Well, it’s been a while since making an entry on the blog. I came back from the TNNA Trade Show in Long Beach California a little over a week ago and there is so much to tell everyone about.

I think I’ll start with the knitting. We made wonderful purchases to add to our growing selection of yarns. We bought Bergere de France’s Cotton Fifty and the pattern line. The girls were in love with the designs and very excited about buying them for the store. We acquired Dale of Norway’s Baby ULL and all their beautiful pattern support from infant thru tweens. Punta del Este’s Baby Alpaca Tape, Rope Light - cotton, Pima Tape - cotton and a single-ply cashmere/merino mix called Mericash are new additions that will be arriving soon.

Since Tilli Tomas is a customer favorite in our shop we were thrilled to purchase the Shimmer and the Sequenced Lace to add to the choices we already have in her line of yarn. Other new yarns are Misti Alpaca in Grande hand paints and silk blend, Be Sweet mohair’s in the fine dk weight, ribbon in 6 colors and wonderful new patterns. Ooooops, I almost left out Kaffe Fassett’s striping yarn by Regia!

An exciting event at the show was seeing the new Alchemy book which we are proud to be listed as a stockist for the lovely designs. We added Sanctuary, a plied 70% wool - 30% silk; Migrations, an amazing yarn that changes color in a most unusual way, and Monarch a 70% cashmere - 30% silk blend. What more to say other than delicious.
As for yarn, one last thing, we will have the largest selection of Malabrigio yarns in New York City.

Other items we purchased for the knitting shop were fabulous bags. We found large bags and project bags with grommets that can run 3 balls at a time from Walker Bags. We also found gorgeous bags from Lantern Moon and Della Q. We purchased more beautiful purse handles from Sunbelt. We have new shawl pins as well as reordered all the magnificent ones we sold out of when we first opened. We also got some more fun felting kits from Pick Up Stick. Some of you will be glad to hear that we bought Afghan hooks. YEAH!!!!

We are pleased to announce that from now on we will receive 3 of all new publications automatically the day they are received from our supplier.

We chatted with several people about fall workshops:
*Maggie Jackson, of Maggie Knits.
*Jeanne deCosster of Elemental Designs. She is a knitwear designer and owner of a new hand dyed Shetland wool company
* Jil Eaton, who has a new yarn book coming out soon
*Melissa Leapman who is a prolific designer
*Kaffe Fassett

We are incredibly excited that we are talking to Arlene Mintzer about doing a workshop in the spring. She is one of Nancy’s favorites in the hand knitting and crochet world!

Stay tuned as new things arrive - we’ll be posting updates here and updating our web site as they arrive!

Annie

Our year end sale is in progress which means that all in stock needlepoint canvases are 20% off. Shown below are a few of the beautiful canvases we have in stock. We love Melissa Shirley and this series of her circus animals are no exception!!!

Another favorite of our’s is Trubey and this canvas is just exquisite, it’s her Black Horse.

Trubey’s Black Horse

The sale runs through January 15, 2008 so call or email us if there is something you are looking for! Better yet, if you are in the New York area, please stop by, we would love to see you!

We wish you happiness, good health and lots of stitching for 2008!!!

Annie and the girls

We are so excited to announce the arrival of the In Good Company trunk show in the Needlepoint shop! This year we have something for everyone, be it

mini socks

3D bird houses

stand up bunnies

and so much more!  You can also see more of IGC’s designs at their web site. These delightful canvases will only be here until November 14th so if you are in the neighborhood be sure to stop by or give us a call or send an email to see if there is something you are interested in. As always, trunk show canvases are discounted at 15%. Hope to see you soon!

It was a week ago that Annie & Company Knitting had it’s opening cocktail party and I have to say that it was an amazing event. The store was filled with friends, customers, vendors and designers.

There was an enormous amount of food and wine. I enjoyed seeing some of our customers who have already become regulars pull out their current projects and start knitting.

The downer to the evening was that it was an unusually hot and humid night for late September in New York City. We had the air conditioning turned all the way down, but because of the large amount of people in the store it was incredibly warm. It was nice to see Iris Schreier of Art Yarns and Teva Durham of Loop-d-Loop. Teva is going to be teaching a workshop of projects from the pamphlet of designs from her new line of wool produced by Tahki / Stacy Charles in the store on October 23 and 30. Speaking of Tahki/Stacey Charles, both Diane Freidman of Takhi and Stacey Charles were at the party.

Shirley Paden, the renowned knitwear designer and teacher frequently seen in Vogue and Interweave Knits magazine, joined us for the festivities. It was so nice to have support from the industry at the launching of the store. Even though knitting is foreign territory to Patti Mann, a needlepoint designer, and Doug Kreinik, the manufacturer of metallic thread, both came by to wish us luck.

A lot of needlepointers are also knitters. I’ve decided to name them bi-crafter’s. It’s amazing how over the last 5 years of having the needlepoint shop so many of the customers have become like family to me, and it was nice to have them there.

We are thrilled to have Jody Designs trunk show in the shop again this year! There are some new designs as well as some of our old favorites.

The trunk show will only be here until October 15 so be sure to stop by if you are in the neighborhood, or call or email us if there is a special ornament you are looking for!

Last night we had our first knitting event. Nadine Curtis of Be Sweet Yarns came to the store with wonderful finished knitted pieces to sell as well as other hand made items from women of South Africa who come from the surrounding townships of Cape Town. Proceeds from Be Sweet are fed back into South African community services.

Sue and Nadine

Sue Delora also came with her fabulous dresses and sweaters for little girls. Last year Sue hooked up with Nadine as she was working with other women there who were helping her to knit wonderful children’s clothes. Now the outfits are made with Be Sweet Bamboo yarn. I absolutely fell in love with this particular dress that I think I may make for my boyfriend’s daughter!

I also understand how knitters develop huge stashes since I walked away with a color assortment of the Bamboo that I would like use in a project yet to be chosen. I love the vivid colors! After some wine, cheese and schmoozing, I think the knitting store’s first event went overwhelmingly well.

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the special evening!

Dear Friends,

First of all I would like to thank you for the last five years of business in our needlepoint shop. You have been wonderful and supportive during our growth and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your loyalty. During the last few years many of you have tried to persuade me to venture into knitting. At first I resisted since it was not my field of expertise. About six months ago, I started to cave in and with my landlord offering me a good deal on the addition of the downstairs space, I decided to jump into the knitting world.

As of August 12 the knitting shop has been open for business. Believe it or not, I have finished 2 baby hats, a Fan & Feather scarf, and am now working on a varsity sweater. I am still no expert, but the girls working downstairs are. We have some future events and class schedules that I would like you to know about since many of you have asked me to pass this information along when I became aware of it. Please check our new blog as it will be updated regularly.

Thanks again for your support and friendship and look forward to seeing you here and in the shop!

Annie