The New Shop is Ready and The Move has Started!

Today the first truckload of fixtures and yarn left the old shop and moved into their new home on Dixie Avenue.  It was like a huge exhale and I can finally breathe easily again.  With the help of my dear Shop Angels, dozens and dozens of bags and cases of yarn and tools and needles were transported around the corner and await being placed onto shelves and walls. 

The space feels amazingly spacious and open.  The light is wonderful and the two huge windows are such a pleasure. 

The walls and floors are freshly painted

and there is just a little cleaning of the unpainted Terrazzo floors in what will be an enclosed classroom/meeting space.
  

 Down the right side, past the new cash desk, there is a long section of display space leading to another smaller enclosed room

 that will be a work space for me where I can keep my projects separate from the shop goods.  I really love this!


 Beyond, there is a yet another room which will be an office space for keeping all the files and catalogs and all the paper that accumulates.


A few other big pieces from the barn at the farm will be moved tomorrow and then the restocking and creating the space will begin.  For me, that is the most fun part of all. 

Happy Holidays From My Family to Yours

 

Making a little holiday music

 

The girls enjoy their new chew toys

 

David enjoys his new little second cousin, Tommy

 We all enjoyed a  beautiful holiday dinner at my sister's house

Small Biz Saturday Sale!

The shop will be Closed all day Friday.

Sorry folks. I just cannot deal with Black Friday. I’ve never liked the frenzy of it.

But I know that many wait for it in hopes of finding some goodies on sale.

My compromise is to do a Sale on Small Biz Saturday instead. There will be yarns, kits and accessories on sale, including:

• Portland Tweed 30% off (stock only)
• CEY Sprout 30% off (stock only)
• Aslan Trends Artesanal 20% off (stock only)
• FrogTree Alpaca Sport and Melange 20% off (stock only)
• Frog Tree Origami Sweater Kits 30% off (stock only)
• Misc. odd Knitting Kits 20% off (stock only)
• Reya Sock Yarns 25% off (stock only)
• all Single Patterns 25% off
• Namaste Bags 10% off (stock only)

Spend $50 in one non sale yarn purchase, you will get 10% off 

 on that yarn.

There may be some other items on sale as I go through the inventory.

All Sales are for in stock items only. No special orders or prior sales or holds. No combining with other coupons.  All are final sale.

The shop will open at 10:00 am  as usual for Saturday and will stay open until at least 6:00 pm

Thanks! Hope to see you here on Saturday!.

Lighting Up Old Town Elizabethtown Kentucky

My little shop, for now, is still located at 29 Public Square, Elizabethtown

I think I must hold the title as the Tiniest Yarn Shop in Kentucky but  it is also the Friendliest and it is fully stocked and ready to serve your Holiday Knitting needs including Lessons, Gifts, Gift Certificates, Kits and of course, the best yarn around at the best prices for all budgets.  Come and visit.

You Have Shown Me Your Hearts

I am feeling so thankful for the wonderful friends that have shown what 'being there' for a friend means.

This weekend's Open House was a huge success despite all the drama of not moving at the last minute.  I could not have pulled it off without the most wonderful group of friends and supporters I have ever known.  Kay, Claudia, Ron and Keith, Amy, Cheri, Yvonne and RoLynn and, of course, Alan.  You all were there, despite having deploying sons, major surgical procedures, ninja turtle body braces, horrible divorce issues,  driving hours to get here, taking days off  from your own work and cheerfully staying 'on hold' to move heavy furniture and then moving it back, packing, unpacking and then restacking shelves, bringing me coffee and a smile, words of encouragement and hugs and so many seemingly little things that are so meaningful to me. You all nurtured me and pulled me through, and away from what to me, felt like the jaws of death. (I said it was my drama!)



And I cannot ever say enough about the faithful and supportive customers who came out to rally and brought or sent all their other friends to the shop, too.  The words thank you, just do not cover it.

Namaste! I am humbled by your sheer 'goodness' and generosity of spirit.

There is No Place Like Home -- Dorothy

And home is still at 29 Public Square, Elizabethtown, Ky 42701

It was enticing, the beautiful space, with it's brick wall, columns and huge display windows but it seems it was only OZ and yes, a Wizard blowing smoke and whistles.  It was not real and not meant to be. 

