The Adventures of Woolgirl and Abby

Be My Valentine - Madelinetosh Sock Kit

Because I'm a sucker for Valentine's Day,
and because I love the color red,
and because chocolate is my middle name,
and because I love to knit -
I've decided that there would be no better way
to celebrate Valentine's Day this year
than with a special Madelinetosh
Be My Valentine Sock Kit.

We are offering 25 kits for sale in the shop -
each kit will include:

1 skein skein of an exclusively dyed 
Valentine's Day colorway from Madelinetosh
in her fingering weight sock yarn, along with a
cute Valentine's Day gift box filled with
Valentine's Day goodies, a set of 6 Valentine's
Day gift cards, and shipping.



Each package will be wrapped all ready for
gift giving, with pretty flowers, ribbons and bows,
so if you're planning to have your kit
shipped to a loved one or friend
(or even if it's for you!), you're all set!
The total cost for each kit is $40.

We will also be offering some of our past
sock club kits in the shop this Sunday,
so we hope you'll stop by to check those out!

Happy early Valentine's day!
Please also note that next week on the blog,
and through February 14th,
we will be offering a series of Valentine's
contests, with chances to win a variety of
Valentine's Day prizes.

I just love Valentine's Day...don't you?

Bear Grylls & Koigu?

If it's Monday night, chances are
we have Man vs. Wild on the tube and
are captivated week to week
by Bear Grylls (host of Man vs. Wild).



I admit it, he's darn cute
with an accent to boot! What more
could you ask for, really? Oh, and
did I mention he looks great in
"said" above attire? I can almost
envision that he's fighting his way
through Irish territory in the photo...

I imagine that he's just had to remove his
shirt in order to climb down a series of cliffs
to reach the shoreline. Once he reaches
the shore he peers back up to the
top of the cliffs, where his enemy is
still stranded - frustrated, as they are
unable to scale the cliffs as easily and
as effortlessly as Bear did.
Ahhh...the power of imagination. :)
Isn't it fantastic?

OK, so this is leading somewhere...
I didn't just bring up Bear Grylls out of the blue.
As it turns out, Woolboy has been a fan
of the show ever since it started, and even
before that has followed the journey
of Bear Grylls. For those of you who may
not have heard of Bear before now,
in summary, he tells the remarkable journey
of climbing Mt. Everest in his book
"The Kid Who Climbed Everest".
He is the youngest British climber ever
to reach the summit of Everest and
return alive.



So...as I said above, Woolboy is a fan of
Bear Grylls and has been talking about
the knife Bear has used on Man vs. Wild.
As I did a bit of research on "said" knife,
I found out that the company which
makes the knife is located here, in Portland, OR.
What are the chances of that?
It must be meant to be, I said to myself!

So, "said" Bear Grylls knife is one of the
gifts that Woolboy received for his 40th birthday.
The secret is out! :)
Now my husband too can make his way
through the jungles of Africa, survive the outback of
Australia, and scale the rugged cliffs of Ireland -
now that he has his Bear Grylls knife, he
just becomes more rugged somehow, more
capable, more adventurous. Supposedly this
knife can do anything! So far I have only seen
it cut cardboard boxes, but hey, it's what it
promises to do, and what it can do that matters,
RIGHT?

Another of Woolboy's 40th birthday gifts was
a hat from "your's truly". I decided to knit him a
simple hat in one of my favorite yarns to knit with -
Dream in Color Classy.



Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend
Colorway: Dusky Aurora
Photo of Woolboy in hat COMING SOON

In Woolgirl shop news....



We have opened sign-ups for the new
Madelinetosh Sweater Club, so now is your chance to get your
favorite Madelinetosh yarns in sweater quantity!

You can sign up directly on our website,
or as always, you can sign up on the Madelinetosh
website. Either way will get you the yarn, so
either way is fine by us!

We are pleased to announce that half of our
shipment of Koigu has arrived, and we will
be posting that in the shop this Sunday, Feburary 1st.



We'll have a good mix of semi-solids available,
as well as a few variegated colorways, with
the remainder of our variegated colorways,
and a few more solids, arriving in mid-late
February.



