On the Road Again...

I was on the road again this past week. I cruised on up to the Twin Cities for a couple of days to visit a few shops. First I visited Adrianne at Be Ya Gi in Little Canada. We had a great time chatting and sipping coffee and ooing and aaaing over yarn and such. That may seem like a strange name for a shop and it took me a little while to really get it, but it is a mash-up up of "BEads, YArn, GIfts". That is exactly what they have there, how clever!

From Be Ya Gi, I had a surprise cancelation, so I had some free time to eat lunch and explore Minneapolis a little bit. I visited Russel + Hazel, a stationary store that I enjoyed just a little too much. They had bunny-shaped paper clips! And customizable planner notebooks! And a "Binder Bar"! I was in 7th heaven!

After R+H, I went to Needlework Unlimited, a very large and established yarn shop. There, I met with Karen, who has been at the helm of this great yarn empire for over a decade. Meeting someone that experienced in this industry is a surprisingly rare treat. I enjoyed my visit immensely and learned a lot.

From NU, I checked into my motel for the night. This was my first "yellow-light" situation with a motel. Meaning: I didn't feel entirely comfortable with the cleanliness or safety of this place, but it was quite enough to make me say "no" and leave. What appeared to be a prostitute was eyeing me from the moment I pulled up. She sat in the newly re-furnished lobby and glared at me as I checked in. I got to my room, a dark cavernous space furnished with cast-off patio furniture and king size bed roughly twice my age covered in cigarette burn holes that smelled of BO. It was early, so rather than hang out in the room, I looked up a shopping district and took off. The prostitute glared at me as I left.

The next day I packed up and hit the highway for Shepherd's Choice in Anoka. When I arrived, I was warmly greeted by Karen, her daughter Nancy, and their friend (whose name I can't remember and I feel really awful about that cause she was lovely!) I was blown away by these ladies' enthusiasm and warmth! I could have stayed for days, I was having that much fun with them. They have just moved the store from a barn out in rural MN to a store-front in a quaint suburb. Despite the stress of moving, these gals were invigorated and inspiring. I am really looking forward to hosting a Fashion Event with them in January!

From Shepherd's Choice, I made one last stop at Knitter's Palette in Lakeville. There I met with Pam. We had a nice little visit before I hit the road for home.

On the way home, I made a very important decision: I have decided that I much, much, MUCH prefer taking I-94 from MN to IL over I-90. 94 cuts through rural WI and drops me off right in the twin cities over the MN border. 90 takes me through 2+ hours of rural MN before I get to the city. Rural MN creeps me out for some reason, but Rural WI does not. I-90, however, does have the grandest crossing of the Mississippi river I have ever seen, so, put that in your pocket and walk with it.

Introducing Mountain Meadow Wool

I am proud to announce  that I have added Mountain Meadow Wools to my line of manufacturers. This is an awe-inspiring company that I hold near and dear to my heart already. Based out of Wyoming, Val and Heather are dedicated to all that is Good in yarn manufacture. They started the company not because they are passionate about knitting, but because they are passionate about wool as a fine agricultural product of Wyoming. They are committed  to doing right by farmers and ranchers, the sheep, the environment, the independent yarn shops, and the knitters. The yarn is naturally grown, humanely shorn, DOMESTICALLY PROCESSED AND SPUN in the most eco-friendly fashion and naturally dyed (or not dyed). 10% of the MSRP goes back to the farmers. In this industry, that is incredible.

The yarn is all natural, springy, and refreshingly home-spun (no pun intended, I mean that literally). I am confident that it is a joy to work with because Cat Bordhi is a devoted fan.  The retail prices are far lower than any other yarn of this caliber I have come across. I have not knit with it yet, though I plan to very very soon.

Shopowners, this is not to be missed! Knitters, please, ask your LYS about this yarn!

"I Survived Waupaca Wisconsin!"

And I loved every minute of it!

I just got back from my first roadtrip since my surgery. First, I was at the Sow's Ear in Verona, WI, where I met with the lovely Heather. The Sow's Ear is one of my favorite shops I've visited yet. It is a combination coffee shop/yarn shop and does both beautifully! I am hoping to get back there soon for a Fashion Event (details to follow).

