Of course we will be moving in without everything being finished, but I think we will be growing into the new location over the course of the next year.

In the meantime, here is the immediate plan:

Saturday night starting at 5pm we will be emptying the yarn bins. If you want to come and help then stop on by. It will only take a few people to load up the plastic bins full of the yarn in preparation for the move.This will allow the muscles to take down and reinstall the shelving units on Sunday.

Then on Monday we will need volunteers to help with the yarn bucket brigade. This should start at 1pm and will continue throughout the afternoon. If you have even an hour or two that would be a help. Call me , email me or atop by for further details.

Thanks, Linda

On Sunday at 10am we are moving the first phase of the inventory from the cellar of 11 Pleasant St to the cellar of 29 Pleasant St. I will post pictures of the first yarn bucket brigade so that you can enjoy seeing it even if you couldn’t make it. There will be another chance for you to participate when we move the contents of the upstairs. Watch your email for when that will be.

I am so excited about the amount of room in the new space. My dreams are filled with ideas and plans for making the new Northampton Wools user friendly and knitter ready.

There is going to be a special place for a  little sit and knit and even a new coffee and tea service. I can’t wait to see it all in action, and I will keep posting as we make progress towards that day.

Thanks,

Linda

The first annual I-91 Shop Hop was really fun!

We enjoyed seeing many new faces and helping these knitters find their way around our shop. Hearing some of the stories about how hoppers were traveling made us smile! Thank goodness for the husbands that were willing to drive so that the serious work of knitting could be done. A few of the hoppers visited every store in one day, but the majority of knitters took two days to really spend a little time in each shop.The big reward for doing that was being able to eat lunch in downtown Northampton

We celebrated with a special edition of Barbie and Ken in their convertible.If you noticed, Ken was knitting and Barbie was doing all the driving. We were just trying to provide a little equal time to all the types of knitters.

If you didn’t participate this year, you  will be glad to know that the 11 shops have decided to do it all again in 2012. It will be held on the last week end in June ( the 29th and 30th and July 1st). Mark your calendars, save up your stash money and plan your attack because the next I-91 Shop Hop is going to be even better with a few surprises included!

Let me fill you in:

First, circle the week end of June 24, 25 and 26. Then call your knitting friends to arrange a caravan of some sort. Get your knitting needles warmed up, get your motor running and head out on the highway that week end to visit 12 of New England’s finest shops.  Visit each shop and you will be entered into a door prize drawing for that day. You don’t even have to be there to win!!

Visit every shop and get your passport stamped at each store and you will be eligible for the Grand Prize Drawing. Again, you don’t need to be there to win. The Grand prize Box already has over $1200 worth of knitting and fiber stuff and it continues to grow as we get closer to the date. Don’t miss this exciting kick off to summer knitting. Pick up your passport at Northampton Wools during regular business hours.

Northampton Wools

Cape Cod Knitting

March 4, 5, 6 2011

Ambassador Inn and Suites

So Yarmouth

Here’s the Scoop about the hotel:

*$70 per night

*breakfast included

*pool, hot tub and sauna

Linda will give you hotel number when you

reserve your spot with her.

Here’s the Scoop about the class:

*Toe up Socks Sat from 9-4pm and Sun

from 9-11.

*$85 for the class (patterns, instruction, a

needle) you supply the yarn.

*Learn Judy’s Magic Cast-on, working with

two circular needles, or the magic loop or

with double pointed needles.

*Both specific and generic patterns included.

*arrive by 5pm on Fri.

*travel to Frog Tree Yarns for refreshments

and shopping.

*knit and wine at the hotel both Fri and

Sat night

*lunch and dinner on Sat on your own

Introducing Fuzzy Pearls, a new and fun yarn from Pagewood Farms. Indulge yourself in this amazing fur ball yarn. Of course the fur balls aren’t real fur- but they sure do look like it. The yarn is a bulky weight wool and the attached fur balls are acrylic. This little cowl is my gift to you when you purchase the one skein of yarn that it takes to make this really easy 2 hour project. It comes is several colors and is sure to add some joy to your winter wardrobe. Once you try this cowl on you won’t be able to resist!

