Happy New Year!

The Holidays were a whirlwind, were they not?  They normaly are I guess, and doubley so if your in the retail biz!  I think I was in a real Kansas tornado!  The shop doesn't really get neglected though, it's my house and my family!  But they love me anyway, and we lived through it.  My plan for knitting gifts was this:  knit samples for the shop, then Christmas Eve, strip the store!  It worked....but now the shop is lacking in knitted samples.  And my work starts over.....I am thankful for the ladies in our knit/crochet group who provide me with samples....I love you guys!!
Durring the week between Christmas and New Years, I start to gather my thoughts and make my plans for the following year.  I get really excited about the possiblities and looking back where we came from in just the last year, I just can't imagine what the new year will bring! 
I feel really blessed that I have been allowed the opportunity to build my little yarn shop and thank my hubby for all the support he has given me.  I still have a lot to learn and hopefully I will be able to stay on top of things and keep providing all the yarnies out there with yarn to play with and even a friendly place to gather and share with others their love of fiber!
I am a work in progress....bear with me!  I was given a new cabinet to put yarn in by my son-in-law, so now I am in the process of rearranging things and then I will start on inventory!! Whooopeeeeee!!

I mostly just wanted to post because I hadn't had time to do so and also wish you all a
VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
suz

Queen of Knit?

I just read a post on Facebook from a friend that said, "Time keeps everything from happening at once". 
There is alot of truth to that I guess.  We complain there is never enough time, or time flies by!  Think about it! It's a good thing that I don't have to have it all done today!  Then I would be in trouble!
And of course December always flys by!  All those gifts you planned on getting done by Christmas usually gets started in December.  Like, the felted clogs I was knitting my husband last December, I only got one clog done and never even got the second one started.  SO, this weekend, I started and finished the second  one...THIS Christmas, he gets a nice set of warm felted clogs !!
I have been knitting hats for shop samples and decided they will be gifts for the grandgirls and I took the class on hand applique' so I would get cute pillow's made for a couple of gifts as well. 
I also started a hat for myself , because Trish ordered a giant red square button that I had to have a hat for.
Last night I cast on for one of two earflap hats for my grandsons that look way to small, I think I will double the yarn and go up a needle size or two to make it bigger and snuggier.
And then there is the basket full of things Ive knitted for gifts in case I need an extra scarf or a pr of socks for someone that I forgot.  Im so proud of Me!!  Who said if you like to knit, don't open a yarn shop, because you won't have time to knit?  Does this make me Queen of Knit?

Other Ramblings:

Friday Eve 5-8 Mulberry Creek Quilt and Yarn Shop
BYOB and projects to finish
Bring a snack to share
Enjoy each others company while you work on those projects to finsih.

New at the Yarn Shop!!

Tear off pattern sheets for Berroco Yarns
Shawl Sticks !!
New Yarns from Plymouth including Angora, Zino Sock Yarn, Eros II, a ribbon yarn and Fantasy Naturale (100% cotton)
and comeing soon , a full line of Dream Baby and Dream Baby Fancy! 
Ive also included a new line from Swedish Yarns with a super chunky yarn called Big Trend that I am really excited about, due to arrive in January.

In the new year,  I hope to get started on my Master Knit Level I.  I also need to be more organized with my projects and samples I want to knit.  I really need to thank my knitters and crocheters who make projects and let me display them in the shop, without them,  I would be lost!
Happy Knitting!!
Susie

Today is my Monday

It's Tuesday and I am still sitting in my jammies trying to find strength to go get ready for work!  It's going to be a short week and my list is long. 
This year, I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner though, I am sooo thankful for daughters, but have to rustle up a pecan pie and some home made rolls, which I accomplished half that yesterday and tonight, will have to make the pie.  Not sure how well pie will travel with a dog in the back seat together....I guess we will see!
Finally posted our Holiday Hours on the web site:  http://www.mulberrycreek.net/
While your there, check out some great gift ideas!

