Spinning? Yarn?

Yesterday Deb came by to help me learn to spin on my wheel. I think it went rather well but I guess you'd have to ask her for the true picture. The bobbin has my first attempt which is a ton better than the other stuff I produced. I keep telling myself that it's artisan yarn. I was trying to spin with a beige merino that I first got with my wheel which was boring so I did really love spinning with color. The fiber was superwash merino dyed by......the same Indie Dyer that did the sock yarn.....it's coming to Pick Up Sticks. Self striping yarn on a 80 merino/10 cashmere/ 10 nylon. MMMMMMMgood!

Behind again...

I meant to blog on Thursday but of course, never quite managed it. We had a fabulous knit night on Wednesday - good company, good food and lots of fun! What more could you ask for? Our first week went very well and everyone seems to love the shop which is good because I really, really love this shop. It's not even because it's a great commute :) - it's because it's exactly what I wanted a yarn shop to be. When you move to a retail location you have to work with what is already there but when you take a garage and make it into what you want, then it's perfect. It's fresh and clean - it still has that "new car" smell. I'm just happy about the whole thing!

And.....I have some exciting news to share:

Laura Chau of Cosmicpluto Knits will be teaching a spinning workshop here on Sunday, December 6th and Sunday, December 13th. You do need to have a wheel but the fiber will be provided with the class cost. Cost for 4 hours of instruction will be $150. There will be a maximum number of students as well so if you are interested let me know. Class fee must be paid in advance. Isn't this exciting?

Questions Answered

I had a few questions in the comments so I thought I'd answer them here -

Knit Nights are Wednesday from 6pm - 9pm - November 4th we are serving pizza on Pick Up Sticks as well as coffee, tea, pop etc. just to celebrate our first Knit Night in the new shop!

We are opening tomorrow morning at 10am - a sandwich board will be at the end of our driveway and the shop is on the left when you reach the house (the long ranch bungalow). My dad lives here too and his house is right at the top of the driveway. My daughter also has an apartment in the barn - so it's a little family compound. Our house is the one on the left - just so you don't get confused on where to go.

I'm so excited about this shop - almost more excited than when I moved to Bradford - because it's exactly what I've always wanted. The yarns are all shelved according to weights - no more running from room to room to find something - the patterns and books are all together in one spot and I have a table for lessons. YAY!

Almost done....

Just one more bin of paper stuff to empty and we are good to go.....I'm so thrilled with the results and I hope all of you will be too - it's warm and welcoming, I think - which is just what I want everyone to feel when they stop in.

This is a shot from the door of the house into the shop - there's lots of browsing room with chairs, a table and the sofa for perusing patterns or just sitting and knitting for awhile.

I love the fireplace - it keeps the room nice and toasty and also creates really nice atmosphere. The blankets are hung between shelving with the antique ladder I had at the other store.

In the centre of the table is a bowl with the new Sweet Georgia yarns that will arrive at the beginning of December.

We have lots of fun things planned for our first week in the new shop. No taxes from Tuesday until Saturday, free Pizza on our first Knit Night starting at 6pm, 20 Balloons to pop with discounts ranging from 15%-30% off. There's only 20 so come early to make sure you get one.

New details:

Pick Up Sticks

3402 St. John's Side Road

Newmarket, Ontario

L3Y 4W1

Local: 905 836 9171

Toll Free: 1 866 780 5648

See you soon!

The Making of a Yarn Shop

So it seems that buiding a shop from where a garage used to be is a much bigger undertaking than I imagined but...oh so worth it. This is the shop of my dreams, bright, airy, cosy and comfortable. White walls with all kinds of brilliantly colored yarns just waiting to be knit up into something spectacular...............I'm in love and hope that you will be too! Lisa and I are working hard to get it all set up and actually it looks significantly different than these pictures but in the interest of trying (yeah, right!) to keep you all up to date here we go -----my little netbook bit the dust today and is being repaired at Future Shop - I'm actually hoping they lose it so I can get the Macbook I should have bought in the first place. Thanks to Jeremy who even is his fever fog hooked up this computer for me so I could continue to communicate - but I digress - you want pictures so here's pictures!

Here's the exterior - cedar boards - you should smell the wood - glorious!

These shots are of all the stuff unloaded from a 26' truck and 2 cars and an SUV.
This is where the stove and sink are for dyeing wool for rug hooking. The stove arrived damaged and had to be sent back, so no idea when that is actually going to start.

More tomorrow...promise!