From Fair Verona, I hit the trail northwards to Waupaca, Wisconsin. It was a lovely 3 hour drive through farm country during harvest time. The leaves are starting to change color and the sky, for the most part, was deep and endless blue. I could not have asked for a more beautiful drive.

Once I arrived in Waupaca, I was greeted by the warmest, most welcoming group of artists at the Waupaca Arts Center. The Arts Center is home to a shop run by 5 artists; each with their own specialty. They have Yarn, weaving and knitting supplies(Lamb's Quarters), beads, pottery, baskets, recycled clothing, photography, etc. You can find the Waupaca Arts Center on Facebook at "Waupaca Arts" and the yarn shop portion at www.lambs-quarters.biz

<---Anita, Jane and Victoria from Lamb's Quarters

At the Arts Center we hosted a Fashion Show and we must have been the talk of Central Wisconsin! Women drove in from over 60 miles away to see the show!

Extra-Special Thanks to shopowner Jane, Photographer Byron, and Models Anita, Victoria, Doris, and Karen!

Yaks and Yarns and Yucks (their title, not mine)

image courtesy of Denver Post

BijouSpun yarn is one of the lines I carry. Eileen over at Bijou Basin Ranch, home of the yak yarn, just sent me this link. The Denver Post did a piece on the Ranch that I really enjoyed. If you have a moment, I highly recommend that you watch this video. The yaks are so sweet and the fiber; so luscious!

No Call, No Show

Currently I am sitting on a bench, outside of a yarn shop in a quaint Chicago Suburb. I will not tell you which suburb or which shop. I am at my first of hopefully very, very few, No call-No Show appointments. I have no cell phone number to contact the shop owner at, no voicemail at the shop itself, no nothing. Luckily it is a lovely day to be out on a bench. And luckily, I did not have to drive terribly far or rent a motel room or any other some-such. This is purely an accident, an oversight I'm sure. However, consider me a little miffed.

That being said, I have further not-so-good news. I picked a very, very bad time to get sick. I have been dealing with an increasingly nasty heart burn problem for the past several years. I haven't seen the need to see a doctor up until recently because things are getting out of control. Well, long story short, I am now seeing a specialist and having a lot of tests done (both invasive and not so invasive). So, to say I'm a little bit stressed is, well, I'll leave it at "I'm stressed".

Sorry for the Negative Nelly post. I'll post something upbeat when something upbeat happens!

A Knit-Night Spectacular

To begin with, I should have taken photos. I really should have.

That being said, after a brief sales call out in Joliet at The Perfect Touch, I headed into Chicago for a very special Knit Night at Sister Arts Studio. We were celebrating (...and celebrating and celebrating...) Donna's 50th birthday! There was pizza and knitting and wine and great company and a fantastic time was had by all! If anyone has photos please e-mail them to me to post at a later date.

On the repping front, I have good news brewing and will share it when everything is official.

I also have 2 particularly friendly and fabulous yarn shops to recommend.

In Dunlap, IL I went to Knit 4 Together (no site) where I got to hang out with Nancy and Marilyn. Be warned, Nancy has a wicked sense of humor! I had such a good time and am hoping to have a fashion event with them. They are even looking into renting out a church hall for it!

From Dunlap I continued on to Knoxville, IL where I visited Sit'n'Knit (no site), a yarnshop-slash-HAIR SALON (Oh how cool!) I have been to a few cafe-yarn shops, but this was totally new and fabulous. Maureen, the shop owner, was just as sweet as pie and we had such a fun time looking at yarn. However, I did not take any photos, so bad blogger: no cookies.

I don't have much planned as far as appts for next week, so I'm hoping to get a lot of cold calling done, and perhaps even some knitting. (GASP!). Wish me luck!

The Yarny Yarn Empire Announcements

To start off with, I have a big announcement. I am now the President and CEO (and secretary and janitor and sole employee) of my VERY OWN CORPORATION! Knest Inc. has been officially registered as a corporation with the Illinois Secretary of State. Very exciting, if only this was a corporation that made $$...

Anyways, I have yet more exciting announcements. Ladies and Gentleman, get out your calenders! I have booked SWTC fashion events that you all truly must attend!

Friday, 9/11 @ 6 PM-Gifted Purl (120 W Main st, West Dundee, IL). A Stitches Celebration with Surprise SWTC Guest!