Finished my mohair sweater yesterday.  I have it on this morning....hehe   but as I am drinking my coffee, I realize it's just mo-hair in my coffee!  It's snuggly warm though, might have to wear it today or tomorrow at the shop!  It needs a button or two or a shawl pin.  Not sure how Im going to wear it.  Ill get a pic of it today and post soon.
Now to finish up my Christmas knitting and a couple of requests from family members, and wondering how I'm going to get all 51 squares done for the Lands End/Warm Up America Project.   I have quit a few balls of yarn out for that...Im sure my knitting/crochet group will come thru for me !  Also , slippers for a group home in Oklahoma, need 35 slippers in all sizes is needed!  Im thinking next year only one charity project?  Or just start early?  I think Ill grab a few balls and see what I can get done on our trip this weekend.
And just when was I going to get to work on my Master Knitters Level 1???????
Oh, but I have the best job in the world!  Im not getting rich, (yet), but the people I meet, and the friends I have made through the yarn shop and not to mention the yarn I get to play with !  I thank God for the opportunity to get to do what I am doing.  And I am thankful for my husband , who supports everything I do!! 
I now have an hour to get ready to open the shop, but I can now cross blogging and updating the  website from my list!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

May 1 Mulberry Creek Quilt and Yarn Shop recieved water damage from a bursting water heater from the upstairs apartment.  Some of the yarn that was damaged was the cotton.  I think I had counted 90 some skeins of kitchen cotton that was totally water logged.  I can't throw out any kind of yarn and one of our group knitters said, I will help you wash it up we can knit with it and donate to charity.  So , that is what we did.  Someone said, stuff the skein in a sock and wash it, and that worked really well.  I did a whole load of yarn with my hubby's socks getting several skeins in one sock.  Took forever to dry though!  Then, it all got rolled into balls and thrown into the double washtubs it was orinially in in the first place. 

We knitted all summer making dish cloths and some made hot pads in different shapes and sizes and one even made kitchen towels with loop and button to hang it from. Another gal knitted a square with " I love knitting with my friends " on it..well, I had to frame that one to keep in the shop!  I counted about 75 dishclothes and towels and took them down to Eagles Nest, a not for profit organization to mainly to help woman and families in crises.  Great job ladies and thank you very much!

Sundae Hat

I knit this great earflap hat in one evening!  Berroco pattern from the pattern booklet for Sundae Yarn.  I hadn't knit anything with Sundae yet, so it was a nice project for this yarn. 

Still on the needles :  I started a cardigan with Drifting Gardens a mohair blend on size 13 needles is going rather quickly! 

I also started a cable band hat for a customer, turns out she has a small head and I need to measure her head before I can continue. 

AND a sock that is nearly ready for the short row heal that is STILL waiting for me!

Speaking of socks, the weather has turned on us and have been wearing my hand knit socks everyday! 

Today I had 4 gals show up to learn to knit this afternoon!  I think a couple of them already knew how to knit, just hadn't done if for years...just needed to remember how to cast on and they were off and running!  Just like riding a bike, right?  I invited them to Group tomorrow if they needed help.  I also had a class Monday evening with 4 eager learners and all did great!  Even the lefty picked it right up!  That always makes me happy!!

It pretty much rained all day today and I just wanted to curl up and knit somewhere...like on my sofa, but haveing a table full of new knitters was just as nice!

Happy Knitting!

Busy Week

Last Tuesday, when I walked into the shop, I knew it was time to start the Christmas transition. 
I dug out the Christmas Inventory and the decorations.  They are all over the back room, covering the tables and floor.  I opened the room where we keep the christmas trees, which had just kinda been tossed in when we were cleaning up after the flooding we recieved on May 1st ,(due to the upstairs apartments water heater blowing up and ran water into our ceiling all night, that caused the ceiling to collapse all over our main rooms inventory), and Trish decided she wanted to use that space to expand her fabric space.  SO, before we knew it, we had the entire shop in disarray!
We moved our sitting area the main room, leaving the cutting table in it's place and nothing left but the notions hanging on the wall.  Knitting notions to the north and quilting notions on the south. 
Now every bit of the yarn is in the north room, all the fabric is in the south 2 rooms.  Maybe it looks a bit more organized and maybe less confusing as you know, if you yarn, you go north, if you quilt, you go south...me explaining it just makes you confused , I know!
So, it took the entire week to re arrange and christmas still isn't out...maybe just a little bit.  After the last knitter left on Saturday, I stayed 2 more hours working on getting some of my Christmas inventory out and I guess there is always next week!  I will post pics of the shop when we are completely done! 