If you haven't tried this yarn,
you simply must, as it's something special
to knit with. Soon we will also have a
variety of Koigu patterns to compliment
the yarn....

 

 We have also received in a few new
Madelinetosh worsted weight colorways ~
check these lovelies out ~

Black Currant



Ink



Sequoia



Ms. Taylor



Turquoise



AND we received in some new Miss Babs
colorways which are amazingly gorgeous
and just in time for Valentine's Day ~

Russet Shadows



Merlot Shadows

 
Both available in Yummy Fingering and
Yowza Worsted weight.

See you Sunday!

Whirlwind trip to TNNA

It was a whirlwind trip to TNNA
last week, where we not only
saw and were able to fondle lots
and lots of pretty yarn, but we also
took a few side excursions, as how
often do we get to visit sunny San Diego?

We visited the lovely Balboa Park,



which was filled with intricate
botanical gardens



and museums,



and also had lunch in beautiful
Old Town San Diego,
which boasted the biggest
and most delicious strawberry Margareta
I've ever had.



Needless to say,
I was feeling quite good after this one.

I spent a wonderful afternoon
with my two favorite guys...



of course, they each hate to have their
pictures taken, so I did the next
best thing...got them from behind! :)
Little do they know how sneaky I am.

I met up with friends I hadn't seen
in awhile...



and got to spend a glorious evening
with Kristine in her dye studio.

Keep in mind that this photo is after
a day of the above Margareta's! :)

We chose several new things for the shop,
got lots of new colors in yarns that
we currently carry, and even picked up
some cute little things for our
upcoming sock club kits. It was a
fantastic trip which we're both still recovering
from, but well worth it!

We met Barbara, who has designed
The Knit Kit - the most amazing product ever -
this little kit has everything you'll need
to be able to take you're knitting anywhere.
I just know you'll love it!

We'll also be getting in some of these
fantastic square knitting needles from Kollage -

I worked with these throughout the show
and was convinced that we needed to have them
in the shop - we'll have both the dpn's and the
circular needles.



We'll also be adding a new cotton/nylon sock
yarn (yep, that's right!) that's just
a dream to knit with and super
stretchy with that added nylon!
 But more on this in the weeks to come...


The new Swizzle alpaca yarn from
The Alpaca Yarn Company will
be arriving soon, as well as lots
of new colors in the Paca Peds sock yarn.

We're also expecting more colors
from Chameleon Colorworks,
a new line of cashmere, lots and lots of new
patterns, and a few other goodies which will
remain a secret until they arrive!

We will also be adding in a few new
Indie dyers over the next few months,
as well as adding new colors from
some of our already popular Indie dyers, so
be sure to keep an eye on the blog for
regular shop news and watch the
shop on Sundays (which is when we post
most of our shop updates).

And, of course, we can't forget that
Woolboy turned 40 this last weekend
while we were at TNNA!

Happy Birthday to Woolboy!

I knit him a hat, and was hoping to have
him pose for me before today, but he
hasn't yet, so we'll be sure to post a photo
for Wednesday blog! He's such a cutie in
his new hat!

Want to know what he received for his birthday?

I did take the advice of at least one person
on the blog - and thanks to everyone who made
a suggestion - these were all wonderful!

More about Woolboy's birthday gift on Wednesday...

Meanwhile, have a happy Monday!



We miss your sunshine already San Diego!

What are the colors of life?

What are the colors of life?



Could be black for the endless strife...



Red symbolizes the colors of the heart...



Where cupid strikes with his tameless dart.



The sky may be blue



Maybe gray



Shows how life can change



Day by day by day...



Yellow in sunlight



and spring flowers



I bask in them



hour upon hour.



Green as the emerald sea



Brings peace of mind



and tranquility...



Angels with wings of white



Lift me off my feet to flight.



Can you tell me what are the colors of your life?

If you're interested in any of the items you
see above, check the shop for our NEW items.

Wednesday - are we there yet?

It's only Wednesday? It's ONLY Wednesday?

Are we there yet?



Where is there? Well...TNNA, of course!

