Monthly Archives: February 2007

Happy Wednesday……….

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Do you have Broadband? If you do, treasure it. Don’t take it for granted. Tell it you love it, every single day. Ah me, I had it and lost it. And I’m not sure it was better to have loved and lost than never to have browsed at all. I’m still fighting tooth and nail for a Broadband connection, and still suffering the agonies of slow dial-up in the meantime. It appears that this is one of the downsides of living in a sleepy old village. But I’ll win, you’ll see. In the meantime, bear with me while I’m a little less communicative than usual.

And getting all the bad news out of the way first, Sock Club will be a few days late this month. We’re dyeing it all tomorrow, so it will be ready to go out by Monday, which is the 5th. You’ll forgive me the delay, won’t you, just this one time? Yes, I thought you would.

Now then, onto better things. I’ve added a new pattern to the free patterns page. Its a pretty shawl pattern, that was one of last year’s Lace Club patterns. I’ve seen in knitted up in cobweb weight, lace weight, and sock weight, and each have their merits. It makes a great introduction to lace knitting, because its very simple, and quick to knit. I hope you like it.

I’m still labouring (in the nicest possible way) over my Forest Canopy shawl. I’m halfway through, and living dangerously, since I haven’t used any lifelines. I’d show you progress shots, but they’d look awfully similar to the last one, just a bunched up piece of crinkly knitting! Lace knitting is certainly a labour of faith. I’m loving it.

Tomorrow, some peeks at this week’s sale yarn. Lots and LOTS of pure cashmere, especially lace and sock weight. Lots of Springlike colourways. I want to keep them all…..

One last thing. If anyone out there is like me, and adores old fashioned whodunnits, you might want to look out the Miss Silver series by Patricia Wentworth. I’ve only just discovered her myself, and I’m gobbling the books up. She was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, and her books are very clever and evocative of the period, which I love. And best of all, Miss Silver, the sleuth, knits her way continuously through each book. Yes, very much like Miss Marple, but I suspect that Patricia Wentworth was a knitter in real life, and Agatha Christie wasn’t, because Miss Silver’s knitting is described in much more intimate detail than Miss Marple’s ever was. Just makes the books extra fun to read.

Lucky For Some…….

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Something very special happened last week, and I would have blogged about it then, but it was right in the middle of the move.

On February 19th 1994, I married my sweetheart, Tony. Last week was our thirteenth wedding anniversary, and while it wasn’t celebrated in a very traditional manner, it was probably the happiest of all the anniversaries we’ve had.

(Excuse the dreadful picture – its the only one I have on my laptop, and the albums are at the bottom of a box of books.)

It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been married for thirteen years; it feels like so much longer, like we’ve always been together, in fact. But this last six months has been very special for us, because we finally achieved our dream – working fulltime together.

I know some couples wouldn’t enjoy it, but we’ve always loved spending all our time together, and hated having jobs that took us apart even for a few hours each day. When I started Posh Yarn, last April, I worked alone, and my one real goal was to build the business up to the point where Tony could join me. I realised that goal in November, and the week we started work together was one of the proudest and most exciting of my life. And a bit scary too – could the business support us entirely? Would we be able to work together, every day, and still love each other’s company? Could it really work?

Well, as you know, it did. We make a great team – thanks in a large measure to Tony’s everlasting patience and unflappability – and the business has only got better and stronger with his input. I’ve learnt so much about Tony in the last few months; I always knew he was very practical, but I’ve now seen a creative side to him as well. He does all the dyeing, and recently has been having a share in coming up with the colourways, and he is fantastic at it. He absolutely loves his job, and I’ve never seen him this happy. I’m proud that I’ve had a hand in giving that to him.

But I want to thank all of you as well. Your continued support of Posh Yarn doesn’t just support a small yarn business. It enables two people who love each other immeasurably to have the luxury of getting up every morning, knowing that they can spend the whole day together, that they will share every glorious high and every stressful low together. You’ve made our dream come true.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Bits & Pieces……..

