Jumping in...

The whirlwind of summertime.

I feel bad for my lack of posting, but what it really means is that  I have had my mind, hands, and feet feverishly occupied in the shop, as well as with family in and out from fishing.

I refer to it as "The Grand Juggle".

Boxes in the shop hallway means new merchandise is here.  Dwindling boxes in the hallway means new merchandise is out on the shelves an tables. 

As the shop takes on its summertime persona, a full bulletin board of classes and activities means preparing, planning and gathering around the upstairs table for frequent craftfests and knitting circles.

In the midst of this comes a desire to participate in an activity seen in  Shelly Kocan’s Blog, South of Ultima Thune.   Shelly is the Yarn Artist and creator of Snow Capped Yarns,  one of our beautiful lines of locally dyed yarns.  I have been wanting to participate in something she has been doing, Weekly Love, and though my work is piled in piles upon piles and lists upon lists, if I don’t just jump in, I will blink and another week will go by.  The project comes from HERE.

Amidst the busy ness, I am jumping in and although so much is personal, so much this time of year is woven into shop life.

A week of gratitudes

SATURDAY

Planning

Preparing

Picking

Painting  with daughter Nelly, the soon to be bride.

SUNDAY

REST

Plan

Punch
Paint (even if just a little)

MONDAY

A room full of knitters and the sweet sound of the hum of voices in conversation in tune with the click of needles in motion

TUESDAY

35

through storms and calm seas

still afloat

WEDNESDAY

Alaska Fisherman Yarn

Materialization of the wisp of a notion.

THURSDAY
twofold

dreamy project shown from Christa


time together

Shelly and Snow Capped

Shelly's soft touch permeating her lovely skeins of yarn
Thoughts of those delightful hand dyed hanks venturing out into world into the hands of knitters
Beauty and function intertwined as they reach  their final destination.

FRIDAY
Loving hands of parent and grandparent helpers and the voices and creations of the children as they gather round the Net Loft classroom table.

And there you have it.

There are all sorts of  happenings stirring about in the store this next week, including yarn releases from Snow Capped and Skeins in the Stacks, complete with parties and give aways. Details also for the Alaska Fisherman Yarn on the way, but just wanted to take time at this moment for “the list” before I missed the deadline AGAIN, and always good to stop everything, take a breath and count our blessings, and  acknowledge those grateful moments of daily life.  Join in if you get a notion.   "Weekly Love"  Even if you don’t post it online, it's nice to just take a moment to jot down a weeks worth.  I could have filled pages and pages as I stopped and thought of all the daily gratefulnesses of this past week. 

Hope you have time for a crafty break. Come see us if you’d like us to help with that.  We invite you  to  climb up the Net Loft staircase,  and escape for a Net Loft craft break via any of our many classes or for our drop in times.

Note the following dates you won't want to miss.
SNOW CAPPED RELEASE  (in shop and online)  In shop Wednesday July 10, 7 pm.  On line, live with newest yarns, 6:30 pm Alaska Time same day.  We will be having an online GIVEAWAY so stay tuned.

SKEINS IN THE STACKS  Saturday in shop at 3 pm.  Online dates to be announced.

SHOREBIRD Needlefelt Workshop   9 am Saturday July 13.  We are repeating this workshop from the Shorebrid Festival due to customer requests. There are a few spots left, so if  you are interested you can register easily right online or at the store.  Simply select "Needlefelting" from the drop down menu if you register online.

We are now on Twitter AND on Instagram. Join us for the latest in Net Loft news if you like.
Always love seeing you walk through "the door", whether it be here in the shop or here on our screen.

Love  to you this summer day,
Net Loft Dotty

That's What It's All About...

Do you remember the words of the last line of  the song and dance called the "Hokey Pokey"?  I was just reflecting on the day today, and what I heard in the back of my mind was that short little phrase from that old familiar tune..."That's what it's all about...(clap, clap).    When the shop first began twenty something, (I think 29...could it be?)  years ago, we had a full schedule of classes. Now if you know me, you know that one of my favorite things is sharing ideas and skills, and putting together classes and workshops, and getting people together to make things.  Sometimes I get a little bogged down with shop busy work,  and  don't have so many classes going on, but as summertime approaches, the time for classes picks up, and I always love as the season of workshops in our upstairs room swings into full gear.  I think I mentioned before, that I have referred to our upstairs classroom as "La La Land". Step through the doorway, and everything beyond the classroom vanishes, at least for a short while anyway.

Today, for the Shorebird Festival, we had a painted watercolor feather garland drop in session, as well as a Needlefelted Sandpiper Workshop.  It was a lot of activity squeezed into one afternoon, but squeeze we did, and I just loved seeing what everyone ended up making.  All the great garlands and wonderful flock of  sandpipers that emerged from the two classes brought a big smile to my face.  With just a little bit of guidelines, so many fine finished pieces.  Simple projects with simple ingredients on my end, and lots of very wonderful creativity on the part of those who joined us...

Just a side note, we have decided to kit up the Sandpiper project into a kit, and the feather garlands, too.  Stay tuned on our website for availability, perhaps by sometime in June, and you can join us here at The Net Loft in spirit.

See for yourself what the day brought forth. It just brings on a huge smile watching a  room full of hand crafters busy at play.  Painting, and cutting, and poking at fleece and fiber...a busy afternoon in "La La Land" amongst  the company of friends, AND
That CERTAINLY is what IT is all about.

Craft away, dear Friends of the Net Loft...and always come show us, or post what you're making, because you know how much we love to share in the excitement.

Happy Making and Creating!
Net Loft Dotty

As Time Goes By...

Like it or not, time certainly does go by.. and for me it was evident that it was about time for a little creativity break.

