Exceeded expectations

Not to brag or anything, but I've been to a few yarn shops in my time. I've been to every Stitches for the last decade. I worked at a yarn shop for five years. I sell yarn out of my house! And so when I tell you, nay admonish you, that you simply must go to WEBS, you must believe me.

My expectations were high, I'll admit it. So when I drove up to that cheery blue awning, I was a little nervous. Could a yarn shop possibly live up to all the hype? I mean, this place has "www.yarn.com" as its URL. Would I be disappointed?


I didn't have to worry. For inside was the biggest, most amazing yarn shop I've ever been in. Ever. When I tell you that WEBS has everything, I mean everything: from Araucania to Zitron with everything in between. It is truly a knitter's nirvana.

The first thing I saw was a lovely table (with fresh flowers!) with Knit So Fine beautifully displayed on it.


I was distracted from the huge selection of yarns in the front room by some of the kindest, warmest people that ever graced a yarn shop, like Karen and Cirilla (did I spell it right? it's such a pretty name to go with that gorgeous face) and Gail (we're going to talk dye) and I even got to meet Pixie the crochet goddess, of webcast fame.

They plied us with popsicles (what we Philadelphians call "wadder ice") and lemonade and chilled spring water, and didn't make fun of me at all when I spent fifteen minutes looking around me with wide eyes, blubbering incoherently in shock and awe. But I had been forewarned by my crack research team to go straight for Teh Back Room, so as soon as I regained the power of intelligible speech, I asked Karen if she'd pretty-please take me there.

I'd heard, you see, that there are grocery store shopping carts (what old-school Philadelphians call "coaches") in Teh Back Room and quite honestly, I thought people were just joshing me (you know, like when you tell someone that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?).



There are shopping carts in Teh Back Room.

Gentle readers, I filled mine.



My able assistant Elvis, who did a bang-up job of reading the map the whole way (saved me about twenty bucks' worth of gas in wrong turns, too) helped me traverse the aisles. You can't imagine what it's like. You look up one aisle,



and it's all Adrienne Vittadini closeouts (did I miss the announcement that they are no more?) in those luscious subtle colors they do did so well. Across from you are discontinued colors of some amazing yarn, say Berroco Pure Merino (you were right about that one, Franklin, it's a great yarn). Then something catches your eye and it's some fab Rowan yarn that you can't live without. Then, of course, I simply had to throw in a couple skeins of Nashua Superwash for the homeless veterans (you know how much I love my country).



It was insane.

Elvis, who is not the seasoned yarn shopper that I am, retired to the couch area to eat homemade brownies (thanks, Carol!).



I then tried to work my way through the front part of the store, but it was really just too much, even for me. I managed to snag some pattern books that I'd been ogling -- the new Elsebeth Lavold, Norah Gaughan No. 3 and Noro Joy were among them -- and then I met Hyphenated Carol's posse.



Kris and blogless Sara (no 'H') were fun and I've loved Carol for a while now, and I greatly, greatly appreciated that they drove all the way from Boston to see me. I also made a new friend, Knitting Dragon, who was on a massive road trip of his own:



And I got to meet Some Bunnys Love who is a Ravelry pal. (FYI, Mr. Some Bunnys Love: she did the right thing in bringing all the bunny photos. I loved them!)

Karen gave me the full tour (yes, WEBS is so big there are entire WINGS in addition to the store and Teh Back Room) and did everything but teach me the secret WEBS employee handshake (maybe next time?). I quite love Karen. I gave her three hugs before I left and I still think I owe her about two or three more hugs.

So when I tell you that you simply must go upstairs right now, pack a little bag (only a little one; you want to make sure there's lots of room in the trunk for all the yarn you're going to bring home) and pull out the atlas and find the fastest route to Northampton, MA, I'm not kidding. Even if you live in Togo or lower east Anchorage and you think you don't need to go to the real shop, because WEBS has a kick-ass website, let me tell you a little secret: there's stuff in the shop that is not on the website.

