Take a quick trip to Paris...with this new video from Anny Blatt yarns.

Fabienne, the manager of the Anny Blatt store in Paris, is always up to something new and exciting. A while back, she decided to create a wall of knitting along a Paris street and invited her friends and customers to join her.

Brush up your French and watch this terrific little video that shows the event, and how much it was enjoyed by Parisians who stopped by to have a look and -- yes -- to learn how to knit.

Meet Lily Chin on Let's Knit2Gether

CAT meets up with Lily Chin and finds out how she got started as a designer in the knitting industry. I was fascinated by Lily's comments about cables because I, too, lament that they have a right side and a wrong side. Lily has found a way to make them reversible, and she presents lots of great ideas in her new book, Power Cables.

I'm sure you'll enjoy this most recent episode of Let's Knit2Gether.

Lauren loves her gift!

One of our shoppers, Jackie Kearn, used Prism's Cool Stuff yarn to create a pretty gift for her niece, Lauren. I love the Prism yarns -- Hot Stuff, Cool Stuff, Wild Stuff -- because there are so many different combinations of textures, colors and fibers in each skein. I can't wait to see how each element knits up, so I tend to work very quickly whenever I use a Prism yarn.

This open-weave cape is a crochet project from Laura Bryan'ts Book #35, Cornucopia. Isn't it cute? It looks like Lauren really loves her newest fashion accessory.

Many thanks to Jackie for letting me know about her project and to Lauren for sending the photo to share with our readers.

Announcing the winner of our Crystal Palace Spotlight Contest

I’m thrilled to announce that the winner of our Crystal Palace Spotlight contest is Pamela H. of Sylvania, OH. Pamela will be receiving a Crystal Palace gift package worth over $140.Congratulations, Pamela! And many thanks to all of you who entered our contest.

Be sure to click here if you’d like to sign up to receive our Spotlight newsletter that highlights a different yarn company each month.

Learn about Natalie Redding of Namaste Yarns in this interesting and informative video

As many of you know, Yarnmarket will soon be offering our knitters the absolutely fantastic Namaste Farms yarns. We're busy behind the scenes right now, but we promise to have them available to you in the next couple of weeks.

Natalie recently completely a terrific video, and I think you'll want to meet her. She's absolutely delightful...and so artistic.

Take a few minutes to meet her and to learn about her yarns. You'll be glad you did.

Be sure to visit us tonight. Free cookies! (If I don't eat them before you get here.)

We're really excited to be hosting the local Knitting Guild at Yarnmarket tonight. And even if you're not in the Guild, you're more than welcome to join us.

It's going to be a fun event.

Open House on Thursday, August 19 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm as our local Knitting Guild meets at Yarnmarket.

If you're in the Pickerington area on Thursday (and you're not feeling so romantic that you can't get out of your car), be sure to stop by Yarnmarket. The local Knitting Guild is holding their monthly meeting here, so we'll be on hand to show them our huge Yarnmarket warehouse, encourage them to relax and knit in our Showroom, and help them explore all the great bargains at BargainYARNS.

Please be sure to drop me a quick note if you'd like to come so I'll know how many cookies to bake. (Okay. I confess. I'm going to buy them.)

If you've never been to Yarnmarket before, this is a great chance to get acquainted with us...and to learn all about our local Knitting Guild.

Let's Knit2gether Episode Features Annie Modesitt

Have you ever found something you love to do only to have someone tell you that you're doing it wrong? If so, you must watch the latest Let's Knit2gether episode as Cat gets the real story behind Annie Modesitt's successful career as a designer and knitting teacher.

Find out what happened when Annie was told repeatedly that the way she knitted was "wrong," and learn how long it took her to tune out the critics and make her own way.

Just Arrived! New Yarns from Berroco, Crystal Palace, and Debbie Bliss.

Jan just released her monthly Bulletin with lots of new yarns and colors for autumn now available at Yarnmarket.

Berroco's introduced Blackstone Tweed Chunky, a gorgeous Italian blend of wool, mohair and angora that's perfect for your bulky-weight knitting and crochet projects. I really think this yarn is going to be a hit this autumn because it's so in tune with the back-to-classics fashion scene. We've got 10 colors in stock for fast delivery, and 16 of the original Blackstone Tweed. Our regular price for these yarns is just $9.35.

Then, building on the immediate success of their machine washable Vintage yarn last fall, Berroco's designers have embraced the fashion trends with Vintage Chunky. Spun as a heavy worsted or aran-weight fiber gem, Vintage Chunky blends the same wool, acrylic and nylon as its skinnier gauge cousin. We've got 24 colors of this yarn in stock, and it's selling for only $6.35 per ball.