And so, the big move did not happen and will not happen but the result is that I've had an opportunity to rearrange the whole shop, clear out the unneeded stuff and the shop SEEMS bigger!  The back room is now fully devoted to displaying all the beautiful new yarns and accessories that have come in.  More are due in today.  It feels all fresh and new and I hope you will all love it as much as I am.  I will be working on it more today but the shop is OPEN again....and 

The OPEN House is ON for Friday and Saturday...

Come out and see!  I have received some fabulous Door Prizes and giveaways from Classic Elite and Cascade.  Everyone who comes in will get a ticket for the big drawing tomorrow afternoon.  And every purchase get's you another ticket into the pot...so you have two chances to win some really special prizes and there will be freebies for the early birds while they last!

The Shop is Moving to a New and Spacious Location

It was just 7 short months ago that I had the guts to open a small Wool and Yarn shop in Old Town Elizabethtown, KY.  I'd always dreamed of having my own business and i knew that it would be 'shop'. A small place where people would gather to create.  And so it is!

If you've been to the shop, you know that it is 'cozy'....it is quite small.  I've loved this shop and I am so proud of it.  It has been such fun to come here every day and just play/work at what I love.  It has been something that I created from the stuff of my dreams and it will be hard to leave its safe walls.  In these short months, I have met the most wonderful people, spinners, knitters, crocheters and even a tatter or two.  So many have told me how happy they are to have found the tiny shop and that they love coming here.  And I have loved being found.  It is so gratifying to see the looks on the faces when they come in.

But as the shop has gotten more popular, the space seems to have gotten smaller.  The time has come to move to more spacious quarters.  The opportunity was offered and after a long time pondering what it would do to my small dream, I decided to go for it.  Although there were many delays, once the decision was made, the new shop is finally ready and I will begin the move to the new shop tomorrow, November 2 and the shop will be closed.  It will be the first time that I will be closed on a week day. But there was no way to avoid and so it must be. I hope to be open again in the new space on Wednesday. I will be just around the corner at 110 North Main Street. Park in the back as usual and look for the canopy over the door:

or the BIG WINDOWS on North Main Street:

Open House Weekend:

Come visit the new shop during our weekend Open House celebration on November 5 and 6.

Lots of treates and activiteis are planned including Door Prizes, Special Trunk Shows from Alchemy Yarns and Classic Elite, New Yarn Selections from JoJoLand, Mango Moon, Frog Tree, O'Wool, and Cascade.  New Cottage Rovings from my Paula Rover,  more spinning fibers and blending materials from Ashland Bay and Ashford plus Knitter's Looms, Drum Carders and Fiber Processing Supplies and Dyes.
I am very proud to also include the wonderful collection of Primitive Furnishings and Folk Art by Kathy Anthony of Sugarbucket Antiques.  Kathy will have a special section within the shop to showcase her hand made Christmas and Winter Ornies which she has been hard at work on in between hand building her own Log House.


Come check it all out.  I'd love to see you!

Sweater Class Full House

 Tonight is the first night of the First Sweater Class held at th shop. The class is full and I even had to turn 1 away just because of space limitations.

Even with the cozyness, everyone is concentrating and enjoying learning the formulas for developing a pattern to their own personal measurements. Martha Richards is not only an experienced knitter and experienced teacher (among other things), she is also funny and engaging. We are planning more sweater and larger project classes for the future. Can't wait till we can hold them in THE NEW SPACE!....:-)

Too Hot to Knit with Wool? How about Cotton Bamboo? Lacy Alpaca? or Fresh Linen?

Something I hear now and then is that folks don't like to knit in summer because of the heat.  This seems to be a state of consciousness because, if we are the lucky ones, we have the ac blasting indoors during these steamy days.  I think what we mean is that we don't like to WEAR knitting in summer.  Because traditionally, knitting is thought of as only for cool weather garments.

Now that there re so many beautiful lightweight and cool yarns available, we can be knitting cooly while creating these just refreshingly lovely tops and accessories.  Choose to knit in Pima Cotton, Cotton Bamboo or Linen for a fresh feeling while knitting and wearing.

Just in time, a new shipment of CEY Heron Island:

This high quality pattern collection booklet features nine warm weather designs, all with intriguing stitch details.  Here are just a few to tempt you back to summer knitting:

The Heron Island Collection is normally $15.95.  This month, on sale for $12.00....and remember the additional savings detailed in the Classic Elite Trunk Show and Sale apply to this pattern collection when purchased at the shop with any sweater quantity yarn purchase of Classic Elite Yarns including CottonBamboo, Firefly, Premiere or CottonTail. 

