Counting sheep (and non-sheep)

How many ball, skeins, hanks of yarn do you think we have at Fresh Purls? We're wondering the same thing. That's why it's INVENTORY TIME! This Sunday and Monday, Jan 10 & 11, the shop will be closed so our staff can do the annual store inventory. (We're always closed on Monday at this season.) We'll be counting every bag, book, button and, of course, the yarn. Three cheers for inventory!

Funny, that sounded more like groans.

Remember, if you need to buy a pair of needles or have some skeins wound, you'd better make it in by Saturday. While you're there, put in your guess as to the final inventory yarn tally. The person guessing closest to the actual number gets a prize of a $25 gift card.

Baby, it's cold out there

Don't forget our canine friends need to be kept warm, too. In the (admittedly blurry) photo above, 14-year-old bearded collie Trotter models his new felted wool coat. His owner reports that he is so much more comfortable with this extra layer on, that she sometimes has him sleep in it! The pattern is the Blaze Coat from the book Top Dog Knits by Jil Eaton. It's knit with 4 skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky and then felted for extra warmth. The bright color helps him stand out on snowy walks.

Have you done any knitting for your animal friends? Tell us about it in the comments!

Knitting as therapy

There's a lovely story in the Boston Globe today, about a knit and crochet circle that meets at the Barbara McInnis House, which provides transitional housing for medically-fragile homeless people.

The mental health benefits of working with yarn are universal. Who doesn't agree with this sentiment (even if you haven't spent the last year homeless bouncing between shelters and the street): "Being stressed, depressed with being homeless on the streets, it helps with your mind."

You can read the article here.

Below, volunteer Pauline Edmonds assists resident Doc Kelly with his knitting. Photo by Boston Globe photographer John Blanding.

To all our wonderful customers

We have had a busy, fun December thanks to all of you! Newbies and old hands, knitters and crocheters, knit-nighters and eager students: your support has turned Karen's dream of three years ago into a reality --the community of Fresh Purls!

We hope everyone has been having a good holiday season so far and that you all will enjoy a peaceful and joyful day on Friday, as we hope to do.

with thanks and hugs,

Karen & Helen
(and the gurls of Fresh Purls)

Note: we close at 2 pm on Thursday and the shop will be closed all day Christmas. We'll be back on Saturday, December 26, to help you decide what to do with those Fresh Purls gift cards!

So long and thanks for all the Knits!

Here are a couple of pix from Amanda's going-away party.

Karen says:

"Amanda first came into the shop with her mother and grandmother in the Fall of 2007. Her grandmother let me know right away that I should hire her granddaughter. (She was right!) Amanda started at Fresh Purls in early January, 2008 and worked for us while she attended RISD.

She has been invaluable to Fresh Purls and big favorite of our customers. Now she is going back to Michigan to work on a book of her own knitting patterns. Once that book comes out, by hook or by crook we'll get Amanda back into the shop for a book signing. Count on it!

I know the whole shop joins me in wishing Amanda the best of luck!"

BTW, if you're looking for an absolutely spectacular cake for a special occasion, you can't beat Confections in Fall River!

Oh no, Fido! (part deux)

Well, well, they've done it again. Friend-of-the-shop Sherry dropped by to show us some fresh handiwork by Man's Best Friends.

She was a visiting a friend, and had left her knitting bag on the couch in the (briefly) unoccupied living room. When she returned, she found that her friend's three little dogs, Barnaby, Sheba and Lucifer (the last name is right) had ransacked her bag, distributed her skeined yarn all over the room, and chewed two holes in the completed back of her sweater project. That's Rowan Cocoon, by the way. Yum.

It reminds us of that Spike Milligan poem (adapted slightly):

Three hairy savages
Sitting down to lunch,
Gobble, gobble, glup, glup,
Munch, munch, munch.

Sherry is philosophical about the whole experience & plans to unravel the back and start over again.

Winter Knitty.com is UP!

For your browsing pleasure, more knitter-rotica: check out the patterns & features at the Winter '09 issue of the free online knitting magazine, Knitty.com.

Pictured at left, the Four Corners in Tokyo sweater in Noro Silk Garden Lite. It has an unusual construction: the front and back are knit from the center out in a mitred square pattern. You can see Four Corners in Tokyo here.

What's your favorite pattern in the Winter Knitty.com?