Black Friday give-away!

On Black Friday November 26 every customer who spends over $100 will receive a free Addi Turbo needle, value up to $15.95, in their choice of size!

Purls of wisdom:  I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

Toys for Tots and Super Bowl 2012

I am pleased to announce that I have a Toys for Tots collection box at the shop.  Toys must be new and unwrapped.  The Marines will be collecting the box on 15 December in order to have time to sort and distribute the toys.  The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.  Anything you can give is appreciated.

New at the shop - "Pixie Dust" by Knit Collage.  Pixie Dust knits on #17 - 19 needles; one skein makes a hat, two skeins make a scarf.  Ideal for last minute gifts. The hat in the photo took one hour to knit, and that was with doing it on #15 needles.  Also - the hot pink colorway of Feza's "Alp Light"; three new colors of Feza's "Fanatic": green, bubblegum pink, and blue & yellow (Notre Dame, anyone?).

The Interweave Knits Winter issue is in!  Muted colors and fancy stitches abound, but there are also easy patterns.

Super Bowl 2012 will be held in Indianapolis!  The Super Bowl committee is asking Hoosiers to knit scarves in Colts blue and white for the 8,000 volunteers that will be working the game.  The scarf count is currently at about 1,500, and there are only 14 months to go.  SO - I have Colts blue yarn in the shop in Cascade 220, with 220 Superwash coming soon.  The scarves need to be 6" - 8" wide, 70" - 84" long.  You can go to their website at www.indianapolissuperbowl.com for simple patterns, you can knit any other scarf pattern in the Colts colors, or you can create your own pattern, as long as whatever you make is gender-neutral (read: no lace, fan and feather, or similar).

As a reminder - the shop will close at 3 PM on Wednesday 24 November and reopen at 10 AM Friday 26 November.  Have a great Thanksgiving!

Purls of wisdom: I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer
history if you die.

It's Christmas time

I realize Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, but I have been ruminating much on Christmas this year.  I have a master plan for decorating the store (I have always thought that being a professional Christmas tree decorator would be a really cool job), and a specific message I want to send with it.  In short, I want to bring back the old-fashioned type of Christmas that is no longer "pc".  I am going to decorate the shop with Christmas decorations, and I am going to say "Merry Christmas" to my customers.

One of my favorite movies, Christmas or otherwise, is "It's a Wonderful Life".  IAWL teaches a wonderful message - no one is a failure who has friends.  It illustrates values that are sadly absent in today's society.  People nowadays feel they have to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", lest they offend someone.  Who, exactly, will be offended?  Only 0.7% of the country consider themselves atheists, so I see no reason why the 76% who consider themselves Christians should worry about the atheists' delicate sensibilities.  Not one of my Jewish friends are offended by "Merry Christmas", nor am I offended by "Happy Hanukah".  Wasn't the whole point of this country freedom of religion?  Not being allowed to express yourself isn't exactly freedom.

Even if someone is offended by hearing "Merry Christmas" - so what?  There is no Constitutional guarantee to never be offended.  A year or two ago in the southeastern part of the country a man went to a high school football game.  He had no children in the school district, he just liked football.  When the cheerleaders held up motivational signs quoting from the Bible - a tradition at the school going back decades - this man threatened to file a lawsuit against the school.  Shockingly enough, the school board gave in and stopped the practice of quoting the Bible at games.  This is not a separation of church and state issue.  This is an example of "political  correctness" run totally amok.  It is absurd that the traditions and beliefs of a nation should be censored by the opinions of a miniscule minority.

At the last River Park Merchant's Association meeting it was said that stores should be decorated with a "winter festival" theme, lest someone be offended.  This offended me, so I went on-line looking for a lighted sign that reads "Merry Christmas".  It took half an hour to find any place that sells such a sign.  Even an on-line store that calls itself "christmaslights.com" didn't have a single item that reads "Merry Christmas"!  This whole "pc" thing is beyond out of control.

So this year I encourage all of you to take back our traditions and say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukah", and to blazes with political correctness. 

Gifts for knitters - and crocheters!

I just got a nice shipment from Santa Keith - watches for knitters and crocheters, hand-knitted necklaces, and hand-knitted pins in Notre Dame and Indiana University colors!  Let the Christmas shopping begin!

Also new today - Berroco Borealis, a chunky yarn in luscious variegated colors.

Purls of wisdom: Caffeine is proof that God loves us and wants us to pay attention.

New arrivals for Christmas!

I am delighted to tell you that the Elegant Heirloom Christmas stocking kits arrived today!  These are truly heirloom quality Christmas stockings, with Svarovski crystal embellishments, textured trim on Santa's coat, fleecy sheep, and more.  I also have "Googleheims", Christmas stocking kits for kids.  These are suitable for stuffing full of goodies and then being dragged around the house by the lucky recipient.  And they will hold a LOT of goodies.  Remember, not all kids are small - there are even golf and football Christmas stockings!

Also in - the puppy version of the Paradise Shawl pins is in.  How cute are these?

The shop will close at 3 PM the day before Thanksgiving, it will be closed Thanksgiving (of course), and open at the usual time for Black Friday.  I'll post additional reminders as these dates get nearer.

Purls of wisdom: if you knit really fast it DOES count as exercise.

Isaac Newton and cats

It is a little known fact of physics that the mass of a sleeping cat increases exponentially by the following factors:  a) how long the cat has been asleep (directly proportional); b) how much you want the cat to move.(inversely proportional).  Thus we can use the following equation to calculate the mass of a sleeping cat, where m = the weight of the cat in pounds, t = the amount of time the cat has been sleeping, and i = the appropriateness of the cat's location on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the least appropriate spot.  

Thus (m x t)i can be used to determine that a 13 pound cat sleeping for 3 hours on a black wool sweater (10 on the scale) will weigh 390 pounds, but only if you actually try to move the cat.  This is because the inertia of a sleeping cat can only be quantified by kinetic energy.

This explains why a cat sleeping on either side of me on top of the blankets is impossible to move.  That's my tale, and I'm sitting on it.