Hello!  It's nice to see you all here at the end of the work week!  The featured product vlog has now found a new home on Fridays so I hope you all enjoy!  Please never mind that I was a bit confused about the day and time in the video--the change in day just happened! :)

This week with a little help from Jeanne who you'll also hear on the video, I am featuring Madelinetosh Tosh Sport, Gudrun Johnston's (aka The Shetland Trader) Aestlight Shawl, Poems Sock yarn, and Kollage square double point needles.  Let us know what you think!


Also, I have the results of our "Tough Love" contest!  Thank you all so much for sharing your amazing, and sometimes heart-wrenching, stories of "Tough Love."  These 5 winners were chosen using a random number generator (www.random.com):


1. Tinkergrumpybuns
2. DianeE
3. Jacqueline Korteland Boller
4. Knit-chat 
5. ikkinlala

If you are one of these 5 people, please e-mail your name, mailing address and color choice (from the colors we carry) for your skein of Sweet Georgia "Tough Love" sock yarn to giveaway@jimmybeanswool.com.  Thanks again to all who participated and thank you for helping us welcome Sweet Georgia into the JBW family!!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Happy knitting,
Kristen

Hi everyone! 

Buddy is the border collie and Wiley is the german shepherd mix.

As you know, we Beans are big time pet lovers. You all have seen Buddy and Wiley all over the site, but we thought you might want to meet some of our other pets too!!








This little lil' guy is Riley! He lives with Terry and is about 2 years old. Riley loves clawing at the furniture, so Terry has a squirt gun she uses whenever he is out of reach and claws her furniture.  Now all she has to do is to point it at him and he shakes his head as if she had squirted him.

Here's Terry's favorite story about Riley:
"He does lots of funny things but the best story about him is that he arrived on my doorstep in S. America, a tiny little kitten about 6 weeks old, on a cold rainy evening when I really needed a pet to keep me company.  He was hungry, cold and covered in fleas.  I fed and bathed him, tried to find if he belonged to anyone over the next couple of days.  He ended up staying and he's such a cool cat (the vet in S. America called him an angel), albeit annoying at times, that I brought him with me on the 23 hour journey back to the states and my mom's house.  He was great on the airplanes, never making a sound until the last hour before I landed at the Sacramento airport.  I think by that time he really needed to use the litter box.  People were really surprised to see that I was carrying a cat on board the plane."


These three troublemakers belong to Kathy! 

 Kristen's favorite story about Wally Dog: "He's learned what certain words mean over the years. For example if you ask him if he wants to go for a "walk" or to the "dog park", he'll run to the door and bark and and jump around until you take him.  This has led us to not be able to utter those words in ANY conversation lest we get ourselves in trouble.  He also knows "Breakfast" and "Dinner" which spawns similar results.  "Bath" is the quickest way to take the wind out of his sails and usually results in him hiding under the coffee table.  Recently though, we've discovered that he knows what "Stinky Breath" means and any time we tell him he has it, he gets really embarrassed and shifty eyed, and leaves the room to sulk.  






And it's not just cats and dogs in the Bean family, Amanda has a 14 year old Chincoteague pony named Comet! Comet doesn't have many tricks per-say, but he definitely would be considered a trickster - there's no mischief he has not gotten himself into!  

He was Huck's first ride toward becoming a cowboy.  Even Laura hopped on for a gallop around the arena!








And that's just the beginning!  We've got lots more pets to share, so stay tuned! Do you have have pets too? Any funny stories you want to share? Feel free to tell us about them here or put them up on our Facebook page here so everyone can see your little bundle of love!! 


Thanks and happy petting (and knitting!)
Bethany

I have been thinking a lot lately about what knitting means to me and it has been a flood of emotions. I think the true meaning of knitting in my life is the soothing repetition of each stitch as it flows from one needle to the next. I love the challenge of learning a new stitch, or technique, but am continually reminded that there are only 2 stitches in knitting and everything else is a variation on those 2 simple stitches.

Shevawn's Never Ending Story Cowl

**I am including a couple basic projects from our project log that may inspire you with links at the bottom of this post :)

Leanne's Annabella's Cowl

There has been a lot going on  in my life lately and knitting has been my constant companion through it all. I meet so many wonderful knitters daily and  even though some are new and some have been knitting for many years, we all have an immediate connection. It doesn't matter what we do for a living, where we are from, what language we speak, as we all speak knitting, it's magic! I have watched so many of my customers come from those beginning (frustrating) stitches to socks, sweaters, lace and much more.