It's true.


Even Elvis wants to come back. After some amazing ice cream in charming Northampton, a dip in the outdoor pool AND the indoor pool



and several quarters in the Austin Powers pinball machine later,



he was in heaven, too. The next morning, I found Elvis filling out the hotel "How was your stay?" postcard. Where it said "How likely will you stay in this hotel again?" he had checked "Very likely."


Something tells me Elvis and I will be making that drive again real soon...

Thanks, Kathy and all the WEBS folks, for such a special visit! And thanks to the folks who came to the booksigning, too! Y'all rock.

Meet me tomorrow at WEBS!

I am so excited. Tomorrow, Elvis and I are leaving at the crack of dawn to drive to WEBS. I've never been, and I suspect this is one of those milestones in a knitter's life, like your first Stitches or Rhinebeck or something. I am going to be signing copies of Knit So Fine at 3 p.m., so if you are close enough to come, please stop by and say hi!

And one more. . .

Today it's our last blog visit, in which Lisa stops by the blog of Woolbearers -- discussing the always-timely topic of substituting yarns.

We hope you enjoyed our blog tour -- learning more about us, the book and some of our favorite skinny yarns. A huge thank-you to all of the bloggers who helped us, our publicist, and all of you dedicated readers who followed us from place to place!

Lucky 13: Me 'n' Dolores. Bonding. (No, Dolores, I did NOT say "Bondage.")

Oy vey. After inviting Franklin Habit to be a host for the blog tour -- we all know how well-mannered, erudite, charming and full of grace and class he is -- I was informed that the interview will instead be conducted by Mme. Van Hoofen herself. I don't know quite whether to be insulted or flattered. I do know enough to be scared. So fasten your seatbelts, pour yourself a champagne mojito and go to The Panopticon for A Very Special KSF Blog Tour Stop.

Update: Franklin and I have been experiencing some minor technical difficulties with Blogger, so if his post isn't up yet but this one is, please don't fret -- he will post as soon as he is able. Thank you for your forbearance!

Allons chez Ve-Ve! Toute de suite!

Do you love it when I speak French (paging Gomez Addams)? Today one of my heroes and girl-crushes, Véronik Avery, hosts the KSF Blog tour. Like everything Ve-Ve does, her blog is beautiful, artistic and in exquisite taste. She will be visiting with Laura today. Please note that Mme. Avery just announced on her blog yesterday that she is working on her next book. Woo-hoo!

And for those of you lucky enough to live within driving distance of WEBS, I am thrilled to announce that Laura and I will be there for a book-signing on Saturday, June 28th, mid-afternoon. A visit to WEBS? It is a dream come true. . .

Day 11: Meet the FitterKnitter

Are any of you old enough to remember Rowan Botany? (I know some of you are old enough to remember, but I thought it was polite to ask.) For those of you who have taken up knitting more recently, Botany was a great fingering weight, 100% wool yarn from Rowan. (Its technical name was Rowan True 4-Ply Botany.) I probably still have some in my stash, but lo and behold it was discontinued. There were many knitters who, after rending their garments and gnashing their teeth, weren't convinced a suitable replacement could be found. But Rowan introduced 4-ply Soft to take its place, and although 4-ply Soft is different from Botany, it's still good. Very, very good. Really quite very good. So join me as we take a trip to visit The Fitter Knitter, and talk about 4-ply Soft.

Threadbear Fiber Arts is our host today

Woo-hoo! I got to meet Rob and Matt, the Threadbear guys, at TNNA! They are amazing and wonderful and I wanted to kidnap them for a couple of hours and rub my cheek up against that sexy beard and talk yarn with them until the sun rose, but, alas, I got hypnotized by Abby Franquemont (who in addition to having a great name and being incredibly nice and fun) kept whipping her spindle around like a fibrous Cirque du Soleil act -- minus the Lycra.

