found a place adjacent to the local coffee shop.
Mark your calendars for our ribbon cutting and open house on September 15, 2007. We will have hourly drawings, 15% in-store/storewide sale and more.
So if you live anywhere in the vacinity, or you are travelling on I-10 in the near future, take a moment to take a drive in the country, enjoy a small town atmosphere and come pay us visit!
07.19.07
Like Harry Potter…my Mystery Stole 3 Apparates
It’s been over two weeks since my last blog entry…..let me tell you why!
A week or so ago, I was getting ready to take some pictures of my Mystery Stole 3 project, but I couldn’t find it. I had completed clue 2 and thought I would post my progress prior to starting on clue 3.
For an entire week, I searched for my knitting. I looked in the shop, upstairs in the bedroom, then down again in the family room. I have hunted everywhere and back-tracked my footsteps trying to remember where I had it last. No luck!
A few days later, I finally find it and I’m Stupified! Something has happened to it! It’s only half the size that it used to be! After close examination, I come to the conclusion that it appears to be worked only through clue 1. How could that have happened?? I didn’t drop a stitch, have the wrong number of stitches, forget a yarn over or find a mistake where I had to frog it back 76 2 rows. Now I’ll never catch up!
Well…I quickly exhaled a muggle-repelling charm, slammed the door and laid my knitting in the chair. I sat back in my own chair… tried to think of happy thoughts and contemplate my problem. The phone began to ring and as I reached for it I called out “Reparo”! Without hesitation the knitting charm was invoked and the needles began clacking away.
Now being the Girl Scout leader that I am…honest and fair, I did disarm the spell after clue 2, I do not want to cheat. I reasoned that since I had knitted clue 2 once already and it was some Time Turner spell that had frogged it back to where I was several days ago, that it was only fair to use another charm to get it to a state where it’s ready for clue 3.
So, hear you have it. I’m using Alpaca With A Twist Fino in Champagne. Inox Straights size 4 and Size 8/0 seed beads in Egg Shell from the Bead Wrangler.
And a closer look…
Off to start clue 3!
06.26.07
Lace knitting – Loden Mist & Mistery Stole 3
I think I have found my particular knitting passion. Some enjoy sock knitting and others will make sweater after sweater…I seem to lean towards lace knitting. I can’t decide if the finished product is what draws me, or the intricate patterns that keep my mind busy and interested.
I cast on for LodenMist on 5/5, but then had to put it away for a few weeks. I’ve since picked it up and progress is good. I’m 2/3rd’s done with the left front and hope to cast on for the sleeves next week. I couldn’t resist blocking the back.
I’m using a different yarn than what the pattern calls for, so I had my doubts as to whether it would stretch to size. It came out real close. I’m using Louet Kidlin and the color is Woodland.
I just love the halo affect that the mohair gives it, which is hard to see in this picture.
In other lace knitting news, I’ve made two swatches for my Mystery Stole 3 project. Something I found ironic…here I’ve been working on Loden Mist for a month or so and found the pattern to the mystery stole swatch to be the exact same lace pattern. It made for a quick and easy swatch.
Both swatches were made with Alpaca With A Twist Fino in Champagne. 70 % baby alpaca, 30% silk. In the top swatch – I used the recommended needle size which is 4. I almost always have to go up a needle size to get gauge, which is what I did for the bottom swatch. The top one is more to my liking though and should make close to a 18 inch stole.
If you look REAL HARD, you’ll see my one little bead that I tested for color. It looked pretty in the store when comparing yarn to bead, but when I placed it on the yarn, I didn’t like it. It made me think of something that is old and has yellowed with age. Not to say that there aren’t some very pretty things that yellow nicely with age.
Anyway, I ordered 2 other colors and I like the one on the top the best (my lighting is not all that good today). It seems to emulate the same thing that the yarn does – silk and softness.
I am now set with yarn, beads, needles (INOX) and size 13 crochet hook for bead application. Now…I just wait until Friday, when the first pattern clue is given.
06.18.07
Store update – Alpaca Fino and Schaefer Yarns
Gotta love that UPS man when he brings boxes and boxes of yarn and more!
At The Local Needle we just received our reorder of Alpaca With A Twist Fino. A fine laceweight – 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. Perfect for the Mystery Stole 3 project and there’s still time to receive it before the first clue is given! Last week we announced a price increase on this yarn, the current price structure will end at midnight tomorrow (6/19/07). If you’ve been contemplating this yarn, you may want to decide before the price increase.