We will be at TNNA this weekend, in sunny
San Diego, so will be away from email
and the shop from this Friday - Sunday.



You can order as normal, but all orders
placed during this time will not ship until
Monday, January 19th.

We'll be looking for wonderful new lines
for the shop, and stocking up on favorites
that we already have. I look forward to
bringing back lots of new products, ideas,
and energy for 2009!



We have also just found out that our KOIGU
order that we placed in June is going to be
on it's way soon. They will be shipping
half of our order out to us next week,
and the remainder will arrive in February.
Did I mention how much I love Koigu? I
LOVE this yarn! If you haven't knit with
Koigu, you need to at least try some when
it arrives - try it once and you'll be hooked!



Some additional shop news...

We are planning a secret shop update
this week - it's coming soon! I can promise
that! All orders from the shop update this week
will be shipped Monday, January 19th.

In the shop update we'll include:
Dashing Dachs (fingering and sport)
Madelinetosh worsted
Madelinetosh Merino/Silk
Dream in Color Classy, Smooshy and Lace
Pigeon Roof Studios
KnitKlips
Tape Measures
Soak (new scents!)





Abby Update:


Abby is doing much better, thanks to
all of your thoughts and prayers! She
is acting much like her old self this week,
which we're so happy to see! She will get her
staples out next week, so we're hoping
that she continues to improve! Keep sending
those wonderful & healing thoughts her way!




AND...coming up is this weekend is Woolboy's
birthday - what do you think we should
get him? It's the BIG 40! I'm taking suggestions....

IF we use your suggestion, you'll get a special
"thank you" gift from me personally! And YES,
it will include wool!

What do you get a Woolboy who is
turning 40? He already has plenty of
wool, OBVIOUSLY!
What else could a Woolboy need? :)

Oh, and the gorgeous yarn you've been
seeing scattered about throughout
this post...it's Dashing Dachs.
I'm not an enabler, am I?

Happy Wednesday!

A weekend filled with....

The Twinkle Soft Chunky that I ordered
"just for me" finally arrived. This is the Almond
color, and it's stunning in person. I'm planning
to make the Lacy Chunky Throw, just for me. I
can't believe I said it. Something just for me.
That sounds selfish, but nice, you know?
 It's been a bit of time since I've knit something
"just for me", and just the thought of curling up with
this scrumptious yarny goodness wrapped around me
makes me smile all over. More on my progress next week.



I'm also planning to dive right into using my
new Magnolia Society shipment - the
Faubourg in Tosh Worsted.



This is the perfect color for a hat, and I'll
share the pattern I'm using for this "lovely"
next week. It's a hat for my mom - something
she's wanted for quite some time. I'm doubling
up on the yarn so that it's equivalent to a bulky
weight for this hat. Can you guess which hat it is?



My weekend is also filled with this, and
lots of it! Ughh! I hate weekends that require
lots of work like this - anything involving paperwork
can not be fun. Can it? I wish I could just
spend the whole weekend knitting...
I'm hoping to combine the two somehow -
I'll let you know if I succeed.



We will NOT be having a shop update this Sunday.
Instead, our next shop update will be this
week sometime - a surprise update
during the week! Woo hoo! I love surprise updates!
What's included?
Well, definitely some of this luscious Madtosh
worsted weight (color shown above is Turquoise).

LOTS and LOTS of Dream in Color Classy,
Smooshy, and Baby Lace ~ and we'll have most
of the new colors in too.

Don't you just love the Grey Tabby?



And what about Purple Rain?


And Absolute Magenta?



If you're like me, and you feel this absolute
NEED to collect ALL of the
Dream in Color colorways, we'll have
them here for you!

And Yarn Daze will be here...


 
This colorway just happens to be Wheat and
ohhhhh isn't it stunning?

We also have a huge shipment of
Dashing Dachs that's arrived ~ for those
of you who are infatuated with DD (like me),
you will love the selection of colors we have.

Here's just a tiny flavor...


Maahna Mahna


Birdies in a Basket


Goldfish


Skippy


the new look of Toadstool


Horsie


Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Yep, that's right! Humuhumunukunukuapua'a!
Now say that really fast!