I am so proud of each and everyone of them and proud of the knitters who only want to knit scarves, hats, or dish cloths...why not I say? Knitting should be fun!! As far as I know there are no knitting police, so knit on!!

We love to share our projects with all of you, but one of the most fun things is seeing what you are working on!! Share your projects with us and we will post them on our project log and you can also find us on Ravelry where we share lots of fun too!  We would love to hear your knitting stories and why you knit, so feel free to share with us! Who knows? You may give another knitter some much needed confidence.

Leanne's Annabella's Cowl from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

Shevawn's Never Ending Story Cowl from Cowl Girls

As always happy knitting and crocheting!


Jeanne


PS Stay up to date with all the happenings around the shop, sales, new products, instructional videos and more by receiving our twice monthly newsletter.

• Coffee or tea? Coffee all the way. 
• Do you eat the licorice jelly beans or throw them away? Throw them away! :)
• What was the first album you ever bought? Cyndi Lauper, the one with Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on it.... She's So Unusual.
• Little Known Fact: I started my first business, a dressmaking and alterations service, when I was 16. 
• Next big adventure: Marriage. 

JBW- Finally, as a small artisan yarn company, do you have any advice for those folks out there hand-dying with kool-aid in their sinks on how to make a living doing what they love? 

• blog: http://blog.sweetgeorgiayarns.com
• website: http://www.sweetgeorgiayarns.com
• facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SweetGeorgia-Yarns
• twitter: HeySweetGeorgia
• ravelry group: Sweet SweetGeorgia

Welcome to the family, Felicia and SweetGeorgia! 


Good luck everyone! 
Bethany

I am happy to report that my daughter (Shelly) and her spectacular beau, Rory are now officially engaged!!! Woohooo! Of course that means what to knit and will there be a wedding shawl? Shelly and Rory DON'T read this on penalty of beating with a US 50 plastic knitting needle :)


I just bought a bunch of Cascade Eco Wool in color 9004 to knit Brooklyn Tweed's (aka Jared Flood)  Umaro...lovely don't you think? I am considering knitting it in a single strand (if I follow the pattern I would double it up) and adding some repeats (# to be determined) to get the right size blanket. I will be swatching that ASAP!! I chose this beautiful yarn due to the ecological nature and of course the value doesn't hurt either, hee hee! The kids will appreciate that it is natural from the sheep and therefore environmentally sound. I chose the color due to my furry 'grand kids' (meow) and the thought that they may enjoy snuggling up to this beauty once it is done.


The date hasn't been set yet, but there is talk about October, so if there is to be a shawl I need to get this show on the road. Once the bride decides if she would like such a thing I will let you know what pattern, yarn and what not, so you can stress along with me on the actual completion of said shawl, ha ha!


At any rate we are all thrilled and can't be more excited for this fantastic family event. I want to thank all of you for your wonderful support on last weeks post and it's so nice to follow that one up with this wonderful news!!


As always happy knitting and crocheting!


Jeanne


PS If you aren't getting our twice monthly email Newsletter then you should check it out! Stay up to date on the latest and greatest here at JBW and remember we NEVER share you information, so you can sign up without fear! :)

Happy Friday!


The last few weeks have felt like a whirlwind with all of us traveling far and wide, going on mini adventures (or quite grand ones, for that matter) and spending time with our loved ones. Terry just back from Washington for her son's wedding, Bethany went on an outing with her boyfriend to Alaska for a friend's wedding, and Ailene is gearing up to go study in China! Although not as far as the far East, I got to go on my own weekend trip a few weeks ago to bustling, wonderful Seattle, Washington.

Victory!

Summertime in the Pacific Northwest always seems like a blessing to us desert folks - it's sunny (most of the time, at least) but not blistering hot. Plus, it rains! Yippee! Anywho, my boyfriend and I flew up to the Home of the Space Needle for the weekend to visit his sister and brother-in-law. Although, we only stayed a few days, we got to see and do a lot. And, of course, what's a trip without yarn thrown into the mix? Not one worth taking, I'd say. So, after a few days of 'subtly' dropping hints about a certain coveted visit to a certain yarn shop, I found myself on the ferry to Bainbridge Island!! At this point, you might be thinking, "Wait, didn't I hear this already?" Which is true - don't worry, you're not going crazy. This is also the same reaction that the nice ladies at Churchmouse had...bless their patience with us silly gals at Jimmy Beans. We sure do love their patterns. Jeanne did take the trip a few months ago for a fair-isle workshop but -don't worry - I have a few more things up my knitted sleeve.

