It's hard to believe that so much has been going on around here in the last 6 months, but boy have we been through a lot of late. Of course we are just coming out of our busy season and can't thank all of you enough for helping us make it one of our best yet!!








Laura and Shelli of the Knitterly in Petalmua California have put their creative sides to work and WOW is all I can say!! The new look for the retail space is going to be absolutely fabulous and we can't wait to reveal it fully to you! Shelli has the greatest taste and is making our formerly utilitarian shop look more homey and inviting. We are so thrilled!







Also, as with most of the country we have had our fair share of sickness around here this winter and it seems like everyone is starting to finally feel well again with more sunshine and daylight savings...phew! We hope all of you are well and working on your favorite craft!










As some of you know we are now carrying fabric at JBW and are all having a lot of fun with that side of the business and watching it grow, so we wanted to combine our love of yarn and our love a fabric in an eye popping way here in our retail showroom, that will be worth all the mess once it's all done!!!








We are hoping to have the remodel done by the end of April and will be having a big unveiling party of some kind, so stay tuned for more info on that. For now I will leave you with some pictures of a few of the changes for you to ponder.
As always happy knitting, crocheting, and sewing!

Jeanne

Some of you may know that The Knit and Crochet show, which is put on by The Knitting Guild Association was in Reno this last weekend. TKGA moves the show to a new place each year so this was a once in a blue moon opportunity. Of course, we had to be there to represent for both Stitch Red and Jimmy Beans Wool! To add to the awesomeness, we invited our friend Kirsten from Muench Yarns to join us as well so it was a regular party all weekend!

Here are some snapshots from the booth, and some of our favorite booths from other shops at the show as well:


One of my personal favorite booths at almost every show I've been to so far is the  Freia Hand Paint Yarns/Knit Whits booth. Tina, the gal who owns the company, is just so nice, and her stuff is lovely to boot! I have a little growing stash of her yarns at home. I am working on convincing Jimmy to start carrying her yarns...maybe someday soon! :)


Stylistically, I thought the most creative and unique booth was Knitterly, a shop from Petaluma, CA. Seriously, their displays were so neat! They re-purposed all kinds items like old wooden school bleachers and chicken cages to showcase their yarns and kits. They also had such beautiful and unique stuff I haven't seen before, much of it from local hand-dyers and artists! Everyone working at her booth wore THE cutest aprons too. It made me want to sew cute aprons. Uh oh...

Many of you Reno locals are familiar with Pioneer Yarn Company in Minden, NV. They had a gorgeous booth as well. See that Catkin shawl up on top of their display, SO pretty! The owners of this shop are a husband and wife team who are such nice folks! I love stopping at their store whenever I drive through Minden. Many of our retail customers shop there as well which we are always so glad to hear! The more local shops we have in the area the merrier!

Next up on our tour is the Sierra Sewing Center! I have yet to actually visit their retail store here in Reno but I have a feeling I am going to need to take my sewing machine in for a tune up soon! Plus, it will give me a chance to drool a little over their selection of Baby Lock Sergers. Cheryl and I were so excited because they had the cutest double-sided flannel baby blankets that were pre-cut, stitched together, and hole punched for border crochet or knitting! They have a machine that punches the holes and sews the fabrics together at the same time! It's genius! So, of course I had to buy two of them for gifts. After crocheting a foundation chain all around, I am going to pick up stitches and knit a border onto it, I think it will be simply darling! I'll share my finished project with you all of course. :)


Lastly, The Knitting Nest in South Lake Tahoe had a really fun booth! As I walked by to admire the Alchemy yarns, they invited me into their "living room" to sit and knit with them. Every time I walked by their booth throughout the show, there were people sitting, chatting, and knitting. They even cracked open a bottle of wine for everyone to enjoy at the end of the day on Saturday. It was like walking in and joining a fun knitting circle full of really nice gals. So much fun! I can't wait to visit them on my next visit to South Lake Tahoe! We are practically neighbors after all. :)


All in all, TKGA was tons of fun! We had such a great time seeing long-time customers and friends and meeting new ones as well. Thanks so much to TKGA for hosting such a lovely show right in our backyard!

Hope you all have a lovely week and happy knitting and crocheting!
Kristen