Thanksgiving...

I know it's not November...the month we focus on thanksgiving. But today I'm really thankful for so many things.

First of all, I'm thankful for my health. Yes, I've had low back problems for almost 2 years now. And yes, I struggle on a daily basis with pain and fatigue. But, at least, it's not a life-threatening illness. My sister-in-law has pancreatic cancer. This is her second bout with cancer. She's been receiving chemo treatments for about a year now. And this week her sweet husband did something that not many men would do. He shaved HIS head in support of her. You've got to love a man that would do that. If you think about them, please pray for Nancy. She just became a grandmother and needs to live many more years to see her 5 children and 1 grandchild grow up.

Secondly, I'm thankful for my customers. You know, there are several yarn shops in this area. But those who claim The Yarn Haven as their LYS are the best. Your loyalty to our shop has made you become more than just customers...you're friends. Recently, when the Second Harvest Food Bank had all of their food & supplies destroyed by flooding, I put out a container on the counter asking for donations and we were able to send a check to Second Harvest this week for $120.00. My customers have always come through for me. Whenever I've asked them to give either money or food or knitted/crocheted items, they have been there ready to join together as a fiber community and help out those who have needs. I think back to the gal who lost her home to a fire and everyone brought in their extra knitting supplies & yarn to completely fill her car with wonderful goodies for her to use. Or when we put out the challenge of making preemie caps and everyone blewn the Alabama shop out of the water by making so many caps. Or the times I've asked for yarn donations to send overseas to help African ladies provide for their families. Or the time we sold the Capulana bags so that families in Mozambique could purchase a truck to carry their produce to market. Over and over again, my customers have given of themselves to help those in our community and others far away.

What are you thankful for today? Your family, having a job, being able to take a vacation last week during spring break? We are so blessed in this country to have the resources to care for ourselves. And when we come upon hard times, there are folks there to help us get through that rough patch.

This past weekend was the Smoky Mountain Fiber Arts Festival in Townsend. We had a booth there and enjoyed meeting other fiber folks. Don't you just love these cute little sheep that they had leading the way to the festival. Be sure to watch for it next year in March 2012.

Before I finished, I wanted to share with you two projects that have come in recently. First of all, Leigh finished her beautiful sweater coat. This is the Natalie Coat from Big Girl Knits. She used Cascade 220 Tweed yarn. She modified the cuffs to match the shawl collar stitch pattern and added ribbing at the back waist. Her tip: be sure you measure.

And then Kimberly brought in an Aran Sweater she made using an Alice Starmore pattern. It's made of merino wool. Nice job, Kimberly.

Go out and enjoy this beautiful day and spend some time thinking of the things for which you are thankful. Blessings to you all!

Our First Retreat...

Our first retreat has come and gone. But the memories will last for a long time. We had a wonderful time...and had beautiful weather. I knew we were in the right place when I saw the spinning wheel that they had displayed above the stairs.

Upon arriving each person found a goody bag on their bed. I searched high and low for just the perfect fabric and then gave it to Mimi. She and a friend of hers turned the fabric into this adorable pyramid bag. I then embellished each bag with their name or initials and a red yarn ball stitch marker.

They also got a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky and a pattern to make these cute "Duffers"...a quick and easy 19 row felted slippers pattern. We'll be getting some Lamb's Pride Bulky in stock in the near future.

After eating our supper of homemade chili and my Granny's corn muffins, Kristina gave a workshop on beading. We made this cute little beaded pin cushion. I'm going to put mine in the spare bedroom and put my T-pins in it for blocking.

Saturday morning we feasted on scrambled eggs, bacon & sausage, homemade biscuits & gravy and cinnamon apples from Miss Lily's. Then Mimi taught a workshop on her Bella Cell Phone Pouch. Here's a photo of some of the finished cases. Aren't they cute!

I made mine a little shorter since I have an older phone. Embellishing them was the really fun part! I might have to make some of these for Christmas gifts this coming year.