Thursday, 10/8 @ 5 PM- Montoya Fiber Studio (2566 Prairie ave, Evanston, IL). The Central Street Shopping District, a fabulous destination any day, is having an event called "Retail Therapy". There will be fun stuff happening all over, most notably the SWTC roadshow!

Thursday, 10/15 @ 6:30 PM- Sister Arts Fiber Studio (721 W Wrightwood, Chicago). This store is most near and dear to my heart. Please join the funniest, knittiest, wine-iest group of ladies in Chicago for an evening of, what else, wine, knitting, and SWTC fashion!

I hope to see lots of you there! And remember the SWTC motto: "Expect the Unexpected!"

Back on Home Soil

I am back on home soil now. When I last posted I had just pulled off the road somewhere near St. Paul, MN. After hitting the hay (hard!) I woke up to start fresh in a new city. First thing I did was get an oil change on the car (it was flashing and dinging at me back in La Crosse so I figured I better not push it). After that I began systematically visiting every yarn shop in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. To begin with, there are A LOT!! and on top of that, they are all HUGE by my puny, cramped, Chicago standards. I visited 11 shops while I was there. I even made 2 sales. It was not enough to cover the expenses of my trip, but I knew this was an introduction tour, so I would not be pulling in big bucks. So, special kudos to the ladies at Borealis Yarns

And The Fiber Studio!

My day in the Twin Cities was certainly more pleasant than I was anticipating after the night before. The weather was dreary but the people were so kind and warm! I even stayed a night longer than I anticipated and left early Friday morning.

I spent all day Friday on the road. I made a stop in Eau Claire, WI to visit Dixie at Yellow Dog Knitting. We had a nice chat and it was so nice to see her store. After that I had quite a time tracking down Fiber Garden in Black River Falls. My GPS took me off the highway, then off paved roads, and then dumped me at this:

"You Have Arrived at Your Destination." I think not.

Then the bridge back onto the interstate was out, so I spent a good 30 miles circling the highway, looking for a way back on. Then I stopped for gas and saw this:

I am not amused. I found my way back to the interstate and decided to forgo future stops. I will be out there again soon, no worries. I knew I was on the road too long when, upon arriving in IL, just 10 minutes from DC's house, I made a wrong turn while trying to be clever. I ended up in Libertyville. What a clod... I finally figured it out and thank goodness.

So, the Final Stats on this trip

Total # of Shops Visited: 29

# of shops found to be Out of Business:8

# of sales: 2

# of miles put on Lola: 1053.2

Thank You Officer Mark!

Before I say anything else, this is Officer Mark and he is Awesome!

After my only sales pitch of the day, yesterday, the yarn shop owner was walking me to my car, helping me carry some yarn. We put it in the trunk and began discussing routes to St. Paul... I was so focused on the conversation that when I went to close the trunk I didn't notice that my keys were in there. SO Yes, I locked my keys in my car in front of a client. After trying a few tricks I had up my sleeve, I called non-emergency police. They sent officer Mark who deftly pried open the door, hit the unlock button, and retrieved my keys and saved the day! Yay for Officer Mark!

Now on to the rest of the day. Back in Madison I visited Lakeside Fibers, a combination coffee house and yarn shop. What a simple but brilliant partnership. This shop really is right on a beautiful lake so you can buy everything you need for a new project, order a coffee drink, and then sit out on their back porch overlooking the lake. Wow!

I also visited the Knitting Tree in Madison, who has a fantastic selection of alpaca and noro yarns. Certainly worth a visit if you are ever in Madison.

From Madison I worked my way out to the suburbs. Muriel over at 'Tis the Season Christmas and yarn shop was kind enough to take a look at my full collection of yarns. She was also kind enough to walk me to the car, see "Officer Mark" story above.

In Verona, I visited what might be one of my top 3 favorite yarn shops, The Sow's Ear. It is another combination yarn shop/coffee house. This one just felt so welcoming and had such a phenomenally well edited selection. I had half a mind to rent an apartment right there and ask for a job. I probably should have... the rest of the day was less fun.

I was stunned at how quickly I moved from moderately sized suburbs to true outright rural-ness. Mind you, I am a city girl. I can cope with bad neighborhoods, traffic, pot holes, jay walkers, confusing tangles of city streets. Being in the middle of nowhere terrifies me. All I can think about is "if something happened, nobody would know how to find me. Even if they did, I am so many miles from a hospital..." and those thoughts are really bothering me. Plus the weather was looking less than promising.

