Summer is upon us!  I can feel it in the air and on my calendar – which indicates there are (as of tomorrow) only  17 days of school left!  I cannot tell you how ready I am for summer.  Gardening, grilling, staying up later than I should, and of course knitting.

On the knitting end of things; I was at the Minnesota Shepherds Harvest Fiber Show today with my girls and we had a wonderful time.  I found some fabulous new yarns that will be showing up in the shop soon and I was very inspired by all I saw.  Overcome with a case of “startitis” (the need to start something new even tho you have many projects going at present) I decided that I  need a new project to knit.  Something lovely, light and simple.  I remembered a wonderful shawl by Stephen West called Daybreak.  I really, really like this shawl.  I don’t, however, wish to knit it alone.  Soooooo…. I decided to start a Shawl of the Month KAL (knit along), which means we can all knit this together – I know there’s a song in there somewhere.  I’ll post my progress, pictures, complaints, victories etc… on Ravelry and Facebook for the world to see and so can you.  It’s a great way to get a project going with a support group.

On the shop end of things - shop hours will be a changin’.  Beginning  June 13th, 2012 here are our new hours – I say “our” like there is somebody but me running this show.   

Monday, Tuesday & Friday – 10am – 3pm

Wednesday & Thursday – 1pm – 8pm (note the later opening and closing times)

Saturday 10am – 3pm

I hope you all have a great week and happy knitting.

Jenni

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As many of you know I have two jobs; one, as your humble yarn shop owner and the other more glamorous and mysterious as a school bus driver.

Every 6 weeks the good folks of district 719 let the children of our fair city out of school 2 hours early.  While the children look forward to their half day of school it really screws up my schedule…

I will be closed until 5:00pm Wednesday.  Yes!  You understand correctly.  To make-up for my absence during the day I will be open late on Wednesday night.  Actually, I have a group of ladies who wanted a class and I decided to just stay open for everybody as well… how nice of me, right?!

If you have any questions give me a call or just come on by to knit.

Happy knitting,

Jenni

TIME!  Who has mine?  I want it back and I want it back now.  I have no time to cook, no time to clean, no time to blog, no time to workout (well… not too dissapointed there) and worst of all no time to knit.  Does this sound familiar?  I’m a busy mom, business owner, wife, knitter and pretend creative person and some shmuck had the balls to come along and steal my time. 

Guess what, the other day I found 10 minutes of it.  Yup,  just 10 minutes but it was a glorious 10 minutes.  Do you know what I did with it?  I worked out.  I know you’re thinking “what the heck, Jenni, you could’ve knit with those precious, wonderful 10 minutes”.  You’re right, I could have.  But my solution is this.  I’m going to really look around for another 10 minutes, I’ll probably find it tucked inbetween the sofa cushions with a country’s worth of missing socks and stale Cheerios.  When I find that 10 minutes, it’ll be used to knit.  After all, I really don’t want to be fat and knitting so I’ll keep the 10 workout minutes for now.  

We all have time, we just need to find it.  I spend a lot of time thinking about the time I don’t have… that’s just dumb.  I spend time sitting during commercials, wondering about what to do next.  I spend time finding things to do that I don’t have time for.  

Nike has a beautiful motto “Just Do It”.  In a nut shell that’s what you need to do to recover your time.  Just do it.  Instead of thinking about what to knit, just knit.  Instead of thinking about working out, work out!  Instead of  wishing you’d come and knit with friends at the Twisted Loop - Just Do It!  Nike is on to something… and I know they didn’t steal my time.

Happy Knitting

At 12:00pm today I get a text from the Eldest saying “5 hours til we’re home”.  You see, she’s been at camp with her class for the past week.  She referred to it weight loss camp – in her teen mind they hiked 6 miles a day and ate berries and twigs.  Oh, they had ribs - teeny tiny but really awesome ribs.  She dove into at two hour dicertation of the trip;  laughing til she hurt, singing songs with her five bunkmates and named their band “tie-dye denim” because the upper bunk mate had on her tie-dye volleyball t-shirt and denim pants… kinda like Aerosmith without the drugs .  She conquered her fear of heights by climbing the largest rock wall ever, and learned that Lake Superior is not only the largest body of water in the United States and Canada, but it is incredibly beautiful to boot.  Those images, however, will remain in her mind as she forgot her camera in her dorm room (sigh).

No electronic devices lead to unique hair styles, actual verbal and written communication and complete ignorance to what happend in the world for one entire week.  One week of no bad news, no politics, no commercials asking them for their money, no parents, and best of all – no homework.  After one week of being unplugged, unstyled and starved  she’s still raving about how she’ll never forget what a blast camp was (except hunting for moose poop… that was gross not fun).  Her elation made me remember fondly camp as a kid. 

So now she’s exhausted and wants to watch some TV, Twilight as a matter of fact.  She wants to watch TV with me and crochet.  I couldn’t be happier.  I have her back, starved, a bit smelly and still wanting to hang with mom doing what she and mom do best.  She crochets, I knit and we both root for Team Jacob… what could be better?

Happy Knitting

Jenni

We all fantasize about that man who will, after working a full week, come home take care of the kids, make dinner, throw some laundry in the washer and perhaps actually move the furniture when he vacuums.  He is indeed a fantasy, a mere phantom of perfection that we like to try to project upon our own beloved spouses.  Some say that Karma is a bitch and will give you exactly what you deserve in life… true… so true.

