Boy oh boy, what a strange week we've just had here at The Knitting Nest. Angry crocheters, people who were mad because I do not carry Lion Brand Yarn and nasty reviews on Yelp. These were all funny in their own little way but the lady on Yelp is especially funny because she asked me about a pattern, I told her all about Ravelry and how they have "millions of free patterns" and then I proceeded to get on Ravelry and look for a pattern for her and she walked out the door. I guess I should have tried to sell her a pattern! I'm still learning how to deal with people who don't know exactly what they are looking for - I just don't want to be a pushy pain in the ass and follow people around.
But it's a brand new week - almost a brand new month! - and I came to work early to clean out my desk - no really! - and I just received the nicest little note on Ravelry from Susan B. Anderson - the author of one of my very favorite books: Itty Bitty Hats - about her newest pattern for Spud and Chloe, the Heart Measuring Tape cover.
I also have all kinds of news about the store - we have a lot going on next month - but first - a Public Service Anouncement from your Austin Area Yarn Shops. Knitting Fever Inc., (a large yarn distributor that all the area yarn shops order from) has offered to match all donations for Haiti made by yarn shops up to $50,000 - so most of us YSO's (that's Yarn Shop Owners) here in the Austin area have come up with a plan - we will match the money donated by our customers and THEN send it in to be matched again! So, you donate $5, I will match your $5 and make it $10 and then KFI will make it $20! Not a bad idea!
Each store has the choice where to send their donations and we have chosen The American Red Cross.
Next up: The Knitting Olympics - Ever Heard of This?
Many of you may not have been knitting the first time The Knitting Olympics were "held" or you may not have been a reader of The Yarn Harlot's blog. Stephanie (The Yarn Harlot) just casually mentioned one day on her blog that knitting should be considered a sport and therefore should be part of The Olympics. BAM. Her comment box exploded and an idea was born. She began to think of funny little "events" and then people started forming all kinds of teams - the only set rule was you were supposed to CAST ON during the opening ceremonies (pre-swatching was allowed and considered training) and your project had to be finished by the END of the CLOSING CEREMONY. Now remember, this was before the invention of a little thing called Ravelry and it was all organized and executed in the kitchen of the Yarn Harlot. And it was fabulous. Never before had so many knitters - all over over the world - been so excited about one project. It was all over the internet, the evening news and major newspapers. By the day of the opening ceremonies The Yarn Harlot had registered over 4000 knitters as participants. Amazing? Yes. Crazy? Definitely YES. It was fun watching all teams pop up - you can see all the teams I joined somewhere here on this page....along with the gold medal that I was awarded when it was all over that was designed by a little-known knit-blogger and cartoonist named Franklin Habit. Funny, huh?
A few weeks ago the Yarn Harlot contemplated starting again or letting Ravelry "host" the Olympics and there was an astounding amount of people urging her to "sit back and relax" and enjoy the Olympics this time. So... Ravelry will be the place to go to sign up - you can go to The Knitting Nest Forum to find all the links and information.
The Knitting Nest will also be hosting an Knitting Olympics Cast-On Opening Ceremony Party - we will be staying open late that night - it will be Friday, February 12th. Join us! Bring your project and some food to share and we'll have a big party and all cast on together!
By the way, I may be losing my mind because I dreamed last night that Hank is knitting toys in the middle of the night while we are all asleep.