With all the rain we have been having, I think more minds than usual are on knitting. At least it seems that way here in the store. Halcyon Yarn is so magnificent and all-encompassing with its myriad of offerings (even if I do say so myself) that we don’t have a traditional summer slow down. We have the lucky distinction of being a Destination Spot. So even in the summer when the craft can take a back seat for most fiber and knitting die-hards, we have plenty of travelers who come North for their annual pilgrimage to Halcyon. This past month we had our usual traffic and then some. It’s not hard to be in the mood for wool when it is 15 degrees cooler than usual and it hasn’t stopped raining in about 30 days and you have been completely washed out of your hotel room I mean campsite. So in June we had the opportunity to meet lots and lots of new people and none of us had to make a choice between fiber and heat. And it is still raining. Not only is it gray, cloudy, and foggy, it is really raining. We had three times the average rainfall in June. The average is 3.28″ and as of Monday measurable precip was 8.36″. We are waterlogged. Our gardens are drowning and we are wondering if there will be a homegrown fruit or vegetable left in the state. Yikes!!! It IS good knittin’ weather so thanks to all our wonderful customers, locals and travelers alike for braving the wet doldrums to get your fiber fix.

I grew up on the Eastern Plains in the Panhandle of Texas. Rain wasn’t in our vocabulary. Nobody owned raincoats, umbrellas or puddle boots. You couldn’t even buy them anywhere. One of my most vivid childhood longings was for a pair of fancy puddleboots. I moved to Maine on purpose to get drenched regularly. One of the first things I did after moving here was buy a pair of turquoise polka dot puddle boots and I wear them proudly. Needless to say I do not mind the rain. That is, I didn’t mind the rain until today.  This morning, something slipped out of the groove and it has become apparent I really need some sunshine. Especially with a three-day outdoor holiday weekend coming up. Someone out there reading this send us some sun…We’re not feeling picky – even an hour would do.

It is difficult to be big project minded in the pouring down rain and I must confess that my knitting energy has been focused on socks. And truthfully I haven’t had a whole lot of knitting energy this week. I found myself going to bed at 8:30 every night and actually falling asleep. (I generally put my daughter to bed and then stay up to knit in the peace and quiet. This is my happy time.) I did manage to turn the heel on my Kureyon Sock and I started picking up for the gussets.

As far as the shrug goes, I have a big case of Knitter’s Block. How many of you have had this? After I had the “big screw up”, I picked it up this week and proceeded to screw up again. I caught it sooner this time but still had the whole frogging thing to do and had nothing to show for it when I went to bed. So now the shrug is in my project bag and I keep glancing at it; wishing it was finished, wishing I could work on it without screwing it up, wishing, wishing, wishing but no knitting. This is how projects end up buried in UFO piles, sometimes never to resurface. First one mistake, then another. Next comes Knitters Block. Soon after, a new and more fabulous project rears its beautiful head, is put On The Needles and before you know it a new UFO has joined the ranks. I am hereby publicly announcing that I will not let this happen to The Shrug. (I am hoping that a Public Proclamation will lead to accountability and soon I will be sporting my beautiful lace shrug.)

My attention in the shop this week has been on books. We have gotten a lot of new books over the past couple of months and I need shelf space. So I have been pulling off some older slowwwwww selling titles to make some room. None of these books is likely to sell on its own for full price so I made up some Knitting Book Grab Bags. They each have at least 4 books and cost $19.95. With what single patterns cost these days, even if you only find 4 patterns you like then the bag has paid for itself. And who doesn’t love the surprise inherent in a Grab Bag? Now I have more room on the shelves for newer titles, some of which you are gonna love!

My newest, most favoritest book is the new Knitted Gifts by Ann Budd. There are so many wonderful projects in here, I could happily spend the next six months just working out of this book. I haven’t loved this many projects in one title since the book One Skein by Leigh Radford. In Knitted Gifts there is an amazing hobby horse, which you may have seen on Knitting Daily. It is a worsted weight sock that you knit and felt and turn upside down into a horses head. There are fantastic felted oven mitts, a felted yarn basket with partitions to hold yarn and sundry items for beside your knitting chair, a wonderful hat which can double as a neck cowl, an amazing cashmere man scarf; it just goes on and on. We got an advance copy and are expecting more around the 20th of the month. The one we had already sold and I can’t wait for more to come. The other new book I can’t stop fixating on is booties, blankets and bears by Debbie Bliss. My “baby” is 5 years old and as far as I know, no more are coming. I don’t generally look too hard at baby books. I am glad I looked at this one though because I have found my new favorite “forever” project. (“Forever” because it is 59″ of stockinette stitch. It may well take me forever to finish. Don’t we all have at least one “forever” project that languishes between all the other WIP’s; it doesn’t really count as a UFO because you pull it out periodically and work a little bit and imagine it being finished and plan on actually finishing it?) This bird pillow is one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a while, the hobby horse running a close second, and I have to have one to move around from room to room in the house!!! I am going to use Halcyon’s Exclusive Cotton Chenille in bright yellow for the body and red for the beak and feet so it will be a chicken!! I’m thrilled and frankly it is all I can think about. I have not purchased the yarn yet – I would like to finish The Shrug and some socks first. But the sooner it is “On the Needles” the closer I am to the finish line.

Next week look for an installment of “On the Hook” where I will talk with Annalee about her newest exciting project on her crochet hook. Here is a sneak peek:

Stay tuned, thanks for reading!

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