If you love these new yarns, you'll want to get the books dedicated to them: Berroco #288: Blackstone Tweed featuring 10 projects full of rustic appeal and Berroco #302: Vintage & Vintage Chunky -- a detail oriented collection of fabulous wardrobe staples. Our regular everyday price for both these books is only $6.85.

The new Glen yarn by Debbie Bliss is sure to become a classic. Superbly crafted in Italy of 30% merino wool, 30% alpaca and 40% acrylic, Glen is a rustic tweed constructed by blending together several complementary shades from the same color family. Glen gives you lovely tonal graduations from dark to light and back again in a single-ply, quick-to-create yarn for all your fast cool-weather knitting & crochet projects. We've got all 12 colors in stock for just $8.85. Debbie's new book Glen has 12 beautiful designs including coats, sweaters, jackets, cardigans, and more. Sizes go up to 2X on some of the projects.

New and notable from Crystal Palace is their Chunky Mochi, a wonderful complement to worsted Mochi Plus and fingering-weight Mini Mochi, the self-striping wonder that started the "mochi" craze. Crafted of the same 80% ultra soft merino wool and 20% durable nylon, Chunky Mochi gives you luscious touch and feel in a quick-to-create option. We've got 14 colors for just $7.80 per ball.

Check out the free patterns featuring this yarn like the Chunky Mochi Easy Broken Rib Scarf, the Chunky Mochi Dragon Ribs Hat, the Chunky Mochi Fan Stitch Scarf and the Chunky Mochi Fingerless Mini-Mitts with more being added soon.

You may not have noticed this, but at Yarnmarket we try to keep our everyday prices low, and we don't provide volume discounts. We've found that by maintaining lower prices on all our merchandise, all our shoppers benefit -- even those who want to buy only one or two skeins at a time.

Of course, if you're looking for big savings, you'll want to visit our BargainYARNS sale site where we put our discontinued lines, special buys, and other deals in addition to our huge selection of value-priced yarns and accessories.

Be sure to sign up for our Yarnmarket newsletters so you won't miss out on announcements of new products, big discounts, free patterns, and other information helpful to Yarnmarket shoppers.

Namaste Farms Yarns are featured in Vogue knitting Fall 2010

We're really excited about the pending launch of Namaste Yarns at Yarnmarket, so we were thrilled when we saw this item in the most recent issue of Vogue Knitting magazine. It's in the What's New section at the bottom of page 16.

I've worked with this yarn and I can tell you that it's absolute bliss...soft, luxurious and the colors are heavenly!

We're working away to get these yarns ready for an autumn launch and I'll let you know when they're available.

Who says nothing exciting ever happens at a yarn shop?

When I arrived in the office this morning, Michele and Stefanie were laughing so hard they could barely even speak. The first thing I thought was, "Gee...I didn't think I looked THAT bad."

When they could finally spit out a few coherent words, they told me that there's a couple outside in a car...and they're...well...we try to run a G-rated blog here so I won't tell you what Stef and Michele told me that couple was doing.

As honest as I think Stef and Michele might be, I didn't believe them. So I walked outside myself and had a look.

Well, heavens to mergatroid! There they were in broad daylight, at 10:00 a.m., at a yarn shop, testing the shock absorbers on their Mustang.

Now, as all of you know, I'm a nature lover. So I pulled out my telephone and took a photograph. (And to think that Alex kept asking me, "Why do you want a camera on your phone?!")

After what seemed an eternity (because I'm a very old lady) the couple poked their heads up, saw me waving to them, and high-tailed it out of here as quickly as they could.

I thought I'd share this story with you because I can't tell you how many times I'm asked, "Does anything exciting ever happen at Yarnmarket?"

The answer is: Yes. It does. And when it does, I'm ready with my camera phone to capture it for all eternity.

UPDATE: Alex refuses to let me change our slogan to:

Yarnmarket
The world's most romantic yarn shop.

AslanTrends Del Cerro Cabled Cardigan featured in Vogue Knitting Fall 2010

We were breathless when we saw this fantastic new cardigan created by Yoko Hatta for Vogue Knitting. We've always loved AslanTrends yarns for their high-fashion appeal, so we shouldn't have been surprised that Vogue would choose a pattern in their Del Cerro yarn for the cover of the Fall 2010 issue.

We've created a project for this Del Cerro Cabled Cardigan on Yarnmarket so you can order everything you need -- from the Vogue Knitting magazine that includes the pattern right down to the Del Cerro yarn and stitch markers. You might want to order yours now because we know that this is going to be a BIG hit and you'll want to be first in your knitting group to complete it.

If you'd like to see more of this cardigan, be sure to visit VK360 for a video presentation.

Photo by Rose Callahan

They came all the way from Dublin to visit us at Yarnmarket.

Okay...Dublin, Ohio. But that's at least a 30-minute drive! We were so thrilled when a group of knitters from Dublin asked if they could take over YarnMartian Headquarters last Saturday. Imagine how thrilled we were when they told us they were knocked out by our massive inventory!