Eat your heart out....

Flood love!

Jeanne said it before and I'll sure say it again - Churchmouse has the most beautiful shop! I was truely amazed by their displays and, of course, getting to see all of their patterns knit up in person! The Linen Stitch Scarf - a work-of-art. Seriously, that thing should be in the Louvre. Or in my closet. Both would be equally acceptable.
Of course, Churchmouse has a
fantastic selection of Jared Flood goodies from all of his patterns, plus his new yarn, Shetland!

A stripe for all seasons.

Anyways, after our excursion to Churchmouse, we stumbled across some yarn bombing in one the 'park squares' of downtown. Trees upon trees all gussied up in yarn splendor! Suffice to say, it was a wonderful surprise. Lately, it seems that the fiber arts have been getting more attention - whether it's due to the fact that there's more intrepid yarn bombers out there or maybe that everyone's catching on. Who knows? It's really great to see more and more people showing off their craft and placing fiber arts in a more public forum.

Here in Reno, the entire month of July is called 'Artown" where hundreds of local events featuring art, music, dance, etc. are showcased. This particular weekend will be an 'art bombing' event, put on by a local arts organization, The Holland Project. We are so excited to see what they're going to put on. One of my friends has been crocheting for hours upon hours, trying to finish - she says her finger tips are dyed!

Watch out for the "bridge troll"!

Well, that's enough of my fabulous weekend in Seattle. More pictures to come of the upcoming 'art bomb' event in the biggest little city in the world. How do you incorporate knitting and crocheting into your vacations? Detours to yarn shops, fiber craft museums? What have been your favorites? What about stumbling across yarn bombing or even meeting fellow fiber nuts along the way? :)

Well, whatever fun trips you've been on this summer, we all hope you're having fun, staying safe, and wearing lots of sunscreen!!


Happy knitting and crocheting (and yarn bombing!)
Shevawn


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Happy Wednesday everyone!  Hope you are all having a great week!  Before I take off for the weekend to be a part of my best friend's wedding, I thought I would share with you all some awesome new products!  This week we are featuring Frog Tree Pediboo, Noro Hitsuji and the new Spud and Chloe Patterns.  Enjoy!



Have a great rest of your week and happy knitting!
Kristen

Well, in my last post I talked about my trip to the coast and riding with my brother-in-law but when I came back little did I know that I was to see him again right away here in Reno. I debated about what to write about in this blog but since you are all so much a part of our JBW family, I decided to share what has been going on here in my life...even though it is a bit sad.

We got back on a Friday night. On Saturday, we cleaned up, unpacked, and just generally settled in...ahhh.... home! That afternoon, my husband called his mother to let her know we would be there Sunday to have breakfast with her, to take her shopping and what not. Boy, was she excited to hear that! Well, the next day, we got moving and called her on the way out to her place with no luck. We assumed she was in the shower but, alas, that wasn't the case. She had passed very peacefully the night before at 87 and will be missed by our family very much.

Gloria and Chris Mother's Day 2011

I can't tell you how amazing my JBW family is and how much I adore each and every one of them!!! I let Terry know right away that it was clear I would need some time off (sheesh...I had just come back from a week off) and they ALL pitched in to make sure I had the entire week off to take care of my family!!

Jeanne


P.S. There was knitting, of course, and as Elizabeth Zimmerman used to say 'knitting through all crises'!! I finished my Liesl and continuously knit a pair of simple socks as we chatted. My sister-in-law, Katherine, knits, too and she finished a Traveling Women shawl and then worked on my Saroyan (I am using Tahki Tara Tweed) since she didn't have anything left to knit with her. I think Cathy was watching and we may have set the seed for learning to knit in her mind/fingers, so I will keep you posted on that front!

Kristen's (that's me) Larch in Endless Possibilities

So that is it everyone!  I'll look forward to seeing other finished projects on Ravelry!  Hope you all had as much fun as we did here at JBW!  See you all for the next KAL!

Happy knitting,
Kristen