(All photos in this post are courtesy of ClassicEliteYarns)

Classic Elite Trunk Show and Sale

Classic Elite Pattern Samples are around the shop now till the end of the month to inspire your knitting projects.  These beautifully crafted pieces are in CEY unique quality yarns such as the Firefly Linen/viscose blend in the pale peach Smocked Pull Over above from the Picnic pattern collection. The tomato red Leaf Yoke Pullover visible below is knit up in Premiere a just luscious Pima Cotton/Tencel blend.  The pattern is in Summer Book 2.

This adorable Center Cable Tee from the Heron Island Booklet, just glows in Cotton Bamboo.  The combination of the mini cable and sweet lacey yarnover stitches create an extremely flattering shape.  I know, I tried it on. Actually I tried them all on and they are all designed to glide over those little spots that none of us want to acknowledge!

Here's another view of the FireFly Pullover with the FireFly Scarf,

Another great CEY Summer Yarn is Sprout, a 100% Organic Cotton Chunky yarn that is not only great in the Basketweave Blanket (free pattern on the CEY website)

 but also is great for little sweaters like the Sprout Baby Tunic (also free on the CEY website) and big girl sweaters too.

 So I mentioned a SALE up there didn't I?  Yes indeedy.  You will get 15% off on both the pattern book and sweater quantities on these or any other CEY yarn and pattern sweater quantities combination from now till the end of the month.  Lots and Lots of colors to choose from.  Hurry in cause after this month, they may be gone to make room for all the new things coming in.

Well, it certainly is high time I put something new on this old blog.  It's been two months since TNNA and there has been a lot going on at the shop since then.  I've got loads of new yarns in and more coming.  I'll try to give a little taste of it here in some pictues. 

Here is a view of the Shawl Wall featuring the lovely Lace Shawls of Claudia Miller. At the top left are two versions of the Ishbell pattern, the first in a wool/silk blend and the second in a woo/bamboo blend.  The lovely blue shades of Zauberboll lace yarn look gorgeous on the Traveling Woman pattern and at the far right is  Clothilde knit from Hand Dyed Silk/Merino from Lunabudknits is another beautiful interpretation.  Claudi is an extraordinary knitter and is especially fond of Lace Knitting technique.  She has a way of interpreting Lace Patterns with lovely yarns to create something truly unique.  These shawls are all for sale at the shop and all affordable between $40 and $50.

If you would like to learn Lace Knitting Techniques from Claudia, she will be teaching a class at the shop on Saturday, August 21 from 10:30 to 1:30 pm.  The class is designed to introduce students to lace knitting starting with the most basic and building to more complex designs. Students will also learn how to read and use charts.  You can find more information and register on line here : http://blueballmountainspindleandneedleworks.com/?page_id=237

Off to TNNA

I'm off to TNNA in the early morning.  Four days of yarn and fiber goodness.  I'm sure I will return with wonderful plans for new yarns and equipment for the fall.  This is the MaMa of all yarn shows.  Everyone will be there to share their latest and greatest offerings.  I'm packing comfortable shoes, extra shots of bottled Starbucks and a few pennies to spend on samples and goodies.

Meanwhile, the little elves will be takeing over the shop for the weekend.  So the shop will be open regular hours except for tomorrow, Thursday, June 10 when the shop will only be open between 2:00 and 6:00 PM. 

 Don't forget the SALE on ALL  cotton and cotton blend yarns goes on throught he weekend.  Stop in and grab yours. 

Between 11 and 2, if you are downtown, stop in the the Pritchard Community Center where the local Chamber of Commerce is hosting an Small Business Expo.  It is open to the public and if the little elves can get a few things over there, one booth will be dedicated to the shop.  Stop in and say hello.

Handspuns from Luna Loca Batts and Roving

It's been a while since I've had time to spin but in the last few weeks I have been focusing on getting back to my first fiber love.  All the ingredients to spark creativity is all around me all the time. This started out as a 10 color layered batt of merino top spun thick and thin and then plied with a fine commercial blue thread.

I had a fun time with this bulky single spun loosely from loose Cotswold locks around a commercial lace weight. One of my most favorite styles of yarn has become popular and several have already sold at the shop.  Another is on the Green Queen Country Spinner now.

On the left is a self plied bulky thick and thin spun from a crazy batt filled with bamboo, merino, angelina in blues, violets and greens. In the center is a thick and thin single softly spun from two bright sun filled colored batts stripped and held together in a racing strip. And on the right a rich worsted weight evenly spun yarn from roving I made on my Patrick Green Cottage Carder from bamboo, corriedele, merino and Shetland. 

