Who is this guy? Hey, it's Trace Adkins! (Whoever he is.)

I was just looking for a file when I discovered this photograph stored on our YarnMartian World Headquarters computer network. Now, I know the very happy pretty lady is Lynn, our magnificent Queen of Customer Service (Hail, Lynn, Queen of Customer Service!). But I haven't got a clue who that guy is.

I know he's someone famous...and he's someone Lynn likes very, very much...and he's a country singer. But if he slapped me in the face with a live halibut, I still wouldn't know who the heck he is. That's how much I know about country music.

Now, if this guy were someone like David Bowie, I'd recognize him immediately. I'd say, "Hey! What the heck is Lynn doing with MY guy?!" and then she'd have some 'splainin' to do.

Or maybe if this guy were with The Killers, Snow Patrol, or The Fray I'd say, "Hey, I think I've seen you somewhere before. Can you sing something for me?"

But, I'm afraid that whoever this really famous, talented guy is...well, I'm the one person in the world he'd want to have on his jury. (Not that he's done anything illegal. But if he did, I'd be the perfect jury candidate because I have no preconceptions except that maybe he's a nice guy because Lynn probably wouldn't like a rat.)

The first person who sends me an email to tell me who this guy is will get a $25 Yarnmarket Gift Certificate.

And, no, Lynn...you're disqualified. YarnMartians can't enter our own contests.

YarnMartian UPDATE -- I received a letter last night from Allison Haas in Alaska. She said this guy's name is Trace Adkins. I'm not sure I believe her, but what the heck? I'll send her the Gift Certificate anyway. But warning to Allison: If this turns out to be Billy Bob Becker, the guy who fixes mufflers at the local garage, I want my $25 back.

Just Released! Just My Type Eco-Friendly Yarns

Now you can enjoy knitting while you take care of Mother Earth! Jan has just released her latest issue of "Just My Type" with some very helpful and important information about eco-friendly fibers. She discusses the difference between Readily Renewable, Organic and Recycled yarns and gives some fabulous examples of each.

She also provides a great variety of summery patterns for each of the yarns she presents, so you can select easily select a project using one of these environmentally responsible fibers you'll find at Yarnmarket.com

Be sure to sign up for Yarnmarket's newsletters so you'll receive your issue of "Just My Type" each month. You'll want to collect them all so you can create your own library of information about the yarns you use.

Louisa Harding Event at Yarnmarket

On Tuesday night we hosted an event for all our Yarnmarket knitters in the mid-Ohio region -- plus a few from Michigan! This was the first time we'd invited a designer to our shop so we were all a little nervous. But it turned out to be a wonderful evening and the ladies who attended asked when we'd do it again. Isn't that great?

The presentation by Louisa was to start just after 6:00 p.m. so we figured we'd better provide food for our hungry guests. Devin, the event coordinator at our local Panera delivered sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies -- and we had lots of candy around so people could munch as they listened to Louisa and then did a little shopping.

Guests started arriving as early as 5:00 p.m. -- and the first was a lovely designer who was visiting town for the TNNA Conference. Ysolda is from Edinburgh (one of our favorite cities) and she was meeting her friend Erin here. Erin's the lady who organizes the Sticks 'n Stitches events in Columbus and brings members of his various knitting groups to visit with us on occasion. You probably see her a lot on Ravelry.

We were also delighted to welcome our longtime friends from Nationwide's Head Office. What a terrific group of ladies they are! It's always so nice to have them visit us because they inspire us to do things like buy couches for the showroom so people can relax, paint it so they'll think it's pretty, and add a nice new seating area with a table so they can spread out their yarns and patterns. Thanks for joining us Margie, Susan, Fran, and Karen. (Sure do hope I haven't forgotten anyone.) Let me know when you'll be coming for your annual autumn shopping excursion. I don't know what I'll do this time to spruce the place up for them. Maybe install a hot tub?

Ann Smith, who won First Prize for her "Ladybugs for Lesa Shawl" in the Yarnmarket/TKGA knitting design contest, was here and we introduced her to all the other ladies who thought her entry was gorgeous.

We were happy to welcome lots of ladies who'd never shopped at Yarnmarket before. Some of them were surprised that we're open to the public. We've heard through the grapevine that there are local folks who think we're Internet only. Au contraire! We love to have visitors! We're running an ad in the local newspaper next week just to be sure everyone knows.

