New Yarns, New Newsletter and New issue of KnitchMagazine!

I don't think we could be any busier than we are right now. We've got lots of customers coming into the showroom every day to see our beautiful yarns, we're in the middle of launching our fantastic new Abbey Collection and we're having our contest for the launch of Fabulous Felines. We're also being visited every day by those wonderful yarn reps who bring us lots of new products to add to our shelves.

We've already got more than 70 manufacturers at Yarnmarket, and 700 yarns, and it looks like we're adding A LOT MORE this season. What fun! And what madness!

Jan sent out a newsletter the other day with lots of terrific ideas for the holiday season. If you haven't seen it, be sure to sign up to our newsletters at Yarnmarket.com so you'll always be among the first to know what's new at the yarn shop. She also sent me a quick note to say she just added the following yarns to our site:
Crystal Palace Lofty Wool
Anny Blatt Cosy
Tahki Presto

Jenny has done another magnificent job on KnitchMagazine...and the new Winter "Addition" is ready to go! If you want a sneak preview, it's live. But I've still got to send a note out to let all our subscribers know about it.

We were delighted to interview Cornelia Hamilton for this issue, and also to present a review of the new book about Noro. No Noro fan will want to miss this issue because it gives terrific insights into what has made the company -- and the yarn -- respected throughout the world.

This issue also features an interview with Linda Pratt, who is one of the driving forces behind Westminster Fibers. Linda travels the world seeking inspiration for the lines they represent: Rowan, Nashua, Gedifra, Regia and Anchor needle crafts. The article for KnitchMagazine has inspired me to try that gorgeous Samina yarn by Gedifra. I featured it in one a few of our ads, and if you haven't seen it, you absolutely must take a look. Linda explains how it's made and what makes it different from other fibers.

For a real peek behind the scenes, we interviewed the Karin Strom, editor of the industry magazine, "Yarn Market News" which is published by Soho -- the folks who also bring us Vogue Knitting Magazine. Karin really knows this business, and she offers some great advice on what to expect from your yarn shop.

There is so much more in KnitchMagazine that I urge you to take a look at it...and to subscribe so you'll receive alerts whenever Jenny makes updates.

Tomorrow we'll be closed from about noon until two in the afternoon while we have our annual YarnMartian Feast of Appreciation. I'd tell you what goes on there, but then they'd exile me to the netherlands of our warehouses to prohibit me from revealing any more company secrets. All I can say is that last year's Feast required two paddy wagons and a fire hose to break up the celebrations!

I hope that you're as busy as we are, and that you're enjoying the Holiday Season. I'll be back with more news about all our activities as soon as I get a chance to slow down a bit!

Meet Mason-Dixon Knitting on Let's Knit2Gether

CAT has released her newest episode of Let's Knit2Gether, filmed at this year's Rhinebeck. Her special guests are the ladies of Mason-Dixon knitting. You just never know who you're going to meet in a ladies' room!

Be sure to watch right to the end because CAT presents a contest we're sponsoring. The winner will receive two skeins of our scrumptious new Abbey Collection yarn. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at Yarnmarket

Yarnmarket will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving Holiday. But we'll be back at work on Friday to help you with your holiday season orders.

This year, we'd like to say thanks to all our shoppers for their continued support and for giving us the opportunity to deliver knitting joy to their front door -- wherever they may be. We are truly grateful that you have chosen us, and we thank you for helping us become one of the largest yarn stores in America. We are so proud to know that we're helping you create hand-made treasures that are so much more caring than what is being mass produced.

We'd like to thank our vendors for helping us maintain our inventory of over 700 yarns, and for working with us to ensure we offer our customers an exceptional variety of fashionable products. Some of you, like Berroco, Westminster, Knitting Fever, and Crystal Palace, have been with us since the beginning when they weren't quite sure that an online yarn store would meet with public acceptance.

We are thankful to the media who have shown us support, and especially to Penelope Taylor of Knit 'n Style, who so generously offers us her insight, encouragement and advice.

We're thankful to artists like Iris Schreier who has worked so hard to help us launch our new Abbey Collection yarns, to designers like Sharon Sorken and Sue Kawamoto who have created original patterns for our customers, and to talented knitters like Jennifer Penney who has amazed us with her abilities, speed and positive attitude.

We are also thankful to all those wonderfully creative freelancers -- like Andy, Jared, Kirk and Amanda -- who help us design and maintain our web sites, optimize our search engine results, and pull together our ads...always at the very last minute. (We are so excited that our amazing Amanda is expecting her very first baby.)

We thank Marlin, our UPS guy, whose happy smile is so treasured each evening at 6:00 p.m. when he comes to pick up our daily shipments.

We thank our neighbors across the parking lot at D & F Distributors for lending us their forklift when we have more boxes than mucles.

Finally, Alex, Steve, Ted and I would like to thank all the YarnMartians who care so much about our little company, and who work so hard to help us everyday. Without you there wouldn't be an us...and we hope you know how much we appreciate the positive attitude and extraordinary efforts of each and every one of you.

You are what has made America great.