I now have available at the shop a variety of Little Looney Bags full of goodies that can be combined with the great color variety of Merino Top that I keep in stock for making your own batts. Lots more in the shop. Come in and get inspired.

Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festiva-Fiber, Friends and Fun

What a great show ... The first annual Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Fair was this weekend.  Over 40 great fiber vendors gathered at Master Station Park in Lexington to share a variety of beautiful fiber wares. Fiber animals, sheep and alpaca, bunnies and their lovely fleeces filled two buildings along with tons of fiber goodies from yarns and batts to all variety of tools and gadgets.  The organizers went the full mile to create a show where everything ran smoothly and everyone seemed to be having a grand time.  This will definitely be an annual event so if you didn't get a chance to see it this year, put it on your calendar for next year.

The Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival

The long awaited Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is this weekend (5/15-16) in Lexington.

I'm excited to be part of this exciting event.  The list of fiber vendors and food, fiber animal exhibitions the the annual Sheep Dog Trials is wonderful.  This will be an event not to be missed.  Fiber Lovers and their families, come on out and celebrate this weekend.  Take one of the wonderful workshops starting on Friday and shop and eat from the great variety of local and regional wool, alpaca farmers and fiber artisans.  Sample great natural and local food.  Check out the details here :

http://www.kentuckysheepandfiber.com/

and don't forget to stop by and say hello.  I've been spinning like crazy and carding batts for weeks now getting ready for the event.  I will also have Ashford Spinning wheels and the great Knitters Loom as well as Wild Carder and other carders and tools in the Ashford line.  I will also have a great selection of felting fibers and ecru fibers for dyeing including Panda Top and Merino/Bamboo and Merino Superwash.

A sampling of some of the beautiful yarns in my shop will also be there.

Come on out...it's going to be a great weekend!

Local Yarn Store Now Open in Historic Elizabethtown, Kentucky

The Elizabethtown location of Blueball Mountain Spindle and Needleworks has officially opened at 29 Public Square . The location in the historic district of one of Kentucky's oldest town is convenient and there is always something happening. I was lucky to find this little pocket of a shop right in the center of the ...center of the town square. There is an excellent public and free parking in the back leading to the back door and one hour parking in the front.

But the best news is the expanded inventory that I am now able to carry at this location. In addition to the spinning tools and supplies from Ashford and the Shetland Wool rovings, fleeces and custom blended LunaLocaBatts and my own Loqueria Art Yarns, I now carry an array of yarns from some of the best yarn producers around. Selections from regional Alpaca growers, USA based Mountain Colors (to dye for!), 

 

New England based Classic Elite Yarns including Fresco, Sprout, Firefly and Portland Tweed

 

are complemented by Fair Trade yarns and products from Frog Tree (South America) and Frabjous (Nepal).

And of course, how could I resist carrying the beautiful animal friendly bags and accessories created by Namaste. 

Also in stock is the loveliest selection of colors from Cascade in 220 SuperWash. Coming soon will be regular Cascade 220, so perfect for felting.

And let me not forget to mention the selection gorgeous Regia Sock yarns.

There re many options for gifts and accessories including Shawl Pins from JUL 

 

and several gorgeous Sweater and Shawl kits from Frog Tree and Mountain Colors. More kits and gift items will be coming soon too.

 

 

In this cabinet I also have  a few of the lovely handpainted yarns from LunaBud Knits in Sock, fingering, bulky and lace weights. These are in limited supply right now, so get them while you can. I hope to be getting more from Steph in the near future.

Also scheduled to arrive is MistiAlpaca HandPaints in both lace and bulky weights. I could not resist these. This is both visual and tactile lushness personoified. Come experience them yourself, soon.  

Quality Knitting Needles include Hiya Hiya's full line of bamboo, steel circulars, fixed and interchangeable sets and Double Points.  Brittany straights in all sizes as well as economical Chiagoo, and Boye Balene and others.  Crochet Hooks, stitch markers, needle guages and stitch counters are also available.

The Shop is located in the Old Downtown Historic District which is crossed by Route 31 and Old Main Street.

Hours are:  11-6 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 

                     10-5 on Saturday; I am closed on Sunday and Monday

If you need directions or have questions about anything that is in the shop or at the farm store, please do not hesitate to call me at 270-763-3352 or email me at luna.headhearthands@gmail.com.