I suppose it was lucky for all of the rest of the TNNA-ers that I didn't do a Kathy-Bates-hotel-room-kidnap thing, so Rob lived to knit another day and to blog with Lisa today about skinny yarns.

P.S. If you are ever in the mood for some spectacular yarns, skinny or otherwise, and have some cash burning a hole in your Paypal account, I highly advise a visit to Threadbear's website.

Day 10 of the Blog Tour: TurtleGirl

Meet TurtleGirl and her Bloggy Thing, the host of today's Knit So Fine blog tour. Our skinny yarn of the day is the ever-delicious Koigu...

But before you go, check out this lovely stole here. Now apparently this stole is entered in some sort of newfangled web contest (you know me, I'm a humble housewife with a station wagon who doesn't always understand these knittin' kids and their interwebular rivalries) but it seems to me that is one kick-ass shawl so if the spirit moves you, go on over and vote for it.

Then I'll see you at Turtlegirl's!

Connie Chang hosts KSF today. . .

Sorry I'm late -- I got in last night from Columbus and apparently got some kind of nasty germs on the plane because now I'm sick. I have so much to tell you! I got lots of dirt on the new yarns, patterns and books that will be coming out in the coming months for fall '08. And of course, me being me, I made lots of new BFFs along the way (although no one will ever take the place of my original TNNA BFF, Ve-Ve).

In the meantime, cool designer Connie Chang is the host of the KSF blog tour today. Laura will be chatting with Connie over at Connie's blog. (See how diabolical I am? I gave poor Laura the day after we returned from Columbus. But she does get to chat with Connie Chang, whose patterns are amazing, so I hope that makes up for it!)

Still more stops on the KSF Blog Tour. . .

DK, the Nautical Knitter, is today's host of the KSF Blog Tour. We will be chatting about the fabulous Rowan KidSilk Haze. DK creates and runs the Secret of the Stole Knit-a-longs, and as a laceknitter (check out some of her patterns here) I bet she's got some interesting things to say about KidSilk Haze.

Day 6 of the KSF Blog Tour

KnitGrrl extraordinaire Shannon Okey is today's host of the Knit So Fine blog tour. Lisa will be visiting with her today at the KnitGrrl blog. Shannon's celebrating the release of her new book, How To Knit In The Woods: 20 Projects for the Great Outdoors, which I haven't seen yet, but I hope to score a review copy from Her Nibs this weekend. Through the miracle of the Web, Shannon, Lisa, Laura and I will all be in Columbus partying working hard while you are reading this. . .

KSF Blog Tour continues

Today, through the magic of teh internets, I am simultaneously on my way to TNNA in Columbus AND having a virtual chat with LynnH of ColorJoy. We'll be talking about the versatile laceweight yarn Zephyr. So come on over! In the meantime, I promise to collect lots of good gossip for you from Ohio. . .

KSF Blog Tour Day 4: Kat Coyle

It's particularly fun for me when I get a chance to meet a designer whose work I have admired from afar. Kat Coyle has lovely designs that are often featured in Interweave Knits and KnitScene, and she also has a highly adorable book of kids' knits, called Boho Baby Knits: Groovy Patterns for Cool Tots that was released last fall. Today, Laura is going to chat with Kat on Kat's blog so let's go see what's happening there!

More KSF Blog Tour: Day 3

Today I visit with Faina Goberstein, of Faina's Knitting Mode, to talk about Dale Svale, the yarn used for the main body of the Skater-Inspired Sweater. I did not know Faina before we started planning the tour, but I'm very pleased to get to know her! Faina and her co-author, Dawn Leeseman, have a book coming out next month, called Casual Elegant Knits. See you at Faina's!

KSF Blog Tour: Day 2

Most of my regular readers know that I'm a proud alum of Rosie's Yarn Cellar. Today, the KSF/Skinny Blog Tour visits the Rosie's shop blog, RosieBlogs, for Lisa's visit with Courtney Kelley. (Love the new blog header, Courtney and Kate!) Both Lisa and Courtney are masters of fine yarn, so they should have some interesting things to say.