Tomorrow, I drive to Hutchison to Yarn (the store), where they have so graciously invited the shops participating in the Shop Hop, to come for lunch for an "after" meeting.  Im excited to meet the other shop owners!  Im a little nervous about the drive, as I don't do traffic well!  Im sure Ill be fine!  Then, Monday evening is our Learn to Knit Class.  It will be a long day, but worthwhile! 
Next Saturday November 13th is a stitch class where I will attempt to make a Dream Pillow, actually 2, for a couple of gdaughters for Christmas.  Not to worry, I WILL post pictures!

Knitting:
I finished a scarf I was knitting with the Jawoll Magic, not really happy with it, but it's done.
Today, I cast on for a cardigan with Drifting Gardens, a mohair blend.
I recieved a hat order, and I cast on for that one, but I need to measure her head as the band is knit first, in a cable pattern, before I can continue. She has a small head and I need to get it the right size for her!
I asked my mom to help me knit for shop displays and she's still working on a candy corn hat......sigh....well, Ill be up one next season!! 

Also, our knitting group is working on 2 charity projects:
Warm Up America/Lands End Feel Good Project.....I think we have 6 finished squares out of 51 needed.

Slate Valley Babtist Church is collecting things for a group of kids in Muskogee, Okla.  They asked us to turn out 35 or as many as we can, house slippers.   Better get busy!!

Super Wash Wool

A gal was in the shop last weekend and asked the question:  "What is superwash wool"?

Good question! 

After a quick internet search, we looked it up and was able to give her an answer.  But I decided to do some more reading on the subject...there really is so much to learn about our favorite subject...yarn and fibers!
I also hear people say they are allergic to wool, but while reading discovered why dermatologists think many think they are allergic...more on this in another blog.

The advent of the washing machine almost rendered wool extinct for obvious reasons.  So, to keep the world from being taken over completely by man made fibers, the wool industry started working on a way to create a machine washable wool.
Fibers are made up of tiny little scales.  They play an important role in how protein fibers look, feel, and behave.  They act as miniature fingers that help hold fibers together to form a strong, durable yarn.  They give fibers something to hold on to during the spinning process.  At the same time, they also provide a microscopic buffer between fibers, making them at once enmeshed distinclty seperate.  And scales are also the reason why a wool sweater, when machine washed in hot soapy water, will emerge a shrunken felted mass!

Textile scientists tried to eliminate the scales from the fiber.  Early efforts involved carbonizing the scales by rapidly burning them off at a high tempuerature, but this proved too harsh on the fibers, as a result it was scratchy and unpleasant.  Later developments involved applying a fine resin to the fibers, which essentially glue the scales into the fiber shaft.  Today's superwash wools may also contain biopolished wool that's been bleached to remove the fiber's protective outer lipd barrier and then treated with enzymes that literally eat away the scales.  Another source states that the scales are removed by an acid bath or it can be made by coating the fiber with a polymer that basically keeps the scales from being able to join together and cause shrinkage.
Because the scales have been eliminated in on way or another, superwash wools tend to have a denser hand and a more lustrous appearance.
Read your yarn labels.  If it reads Superwash wool, you will know that it is safe to wash and how it got that way! 
I did my homework from The Knitters Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes, and about.com

Mulberry Creek on the Web

 Today Trish and I worked on the website we've created for Mulberry Creek....even though it's a work in progress, we think it's suitable for viewing class schedules and basic information.

http://www.mulberrycreek.net/

Come in costume to Group Therapy (bring a project to work on ).  You could win a spooktacular prize for best costume!  But be nice to the stitch witch, she may cast on a spell on you!

See you there
If you dare!
BWAHHAHAHAHAHA!!

Learn to Knit

My head is still realing over the Yarn Shop Hop over the weekend! Still in recovery mode but the next Learn to Knit Class is just around the corner!

Learn To Knit

November 8th & 15th

7:00, for 2 Monday Evenings

at Mulberry Creek

(park and enter on the north side of the building, front door will remain locked)

I am offering this class for $20

for those who pre-pay by Nov. 4th!