When I finally got my foot in the door at "Gone Knitting" in Richland Center, The shop owner turned on The Weather Channel for me. Sure enough, tornado watches and red swirls all the way across my route. Not good news. I decided to venture forth through Viroqua and on to La Crosse. I should have stayed in La Crosse!

I listened to local radio for most of the route to keep an eye on the weather. In La Crosse I decided to skip the rest of the shops on my route and just go straight to St. Paul for the night. I crossed the Mississippi (which I always forget is SO SO SO BIG) once, made a wrong turn, crossed it again, and then crossed back again. I was getting tired of driving. Once firmly on the Minnesota side, the weather really started to trouble me. For one thing, I am not comfortable driving around geography of any kind. This highway wound and turned around rocky hills and cliffs. There was construction funneling the highway down to a single lane with a rocky drop-off on either side. No shoulder, no wiggle room. That is when my radio went crazy with "tornado alert, get under ground" warnings. Then suddenly I was driving through total White-Out Conditions. Truly white knuckle driving ensued. Once out of the storm I saw the whole storm system from behind. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Bright blue sky ahead and then charcoal grey wall of storm behind me....I just learned that 12 tornadoes hit my route from that system.

Final trial of the day was my ignorance of just how much nothing was in between St. Paul and La Crosse. I started feeling pretty lonely and scared. I stayed on the phone as much as possible, but about 10 miles out of St. Paul I finally pulled into a Microtel for the night. I was grateful to be off the road.

The Cheddar Curtain

This week I had my first foray across the state line with my rep kits. I had two appointments up in Milwaukee. Being unfamiliar with Milwaukee I sought out a native guide. Lucky for me, my college buddy Katy stepped up.

Her best friend lives 1/2 mile from my first appointment and her parents live down the block from my second appointment. So along with hitting a couple of sales calls, I got a first class tour of Milwaukee.

While I always miss the sign that says "Welcome to Wisconsin", I never miss this one. I think it's better anyways.

We also bought some Appleby's Gas. And you thought Applebees only did mozzerella sticks and burgers!

We passed Miller Stadium, home of the Brewers.

And here's Katy and her parents after we has a delicious dinner. Katy's mom had her very first Falafel!

When in Milwaukee I visited the Knitting Knook, a charming shop in a converted house. Her selection was beautiful and very high end. They will be expanding soon to gain some much needed space!

I also visited Fiberwood Studio, the first shop I've been to that had actual looms set up in the store. This shop is a fantastic destination for any weaver or multi-fiber arts interested crafter. This shop had a clear and unabashed natural color aesthetic that I just loved.

Dear Long Grove,

Dear Long Grove,

I have been so close to you for so long, and yet, I had no idea. I drove in, fumbling with my notes and map and other assorted detritus of travel, turned an unassuming corner and was stunned. Quaint shop after general store after art gallery after artisan candy shop... oh I could go on. Well done Long Grove. You are lovely.

Much Admiration,

Emelia

I visited I'd Rather Be Knitting in Long Grove this afternoon. A large, charming shop with an eye on fashion forward knits.

The red suitcase brigade!

I have been out on my first sales calls this week with the Red Suitcase Brigade.

First appointment was out in Barrington with Gene Ann's Yarns. It was a lovely shop, absolutely packed floor to ceiling with yarn! Despite my nerves and confusion, Miss Gene Ann ordered quite a bit of yarn and had lots of very helpful feedback for me. She will soon have almost a full color selection of AMaizing yarn, perfect for baby garments or any other project that demands machine washability, durability and non-irritating fibers.

When I got back from Barrington I had yet 2 more LARGE boxes waiting for me. When I opened them I was stunned by the lovely collection of garments Southwest sent me for my marketing event. I will be holding fashion shows at stores all over IL, WI and MN. Stay tuned for exact dates and locations!

I brought the collection to my home store, Sister Arts Studio in Lincoln Park and showed the owner, Donna and we began planning a fashion show and party for October. It's going to be a blast!

I also had a lovely appointment with the ladies of Loopy Yarns, who were kind enough to meet with me and help me practice my pitch with them.