Where are we?

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Vegas, Death Valley and Date Milkshakes!

The furniture market was good -always fun to see the outrages things that are made. Haziza makes some really wild furniture and accessories using acrylic - take a look. I really wanted something for me but it is so expensive that you need a trunk full of spending money to get.

We stayed at Treasure Island and they gave me a bottle of champagne for my birthday. When they found out Ger's was around the corner they brought up another.

We left on the 18th and drove to Pahrump a really small town a little over an hour away. Their one and only yarn store is....Walmart. It is a friendly little place and a great base to see a lot of things, Death Valley being my favorite. Today, since it is Gerald's birthday he got to decide what he would like to do. We went to China Date Ranch and had a date milk shake then travelled a back road that we had never taken through Death Valley - really pretty vistas. I don't think we will ever see the entire park..but will certainly keep trying. We saw a baby coyote and some rabbits. At sunset we were almost at Badwater so we decided to stop and eat dinner at Furnace Creek Ranch (they have one of the borax 20 mule team wagons out front - a real one not a replica and it is so much bigger in real life than I expected them to be)... we shared a "Cowboy gyro"! It was a great day but now I need a shower and shuteye since we are up early again tomorrow for more adventures.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Crochet Along With Me

OK, so it's not knitting, but starting tomorrow I'm going to be leading a Motif Afghan Crochet-Along on the Lion Brand website. I'd love to have all the Virginia Knitters join me for a virtual good time.

I spent last weekend in Schaumburg, IL at Stitches Midwest. Always such a treat! The hotel and convention center there is the newest and spiffiest place I'm likely to be teaching in. There is actually lots of --gasp!!--natural light so four days in a hotel doesn't give me cabin fever.

Also, if you happen to check my website today, it's undergoing maintenance--hopefully will be up and running tomorrow.

Edie

KIS me ... what?

This past weekend, I attended a small knitting retreat with some girlfriends. We stayed at the oh-so-lovely Stonewall Jackson Hotel in downtown Staunton, Virginia. The hotel was very nice and the employees were so accommodating. Staunton, however, was - in a word - awesome! I am in love with Staunton! How is it that I had never been there before? I just don't know! It is quaint, friendly, pretty, picturesque, interesting, historic, educational... you get the picture. AND the Stonewall Jackson Hotel is on the National Trust Historic Hotels of America register - just how cool is that?

In addition to a shop and restaurant laden downtown area with neat old hotels and B&Bs here and there, Staunton is home to On the Lamb, a LYS tucked into a lovely old historic Victorian home that Joe (and John) are returning to its previous grandeur.
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As you walk up to the front door

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and enter, you are greeted by this phrase:

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It was true.

We entered as guests and left friends!

Joe and Angel even treated us to dessert Saturday evening
-- I think it was just so they could visit some more:
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I will leave you all with some more photos of our weekend - we had such a good time that I am looking forward to the next time I am blessed enough to spend the entire weekend with such a wonderful group of friends - old and new.
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On the Lamb - porch
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a pair of Jo(e) bookends
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Holiday inspiration
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More fibery goodness
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Walked down this road to dinner on Friday night
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Behind the Hotel, entrance to garage
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one of the lovely sunflowers outside the fence at On the Lamb
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Oh, KIS me, you ask? Knitting In Staunton of course!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

"Unsighted" - The Tactility of Textiles

There is an opening reception at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen on Thursday, from 7-9 pm for my fiber arts exhibit entitled, "Unsighted". The exhibit is an effort to invite the unsighted community into the "visual" art experience, changing it to a tactile art experience. Every piece is designed to stimulate the sense of touch.
Please come. Please introduce yourself once your there. I'm looking forward to meeting you.
It's mostly weaving and felting, with some hand-spun thrown in to several pieces.
The address is 2880 Mountain Rd, Glen Allen, VA
Thanks,
Cherri

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

"Unsighted-The Tactility of Textiles" opens Tomorrow!