Come in anytime before the deadline

at

Mulberry Creek

801 Manning

Winfield, Ks

Yarn Crawl 2010

Today is the last day of the South Central Kansas Yarn Shop Hop.  Sad to see it come to a close, but it has been a huge success!  I didn't run short of anything, except printer ink to make copies of a free pattern I was giving away with a ball of yarn.  Hubby came to the rescue and made the ink run for me and I was good to go!  No one went without a pattern!  Getting some ideas for next year though, one of our customers brought back show and tell from her shop hop adventures and I got to see what the other shops were handing out in there goody bags.  Wonderful freebies! 
I don't expect alot in today, but perhaps I will get a chance to just sit and knit and get that bag Im working on close to finishing!
My first year in the hop was a learning experience and so enjoyed it!  We had people from all over Kansas in shop and had a good time visiting with them and they shared their strategies for hopping and it's funny how groups were doing it differently and why. 
One group came in, with husbands in tow.  They had made them a scavenger hunt list and they had some hard questions on that list!  Like, what was your favorite yarn and what was it's content and where was it from?  Another was, a book title and fill in the blank, "Elizibeth Zimmerman's book, Knitting Without ___.
So they really had to do their homework!  I wonder what the prize was for them?  I should have asked! 
Another group of ladies had matching t's that read "Yarn Floosie's", I said my name was Susie, so I was Susie Floosie....they said I could be in their group.   LOL  They were having a blast!
Anyway, I deem the hop a huge success!  Not only were sales up, but even in our own town peeps were in wanting to know more about the hop and would mention they didn't know we were even there!  Being on the shop hop gave us a lot of exposure and so worth it!
Making plans for next years hop!!

It's Time for the Yarn Crawl!

I hope you are planning to be a part of the 4th Central Kansas Yarn Shop Hop!  All the fun starts on Thursday, October 21 and continues through Sunday, October 24.  Grab a friend or a carload of em and start out at one of the 9 yarn shops that are participating.  You will recieve a passport at any store where you begin.  Get your passport stamped at each of the 9 shops to be entered to win 1 of 3 prize baskets.
You will recieve a gift at each stop and have fun shopping in the different shops. 
Want to know more?  visit http://www.centralksyarnhop.com/ .  There you will find information on each store and it's location. 
I am all ready for our guests to arrive tomorrow and so excited to be in my first Yarn Shop Hop!  I hope I have overplanned and not to be caught short of anything!  I want everyone to have a free gift and what kind of hostess would I be if I didn't have enough refreshments for my guests? 
Hope to see you in the shop this weekend and if your a local, ask for a ball of yarn to knit or crochet a square for the Feel Good Project!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Susan

The Mitered Jacket

I loved knitting the Mitered Square Jacket.  The back is made up of 4 squares and the front has two.  Then 4 half squares make up the upper part and stitches are picked up for the sleeves....Fairly fast and fun!  Knit from pattern from Plymouth Boku and Plymouth Pattern.  The buttons are also from Plymouth!

I am so excited about the Yarn Shop Hop starting this Thursday and runs until Sunday! The store is ready, now all I have to do is worry about what to feed the masses!  I think I will just keep it simple:  Coffee and dounuts in the morning and maybe switch it up for the afternoon and evening, maybe tea and crackers and cheese?  Im sure I will change my mind 10 times by Thursday!  Im just ready to get the party started!

Jawoll Magic Hat

This is the hat I knitted up for Anna at Just Shoot Em Photography

Sorry the photo is a bit blurry, I apparently am NOT a photographer!

I just used a free stocking hat pattern from Ravelry.com.

She picked out the the new Jawoll Magic from Lang Yarns and is sooo soft and beautiful the way the colors bleed into each other and the colors are so rich!  I highly recomend this yarn and not just  for socks!

Still on the needles:

Square Hat with outrageous pompoms, trying out my new Hiya Hiya circular needles and new yarn Mille ColorI

Another pair of socks using Berroco Sox

Waves Scarf knit with Jawoll Magic

New bag pattern useing Tatamy Tweed

Hot Pink Pigtails Hat

So much yarn, so little time!!

New Blog Home

What do you call a person that keeps changing and growing and have ADHD tendencies? 
I think you call her Susie, because I feel like Im always wanting to change it all up and make it better! 

My partner who owns the Quilt Fabric Shop and I own the Yarn part of Mulberry Creek.  We started out a gift and craft store and as we burned out on that, I started buying yarn to test the market....knitters started crawling out of the woodwork!  I knew then what I wanted to do.  My partner then decided with the Quilt Guild bein so big in Winfield, she decided fabric was the way to go...so, thats how we got started~

This blog will be my new home where I talk about projects, patterns and my favorite subject, YARN!

I am unofficially calling myself iYarn at Mulberry Creek....I needed my own identity and space, so why not?

Subscribe to my blog and you will always be in the know. 

Later!
s