January 2018 This Year's Theme is Peace and Serenity

Hello Everyone!

The New Year is upon us and the theme for this year is peace and serenity. The world around us is very fast paced, and although this can be exciting, the pressure it causes finds its way into everything we do, even our stitching.  Our stitching is supposed to be fun, perhaps a new learning opportunity, or even relaxing.  Yet, sometimes more than not, there are too many things vying for our attention (like the end of year holiday activities) that we find ourselves putting our knitting or crochet projects in a time out.  But now is the time to pick up those projects that are suffering from separation anxiety and fall in love with them again.  Finishing one project in your WIP stash can have very positive effects; a sense of accomplishment, and yes, a wave of peace and serenity that your project is ready for prime time! That's why we are holding Sit & Stitch Night every Thursday during the month of January before we start new projects with new skills. From a personal note, recently finishing two large projects like "What the Fade?!" and "Speckle & Pop" shawls, was a close to euphoric moment. My Mom fell in love with the colors of my "What the Fade?!" shawl as I was knitting it each time I visited her and my Dad.  Being able to surprise her with this finished gift for her 88th birthday in December was special for both of us (that’s her in the attached picture). 

I will finish the "Speckle & Pop" shawl during January and as I hold it in my hands I realize that I have much less to go towards finishing it and a great deal of knitting has already been done.  For me, keeping my WIPs organized saved the day when I returned to more regularly knitting them.  Although I may have some WIPs at the end of January, I will look forward to new projects in February because I know at least one (or more!!) project will be finished, as in woven in ends and blocked finished!

We think you will find that our peace and serenity theme is reflected in our store update.  With shades of ocean blue and white with warm sand, we want your LYS experience to be fun, light, peaceful and serene.  We appreciate your positive feedback on our new look and we are looking forward to this year of creativity.

My Husband (Linda’s Dad) and I spent the “warmer” holidays with our Alabama Family.  I was also able to spend time in the store with wonderful stitchers and thoroughly enjoyed our conversations.  One of the discussions was about the positive benefits of knitting and crocheting on a person’s health and well-being. I will be exploring this topic in the coming months.  We also had a great time working with Linda, our Son-in-Law Michael, and Grandson Stephen in helping to make Linda’s vision of the store’s new look update a reality.  Our visit came to an end too quickly, but just in time to come home to sub zero temperatures and snow cyclone storms.  My knitting projects enjoyed quite a bit of attention during the foot plus of snow that fell throughout New England. 

We all wish you a new year of peace and serenity as we enjoy getting back in touch with our projects during January and look forward to sharing new projects and new skills throughout the coming year. 

 Knit, Crochet, and Stitch On!!

Lisa