And did I mention that we received a wee
little order from Pigeon Roof Studios?



It's just a wee little order, with only 1-2 skeins of
each color, but oh how stunning each color is!

Venetian, Green Ochre, Black Walnut...



Honeybee, Harlequin, Depth Charge, Bitter Orange...

And a few others that will remain a suprise!
You certainly don't want to miss out
on these colors!

Happy Weekend!

Sale winners and such

What a fun sale it was this weekend ~
besides the fact that the website basically
went crazy on Thursday ~ the rest of the weekend
went pretty smoothly, I think. We had fun anyway!

A BIG thank you to everyone that stopped
by this weekend - I hope that you were able to find
exactly the yarn you needed to start that first
New Year project! And if not, let me know and
I'll see what I can do to help you out with that
(ask anyone, I'm a pretty good enabler).
I mean, just check out this Madtosh silk...



Does this just make your heart melt, or what?

Of course we had some secret skeins of yarn
selected throughout the shop, and when one of those
skeins was ordered, that person won one of our
sale prizes. So, for instance, we might have had 6
skeins of a particular colorway in stock, but only 1
of those skeins might have been tagged as a prize
skein. When that skein was put into an order,
that person was chosen as a prize winner. AND,
just so that we made sure the prizing wasn't skewed in
any way, shape, or form, we enlisted our daughter (Whitney)
to secretly select the skeins before the sale began.

So...even we didn't know which skeins were the prize
skeins until orders were pulled! How's that for top secret? :)

The winners and prizes are listed here (and I will
also be contacting each prize winner individually):

Hummingbird Gift Pack


Winner: Pamela Dubyak
Winner skein: Aubergine Yummy Fingering

The Hummingbird gift pack includes 2 skeins of
bulky weight cashmere - one in Posh and one in
Hip Knits. A Namaste Cali knitting accessory bag,
a hummingbird notebook, stickers, and mini tin to
store your stitch markers. The packages also includes
a cucumber melon lip balm by Naiad, as well as
a Woolgirl pen and tape measure.

Cherry Blossom Gift Pack



Winner: Angela Gruwell
Winner skein: Blue Lagoon - Bonnie's Bamboo

The Cherry Blossom gift pack includes a skein
of Cherry  Blossom Footsie sock yarn from
Chameleon Colorworks, a silk knitting accessory
bag from Lantern Moon, a Moonlight Knitter
row counter, a cute little journal to keep your
knitting notes in, as well as a Cherry Peppermint
lip balm from Naiad and a Woolgirl pen
and tape measure.

Movie Gift Pack



Winner: Tina Kurgan
Winner skein: Sunshine - Lorna's Laces

The movie gift pack includes 2 skeins of sock yarn
in pink and purple from White Oak Studio (along
with some mini keychain skeins), a silk knitting
accessory bag from Lantern Moon, a stitch
marker from Sunne, as well as movie candy,
popcorn, a Woolgirl pen and tape measure.
Everything to get you snuggled up and ready
to knit with your perfect movie!

Silver and Gold Gift Pack



Winner: Wannietta Prescod
Winner skein: Lobster - Dashing Dachs

The Silver and Gold gift package includes a
beautiful skein of silver sock yarn by Kraemer,
a mini notepad to keep in your silk knitting
accessory bag by Lantern Moon, as well as a
cute little box to store your "what-nots" in. This
pack also includes a Banana lip balm by Naiad,
a Woolgirl tape measure and pen.

Portland Gift Pack



Winner: Deanna Livingston
Winner skein: Ruby Slippers - Meru Laceweight

The Portland package includes a neat Portland
coffee mug, 2 skeins of Woolgirl Blues sock yarn
in sport weight from The Unique Sheep, a GoKnits
tote bag that folds up into a small bundle to carry
with you at all times. The kit also includes a knitting
gauge from Karatstix, a Woolgirl tape measure and pen,
as well as chocolate from Trader Joe's - my favorite
place to shop in Portland.