Ater a short break we had a lunch of chicken salad croissants, glazed fruit salad, & chips. Then for Saturday afternoon we had free time to do whatever we wanted. Some folks stayed at the tables and continued working on their projects while others went hiking or went out on the porches and enjoyed the warm sunshine Some folks even went and took a quick nap. Can you guess which one I chose to do?? If you guessed a nap, then you would be right. But I did get out in the sunshine a while before my nap.

After our break Lisa did a workshop on Knitting Tips. She did a great job of showing how you could change patterns to work best with your body shape. I think a lot of folks learned some new ways to improve their projects.

For supper we enjoyed some homemade Lasagna with a tossed salad and french bread. And then we had birthday cake in celebration of Mimi's birthday (which was on Monday). After cleaning up from supper we had a Fashion Show where everyone got to show off their knitted and crocheted items. And then they got to pick one of the door prizes. We have some amazing vendors that sent us door prizes for our retreat. Thank you Mango Moon, Classic Elite, Shaune Bazner, Cascade, Brown Sheep & Hiya-Hiya for the wonderful prizes you sent. We were able to have just enough so that everyone got a door prize. Following the fashion show, we did our gift exchange. You either got to pick a wrapped gift...or "steal" someone else's already opened gift. Folks had no second thoughts on stealing my gifts as I got them stolen from me THREE times. But I think in the end everyone had a lot of fun and there was much laughter.

Here are some photos of the folks enjoying sitting on the porch and knitting...Mavis & Kelora.

Roz & Melinda...

Beverly, Lisa & Marilyn...


Paula & Peggy...

Merriam, Tara & Melissa...


Kristina & Wendy...


Betty & Patti...


Linda, Leigh & Mimi...

Unfortunately, Donna had to leave early, so I didn't get her photo. :-(

Sunday morning came early with light showers of sporadic rain. We all packed up and left our retreat with smiles on our faces...and less knots in our back thanks to our massage therapist, Tara. Tara worked hard all weekend giving chair massages to each person. We hope to see more of her as she has begun taking a Weekly Class.

It was a fun weekend and we hope to make this an annual event. If you missed our retreat this year, then I hope you'll plan on coming to our next one.

Kristina took some more photos that you can see here.

We have a new Knitter of the Month...

For March, our Knitter of the Month is Ginny Moyers. Ginny made this gorgeous sweater out of Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. The pattern is called "Dark & Stormy" and can be bought on Ravelry. Ginny wins a $10 gift certificate. Be sure to bring in your finished projects and you could be our next Knitter or Crocheter of the Month!!

Other projects brought in this month:

Linda shared with us her Sam's Shawl. It looks so pretty in the Cascade 220 Tweed.

She also brought in some socks she made for her hubby. She used the Plymouth Zino...which comes in some great colors for men.

Marilyn finished her "I don't give a darn" socks using Swedish Yarns Raggi.

Roz brought in her Sam's Shawl. She made this for her sister using Plymouth Royal Bamboo.

Roz also finished her "knit every row" scarf using Gioco ladder yarn.

Ann made Kate Jackson's Log Cabin Felted Bag. She used lots of different wool yarns such as Cascade 220, Cascade 220 tweed, Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride & Berroco Jasper.

Susan received this yarn as a gift from her son and used it to knit Judy Pascale's Simply Garter Shawl. I love the added ruffle.

Mary used Feza Cyprus Mohair to make this vest.

Amanda crocheted these fingerless gloves for a man in her life. She used one of Plymouth Encore's Colorspun colors.

Pat used Mountain Colors River Twist yarn to make this cabled vest. She lengthened it about 1 1/2 inches.

Sandy found a pattern in the One Skein Wonders book (page 11) to make this scarf using Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn.

Bernie used Plymouth Galway to make this football sweater. She used a pattern from "By Melissa".

And AnnHara finished her Potpourri Scarf using various yarns & textures from the Magic Ball of Yarn she made at our Super Ball Party.


Thanks to everyone for sharing all of these wonderful projects!

Did you enjoy Valentine's Day yesterday???

February 14 is a special day in the Gray family. Not only is it the day to express your love for the special ones in your life...but it's also my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's anniversary. It was #24 this year and we hope they have many more wonderful years together.