There's a terrific blog posting about the visit at The Art of Tying Holes Together (great title, isn't it?) I've stolen one photo from the article, but you can see a lot more if you click on the link.

Thanks to all of you who visited with us. I'm so sorry I couldn't be here to be part of the fun. Alex and I were up in Canada for the weekend. We're so glad that Jan and her team took good care of you...and we hope they helped you eat all the cookies.

Oh...a quick note to members of the local Columbus, OH Knitting Guild: we'll have cookies ready for your arrival this Thursday evening.

Hurry! Be sure to enter today for the Vogue Magazine Cowl Girls book giveaway!

You've got only a few hours left to enter the Vogue Magazine giveaway of 25 copies of Cowl Girls. This is a phenomenal book that any knitter would love!

Click here to for the entry form.

Win one of 25 Cowl Girl pattern books!

If you received the Yarnmarket Newsletter today you've already seen that our friends at Vogue Knitting have generously offered to give away 25 free Cowl Girls pattern books. This book by author and designer Cathy Carron presents over 35 fantastic new patterns for the coolest fashion accessory this autumn. It's the "neck's big thing to knit!"

I really love these cowls and can't wait to knit a few up for myself.

Be sure to enter the Cowl Girls pattern book contest by August 17th by filling out the entry form here. The winners will be announced on our blog, Shear Bagatelle.

The winner of the FREE one year subscription to Knit 'n Style is...

Kristen M. of Fullerton, CA. Kristen's husband loved a pattern in the book...and you know how rarely a man actually wants a hand-knitted sweater!

Congrats to Kristen...and many thanks to Penelope Taylor, Editor of Knit 'n Style for offering a gift subscription as a prize.

See CAT's interview with Eunny Jang, Editor of Interweave Knits

Eunny Jang started knitting at the age of 4 after being taught by her Grandma. Learn how she went from freelance writer and blogger to the highly regarded editor of Interweave Knits.

In this episode of Let's Knit2Gether, we learn about Eunny and here her thoughts on the autumn issue of Interweave Knits and all the gorgeous updated classics we'll be seeing in it.

My Mom's Garden of Eden

The other day, Judy A. was kind enough to comment on my Mom's gardens when she saw the photo of Ladybird's babies. My Mom didn't think they looked very nice in that photo so she sent me this shot over the weekend.

Isn't it spectacular? You'll get a better view if you click on the shot to enlarge it.

My Mom works day and night on her gardens and the only time she stops is when she throws out her back and is confined to her bed for a few days. Of course, the minute she feels better, she leaps out of bed and gets right back out to her garden to re-injure herself. Mom's driven. If there's a weed, she'll find it and rip it out by its nasty little roots. If there's a wall to be painted, she's up on the ladder with her paintbrush. And if there's a path to be built, she's down on her hands and knees laying stones.

You get the picture.

You know, I've been thinking lately of all the things my Mom did for me when I was a kid and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her. Maybe some of you will think, "Yeah...my Mom did that, too."

So here goes...

Mom, thanks for:
1. Making me use proper grammar and correcting me if I said anything like, "Me and my friends..." I now know that Henry Higgins was right.
2. Making me sit up straight. I now see how awful it looks to be all slouched over.
3. Making me walk with proper posture. I am now thankful that I don't have a dowager's hump.
4. Making me go to the dentist. I still have teeth.
5. Making me to go bed early. I didn't look like Zombie kid and I'm still adamant about getting enough sleep.
6. Making me eat dinner at the table every night. I now know that when we listened to you and Ralph discuss Immanuel Velikovsky's theories, politics, economics, plate tectonics, religion, UFOs, Edgar Cayce, William F. Buckley, pollution and history we actually learned something.
7. Making me watch shows like The Smothers Brothers, The World Tomorrow, National Geographic Specials and Ed Sullivan. I now know that entertainment can be educational and education can be entertaining.
8. Making me go to the theater with you to see The Lion in Winter. It's still my favorite movie.
9. Making me watch Inherit the Wind on TV...even though it was a school night. I learned about the Scopes Monkey Trial, Clarence Darrow, Evolution, and what a magnificent actor Spencer Tracy was.
10. Making me laugh at things. Your funny fake letters to the imaginery psychiatrist, Dr. Bastedo, still make me chuckle. And Ralph's imitation of President Johnson was hysterical. I remember he'd entertain us with Presidential speeches in a thick Texan drawl, starting with, "I come to you with a heavy bladder." It still cracks me up.

The thing I'm most thankful for is that you forced your kids to think.

Over the years I've grown resentful of my pot belly, angry at my thighs, disappointed in my boobs, and annoyed by my aching feet. But -- crazy as it is -- I've always liked my brain.

Thanks for making sure that I used it.