knitwitzinc.com Blog

It’s inventory time again, the most problematic dreaded time of all for retailers.  My issues with it aren’t the counting this year.  My issues are the new system and feeding the information into it quickly enough to get. it. over. with.  Again this year I had a lot of help, and this is how it was:

So we started counting.  I started counting the week before all my lovely volunteers arrived on a Sunday morning.  But there was a LOT left to count.  These ladies were so dedicated they actually got to the shop before Jane and I did.  (Stop laughing, I am NOT always late!)  Imagine giving up an entire Sunday to count balls of yarn… and needles… and books… and (bless them) patterns?  Yeah, they rock in a Big Time way.  To give you an idea of how this went down, here’s Kate and the big yellow cabinet…

We will call this The Before picture.  The only way to count is to frog.  Rip it out and put it back.  So that’s Kate, sitting amongst the frogged cabinet contents.

The day lasted from 10 am to just past 5 pm, with 2 breaks.  One was for pizza and the other involved piling into Corrina’s car (she’s super) to a rug camp, viewing amazing hand-hooked rugs and visiting some of our hooking pals.  The camp is an annual event and they’re open one day for anyone to check it out.  Going from a room full of wool to another room full of wool is mind boggling.  It’s just incredible.  I’ve never hooked before, but I got a small kit.  Hey, you cannot have too many things to create – especially when you consider these things an art.  Besides, it’s sort of like *painting* with WOOL, rug hooking, so I have no guilt!  Okay, fast forward a bit and here is The After:

Isn’t it pretty?  So organized.  Kate did a great job, even with the dyelot crisis.  They all did – I could not have done it on my own - felted hats off to Jane, Corrina, Misha, and Kate.  Sniff, I can even read y’all’s writing!

Slip and Slide Shawl

Originally uploaded by kathe001.

I would give up chocolate for this yarn. If you know me at all, you are probably leaning back in your chair at that statement. Yep, I’d rather knit with Malabrigo’s merino than reach for chocolate… This is the beginning of the Slip & Slide Shawl in pearl 10 and frost gray. The pattern is from the Fall edition of Knitter’s, seen underneath my project stuff, of which I sold not a single copy… weird, that.

The list of 12 11 lost out to new projects.  I know, you’re shocked-SHOCKED at that.  Bear with me.  It was inevitable, and I like it that way.  Everything will get done eventually, in it’s own time.  The planet won’t stop spinning because I have knitting projects in the double digits.  Besides, these new guys are really cool!

 Poems

A new yarn, Poems, came in and I grabbed one before checking it all in.  Two days later and it’s the first bell-ringer of 2007 for me.

The one skein produced a very cute bag, which I finished off with a set of tortoiseshell handles.  I’ll write up the pattern after the picture gets posted… famous last words.  But I’ll try!

Brown Tweed is My Friend

This tweedy yarn was a present from the loveliest person.  Someone who wholly understands the eternal truth that yarn is a Gift From Heaven… and that nobody can ever have too much of it.  It’s a yarn I don’t carry, but would love to (a Rowan)!  It’s turning into the Shoulder Shawl in Cherry Leaf Pattern from Victorian Lace Today.