I’m not a lazy person by nature.  I grew up with the necessity to know how to move quickly, adapt easily and keep an extremely tidy room.  My family was the quintessential military family.  I confess that latley my “happy home-maker” skills have been lax due to my need to supply the shop with great samples and fun classes.  To be perfectly honest it’s all a ruse, smoke and mirrors, I just want to knit with really great yarn.  There you have it, the truth cometh out.  This knitting need  has replaced the true need for clean clothes, decent meals and clean toilets here at the Krosnowski Farm.

In steps the “fantasy man”.  My husband.  He was raised by a good German mother who fought dust and dirt like it was an invading force from a distant country.  Her children (well… her son at least) were on board with her mission to clean all things inanimate.

People ask me how I do it all; drive school bus, own a shop, make samples, update the website, blog, facebook, knit, cook, clean, get the kids to and from their many activities, maintain a good sense of humor and have great hair – most of the time,  etc… Well, his name is BOB!  He is the reason it all gets done,  So take that Karma… I must’ve done something good in my life (queue Sound of Music – Must’ve Done Something Good song).

My eldest child is obsessed with everything Hunger Games.  When we go the grocery store without fail she runs to the magazine isle and pours through the seemingly endless teen publications until she finds some new snipit of information that may lead to a peek into the movie she is dieing to see.

Imagine her delight when she found out the cast of the Hunger Games was signing autographs at our very own Mall of America.  Sheer bliss washed over her face and with a determination rarely seen in teens she called her BFF and they plan their trip to the MOA; bring a change of clothes to school (they wear uniforms), change right away, have BFF’s mom pick-them-up promptly at 2:30pm, arrive at the MOA at 3:00pm and get autographs signed and be in Hunger Games Bliss for until the movie comes out at the end of this month.

Well… the best laid plans of a teenager go more like this:  bring a fabulous change of clothes to school only to find out that your BFF miscommunicated that she will be picking you up at 3:30m at your house,  arrive at MOA at 4:15 – which they find out later is only 45 minutes  before the cast is scheduled to depart – and wait… and wait… and wait… She never did get an autograph but did score an awesome picture of the corner of one of the main characters head.  

No autograph and a lot of waiting did produce more than a crappy picture, she had the good sense to take along her crocheting and made a fun little monster for her other BFF who’s birthday is today.  Smart girl I think.

 (full disclosure - the photo below is not her monster, she made one from the same pattern)

When I was a child we moved every 3 years.  To keep her sanity and sense of family order, my mother would give my sister and myself one week to unpack our bedrooms.  Anything left in a box would get pitched.  She was a moving maven!  She was organized, scheduled and knew how to get from point A to point B in optimal time!

Well, the apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the tree.  Immediatley after Beginning Sock Class ended last Saturday the move began.  We started carting out yarn, patterns, books and shelving at 12:15pm and were completley out of our tiny cozy space at Home Accents (Colleen and Shirley cozied up around the class table)

and into the Prior Lake Library by 2:20pm. 

Knitting Goddess - Jessica

Not too shabby.  As far as getting from point A to point B, well… we didn’t need a map or even a moving van.  The library is just down the street, take a right at the flower shop  and viola there you are.

Gianormous windows, tile floor and an almost cathedral high ceiling make this new location seem much larger and spacious than our former cozy downstairs location.  I must admit, however, I find myself sucking in my gut and standing up straight all the time because people can always see what I’m doing.  I just pray that I’m not walking around the shop with my mouth hanging open or talking to myself – people might start to talk…

I hope you can make it into visit me soon.

Until then, Happy Knitting

Jenni

Well, I promised a DYK every week and I was really good for a couple weeks.  Sounds like every diet plan I’ve ever tried.  I have a confession… I haven’t had anything of interest to tell you.  Crap!  I have writers block.

I suppose I could tell you the my Eldest Child made the High Honor Roll and the my Youngest Child is aspiring to be the next Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer but that’s not interesting stuff… just… mom stuff. 

A lot has been going on at “the Loop”.  We’re working up a new logo, ordering new yarns and making up great spring class line-up that will include beginning crochet, felted ballerina slippers (soooo cute),

some sort of beach bag, either felted or crochet, and monsters. 

I’m hoping to have the class schedule done by next week.  Then I’ll really have a lot to say.

Until the block is lifted.  I hope you are all knitting/crocheting/spinning merrily along.

Happy Knitting,

Jenni

Lisa Ellis, a well published and internationally recognized knitwear designer, has generously offered a trunk show of some of her most popular hat designs to little ole’ me.  Go figure!  200.4 square feet in a basement of a gift shop and I get a really super trunk show of lovely hats for 3 weeks.

Take a peek.

The Ski Hat and the Twined Hat are both made using an ancient Scandinavian technique of knitting called Tvaandsstickning.  You are knitting with two strands of yarn pulled from the outside and the inside of  your ball of yarn.  It’s a really great technique that makes the hat squishy and windproof.  Which is great considering we have no snow, tons of wind and really cold temperatures on the horizon.

I carry the patterns for all of these hats and a couple more, you’ll have to come in and see them in person.  

Tvaandsstickning will be offered as a class, most likley in February or March.  I can spell it, because the paper with the proper spelling is sitting here in front of me, but don’t come into the store expecting me to pronounce it (wink).

Happy Knitting,

Jenni