This is the year of the Christmas stocking. I have been busy knitting up special orders using both new patterns and old. What treasures these stockings become. They are the epitome of Christmas tradition. Many people have brought in their treasured stocking from when they were young, and have asked me to duplicate it wither for a new baby or a new in-law. Take a good look at your stocking this year. It might be time to launder it in a gentle hand washing or it might need a few little repairs to keep it going for many more years in front of the fireplace. If you have a stocking that was hand knit by a relative, you truly have an heirloom. here are some of the stockings that I made this year.

The four of us had a great time during the show. It is was a lot of fun meeting all kinds of knitters from all over the country. I hope those of you that bought a neck warmer kit enjoy knitting it.                                                                                                                             This was the most popular of the neck warmer kits. We still have some of the kits available in the shop, or you can get just the pattern and make one in every color.

The cocoon scarf attracted a lot of attention. Of course my daughter- in-law is really beautiful in it if I do say so myself. Knit with just 2 sks of Frog Tree Suri alpaca this scarf has a loop at one end to keep in all nicely in place. This green looks great, but the Suri comes in several luscious colors.

This is “Ali’s Sweater”, the second most popular pattern that we had at Stitches, and we still have the sweater in the shop. This is a basic worsted weight, raglan sleeved design, done in stockinette stitch. The buttons are Zebra and really  make the garment pop.

We are all gearing up for the return of winter. And the holidays are not far away, so plan your trip into Northampton soon. We can help you plan your late fall knitting, from small projects that are designed to warm the chins to larger garments that will decorate the body.

Berocco’s Blackstone Chunky is one of those tweeds that has a wonderful hand and is a delight to knit.

You can even come on in and try this vest on.

Adrienne spent many days last week unpacking and sorting and displaying the new tweeds. One of her favorites is the Tiara Tweed from Plymouth yarns- here are just 3 of the 10 great colors that are on the shelves:

If this doesn’t make your knitting needles sing- I don’t know what will…

or maybe you want something a little more English? here is the Rowan Tweed from the Purelife collection- yummy!

So come and get some Tweed on, before it’s all gone.

It is a very impressive way to flaunt your knitting talents: the beginner knitter is astounded by your ability to turn knitting on its ear, the experienced knitter praises your ability to keep track of increases and decreases; and the non-knitter can’t believe you made that all by yourself .

This week I have added another level of simpleness to a slant-wise project. We just unpacked a new shipment of alp light and I spent the week end knitting up a diagonal vest. Alp Light does all the color work, you just have to do the knitting. The result is a piece that looks like you spent hours figuring out color, planning changes and working in ends, when all you really had to do was wind the yarn into a ball!

Here is what the final results look like!                                                                                                        

Simple summer project that is also easy and flattering to wear. Check out the new colors and ask for the pattern the next time you shop.

Keep knitting in front of the fan—Linda

How is it possible that my DH is turning 60 in a few more days? Neither one of us can believe it, but there it is. He still makes my heart go bump- and he cleans up pretty good, right?

This is too big a birthday to go unnoticed so we have decided to celebrate with all our friends by having the biggest sale ever in the history Northampton  Wools.

On Saturday, June 19th from 10am until 5pm we will mark specific yarns down by 60%. These special yarns will be in baskets on the floor and table in the store. These are not our regular sale baskets. These are yarns that we have decided to pull from the shelves and support with inventory from the cellar.

Mark your calendar and pull out those patterns you have been saving for just the right yarn. Bring them in on Saturday- ONE DAY ONLY- and get 60% off select yarns in baskets.

Because of the huge discounts on these yarns all sales are final and there are no returns allowed.

Plan on being at Northampton Wools early to get the best selection.

Happy Shopping,

Linda