Learn about our newest yarn additions!

Jan released her Yarnmarket Bulletin this morning. In it you'll find great information about new yarn additions from Gedifra, Sirdar, and Tahki. She also presents some new colors in yarns by Rowan, Knit One, Crochet Too, Prism and Noro.

She praises Gedifra's cotton Violena, Sirdar's new anti-bacterial, non-allergenic bamboo/wool Snuggly Smiley Stripes, and 100% environmentally friendly bamboo, Snuggly White Whispers.

Jan also presents Natural Earth Cotton by Tahki, an extension of their eco-friendly Terra yarn family.

Yarnmarket has become well known for the variety of newsletters we produce -- from the monthly Newsletter that's chock full of yarns and pattern ideas, to the shorter Bulletin that provides a quick update, the highly educational Just My Type that teaches about the different types of yarns, and the popular Spotlight that features a new yarn company each month.

If you aren't currently receiving our bulletins and newsletters, be sure to sign up for them here.

If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?

Ummm...yeah, I guess I would.

You know how it is when you're sitting around the yarn shop talking about the newest Anny Blatt patterns or the latest issue of Vogue Knitting...and the conversation turns to amazingly insane things you've done in your life.

Well, here's mine. I did it about two weeks before I turned 50. Alex did it first and there was no way I was going to let him be more stupid than I am. The noise in the background is mostly spectators and others waiting to leap to certain death.

What amazingly crazy thing have you done...that you later lived to talk about?

Easter is the perfect time for Sirdar!

When Easter comes around I think about how excited I was as a little girl to get my new Easter outfit. I think it was a requirement in the 1960s that every little girl's Easter outfit included little white gloves, white shoes and a hat.

When I think of adorable children's wear, the first name that comes to mind is Sirdar. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of you Grandmas and Moms out there. The folks at Sirdar do a magnificent job on pretty little girl's clothing that is sweet and innocent. (Don't get me started about thongs for pre-teens!)

I like to see babies look like babies and little kids look like little kids. This is why I thought I'd show you two great little outfits you can make in time for Easter.

I selected them from Snuggly Baby Crofter, Book 377 by Sirdar that uses the Baby Crofter yarns that are so pretty. I love the pastel colors, don't you?

The first one I"ve shown is the Snuggly Baby Crofter Ballerina Cardigan The tie front is always nice because it can be comfortably adjusted.

I think this pretty little piece would be terrific for a morning of Easter Egg hunting. It's the Ribbed Yoke Cardi in Snuggly Baby Crofter DK. This wouldn't be too difficult to make in time for Easter or any upcoming spring event.

I know you'll love working with these Sirdar yarns, if you haven't already tried them. We've got lots of colors in stock...though, as you can see, I'm a little partial to blues and mauves.

Be sure to read our upcoming Spotlight on Sirdar for more great ideas from this truly wonderful yarn company.

Alex is so stupid!

You know, you think you know a guy after 30 years of marriage, but there's always some horrible surprise just waiting to destroy your illusions.

There we were having a perfectly pleasant evening last night when Alex blurted it out, "There's no such thing as anti-matter."

"What?" I gasped as I recoiled in horror.

"It's stupid," he responded, as if he'd just gotten back from CERN and was on a short stop-over in Pickerington, OH before heading over to Fermi to tell them his conclusion. "There's no such thing."

Well, I have to tell you that I was absolutely floored. I'd never imagined Alex would say such a horrible, insensitive thing.

I sat there stunned, shaken, and just when I decided I'd let it drop and pretend he'd never spoken of it he had the unmitigated gall to add, "There's no Higgs Boson either!"

Who is John Galt? FREE Atlas Shrug Pattern from Yarnmarket

If you're a fan of the book Atlas Shrugged, you'll want to create this tribute to Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden and John Galt. With a design inspired by railroad tracks, this unique shrug makes so much more than a style statement.

You can download the Atlas Shrug for free on Yarnmarket then knit it in the Caledon Hills yarn color "Rearden Metal."

The entire project can be found on Yarnmarket so you can buy everything you need in a single click.

We've wanted to offer this pattern for a while now...and our timing couldn't have been better. The long-awaited movie, Atlas Shrugged, opens next week on April 15.

UPDATE: The movie opened in Columbus, OH.

Finally! Mating season is here!

I thought you'd like to see the photo my Mom just took of a very handsome bird in her backyard. Apparently, he was strutting his stuff for a group of three very interested ladies. Isn't he something?

I wish human males could put on a fine, feathery display like this and parade around the yard to get their female's attention. Every time Alex does it, our neighbors call the police.

An important update...well, not really important...but an update nonetheless.

* The Bronx Zoo Snake is back in her pen. I'm kind of sorry to see her captured. I enjoyed reading about her escapades on the mean streets of New York City.

* Charlie Sheen continues to be crazy as a bed bug. Heck, I figure I'm twice as nuts as he is. How come nobody pays me $2.5 million to show up at work each week, screech like a loon, trash the place and get stoned?

* In 1986 we bombed Libya. This past week we started bombing it again. I am beginning to see a pattern here: We bomb Libya every 25 years. I wonder if I'll be around in 2036 to see if my theory is correct?

* My father has had four wives. I'm the luckiest person in the world: I'm the only living woman who is protected by the law from ever becoming his wife.

* I've spent three years and a bunch of money so I can say, "Si vous alliez chante une chanson, je serais chante avec vous" when all I really wanted to learn was how to order a chicken sandwich in French.

* The swallows returned to Capistrano. The buzzards returned to Hinckley, Ohio. Alvin the Chipmunk returned to my Mom's yard in Caledon, Ontario. I'm standing in the mirror, naked, and wondering if I can lose 20 pounds and 20 years by June. Spring has officially arrived.

* This morning, Jan sent out our April newsletter and you'll find lots of fantastic new yarns and patterns in it. I really chuckled when I saw this photo of the baby. I thought, "I wonder what that baby is thinking?"

Then I wondered if babies really think. I mean, we need words to think, don't we? What if we don't have words? How do our thoughts manifest themselves?

This is a discussion I keep raising with our French teacher. There are certain tenses in French that aren't in English. And tenses in English that aren't in French. Now, wouldn't this mean that there are certain concepts each of these groups are incapable of having?

Language has to have a tremendous impact on how we think. The more words we have for a certain thing, the more specific we can be about it -- like the Eskimoes and all their words for snow. (Or, to be PC, Inuit.)

The fewer words, the less definitive we can be. I've always found it interesting that most of the English synonyms for "free" are words that start with "un" or "non." In other words, free is the absence of something else, whether it be regulations, oppression, or restrictions.

Ayn Rand toyed with this idea in her book, Anthem. She wrote of a society in which use of the word "I" wasn't permitted. It's an interesting concept. Reminds me of working for Morris Saffer, the advertising genius who ran a very successful agency in Toronto in the 1970s.

We didn't use the word "I" when presenting ads to our clients. We used the word "we" to support the belief that Morris was the creative genius behind every campaign we developed. It was brilliant...albeit just a tad Machiavellian. We felt honored to be part of the brand identity that was Morris Saffer himself.

Unfortunately, I was young and impressionable at the time so I have spent the rest of my career using the word "we" when what I really mean is "I." People often look at me askance, wondering if I really think I'm plural.

You know, Saffer Advertising is still out there somewhere and I've got a lot on my plate right now. Maybe I ought to send Morris a good chunk of my work so my "we" can really -- finally -- be "us."