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My head’s all over the place today, hence the rather scattered quality of today’s blog.

Last night’s sale went as smooth as silk. No more software problems – hurrah! And I’m currently working with a good friend of mine who is a programming genius, to make the whole Posh Yarn shopping experience even easier and more fun, for you and for me. More on that to come.

Oh yes, all the purchases from yesterday’s sale will be in tomorrow’s post. I wonder what our new Post Office will make of all of these shiny pink parcels?!

I recently treated myself to Victorian Lace Today (no link, because I’m writing this offline, still without Broadband, grrr). If you haven’t seen this book yet, you definitely need to get your hands on a copy. It is so interesting, and inspiring, with some gorgeous patterns in it. I know that a few of you have knitted some of the designs in Posh Yarn, and when I get time (insert hollow laugh) I’ll add some photos to the gallery. My copy is currently at Mama’s house, hopefully inspiring her to knit me a gorgeous cobweb weight shawl!

This week we’re getting in the mohair order I was telling you about a couple of weeks ago. I’m so looking forward to seeing how it dyes up. And seeing your reactions to it, too. There’ll be some on this week’s sale, but how much will depend on how early in the week it arrives.

I’m hoping against hope that my Broadband will be connected this afternoon. I’ve been spending the barest minimum of time online – it’s just too frustrating to be on for long – and I’m so behind with blogs, and all my other daily browsing. Mr P is going out to play squash (racketball, US?) tonight, and I would love to pour myself a glass of bubbly and settle down to catch up with everyone. If not, I’m going to put some time into the Forest Canopy shawl. You remember the 8 hour car journey, in which I was going to get so much knitting done? Didn’t do a stitch. Shameful, eh?
That’s all from me today – hope your week has got off to a splendid start, and the sun is shining as beautifully wherever you are as it is here.

Give Me A Gold Star…….

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No pictures today, but something even better……..the sale preview is up! I got it ready a little earlier than I expected, so I thought I’d give you extra opportunity to look through it and look at some of the great patterns we’ve found. I struggled a little with the photos this week, because it’s a grey rainy day today, and my office only has a small window. But I think they’re okay.

I can’t believe how quickly we’ve sorted things out – the sale page done, the storeroom/office unpacked, the dye room set up, the house unpacked and organised. The only thing left to do is to unpack my million and one books, which I’m hoping to do this weekend. After that, finis!

Moving house is like banging your head against a wall: it’s lovely when you stop.

Until Sunday, cheries!

Did you miss me?

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I’m back! A little ragged around the edges, a little black under the eyes, but I’m back. This has been the craziest week – in fact, it feels more like a month than a week, but life is gradually getting back to normal. Ish.

Today Mr P is building shelves and storage in the new workroom, while I’m shut up in the bedroom with the two cats, trying to get everything ready for Sunday’s sale. You think you’ve had withdrawal symptoms for the sale, you should see me! But we’re on track for Sunday, and although there won’t be quite as much yarn as usual, there’s a gorgeous selection, so grab what you can. I’ll be posting some preview pictures (hopefully – I’m on sloooow dialup at the moment) tomorrow and Friday on the blog, then the sale preview page will be live Saturday afternoon.

I’m having to be awfully disciplined to get back to work – despite the upheaval of the move and resulting tiredness, I do have a bit of a holiday feeling going on. Its just so wonderful to be home, and we’ve been invited out for dinner practically every night since we got here. The weather is much milder down here too – there’s snowdrops and daffodils blooming in my garden, and today I was outside in a tshirt. The house is nicer than I remembered (and smaller too!), and it feels really homey already. Despite the million and one boxes. I’ll try to get some pictures of it on the blog soon.

But for now, I’ve got to concentrate on getting this pile of yarn ready for Sunday. The beach is calling me, but I’m trying not to listen. I can see that working in the summer is going to be quite a challenge…..

P.S. I missed you all too!