By the time Louisa began her talk the room was packed and we had standing room only. (Don't worry. All our knitter got seats. YarnMartians stood at the back of the room.) Louisa spoke for quite a while about her beginnings with Rowan, her family life, her success with those absolutely wonderful Miss Bea books. It was really inspiring to listen to her and to learn about how she gets her ideas. I particularly enjoyed the parts about her family: her husband is the photographer, her kids and nieces and nephews are the models. Everyone pitches in to help.

Louisa has been in the U.S. for the TNNA Show, and to promote her new book, Bizoo Bizu #21. We feel really honored that she'd come to Yarnmarket to show our knitters the designs they'll find in her newest collection.

After the presentation, Louisa signed copies of her books in our showroom and chatted with knitters who also shopped, knit and talked together about knitting, motorcycles (?!) and life.

If you'd like to attend an upcoming event, be sure to sign up for the Yarnmarket Newsletter where we'll be sure to mention what's happening at the store. You might also want to become our friend on Facebook or follow us on Twitter where we're now posting and Tweeting to our heart's content!

Many thanks to Louisa Harding and to all our knitting friends for making this a truly wonderful evening!

Hurray! TNNA!

Well, it starts tomorrow and we're almost ready! Not only are we very busy with our booth for Yarndex (the online yarn directory) and YarnMerchant (the site for yarn stores), we're also planning oodles of meetings with manufacturers and the media. What fun! While Alex and Jan are out shopping for gazillions of balls of yarn for our Yarnmarket shoppers, I'll be visiting the publications to see what's new with them, and I'll also be interviewing industry dignitaries for KnitchMagazine.com.

We're almost finished putting the final touches on the summer edition (which is really sort of an "addition" because we're adding a lot of new articles to the spring issue). It ought to be out next week...so be sure to keep your eye out for it.

We're also putting together articles for the autumn issue. We started on it months ago and gathered a lot of great fashion information while we were in Paris in May. I always love the autumn fashions -- probably because the cold weather sets my frosty little Canadian heart aflutter. II'll be taking lots of photos at the TNNA show and presenting them in the magazine so you can see what the manufacturers are promoting this season.

Don't forget that we're hosting the lovely Louisa Harding at Yarnmarket on Tuesday, June 16. If you want an invitation, send me an email at deborah@yarnmarket.com

Classic Elite Sprout and Crystal Palace Mini Mochi Plus are here!

We've just added a couple of wonderful new yarns that you're going to want to know about.

First, from Classic Elite -- the gorgeous Sprout that's part of the earth-friendly "Verde Collection." This heavy-worsted to chunky-weight, 100% organic cotton yarn has terrific texture & nubbiness thats' sensational spring and summer sweaters, cardis, tops & accessories.

Also today, we've added Crystal Palace's Mini Mochi Plus -- a yarn you'll want to buy before it becomes hard-to-find. Building on the terrific success of fingering-weight Mini Mochi, Crystal Palace has developed the auto-striping, worsted-weight version -- Mochi Plus. This soft-as-a-kitten yarn is now available in the bright rainbow colors. Later in the summer, a wide range of others will be added including baby & unisex choices. I really love this yarn -- the colors and the feel of it. It's beautifully crafted of 80% merino wool & 20% nylon. Really, this yarn is exquisite and I can't say enough good things about it.

Big Change at BargainYARNS

Over the past few months, Alex has been very busily purchasing value-priced yarns to include on Yarnmarket's Sale Site, BargainYARNS. Now, with the addition of Red Heart and Kertzer, we're happy to announce that BargainYARNS not only features ends-of-lines, discontinued yarns and special buys, it also presents a terrific selection of value-priced yarns.

We think this change to BargainYARNS is going to be very popular amongst knitters looking to knit more and pay less. If you haven't yet subscribed to the BargainYARNS Alert, you'll want to do so immediately. That way, you'll be among the first to know when new value-priced yarns or special buys are made available online.

Join us for an evening with Louisa Harding!

On June 16th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., we're delighted to host the phenomenal Louisa Harding at a special event at Yarnmarket. She'll be presenting her new fashions and signing copies of her book for our invited guests.

It promises to be a fun evening with refreshments, a tour of YarnMartian World Headquarters, and even some shopping, if you're so inclined.

If you'd like to receive an invitation, please email me at deborah@yarnmarket.com

Space is limited, so please let me know right away if you can make it. Oh...and if you don't know where we are, we're just a few minutes off of Highway 70, the second exit east of 270 in Pickerington, OH.

You don't know where Pickerington, Ohio is? Well, geez...it's right beside Reynoldsburg, birthplace of the modern tomato. (I swear this is true! Or, at least, the people in Reynoldsburg claim it's true.) Reynoldsburg and Pickerington are