First Circle of the Year

Sunday circle will begin, as usual, at 10am. In this first circle of 2006, we will invite an auspicious new year with 30 minutes of silent knitting.

To honor the silence please observe the following if you enter between 10 & 10:30:

• Put outer wear and non-knitting items down outside the sitting room.
• Have your knitting out and ready to go.
• Remove yarn from bags that rustle.
• Turn off all cell phones.
• Be sure to make silent greetings. (We create a connected circle by acknowledging one another.)
• Enjoy the silence. Its always over before you know it!

Knit in the New Year

For many of us, New Year's Day marks the end of the 'holiday season'. It is a time to look back at what has passed and dream of the possibilities ahead. Though different calendars mark the New Year on different days, celebrating the New Year has been a tradition throughout the world for as long as anyone can recall. For all the differences we find amongst cultures, the New Year's communal feast is a thread that connects us all.

Why feasts? Giving each other gifts, especially the gift of food in the cold of winter, is to wish for a bountiful year . Bringing food across a threshold symbolizes the beginning an auspicious year.

So, please bring an offering for the table and sit with us while we knit in a new year of joy and prosperity together. We look forward to seeing you there.

PS: Go to our Yahoo group database to let us know what you're bringing to the pot luck.

2nd Anniversary info

We're celebrating this Saturday, November 19th from Noon until.....

This event is public, so please feel free to pass your invitation along to friends, or send them to our Yahoo Group to sign up for classes, massages and the pot luck.

There will be mini-workshops available. The workshop is free with the purchase of materials. All the materials are $25 or less. Here is the list of workshops:

1:00 _ I-cord Button Bracelets
1:45 _ Magicly Looped Baby Hats
2:15 _ Cushie Cabled Headband
3:00 _ Double Knit Washcloth/Trivet
3:45 _ Loop Stitch Scarf
4:30 _ Silk "Hankie" Knitting

see the Yahoo Group database for further descriptions.

You can also sign up for a Hand Massage or a Shiatsu Shoulder Treatment. These are available from 1:00-4:30 and the registry for those can also be found on the Yahoo Group database.

Please remember to make a contribution to the pot luck. We have requested that you bring something in the categories listed below according to the first letter of your last name:

A-D Appetizers
E-H Salads/Vegies
I-M Entrees
N-Q Fruit/Desserts
R-U Drinks
V-Z Paper Goods

Thank you and see you there!

Circles Yahoo Group

If you're trying to register for classes, massages or the pot luck this Saturday, you do that on our Yahoo Group. (Sorry, everyone, we don't have the message board up quite yet.)

Here's how:
Go here for our Home Page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/circles-salon/

If you have a Yahoo ID, you can join the group by clicking on the blue JOIN THIS GROUP button on the right side of the screen.

If you don't have a Yahoo ID, you will need to create a Yahoo id first. Its free and you just associate it with your regular email address. There is a button to register with Yahoo on our home page, or you can:

GO here to create an ID:

http://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.src=fpctx&.done=http://www.yahoo.com

Once, you've joined the group, click on the DATABASE option in the navigation bar to the left.

For MASSAGES, click on the table, then choose a time in that table and click Edit Record. You can then put your name in the name field.

For CLASSES, choose the table and then ADD a record to put your name on the list. Be sure to include your Yahoo ID, so that I can contact you about any materials you may need to bring.

If you have questions, please email me: allison@circles-salon.com or call 617-524-5500.

See you Saturday!

Allison

Hold the Date

We've set the date for the 2nd Anniversay Party. (I think at 5 we should have a formal Circles Knit Ball!)

Mark your calendars: Saturday, November 19th, Noon til whenever.

Massages, Quickies, Pot Luck, Knitting All Day. Stay tuned for more details....

Yarn Photos

I said I'd get some photos up. Here are a few of the yarns that I brought back from Rhinebeck:

The one to the right is the mohair/wool sock yarn from Chasing Rainbows. Each one lovingly handpainted. No dyelots. One skein makes a pair of socks. Of course, you don't have to limit it to socks!



A photo can't do this yarn justice. It's Kid Mohair with the natural loops. It feels quite silky and with the sumptuous colors.....

2nd Anniversay Planning Mtg

Its time to celebrate another year! Who better to celebrate with than our customers? Last year's anniversary party was so much fun - massages, color workshops, food, champagne. If you would like to help us plan an equally enjoyable one this year, please come to our organizing meeting:

Sunday, October 23rd
1:00 pm
Circles Classroom
Please bring a snack


Thank you!

