Can You Believe It's October!?!

For those of you who are really only interested in the shop, skip to paragraph four. The rest of you - read on! We have a new addition. Tuesday is my daughter's 5th birthday. For at least the last six months, she has repeatedly told us that we wants "a pet of my very own." So, we finally gave in. Those of you who drop in at knitting night know this was not an easy decision. I quizzed everyone (if they let it slip they had one) about animals. A cat or dog wasn't in the picture. I didn't think a bird was a good fit. After a fair bit of research we had it narrowed down to a bunny, rat or guinea pig. After my third phone call to a pet shop - this time, Mister Pet, in Ajax - we decided upon a guinea pig. He's a lovely little guy - black with a white stripe and a spot of brown on his back, and a smaller white stripe and brown spot on his nose. Somehow, on the way home yesterday, Julia arrived at the name "Buttons." We decided to forego the starter kit cage for the more roomy model. Fortunately, it's quite well made and there's no way my 5 year old could ever open it herself! In the last sixteen hours, the cage has been in Julia's room, our office and is now situated just outside the kitchen. He's going to get to know his way around the house fairly quickly.

Otherwise, life is as normal. Our chaotic life has resumed, after a fairly subdued summer. Hockey started last week for the boys as did Sparks for Jules. Dave has been playing footbal since the last week of August - the team is undefeated in regular season play. Nick had his first concert band practice last week - they assigned him to timpani for the day. He doesn't have one of these in his drum kit! And when he's not drumming up a storm at school, cross-country keeps him busy. I'm thrilled the boys have taken the route of school activities - it's a lot more interesting than hanging around aimlessly.

We (my husband) has been doing a little bit of work in the backyard. We've gone from blades of grass to forest in about three weeks. After two years of staring at an ugly fence, we finally decided to do a bit of landscaping. With some hired help from Sheridan Nurseries, we came up with a plan. The first steps have been completed - three trees and eleven Emerald Cedars in the backyard. If that didn't give the neighbours behind enough of a shock, we finally removed the Home Depot paper shades from our kitchen and family room windows in the back and installed shutters. Don't ask me how we're going to pay for all of this! I guess we'll figure it out when the bills arrive. The problem with Mark is that he likes to buy in bulk. He can't just do one! When he finally decides to shop for clothes, it's a half a dozen of whatever. Really, I'm surprised we only have one child together - I'm sure he was aiming for sextuplets!

Oh yeah - kniterary!! Things at the shop are really picking up. More of the fall order seems to arrive every week. There has been good reception to the Mille Colori and Freedom Wool. I'm very excited about the Sublime. The sales rep had told me to expect it this past week but it still hasn't arrived. Cross your fingers for this week folks. Also to come is the Baby Ull. I've already decided to add a couple more colours. I'm starting with the basics but I would really like to have quite a variety in the long run. For now: cream, pale pink and blue, apple green and hopefully a lovely blue and red. I've procrastinated long enough and I've finally narrowed down what the next order will be from HandMaiden. I'll place it tomorrow or Tuesday. I'm also looking at brining in a new wool wash product called Soak. It was developed by a woman in Toronto and comes in three lovely scents. Hopefully, I'll touch base with Jacqueline this week and we'll get that underway.

For you hand-dyed yarn enthusiasts, hold on to your seats. Kniterary will soon be carrying hand-dyed sock yarn from www.thesweetsheep.com. Some of you will know that Michelle is a regular on Thursday nights and has recently started to work part-time in the shop. She and I hit if off from our first meeting and feel that this will be a great venture. We've even come up with an exclusive colour way.

With Michelle helping out on Saturdays and Loretta on Thursdays, I have no more excuses. So - classes will begin soon. The first Learn-To-Knit will run either the first or second Saturday after Thanksgiving. It will be followed shortly by Learn-To-Crochet and a Beginner's Project class. After Christmas, there are plans for Knitter's Knowledge with Trish. This may be divided into a Part One and Part Two. There's a lot to learn! For those of you who have stopped by the shop and chatted with me at all about classes, you'll know that I favour workshops. I know how difficult it can be to commit to one day never mind three in a row!

Another kniterary exclusive is hand-made jewellery from www.justprettyjewellery.com. The designer is a long-time friend of mine and together we thought it was a nice idea to offer her beautiful pieces in a retail setting.

If these little extras don't get you thinking of the holiday season, just wait for our exclusive kits and gift certificates. Make it easy on the gift-buyers in your life!

Well, Dave helped Julia take Buttons out of his cage and he's now holed up under the couch. I must go on a rescue mission. If you skipped to paragraph four and don't have a clue what I'm talking about, return to paragraph one for more information.

Keep on knittin'!!