Butterfly Gift Pack



Winner: Lisa Samra
Winner skein: Terra Cotta Sky - Sport/DK

The Butterfly gift pack includes a cute tote from
Sheila D, along with 2 skeins of Hazel Knits -
Sanguine Peach and Lime Granita - as well
as a butterfly notepad, butterfly stickers, a
ginger peach lip balm by Naiad, and a
Woolgirl tape measure and pen. As a nice
surprise, the kit also includes a mini Eucalan
assortment, which is a nice way to try out
the wonderful scents Eucalan has to offer.

Tea Gift Pack



Winner: Laurie Boatsman
Winner skein: Sparkling Pool (Dark) - Marianne Dashwood

The Tea gift package includes 2 skeins of some of my
favorite yarn - Union Center & Sereknity - both in apple
colors. The gift pack also includes a fun Sheila D
accessory bag, a Stash assortment of teas, 2 tea
honey spoons, and lip balm from Naiad, a
Woolgirl tape measure and pen.

We also have another winner to announce - this is the
winner of last week's contest - the Pinecone contest.
Thanks to everyone who answered this one...
hopefully this provided a bit of trivia knowledge
that you could share with others who want to know
trivia. Ha! Ha!

The winner was Dawn and the answer was Flagstaff, AZ.
Congrats Dawn! I will be in touch today
regarding your winning package!


NEWS ON ABBY


Abby is still suffering quite a bit - she is getting up only
to drink and to go outside, and she isn't able to walk
much at all (even though her legs were not injured at all).
She's just very weak and on pain meds, and extremely sore,
so this is the reason she's having the difficulties she's having
right now. Tomorrow is a new day and we're hoping that
with each day she'll get her strength back.

Thank you for all of the well wishes. We greatly appreciate
it and Abby appreciates it - she feels lots of love coming
her way. You are all the best.

Happy Wednesday

A trip to the vet at midnight

Late last night, as Kevin and I were outside letting Abby run about for one last time before bed, Abby was attacked by something in the dark. As strange as that sounds, it's exactly what happened. We stepped outside on the back deck and Abby, being an old girl and a quite predictable schnauzer, went straight to her favorite spot in the lawn (the one that has now become a yellow patch). Not more than a few seconds later, she seemed to be gone. Kevin and I tried to adjust our vision to the dark of the night, but she was gone before we could do that. Everything was quiet.

We then heard loud crying - such as what would come from an injured animal - from the field across the street. Kevin and I both immediately felt a wave of panic as we rushed across the street. Silence again. How did she get across the street in a matter of a few seconds? We were unsure. We heard the crying again, and knew it was Abby. But then complete silence. We were unsure of the direction it was coming from. We searched frantically for her and finally saw her coming toward us, walking slowly. It was obvious she had gotten into some sort of fight with an animal. Her entire head was bloody and she was limping - she looked as if she was in a complete daze - she was as completely stunned as we were.

We immediately rushed her to the emergency vet and they felt that with the size of the wounds, she was most likely attacked by a red fox, as we have them in our area. The animal (whatever it was), had apparently wrapped itself around her head, as she had wounds all over her neck, across the top of her head, and throughout her mouth. She received several staples in the top of her head and stitches in her neck.

Today she is very sore and has been crying periodically throughout the day and we've been trying to nurse her the best we can. It's times like this when I wish that animals could understand what we're saying - as I feel like she needs a great big "I love you" right now.

I promise that a larger post and shop info is coming tomorrow. If you placed an order over the weekend, please know that we are working as quickly as possible to get all orders shipped out by tomorrow (Wednesday) of this week, and we thank you for your patience during this busy time!

All Embrace the Lace participants - an email will be coming later this week - so watch your email for that to arrive!

WEBSITE ISSUES - JANUARY 1, 2009

JUST AN FYI THAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING A FEW EMAIL SERVER ISSUES AND ARE WORKING WITH OUR WEBSITE COMPANY TO TRY AND GET THESE FIXED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

IF YOU RECEIVE AN ERROR WHEN PLACING YOUR ORDER, PLEASE CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT ONLINE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ORDER DID GO THROUGH. CHANCES ARE THAT IT DID - AND THERE IS NOT A NEED TO PLACE ANOTHER ORDER.

THANK YOU!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
JEN