NY Sheep and Wool '05

I'm back from the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. I've brought back some beautiful yarns from Chasing Rainbows, Shelridge Farms, and Oak Grove Yarns. I'll post some photos tomorrow. But you might want to come see them before they're gone. You won't see these in other stores and you'll have to wait for future festivals to see it again. These are exquisite colors on high quality fibers. They're hand-dyed, so you know you'll never see them exactly like this again.

Shelridge Farms is a Canadian company. We have their hand dyed sock yarns in heathers, solids and multis. I heard several people at their booth claim that the multis were an awful lot like Koigu......

We're in the national news!

I've been sent a link to a piece written by the Christian Science Monitor and published in USA Today.

Apparently, Circles is "THE" yarn store in Boston. Ok, so, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it was Circles that the Yarn Harlot came to when she came to Boston.....

Check it out.

Salon News Link Corrections

Oops! All that work and, still, links are broken. Here are all the corrected links from yesterday's Circles Knit News E-letter:

Yarn Cooperative - Learn More
Salon Concept - Read More
Knit Alongs - Next Knit Along
Communications - To the Salon
Salon Information

• Social Circles
• Circles-Salon Yahoo Group
• Circles Knit News Blog
• Reluctant Retailer Blog
• The Yarn Cooperative
• Referral Program
• Classes & Knit Alongs

I think that's it. Please let me know if I've left something out or these are not working (just clunk me over the head if that happens again!)

After the Knit Out

I spent the day yesterday at the Boston Knit Out and Crochet.

It was a beautiful, sunny but not too hot, afternoon. I coordinated the Learn to Knit & Crochet tables. We were in the shade, which made things very pleasant and just cool enough to throw on light sweaters and ponchos! It was a joy to see all the people learning to knit and crochet. We had an impressive arrary of adults, kindergartners and seniors, along with a slew of teens and pre-teens. As always, its such a pleasure to see people who claim they have "no coordination" grasp the basics and go away excited about a newfound skill set.

I missed all the other activities, but it was fun to see familiar faces along with the new ones. Linda Roghaar was heading up the crew (our beloved Janet Blowney, among them) from the new Knit Lit the Third. Lucy Lee from Mind's Eye Yarns was keeping everything together wearing her stunning tiara. Danielle Miller, our incomparable crochet and Magic Loop Knitting instructor was in the Charity Tent. I know many of the other shop owners were there, but I didn't get a chance to go to the vendors tent. I hope it was a good day for them.

All in all, it was a lovely afternoon and it felt like the knitting season has been officially launched. (Maybe we should have it earlier next year!)

Knit Along Now

Knit Out

The Boston Knit Out is this Sunday from noon-4. I'll be there coordinating the Learn To Knit tables for adults and children. (If you have ideas for easy, fun projects for young children, I would love to hear them - along with how to get my hands on materials.)

Do you know about the Knit Out? If so, is it your cup of tea? Why or why not? We're trying to figure out whether the Knit Out is something that our customers are drawn to. If so, we might participate more. If not, we'd like to understand why and see if there is any way we can shape the event to make it more appealing. This is Circles talking here, not anything official from the Knit Out gang. We would only offer suggestions and see if they are well-received.

Thanks for the input. Knit along now...

Pomegranate Guild

Instead of our usual Wednesday night workshop, I attended the Greater Boston Chapter of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework. What a lovely group. It was fun to watch their Show and Tell. I couldn't see a lot, as I was setting up (or breaking down) my display table and they were all in a circle sharing their work. But I did see some spectacular knitting. Maxine knits up sweaters from scratch that look like art pieces. Another woman was whipping out a baby sweater from some of the preprinted sock yarns. A new member showed her needlepoint piece with several characters that were so detailed it was exquisite. The more I am around women who share their needlework, the more I love it.

The guild members seemed to enjoy the yarns and project ideas I showed them. THere was a lot more interest in Babette's Hooded scarf than I had anticipated. Perhaps that's another Circle's Knit Along!

We had a good time in the shop today trying to put together a portable shop of kits. I think we may have come up with a new display. Usually our customers are kit resistant, but I think that they might like kits that the staff at Circles has hand-picked. I think we'll try it and see how it goes.

That's it for tonight.

Knit along now,

Allison

Putting myself out there

I've talked about it. This blogging thing. It makes me a bit nervous, though it seems like a good thing to do if we're going to keep our Circles community vibrant in this high-tech communications world. So, the Reluctant Retailer becomes the Blenching Blogger.

What will I blog about? There are several topics of ongoing exploration in my role as owner/hostess (I need a fun title!) of Circles - knitting, designing, retailing, and communing.

I hope we all find this an interesting forum that keeps the energy of Circles going around and moving along.

That's it for tonight. It's a wee hour of the morning and I'm posting this as a place marker more than anything else. Comments are welcome

Knit along now.....