Putting together a Yarn Shop... 3...

Actually I can't stay and chat today...

Just wanted to let you know that the moving is happening... we are in good shape and the past couple of weeks have been totally crazy... but we are getting there and it's looking great!!!

I'll let you know more soon! and have pics to share!

See you soon!
S.

Putting together a Yarn Shop... 2...

Hello Guys!!!

Here I am again with more stories from the yarn shop!

After the painting was done, we continued to look for things, the lights for the outside sign were easy to find but it took forever to get them because they were supossed to be shipped in 3 days and it took around 3 weeks...
The sign was about to come, the lights weren't ready, so the awning couldn't go up!
The awning was in the back room, so we couldn't clean that room or have anything else going on there because the awning was taking a lot of the space... it was really stressful!

Eventually the lights came in, the sign went up, the lights were installed and the awning too... so we could move the looms to the back room.
We made some curtains for the back room, to divide the weaving area from the "private" area of the shop, and some more curtains for under the kitchenette sink.

And last week, Mary Ann and her sister worked in the wall decoration for the back room... I think those are the only big walls that are not covered in slat walls... We've found a forest bamboo vinyl to put back there...

Doesn't it looks great?

We also put one on the oposite side wall, and it's wraping around the corner...

While they were dealing with the bamboos, I was balancing on top of a ladder, hanging paper lanterns to cover the ugly ceiling in the back room...

Some fun color...

You can see some of the looms in the bottom part.

Here's the curtain that devides the weaving area from the kitchenette, office and bathroom... that rod in the middle with a green curtain...

The cubes are finally in what it seems to be their official place... This ones in the front with hooks to waiting for the yarn...

So when you enter you see this in front:

and this to the left:

The window is displaying right now some looms and spinning wheels

This is the middle room

And the sign that needs to be placed...

Do you remember the dark office and the clinical bathroom???

Look at them now! The office is still a work in progress but the bathroom is ready!

So I will leave you my dears.... I'm going for my daily yanry time!
I'll leave you with the delicious 3 leches cake I made for one of the ladies Birthday last Saturday...
If you want to see the recipe, click here.

Stay cool!!! I don't know how it is where you are, but here the weather is increible hot and we have Excesive Heat Warnings!!!!

See you soon!
S.

Putting together a Yarn Shop...

Doesn't that sounds exciting?????

Let me tell you, it is!

But it is also something stressfull, full of details and things to do... it's something big... that one, as a customer, doesn't realize when enter that paradise of textures and colors that is a yarn shop.
As I've told you in previous post I'm getting more and more involved with my LYS. I've become "part of the staff", I give crochet classes and this days I've been working in crochet samples of sweaters and hats for the shop. And for the past couple of months I've been helping to put together a yarn shop, as the shop is moving to a new location...

It was around May when the owner of the shop, Mary Ann, told me that she was considering to rent a bigger space that faces the street (the shop now is in the inside of a Mall) and move the shop over there... after a couple of weeks of working with the lease and its terms, she signed the contract and the adventure began....

She got the key for the new space at the begging of June... the place had been a guitars store before, so it had little practice rooms on the side, all the walls cover with slat boards...

... and a wall in the middle that she decided to take out.

All the walls free of slat board were painted in white, the bathroom was all white,

the rooms all white, all but the office, which was a dark teal.

It had a beautiful front facing the street with a nice wood space to display things... 

So the shopping and planing began while the construction continued... and we had uncountless trips to hardware stores, Target, Menards, Good Will and practically every thrifth store in town looking for the right tables, shelves, accesories, paint, clocks, mirrors, etc...
We took out some of the doors of the practice rooms...

I helped her to look all around for all kind of things, decide the final look of the sign, the lights, the cabinets...

She ordered 30 wood cabinets, of 9x9 cubes of those "assemble your self" kind from Lowes...

You can see the pile of boxes to the right!!! can you imagine assemble 30 of those??

We had a painting day with the regular knitting group... a group of 8 wonderful ladies that helped with the painting, while Mary Ann and I assembled and assembled cubes...

So, as you can see, the chosen colors were orange and green... we did the bathroom, the outside of the rooms, primed the office.... uff, more and more... maybe you can see at the back of the last picture with the orange rooms, there's a "kitchen" at the end??? that wasn't there either!!!

We found the counter with the sink and had it installed and the white cabinets mounted in the wall...

I really wish I had tell you day to day all about this adventure, I'm not sure why I didn't... but I'll tell you more another day... I'm sure you're tired of reading by now, and I have to run...

Hope you had enjoy it so far!!!

See you soon!

S.

Bits of this and that...

