Dear followers - I am so confused! I am trying to network link or whatever my main blog, charmsbylois.blogspot.com and I know many of you are trying to follow that blog but when you sign up to follow, you are linking to the diva blog and following it. Does that seem confusing enough for you? It certainly is for me! If you want to follow me, Lois, that bead and charm woman, please go to www.charmsbylois.blogspot.com. I write both blogs but seldom get around to the diva blog. Many thanks!

This finger of mine, the one that most recently had surgery has kept me from doing any serious knitting so with that in mind, I had to come up with some other less " finger strenuous " activities.

I had purchased this pair of cheap gloves from the local pharmacy, not a chain store by the way, for 99¢  and added felt beads to the edge creating a berry nice cuff! I used pearl cotton and wove the ends in so from the inside, you do not see the pink thread ends. I bet you could make many gifts with one package of felt beads, gloves and pearl cotton. Next, I think some beads and sequins are in order on the beads on the gloves!

( p.s. Please follow me on www.charmsbylois.blogspot.com - to follow my charming ( ! ) arty life. )

It took me awhile but I finally did a nice crocheted scarf from this ribbon. I love the bit of sparkle in it and how that sparkles winds and twists its way through the scarf. The yarn is moving pretty fast in the shop and we have made it available in 6 yard skeins for all the kumihemo crafters out there. We next head to to the Portland Bead Society show in November and they have requested we bring lots of fiber. Their wish is our command and much of this ribbon yarn will be with us in Portland.

One of my current knitting projects. Socks!

Hoo, boy! The best laid plans of mice and men and women who knit..... I really did mean to post more often but you know how time flies. Much new yarn and books have arrived in the shop and I am knitting here and there like a crazy woman. I am also deciding on when to have a Diva sale and some fall Diva classes. Any input?

Yarn is arriving continually now as the beginnings of some of the new fall yarn arrives. We had a big shipment of Malabrigo come in and Amy worked like crazy to get it out on the shelves while Rachel and I waited patiently to see all the new fiber. I just ordered more sock yarn this afternoon and am really looking forward to it coming in. I love knitting socks in the summer when it is too warm for me to have a big knitting project going. Anyhow, here are some shop pictures of just a bit of the new arrivals! My next to do thing is to felt the little llamas that Rachel has been knitting. I think our shop sheep are lonely and need their llama friends. Stay tuned.....

The Trim in Diva Yarn & Trim

Summer is here and along with it the restless feeling I get that drives me to rearrange things. I have been doing just that in the lobby. I have new fabrics arriving almost weekly along with trims and other treasures so at night, just before I drift off to sleep, in my quieted mind, I rearrange the lobby's trim shop! The plan is usually put into action in a couple of days. Just look at all this eye candy and crafty temptation! 

Cathy's So Long Party

Fear

This weekend I exhibited and sold at a bead show in Tacoma. When people asked me if I had a shop; I would say yes, I have both the bead and yarn store in Port Townsend. Often, way more often than I wanted to hear it, people would say things like: " oh, my local yarn store just closed " or " my mom and I would shop every weekend for projects but that store is closed now " and then again, " I remember getting my yarn from the cutest shop but it's gone now ". All of this conversation struck fear in my heart and made me realize that my love of yarn and fiber has to be contagious. I want my little yarn shop to survive and even thrive in this economy. I am frightened to the bottom of my knitting basket when I think of all the things customers said about their local shops closing.... on a wing and a prayer and good pair of knitting needles, I will survive.

One Stitch

What a unique tattoo. Would I be so brave as to wear on my arm, my love for fiber and knitting? Would you?

Whooo -eeee, but I am a slacker! I have not written in here in ages not because I have not done anything or made anything but life has a way of speeding by like lightening! Many changes are afoot in the shop. Cathy has left us ( sob! ) and moved back to Montana to be with family. We have welcomed Amy aboard to work four days a week and Rachel will be our weekend knitter. Both bring many talents to the shop. I will also be on standby, mostly in the bead shop but on hand to help with knitty questions, pithy comments and a friendly atta girl or guy.

New yarn is arriving almost daily and we are all thrilled with the KnitPicks needles and crochet hooks. We are pretty active on Facebook and Pinterest has become a major time suck but we love it anyhow.

Summer seems to have finally arrived and I am going to at long last make something out of cotton yarn. What? I haven't the faintest idea but since we are continuing Monday Knit Nites through the summer, I am sure something will come along!

Felted chicken balls, er, characters! 

Come say hello to our staff and fondle the yarns! You know we are open EVERY DAY! xo, Lois

Did you know that I make little sterling silver heart charms that say " knit " on them? I think they make great earrings or zipper pulls or necklace pendants or.... Stop by wynwoods.com and click on charms on the home page then go to the charm category " words " to see this piece. HaPpY KnItTiNg!

Knitting on a warm afternoon on my side porch deck is a stunningly awesome way to spend part of my day, even if I am just using up leftover sock yarn!

Pardon Me (I Didn't Knit That for You)

Just for Fun!

Mighty Fine Yarns

They're back! Locally made burlap and bamboo handle crow bags!
Nice, deep and very sturdy. Cathy P. has been carrying hers everyday for over a year and it
still looks new! 

Shades of soft and my favorite color of the moment-
chartreuse! 

Snow Day

Snow is all about. Roads, schools, businesses and even the region's city halls are closed. The entire Pacific Northwest is sleeping under a blanket of white. Pausing this day, to not work in the yarn store or the bead shop, I have, from my knitting basket, removed three projects that have not been finished. These are my projects between projects. The go to things I take with me on car trips, plane rides and errands so a snowy day seemed to be the perfect time to work on them. What are you doing on this mid January afternoon?

New Felts

New felting pieces and packages have arrived from Tami at Handbehg Felts! The array of color is scrumptious and the patterns even more exciting! We have Wooly Lady felts, too and a great selection of books on how to use wool felts. Stop in. Open daily!

Happy New Year!!

"I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind."
Neil Gaiman

I could not say it better my friends!