Jasmine and I came into the shop yesterday for 2 reasons. One, I had a class to teach. And secondly, Jasmine wanted to show off her new Valentine's dress. She looked so adorable. It got me to thinking of why I would spend my time making her an outfit that was not intended for warmth, but just to see how cute she would look. I think part of the reason is because I love that little girl. She means the world to me and that's one way I can show her how much I care. Some people might argue that dogs don't really know that you are expressing love to them by making them garments. But I somehow feel like she knows why I do it. She really is a smart dog, you know. Anyway, she'll probably be wearing her Valentine dress for at least the rest of this week. So if you'd like to come in and see for yourself just how cute she looks, she'll be glad to prance around in it.

And my sweet husband sent me a potted plant of miniature red roses. I put them in the display window so they could get some sun. I love to stop and "smell the roses". And if I don't kill them, then maybe Paula's husband will show me how to take care of them in the yard. He grows LOTS of rose bushes and would be just the person who could give me some help.

Last week's Super Ball Party was so much fun. I think everyone enjoyed searching through the many skeins of yarn for just the right colors for their Magic Balls of Yarn. Then we sat down and learned about different joining techniques to make our Potpourri Scarfs. And AnnHara won the Magic Ball with all of the prizes inside. Here's a photo of my Potpourri Scarf.

Melissa made this wonderful taco dip that I just had to share with you. She slimmed down the calories, but I sure couldn't tell. It was yummy!

Skinny Taco Dip

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese

8 oz. reduced fat sour cream

1 packet taco seasoning

16 oz. jar of mild salsa

2 cups shredded lettuce

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese

Black olives, sliced

Mix together with an electric mixer the cream cheese, sour cream, and salsa with the taco seasoning until well blended. Spread this mixture in bottom of glass cassarole dish. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese & black olives. Serve with chips. Enjoy!

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week enjoying all of this nice weather. And feel free to stop by The Yarn Haven any time to "feel the fiber".

We're 4 Years Old Today...

Today on our 4th Anniversary, I'm announcing our "Knitter of the Month" for February...Marilyn Dunn!!

Marilyn made a couple of projects this past month. But the one that earned her the title of "Knitter of the Month" was a cardigan she made for her husband. She used Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool to do a pattern out of Knit 'N Style magazine.

She also finished this fan and feather shawl using Berroco Sox Metallic. She found that placing markers between each pattern really helped her.

So congratulations to Marilyn! She wins a $20 gift certificate as our first "Knitter of the Month". Be sure to bring in your projects as you finish them each month. You, too, could be our Knitter of the Month!

We also had others share their projects. Ellen made this scarf using Louisa Harding Merletto yarn. She used our "Open Twisted Rib Scarf" pattern. Ellen found this to be a quick lace project.

She also brought in this afghan using 3 colors of Plymouth Encore held together. She found the pattern in the Quick Knitted Afghan book.

Sarah brought in her Dancing Leg Warmers. She also used Plymouth Encore. She suggests that you be sure to check your gauge. You can adjust your cast-on number to fit your upper leg...and then decrease to make the ankle more snug. Sounds like a good suggestion.

Pam's "Silk Fountain Hood" was gorgeous out of Malabrigo Silky Merino. She got the pattern from the Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders book.

And Mavis made herself a car coat out of some yarn someone gave her. But I wanted to take her picture to show you what the buttons looked like. I hope you've seen these buttons we have with all the holes in them. You take your yarn and make designs in the buttons. They really pop on her coat.

It's hard to believe that just 4 years ago we were opening the shop for the first time. The shop looks so different today than it did back then. I found some photos that I took on that first day.

That was then...

This is now...





That was then...

This is now...

That was then...

This is now...

That was then...

This is now...

Here's something else that's different...we now have Jasmine, our shop dog.

I hope you'll come visit us and sit by our fireplace for a spell to take in all of this wonderful yarn.

Thank you to everyone who considers The Yarn Haven their local yarn shop. I appreciate your support!! Here's hoping that the next year will be an even better year for learning new skills, sharing with each other, and being creative!!