Don't forget: KSF Blog Tour starts today!

While the clematis bloomed



I have been busy writing blog entries for the Knit So Fine/Skinny Yarns blog tour!

Fourteen consecutive days -- fourteen blogs for you to meet (or revisit if they are already old friends).

Some of the entries will be written by me, but my wonderful co-authors, Lisa and Laura, will also be writing some posts so you don't get sick of me yammering on for two straight weeks.

Each day will take a peek at one of the skinny yarns we used in the book, and other inside details about the creating of the patterns, or interview questions supplied by the bloggers, extra photos, reviews of the book by the bloggers, and so on.

Today we start with Andrea of The Fiber Forum, and look at one of my all-time favorite skinny yarns: Zitron's Trekking XXL. So head on over there and check it out.

Laceweight update today!

I'm loading a laceweight update on Black Bunny Fibers and it should go live around noon EST. I've got several large batches of merino laceweight -- each batch has 2000 yds

which are perfect for making Laura's lovely lace stole from Knit So Fine:

I've also got some smaller batches of my regular merino laceweight (around 880 yds/100g)...

Meet Laura!

A couple of you have asked me about Laura. "Who is this mysterious Laura?" you say. "I know Lisa from Rosie's and her previous books. But who is Laura?" So I bring you a special GKIYH interview with my co-author and friend, Laura Grutzeck.

CS: Tell us a little bit about yourself.


LG: This question always makes me panic on job interviews. I never know what they want to hear…is it okay if I skip it?


CS: Okay. (This is going well....) Well, if you won't answer one trite interview question, then I shall ask you another. When did you learn to knit?


LG: I learned to knit when I was around 10 years old. My mother taught me. Even though she doesn’t enjoy knitting, she felt it was her duty as a mother to teach me. My grandmother loved to knit, so I guess it skipped a generation.


CS: What are your favorite yarns to knit with?


LG: Thin ones, naturally! :) I do use heavier yarns sometimes, but I seem to do a heck of a lot of knitting on size 2-4 needles. I love yarns that have some color variation, so I am a big fan of hand dyed yarns, tweedy and heathered yarns.


CS: What are your favorite needles?


LG: I like plastic needles a lot, so I use Denise and Bryspun needles when I can. I think my favorite set of needles is a set of Bryspun double pointeds in size 2. I use them all the time - I actually bought another set because I was worried I would lose a needle from the first set and never be able to replace it.


CS: What are your top 5 favorite knitting books (other than Knit So Fine!)?


LG: Barbara Walker’s Treasuries of Knitting Patterns (we will count this as one, ok?); Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book – my mother taught me to knit and purl, everything else I learned from this book. Knitting From the Top by Barbara Walker – learn to knit anything from the top down. Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop – learn to knit anything from the bottom up. A Stitch in Time: Knitting Patterns of the 20s, 30s,40s by Jane Waller – this book looks like a bunch of Xerox copies of old knitting patterns that have been bound together. There is no “reinterpretation,” just the actual patterns. It is awesome.


CS: What was your favorite part about working with me on this book?


LG: My favorite part about working with you? Hmm, that is hard to say, there are so many great things about working with you! I really enjoyed brainstorming with you and Lisa to come up with ideas for the book and the designs. It was really interesting to see the different ways we solved our “design challenges”. It was kind of like being on Project Runway, except none of us had to be eliminated, thank goodness. Also, when we were all frantically trying to finish two sweaters on size 3 needles in two weeks, it was great to be able to share the pain with you!


CS: Which of my designs from Knit So Fine are your favorites?

LG: I love the bohus sweater. I really want to knit that one.

CS: I can't decide which of your designs are my favorite. I love the lace stole, but I also love the asymmetric cardigan and the lattice cable sweater.

Who are your knitting heroes and why (present company excepted)?


