Yellowbird Yarn Room

Did I mention you have more time?

Something we can all use, right?

Well, holiday hours are officially in effect for River City!  From now until Christmas you can come in until 8:00 on Thursdays, and from noon until 5:00 on Sundays.

Happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I don't know about you, but yesterday I got so wrapped up in the wonderful smells and the yummy taste-tests and the calling of the firemen to check the CO levels that the day just flew by!  I even managed to get my ornaments that I've been working on all felted up before I ran to the store for forgotten items.

If there were no Sister Schubert's frozen dinner rolls on the table my husband would remind me for the next five years. 

I'll have more info on the ornaments very soon (so far, so good!), but for now I just want to send out some happy holiday wishes and remind everyone that your favorite local gift shop will be open for the big shopping weekend!  Tomorrow, on Black Friday, Judy will be giving away a free gift with purchase for as long as supplies last.  Then, if you've registered your Amex card with their Small Business Satuday program, make sure you come to River City and spend that $25! 

Judy is also bumping up her hours for the holidays and will be open on Sunday, I believe from noon until 5:00 but I will be verifying that soon along with exactly which day during the week she will be staying open later (did she decide on Thursday or Friday?) 

In the meantime...enjoy your day, and let the feast commence!

First signs of the season

It's one of those things where you know it's coming, but then it gets here and you wonder where it came from.

The holidays are upon us, there's no denying it any more.  The signs are everywhere.  There's the radio station that's been playing Christmas music for two weeks.  The friends who already have their tree decorated so that the house looks festive for Thanksgiving.  The neighbors who put their twinkle lights up because it's still above freezing outside.  Not to mention the kids shouting "I want that, Santa!" out into the universe during every commercial break.

Of course, they've been doing that for a while now.  Since their birthdays came and went.  In the Spring. 

I even saw my first "wandering husband" of the season while in the grocery store this morning, talking on the cell phone to his wife and trying to find what she was telling him to get.  The store had apparently hidden the cranberries from him.

I've been slowly inching my way into the holiday spirit for about two weeks now, since I started working on my ornament projects for this month.  So far, I have two crocheted circles, one Tunisian crocheted square, and one whole knit ball.  I have another half of a smaller knit ball and should still have enough of the yarn for a small knit square.  All of these ornaments will be felted and embroidered, and the balls will be stuffed. 

And I will be happy!

This really is a very fun, easy, inexpensive way to turn out a fair number of small handmade gifts.  I'll have to remember it for in the future.  You know, when I'm not writing about it and posting it for all the world to see. 

I was hoping to have pictures for you by now, but I decided to finish up the yarn first to give you a more comprehensive idea of what you can do with just one little ball of wool.  It shouldn't take too long to do that.  Theoretically. 

On a completely unrelated note, my parents are currently en route to stay at my house for the week so my routine will remain slightly unpredictable during this period.  For now, however, I must go clean. 

I will, of course, still be at Open Knit on Tuesday.  Hope to see you there!       

Did you know...

that if you register your American Express card on their Small Business Saturday page on Facebook and then use that card to spend $25 at your favorite local gift shop (i.e. River City) on Saturday, November 27th, American Express will credit your card for $25?  How great is that!  Thank you, Amex, for the big nod to small business!

 

Wow. Just...wow.

I have seen  many knitting projects that have blown me away over the years and not commented on them.  Just sat there, momentarily stunned...awed...mesmerized.  Then I moved on.  Went about my business.  Inspired to do more with my humble needles.

But sometimes you see a project that bears commenting.  That you not only want to share but need to share.  Because the world needs to see it and be as inspired by the marvels of the project as you. 

At 9:04 this morning I stumbled upon just such a project while checking my forum updates on Ravelry.

If you are interested (however remotely) in knitting construction, M. C. Escher, or even just fish, you need to hop on over to this blog and check out Jana's amazing blanket.  And please note that, as if the blanket itself was not impressive enough, it appears that Jana just learned how to knit two and a half years ago.  

Conflict on Thursday

My son will be part of the Veteran's Day Assembly at his school, an event I obviously cannot miss!  Of course, this means I will be a bit late to Open Knit again this Thursday.  I believe I should be at the shop by around 11:00 or 11:15 barring any major traffic jams in the school parking lot.  I might could stay a bit later, maybe until 1:00 or so, if I've got a bit of company!

But for now, apparently I have salt dough to make for a class project.  And violin practice to encourage.  And inventions to assist in creating. 

What makes you happy?

Me?  I have two great things that go great together to make me happy:  Tahki's Granite yarn (any color) and Laurel Hill tools (any kind).

Oh, I could sit here all day, expounding the virtues of each of these items (as I'm quite sure I have done many times in the past), but then I wouldn't have time to actually use them!  And it is a cold, wet, dreary day here in NE Ohio.  And I do have my hot chocolate mint tea.  And I actually have nowhere to be all afternoon and no clue who got eliminated on Dancing With the Stars this week.

So, um, you may be wondering why I brought it up.  Why am I sitting in this uncomfortable chair in front of the computer when I could be on the couch finishing up my improv mitts as promised?  Well, there's more than one answer to that...

New colors came in!

New crochet love for me!

New projects for November!

And a new Tasting to appreciate it all!

Come crocheters, one and all, it's your turn to play now that I have set up the Tasting with Granite in Garnet and a size M hook in Ebony.  Granite knits up beautifully, and felts beautifully.  These things I know.  But how does it behave with a hook?  This I was anxious to find out.

Now, I am no crochet expert but I have been practicing and improving my skills with hooks I acquired over the years and collected in my bag.  I decided that, now that I had some idea of what I was doing, it was time for me to try out Laurel Hill's hooks of which I had heard so much.  After all, their knitting needles are my absolute favorites!

After two rows on the tasting I have just one thing to say...I want to do more!!!  That hook actually felt so natural in my hand I was amazed!  I really never thought I would be that comfortable with crochet, that it would always elude me.  But the more I work at it, the more ways I find to make it work for me and I look forward to seeing what I can do with it in the future. 

Speaking of the future, the new colors of yarn fit perfectly into my plan for the Christmas ornaments I will work on over the next couple of weeks.  But I had planned to knit and felt them.  Now I might have to see what happens when you crochet and felt!  Oh, decisions...decisions...

Guess I'll think on it a while and finish my mitts.  Now, where did that remote go...