I have a solo show opening tomorrow at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, 2880 Mountain Rd, Glen Allen, VA.
It's an entirely fiber arts show, and it's TOUCHABLE! The opening reception is next Thurs 10/17, from 7-9 pm. Please come!!!!
The object of the show is to open the art experience up to #1, the unsighted community, and to allow us to experience fiber arts the way they are intended.....by touch. Weekend hours are sporadic, so you may want to call ahead to confirm when the art center is open.
See you there.
Cherri Hankins

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Yarn Shop News Blast

Want to get $5.00 off your next purchase? ( Free yarn -yeah!)
All you have to do is introduce a friend to our store.
If they make a purchase and sign up for the newsletter, you and your friend
each $5.00 off your purchase. Min. purchase $ 15.00. New email sign ups will be verified.
This is a great month to bring your group of friends.
Why not take that field trip you’ve been planning during September?

Just a note to let you know that the store will be closed on Monday, September 7 in observation of the Labor Day Holiday.

With school opening next week, we will soon be resuming classes.
Check out the website for the standard list of the usual and check the newsletter as we add more and more
special classes this fall. Including the crochet garment class, entrelac for beginners and mobius too.

Lucy Neatby Will not be able to come this October as not enough people have signed up for her to make the trip worth the cost.
We are truly sorry for this as we did expect a sold out class. Refunds will be given in person, so please ask for your deposit back next time you visit the shop.
This I am sorry to say is a big disappointment.

We are closing out the remainder of Tofutsies sock yarns at a super sale price of $9.55

For your knitting and crocheting projects we carry 65 current colors of encore and have stock of the additional
recently discontinued 16 colors. that’s a whopping 82 colors to choose from in the Encore line alone!

Universal Yarns has a wonderful free pattern booklet on line. Please feel free to download a copy for yourself today.
Bring it with you when you shop for their wonderful Poems yarns with us.

Free Universal Poems booklet
http://www.universalyarn.com/pattern.php?pattern=375

Please do remember that we do Price Match any of the other area shops. Find it for less or on sale somewhere else and we will
match or beat their prices. This excludes closeout prices, discontinues and special orders.

Sit and Stitch changes days…Have changed from Wednesday to Thursday by popular request
Please feel free to join us every week on Thursday from 12:30 to 5:00 pm. .

Limited Amount of Christmas yarns are in stock now.

We have the most wonderful and fun yarns back in stock for that one of a kind scarf or shawl.
Great Addirondack’s Potluck. These fun all in one yarns change textures and colors as you knit.

I have really enjoyed using these yarns and others like them. You never know what is coming next!
The colors are rich and bright and the simplicity of this is even better. No changing yarns as you go, the yarns do it for you!

News From Denise:

New and ready to ship!

Denise Interchangeable Crochet Hooks are ideal for Afghan/Tunisian crochet, double-ended crochet, and a wide variety of knitting applications. Hooks interchange with Denise knitting needles to open a whole new world of possibilities for creating unique fabrics.

Kit includes:

* 12 individual hooks, sizes F5 (3.75mm) to 19 (15mm)
* 7 cord lengths: two each 3" and 5", plus one each 9", 12" and 16"
* Four end buttons & two extenders
* Detailed Tunisian Crochet instructions courtesy of Interweave Press

Can be used as standard crochet hooks, or make Afghan/Tunisian hooks from 8-37” by using different combinations of cords in the kit. As always, 30”, 40”, and 52” cords are available separately to expand the possibilities even further. Hooks are also available individually packaged - ideal for double-ended crocheters or knitters who want to add a few hooks to their knitting kit.

A wide range of knitting applications includes easily picking up stitches for button bands, necklines, or modulars, expeditious cast-ons and bind-offs, and quickly picking up stitches after “frogging.” Add crochet to your knitting or knitting to your crochet with the flick of a wrist. Help your customers expand their fibercrafting horizons!

Since October 2006, the Pink Project has raised over $115,000 to support breast cancer research. Knitters are a powerful force! They’re planning to introduce the crochet kit in pink as well, but we haven’t settled on a timeline yet. We’ll keep you posted.

Feel free to contact us with any and all questions.

CPSIA Exempts Yarn

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has just exempted yarn from the rigorous lead testing and certification requirements required for children’s products under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). This is very good news indeed for the hand-knitting industry, which was worried about the implications widespread testing would have had on the manufacturer, all the way down the distribution chain.

For more on this ruling, go to www.apparelnews.net/news/manufacturing.

Coordinated Colors Yarn Shoppe
2703 George Washington Hwy.
Yorktown, VA 23693

757/874-3939
www.coordinatedcolors.com

Hampton Roads Largest Yarn Shop