LG: Aw, Carol, you know you will always be my knitting hero. I am inspired by knitters who come up with new ways of doing things, so I am in awe of Barbara Walker, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Norah Gaughan, and Debbie New.


CS: What is your favorite sock yarn?


LG: I don’t think I have a favorite, but I do seem to buy a lot of Trekking XXL and Black Bunny Fibers sock yarn.


CS: Other than GKIYH, what blogs do you enjoy reading?


LG: I usually read the blogs of people I know, so besidesGKIYH, I read the Rosie’s blog; Mindy’s ; Wendy’s; Veronik’s; and Courtney’s. I also like Kristin Nicholas’ blog a lot, because Ienvy her color skills and farm life, and you havev gotten me into Franklin .Oh, I also read Purl’s blog, the Purl Bee, because it is just so darned good-looking. If I were a blog, I would want to be the Purl Bee.

CS: Why don’t you have your own blog?

LG: I am pretty shy, and unfortunately this extends to blogging. I get anxious when I have to talk in front of a group of people, and blogging makes me feel the same way. Even answering these questions is making me kind of nervous! Also, most bloggers have all of these interesting things going on that they can photograph and write about; they raise goats, they bake, they travel, they talk to sheep, they have babies…I mainly just sit around and knit, so I don’t have much to blog about.

CS: If you could have any job in the knitting industry, what would it be and why?

LG: I think I would like to be the designer for a yarn company, although I also enjoy tech editing. I love designing, but I often do my best work when I have some limits or guidelines I have to follow, like yarn or color choices, type of garment, etc. When I am free to design whatever I want, I sometimes just doodle around and make endless swatches, or end up doing lots of theoretical knitting math. So working for a yarn company would make me more productive. Feel free to contact me, yarn companies! :)

CS: Thanks, Laura! And for my readers, in addition to KSF, Laura has designs featured in Stitch N Bitch Nation; Vogue's Ultimate Sock Book; and she has designed for Manos.

Podcast alert

A couple of days ago, I got to chat with Kathy and Steve Elkins, owner of (drumroll please) WEBS. Ah, WEBS. You can tell they are one of the all-time best places to feed your yarn addiction because their website's URL is www. YARN . com. I have always loved the way you get an automatic discount of 20 or 25% if you order over a certain amount (it's like working at a yarn shop without having to deal with pain-in-the-butt customers!). And they have the best sales. If you haven't checked out their Anniversary Sale, you still have a few days left. Amazing prices on the good stuff, like Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Cascade 220, Debbie Bliss Rialto DK (a really nice, supersoft merino) and RYC Wool/Silk (Steve put that one on sale just for me). I can safely say that Webs is one of those places that has my husband periodically saying to me "Do you think you could move some of this yarn into the garage?"

Kathy and Steve invited me to appear on the official WEBS podcast, called "Ready, Set, Knit" which you can find here. The episode I taped will be broadcast tomorrow morning (9 a.m. on station WHMP in western Massachusetts) and available for download on places like ITunes. I thank them for giving me a chance to babble on about KSF. And I hope I get to podcast with them again soon! (hint, hint)

For my Amurrican readers, have a terrific Memorial Day weekend. If you're near a computer, check back over the weekend: I'll be posting a No-Bull Book Review and also an interview with Laura Grutzeck, one of my co-authors.

The KSF Blog Tour. . .

It amuses me to no end that I have a publicist, but nevertheless I do, and she has helped us set up a kick-ass Blog Tour to celebrate the release of Knit So Fine. Our blog tour is going to go one step beyond the usual and in addition to giving you background information about the book and designers, we're going to feature a Skinny Yarn Of The Day. Each blog post will feature one specific skinny yarn that we love and used in the book. We'll talk about the qualities of that yarn, and why we used it for the specific project we used it for, and each blogger who's hosting us will have been sent a sample skein of that yarn to play with. In other words, you'll get a mini-yarn review with each blog post.