Some of the Schaefer Laurel that we have on order came in today. We have 3 of the new Schaefer cotton colors and our best selling Margaret Meade, now in stock. We have more on order, as well as their new dk weight cotton – Susan. I was able to take a peak at Susan while at the TNNA show. It’s lovely and may even become more popular than Laurel!
Schaefer is shipping as fast as they can, on opening I could smell the dyes. Tomorrow that entire corner of the shop will have that smell! We also received in our Anne sock yarns (assorted colors) and Lola Bunny kits as well as the Baby Bolero kits.
I’m hoping to get this all posted tonight – photography working in my favor will help that process.
In addition to the yarns, we have the new edition of the Needlecrafters’ Travel Companion, a “tasting” of Hiyahiya bamboo needles, and some beautiful Heartstrings Fiber knitting patterns by Jackie E-S.
03.05.07
Great Customers doing Great Things!
I just love it when customers share their projects.
To start with, it’s a cool thing just knowing what one long strand of yarn is capable of making…it’s even more cool to see what someone else is doing with that long strand that used to sit on your shelf.
This long strand (4 skeins to be exact) of Alpaca With A Twist Highlander in Birch is going to wrap a sweet little niece with love and warmth, from her Great Aunt.
Jane in NY state writes: “I think it’s gorgeous (I do too Jane!)! I used a basketweave sweater pattern from Morehouse Farm, a size 5 needle to get the correct gauge, and I found the perfect buttons at M & J Trimmings in NYC. It was a lovely yarn to work with.”
Carolyn, also in NY state, plunged into her first felting project with these beautiful felted bags using patterns from Knit N’ Style December 2006 magazine, size 10.5 US needles, and her long strand consisted of 3 skeins of YarnArt Absolute Wool yarn from The Local Needle.
It’s like transforming the catepillar into the butterfly!
The bad thing about felting tho…it’s addictive. I have not looked at my wool and alpaca the same way since completing my first felting project.
A sincere thank you to both of you for sharing, you really are great customers!
02.16.07
Alpaca show
I had the delightful experience of hosting a yarn booth at the Florida Alpaca Breeders Association show (FABA) in Jacksonville last weekend. It was only a couple of back roads away, so I really couldn’t resist the urge to be around all of those cute fuzzy faces.
I wouldn’t call mine cute, fuzzy maybe… the older I get. I never like pictures of myself, and prefer to take them than to be in them.
There were a couple of spinners just to the right of me and I thoroughly enjoyed watching (I’m not a spinner) the alpaca fibers turn into such a lovely yarn. There was a light brown that had just a touch of gray, simply beautiful.
I have a memory of a lady jumping away from an alpaca saying….”I thought you wanted a kiss!” Instead the darling little thing spit on her.
I have a memory of a man, a rancher I think… who could not conceive that there were fiber enthusiasts in the world that would actually pay for his alpaca fiber.
I have a memory of a sweet petite southern lady that just wanted to talk knitting. She was wearing a beautiful sweater she had made out of what she called Canada wool. She had purchased it years ago with intentions of making each family member a sweater. By the time she had finished her daughter’s, it was too small.
I have a memory of the lady that wouldn’t stop talking. Don’t get me wrong, she was a joy to talk listen to, even while we were packing up to go home.
Not to mention I met a lot of local knitters that were excited to have another resource for yarns.
The part that I truly missed though (because I was manning a booth), was watching my sister show her animals in the rink. Pat and Kennan are the owners of Crystal Springs Alpacas.
It was truly a family affair, Mom was there to help whoever needed it and claimed major bragging rights to the Florida Times Union article that printed in that morning’s edition. It mentions us…the sisters…while telling about the show.
01.30.07
Tweedy Topper
We are busy knitting up alpaca samples in preparation for the Florida Alpaca Breeders Assoc. show on the 10th. Mom was nice enough to knit this up for me. It’s the tweedy topper from Knitters Fall 06, using Alpaca With A Twist Highlander in Birch and Braeberry.
More colors…
Teenagers are quite…..funny. When shopping with mine, everything I try to point out as nice and stylish, immediately seems deserving of a nose wrinkle. When I want to haul my knitting to her basketball game….I’m told “But Mom, someone will see you!”
And yet…..