To end, I'd like to share with you the biggest difference we've witnessed between Canadian and American Thanksgiving. No, it's not simply that the Canadian Thanksgiving is one month earlier. It's the fact that, in Canada, our turkeys deliver themselves right to our kitchen door.

Casting Call for Pussycats! New yarn line could feature YOUR pussycat's puss!

Hannibal's excited about our brand new contest and he wants to tell everyone about it!

Yarnmarket is delighted to announce that we're launching an entirely new line of yarns based on the colors of our feline friends. Fabulous Felines TM features gorgeous bulky 100% wool yarn hand-dyed by the color expert, Iris Schreier of Artyarns.

Before we launch the line, we need to give each yarn color a name. And we'd especially like to name them after our knitters' cats. If your cat wins, its photo will be on the label for the yarn, and the color will be named after it.

If your cat is chosen, you'll win immortality for your cat and a free skein of yarn that matches it! Imagine your pussycat immortalized in yarn!

To begin with we're launching seven colors:
- Abyssinian
- Chocolate
- Red Mackerel Tabby
- Seal Point (very dark points)
- Blue Mackerel Tabby
- Blue Point
- Brown Classic Tabby
- Cream

We will also be doing more colors -- including tabbies and torties and torbies -- so please send them along, too! We'll collect them so they'll be entered for the next round of yarn names.

We've already named the yarn, featured below, after my father's pussycat, Baby. This color is called "Baby Blue." Yeah, I know...that's almost cheating. And to make matters worse, we'll be launching my step-father's cat's yarn (also named Baby, oddly enough) as soon as it's ready.

But all the other yarn colors are up for grabs. To begin with, we're looking for photos of cats that match the colors in the list, above. If you want to check to see what these colors are, I suggest you visit the What Color is My Cat? page to see all the varieties.

Winners will be chosen based on looks, personality, and color. Entries that include a short blurb about the pussycat will likely make us fall in love with the cat and want it to win.

PLEASE SEND ENTRIES BY DECEMBER 15 TO
Pussycats@yarnmarket.com

PLEASE INDICATE WHAT COLOR YOUR CAT IS IN THE SUBJECT LINE...just to help me sort through the gazillions of cat shots I'll be getting.

I can't wait to see your pussycats! Give 'em some pats for me! And don't forget to check out the Fabulous Felines line of yarn when it debuts next month at Yarnmarket.

New yarns and a new project that's Golden Glamour for the holidays!

Jan sent out her monthly Yarnmarket Bulletin today and it's loaded with information about new yarns we're carrying, new colors for your favorite yarns, plus fashions galore.

To begin, she's featuring Lofty Wool Print from Crystal Palace. Superbly crafted of 70% merino wool & 30% nylon, it comes in 15 gorgeous colors. Our Price is just $6.65 for a 50 gram ball.

Another new yarn is Anny Blatt's Cosy, a luxurious blend of silk and mohair. This yarn is fingering weight -- perfect for airy shawls, delicate gloves or pretty wrist warmers. It's only $14.85 for a 272 yard ball.

Jan also presents a lot of great holiday ideas, and my favorite is this knock-out project -- the Vegas Gold Metallic Dress. Can you imagine wearing this to a holiday function? You'd be the center of attention! I can imagine giving this to one of my daughters...the but other two would fight over it! It's a Yarnmarket project which means you can buy everything you need to make it with one simple click.

Be sure to sign up for all the Yarnmarket Newsletters and Bulletins. And don't forget about BargainYARNS Alerts. They're chock full of fantastic savings!

Let's Knit2Gether in Alaska

CAT just launched her most recent episode of Let's Knit2Gether in which she shows oodles of gorgeous qiviut that she saw while visiting Alaska. Is she tempted? You bet she is!

You'll enjoy watching her visit shops in Alaska and meet up with the Fairbanks Fibernistas who get together for knitting and chatter and -- yes -- tattoo comparisons.



Be sure to watch right to the end because you'll see some great shots of Yarnmarket (and some lousy shots of me) that CAT took during her recent visit to Yarnmarket Global Headquarters.

My favorite photo is the one of Brenda. You know Brenda...the Yarnmartian who isn't a grandmother yet.

And that reminds me. Today is the due date for Josh's first baby. I've yet to hear anything from him or from future Grandma, Casey.

We hope you're enjoying the Let's Knit2Gether shows that we're sponsoring. We're really delighted to be working with CAT on her wonderful educational videos.

Vote for Kirsten the Kanadian Kow in California Milk Contest

It took millions of years for us to evolve into the brilliant, serious creatures we are -- so we could vote for a cow on the Internet.

I saw a commercial for this on the Graham Norton Show on BBC America and couldn't resist going online to see the cows competing in the California Milk Contest. One poor little contestant cow is covered in ice, standing in a field of snow. It's Kirsten, the Kanadian Kow. Please vote for Kristen because she really needs to warm up.

Right now she's running neck and neck with Soo, so please vote for her today to help put her over the top and on her way to the land of Milk and Honey.

When we're not voting for cows, we're working away on the winter "addition" of KnitchMagazine. Be sure to sign up for alerts so you'll be notified when we go live.