Later this week, I'll add the blog schedule into the sidebar but I'll leave it in this post, too. You'll see some names you recognize but maybe also some you don't, so you can discover new blogs to add to your regulars. A special thanks to all of the bloggers who volunteered to host the tour, too!

Knit So Fine Blog Tour: June 2 through 15, 2008

June 2: Andrea Lyn of The Fiber Forum which covers all aspects of the fiber arts. Andrea Lyn is a crocheter, spinner and needlefelter, and some of her work is shown on her fiber arts site. She is one of the new faces that I met through the blog tour. Yay!

June 3: RosieBlogs (the blog of Rosie's Yarn Cellar), which always has something interesting to show us or entice us with. Courtney Kelley will be doing the honors for RYC in this one; Courtney is a talented designer whose patterns go by the name Smith Island Pattern Factory (gorgeous lace shawls!).

June 4: Faina of Faina’s Knitting Mode. Faina is another one of the new-to-me bloggers that I've been excited to meet through the blog tour. Faina and her co-author Dawn have a book coming out this summer called Casual Elegant Knits: Classy Designs for Men and Women so look for it in July!

June 5: Kat Coyle, fabulous designer whose work has been featured in Interweave Knits, KnitScene and more, and who recently released her kids' book Boho Baby Knits: Groovy Patterns for Cool Tots.

June 6: LynnH of ColorJoy, who is a knitter, designer, artist, singer, dancer and teacher! (Did I leave any out?) She is a prolific knitters of socks and has the distinction of having knitted her own self-portrait.

June 7: the inimitable Shannon Okey whom I met standing in a line at TNNA two years ago and who just released How To Knit In The Woods: 20 Projects for the Great Outdoors (the latest in a line of books! she must not sleep much) and who just opened a bricks-and-mortar shop called Stitch Cleveland devoted to all things crafty and cool.

June 8: DK, the Nautical Knitter, of Knit With Us, a place for knitters to find videos, podcasts, and blog posts and more... DK creates and runs the Secret of the Stole Knit-a-longs, while her husband makes it all run smoothly on the web.

June 9: the talented Connie Chang, who is on fire with all kinds of spectacular patterns in the last couple issues of Interweave Knits and other fine publications (I really like the Henley Perfected from this winter's IK).

June 10: Cristi of Turtlegirl’s Bloggy Thing -- Cristi is an amazing spinner and knitter of gorgeous things; she also has a very fun and cool blog with great photos and much merriment. I mean, where else are you going to learn all about Testicle Toss?

June 11: Rob of Threadbear Fiber Arts, who not only owns one of the coolest shops in the world that I have yet to visit (sigh) but also has designed some great patterns, like the Broadripple Socks.

June 12: Cindy, the FitterKnitter is a graphic designer and illustrator by day, and a knitter, designer, aerobics instructor and long-distance cyclist in her non-work time. (Another one who doesn't sleep much, eh?) Another new blogger I've met.

June 13: Véronik Avery -- oh yes, we all know about my long-time crush on Vévé, designer extraordinaire and all-around cool Canadienne. We all know by now how much I lerve her book,
Knitting Classic Style, her husband, her design sensibility, her latest Knitty pattern (Lace Ribbon Scarf), her adorable daughter, her kittehs, basically everything about her... and she has a gorgeous website and blog, too.

June 14: Franklin Habit -- Franklin who? Hah! Another object of my stalker-love, this tremendously talented and charming illustrator, raconteur and sheep-handler is releasing his fan-tabulous book of essays and cartoons this fall: It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons. Rumor has it that Dolores may poke her head into the interview so I can serve her with my small-claims court complaint to spice things up.

June 15: Myra & Suzie of Woolbearers, a knitting shop in Mt. Holly, NJ, which is on my list of places to visit this summer, since it's not that far away. . and it looks lovely from the website! In fact, I am going to be in Mt. Laurel this Saturday -- hmmmm.

So there you have it: 14 stops in 14 days, full of yarn reviews, inside stories, and more. . .