My Favorite Things

Because we do the ordering, and because we're in the shop every day, Kim and I often see things that you might not ever notice. Today, with that in mind, I want to talk about some of the knitting and quilting gadgets that I love; I think you will love them too. If you don't have these things at your house...well, you know us: We're never above selling you stuff.

I'll alternate them, so if you don't quilt or don't knit, feel free to skip over every other paragraph!

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Let's start with quilting, shall we? I think I'll start with my newest favorite thing: Mary Ellen's Best Press.

We initially bought it because one of our customers nagged and nagged for it. I finally told her we would order it if she bought it and also made some of her friends buy it. (We have minimum orders for some items, and I didn't want to be stuck with a bunch of extra bottles of this stuff.) She promised. Kim was skeptical when she saw that I had added it to our order, but I explained that this customer and her friends had promised to buy it.

We sold out of all of it within about a week.

Whenever we sell out of something that quickly, I sure do get very interested in it. So I tried it myself.

I loved it.

Kim was not so sure; she was a Magic Sizing fanatic. But I really, really loved it, and I suggested that she just try it once, because, really, I loved this stuff. So Kim buckled under.

Our can of Magic Sizing is now gathering dust.

Now we have every scent that Mary Ellen's makes--lavender, cherry blossom, Caribbean breeze, and, of course, unscented. And we're thinking that it's about time to start carrying the gallon refills.

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My next newest thing that I love for knitting is a bag.

Oh, I know. You have tons of bags. You don't need another one. But, my dear knitting friends, I'm talkin' about a bag here.

When I travel, I never carry less than 3 projects, and usually I carry many more if I'm traveling for longer than, say, dinner in Altoona. You never know what you're going to need. For example, the last time I went to Kevin's parents' for a 3-day weekend, here were my projects (circled below in a cheerful turquoise):

Lantern Moon understands my needs. They came out with a bag that is so large I can carry at least 3 full sweater projects in it. And I love the graphic, black-and-white print:


Inside, the pretty blue lining is attached in such a way as to give four additional large pockets (one for each sock project you're working on), a cell-phone sized compartment, and a zippered pocket. In addition, this bag helps people in Vietnam earn a living while being paid fair wages in good working conditions. Hooray!

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The Clover Yo-Yo maker is for making an old-fashioned type of quilt with a new-fangled type of gizmo:


To make yo-yos with this thing, you no longer have to use the bottom of a glass or piece of worn-out cardboard to draw circles on your fabric. You just snap the yo-yo maker onto the fabric, trim around it, and start stitching. All your stitches are the same length, and when you're finished, all your yo-yos are the same size. If you use it once, you will never look back! And of course it comes in different sizes and shapes.

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I know this might seem mundane, but I love Plymouth's stitch holders:


They are a classic style. The metal glides right into my live stitches. They come in a couple of sizes in each pack. I have never found a better stitch holder. In fact, I like them so much and hate running out of them so much that I wildly over-ordered them. Kim suggested that it might be good to talk about them in this entry, and maybe people would come in and buy a few of them.

So, knitters, if you come buy them, she will be happier.

And as soon as you do, I will order even more. Because I love these things.

Coming up soon.... I'm not done yet! I don't want you to have to spend 3 hours reading one blog entry, but I still have untold amounts of enthusiasm left! Stay tuned for more of My Favorite Things.