I've been a little all over the place lately... I am still just living, trying to make the most out of my days and just enjoying them and being happy... but my so free life, leisure life, it has become busy and full of things lately!!! which is great and I don't regreat any of it, but it gives me less time to spend in blogland... either reading or writing...

I've been more and more involved with the LYS, and I LOVE it!!!! I'm not "working" there and I'm not official staff, but I spend a lot of time there, helping with different things, giving classes, knitting, crocheting and chatting...
This yarn shop will be moving to another location at the end of July, is just a block away but there's a lot of work to do in the new space and a whole lot to prepare for the actual moving... and I've been helping with that too... it gives me something to do, it allows me to know more about more things and I can be useful to someone.
I love to spend my days there, learning about fibers, different tecniques and medias, diferent yarns and their caracteristics... and all that happens in a store in daily basis...

I've been enjoying this books and magazines...

I just got the Learn Slip Stitch Crochet from Annie's Attic, I have worked with slip stitch before but I've found several interesting things in there, it was on sale when I bought it so a great discovery for $4!. The Interweave Crochet magazine (spring 2011) has several lovely patterns that I am dying to try!
And the Happy Hooker is a book that I've seen for years but just recently picked it up... I think is a must for any crocheter!

This is my reading book on turn... I'm LoVinG it!!!!!!!!!!!

On the Yarny side...... I fixed a crochet blanket for a customer at the yarn store... It was like this and I felt so bad for it!!!!

 It took me a little while because the old yarn was difficult to take out, but I did it and I felt so proud of myself!

I made a shawl/poncho kind of thing for myself.... I used a picture of a shawl from Ravelry for the base, but then I added the mesh ribbon (Swing by Rebecca Pick), that is one of those yarns that you use for a curly scarf.

Anyway, it was fun to make and I can wear it on the side and it looks fun and it's super comfy!

And last, I started to make a top, pattern from Annie's Attic...

I have the back finished and I'm working on the front now... I'm using Cascade Sierra yarn that it's a heavier weight than what the pattern asks for, so I did my numbers and I'm wroking with the small size instructions of the pattern, but it's not really coming out small as it has to be for my side and I'm more Large than small, hehe... but it fits and I'm very pleased with the work so far!

And my last sharing for today is some jewelry... I've been playing with Viking knit.

Don't you love them????

See you soon!!!!
S.

An Awsome Class!!!

Hello my friends! here I am again... very quickly that I must go... I'm heading to the Yarn Shop for the afternoon!!! Yei!

I just want to share with you my awsome story of last week.

Last week I had my first "official" crochet class at the Yarn Store, I gave a nice class on Monday, and then on Wednesday another... different people, different classes...

The first one was with 3 middle age ladies, friends, one of them had crocheted before and wanted to improve tecnique... the other 2 had never picked a hook before... the class was good and they learned to make a chain and a single crochet stitch in one hour. The one that had crocheted before, learned the crocodile stitch.

My class on Wednesday was special and made me really happy...
It was a private class for a woman named Jackie, who was 83 years old, was in a wheelchair and had some kind of illness that erased her crochet memories. She had some limited and slow movements in her hands and couldn't speak. It was a challenge and a great thing to do.
I stood up behind her, place yarn and hook in her hands in the way I'm used to hold them and grabbed her hands in mine... and started to crochet.... I moved her hands to make chains and after a few she started to move her hands and do it on her own!!!
I stayed by her side, just to hold my yarn and hook in position of each step to form a chain so she could see it if needed and by imitation she could do it again and again...
I could see in her eyes that little by little she was remembering, as she moved her hands and put them in her own position, and grabed the yarn and chain with that movement that every crocheter owns to hold its yarn and move their hands... I don't know how to explain it... is just that she moved her hands in a right way with out me telling her how to do it...

It took a long time and she didn't pass the chain, but she did great!!!!
her daughter told her that she could do the whole skein just in chains and she would say no...
When her daughter went to leave the things in the car so she could come back to take Jackie, I started talking to fill the space... I told her that she had to practice a lot to make great chains, she would say no again and looked around the samples in the store.
I asked her if she had grandsons, and slowly she put down her hook and raised one finger... so I asked her if she wanted us to work in her crochet skills so she can make a hat for his grandson, and then she lighted up, her eyes sparkled and she noded very happy.
I asked if she wanted it to be red or blue, and she looked again to the samples on the store and pointed to a knitted hat in green and yellow, so that's the yarn we would use.
The daughter came back then, and Jackie pointed to the hat... her daughter didn't understand and I explained it all to her.
They both left the store very happy.... and I was happier than them!

I loved to be able to comunicate with her, to see those sparkles of knowledge in her eyes, and loved to feel that I was able to give her some hope that she can do it again... and I have no doubt on that!!!!

I hope they come back for another class...

See you soon!
S.