Another Yarnmarket Bulletin!

Jan released another Yarnmarket Bulletin this week, and it's been a big hit! In this issue she features new yarns from Artyarns, Regia & Caledon Hills plus new colors from Lang, Rowan, RYC, Cherry Tree Hill, Regia & Gedifra. She also provides some great info on autumn and winter fashion trends and offers some terrific holiday gift ideas.

Be sure to subscribe to it so you'll get Jan's newsletter and bulletin every month.

That reminds me...a lot of my friends are really nervous about the current economic crisis. And with Christmas around the corner, they're anxious about spending too much money on gifts. We're reading a lot of articles urging people to consider homemade gifts this year -- not only to save, but to return to traditional values.

Well, I'm all for it. I can honestly tell you that there's nothing that will be cherished more than a gift made with your own two hands.

When I was 16 years old, my Grandma made me a quilt for Christmas. It was pink cotton squares, with pink and white gingham trim. Grandma used pieces of white yarn to make a little knot in the center of every square. That was 37 years ago. That pink quilt is long gone, and I have no photograph of it, but it's left in indelible impression on my heart. I picture it vividly.

I also keep in my drawer, in a plastic pouch, the white acrylic shawl Grandma knitted for me the Christmas before she died in the mid-70s. I may never wear that shawl -- because it's too precious to me -- but I will never, ever part with it.

Isn't that the kind of gift you want to give?

I really hope that instead of shopping for expensive trinkets and gadgets that won't be remembered, many of you will be making gifts to be cherished for decades to come.