Having spent many hours uploading information onto the new ecommerce website for the shop, as well as countless hours behind the computer with bookkeeping for tax time,  I felt helpless  to resist when I felt the pull of the powerful "creativity magnet" drawing me in.  You've felt that tug, haven't you?  How could I resist?   

We have a Wool Applique class happening in June, entitled "As Time Goes By" which uses a pattern published by Under the Garden Moon.  We had originally planned to teach the class last fall, but the timing has worked out best for us to have the class start this June.  The class will be a "Progressive Class", which means that we will start with Dotty at The Net Loft in June, and then progress to The Quilter's Hideout to complete the project in July.  We will be teaching the wool applique portion, and the Hideout will teach the quilted portion.  This is a convertible wall hanging.  The two sections are constructed as separate components.  There are mulitple center sections which may be made which are intended to change with the seasons.  You will be amazed  at how quickly one is able to construct the wool applique portion, which may be attached separately to the quilt hanging using magnets, snaps, velcro, or buttons.

I like hearts and flowers, and so this was the one I chose, and the object of my creative escape this evening.  There are multiple designs available:  a snowman, a bird, a schoolhouse as well as other motifs that may be used for the summertime and fall seasons.    I am going to use some flannels in my quilted border keeping the colors in a manner that will compliment my applique,  yet will be able to go with some of the other center pieces as well.  

Wool applique is simple and this particular project  can be made with hand dyed felted wool or wool felt. I still have to complete the embroidery, but I certainly have enjoyed this particular creativity break, and know you would enjoy stitching this project as well. We have expanded our collection of hand dyed felted wools and wool felt for you to choose from at the shop. We have a great rainbow of colors available, as well as a nice selection of hand dyed Valdani perle cottons threads available to purchase for the stitching.

We hope you will consider joining us in June.  Participants will have their choice of which center  applique they would like to work on in the class.  This makes for a great summertime project and fun class to  gather with friends and stitch. We will post when the class will be happening.  If you are interested, drop us an email at thenetloft@gmail.com and let us know if evenings or Saturdays work best for you as we draw closer to setting the date and time of the class.  whether you have done wool applique before or a complete beginner, all are welcome to join us.  I will be teaching the class and we are conducting it as stitch-along, and so cost of class is simply your pattern and materials.  I will post a photo of the finished project as soon as it is completed.  Hope you are able to have a creativity break for yourself.  It always does wonders for my mental and emotional health.  Certainly is a nice way to spend some of that precious time that goes rushing by...

All the best to you in felted wool and stitches,

                                                  Net Loft Dotty

At Last...

It's here...

The new Net Loft buying site is officially online. There are a few quirks, so please be patient as we work them out.  It is just a start and so we will be adding more items daily.  For the first twenty customers of the new site we offering a little gift with purchase. We will let you know when that number has been reached.  If we experience difficulties, we will shut down the site temporarily, but we think it should be fine.  Paypal will be available with option for credit card through Paypal  Tomorrow we will have the other credit card function up and running. If you want to see ALL items just click Catalog, then use browse button to sort and see group of individual yarn bases.  I know it is not a perfect format, but just needed to get online and will be working on this aspect of the site. We are excited and look forward to serving you wherever you may be.  We have made many wonderful friends over the years through the shop and look forward to this new aspect to connect and continue to make new connections, as well as to reconnect with those of you who are far away, yet still hold Cordova near and dear to their heart.

We truly appreciate your business and, as always,  thank you for shopping at the Net Loft.

Free freight over $125 in United States, $150 Canada and $300 International.
Here we go!

http://the-net-loft.myshopify.com/

Happy Spring,

Dotty

A Sneak Peek....

It may not be what I had originally thought it might be, BUT time presses on, and I decided to move forward in a different direction with our shopping website, and, good news... we should have an online purchasing shop coming VERY VERY soon.  So, I thought I would give you a sneak peak, especially for those of you far away and in need of a Net Loft fix...We will be starting with some of our custom Cordova Colorways of Three Irish Girls yarn and then go from there.

Keep a watch out, as the launch is right around the corner, a handful of yarns at a time...Thanks for your patience all of you who have been patiently waiting  (and that includes me!  I think I was the least patient of them all :) )

Here is your sneak peek...

More to come!!

with love, knitting and LOTS of yarn, 

Net Loft Dotty

Three Irish Girls Net Loft Cordova Colorways: Local Scenery Collection

We are trying to put all our Net Loft custom collections on line for you to see.

 Here is our Net Loft Cordova Local Scenery Collection. As you can see the color varies according to the base it is on.  We will keep adding more photos to give you a clear picture of the variety of these lovely colorways.  

Email us at thenetloft@gmail.com for availability on different bases. You can click on the photos to see them larger and more clearly.

Happy Knitting!  Hope everyone had a lovely Easter Holiday.

with love from

The Net Loft

Just for fun, here are just a few of some of the variations on Three Mile Bay...

Lots of wonderful bases to choose from!

Extra Fine Merino Lace  - Three Mile Bay

Finley Fingering  - Three Mile Bay

Springvale Supermerino  - Three Mile Bay

Three Irish Girls Net Loft Custom Colorways: Fisheries Collection

Just a quick entry here in the midst of the recent changes coming to Three Irish Girls distribution and the delay of our website launch, I am posting some photos of our custom colorways to make it easier to review colors.  This is a quick overview, and this entry will just cover the "Fisheries Collection".  Some of these photos have been posted previously and it is not complete in terms of photos, but just thought I would start with this for those from afar. Please email us at thenetloft@gmail.com with any questions.  These are available on a variety of the bases offered by Three Irish Girls, email us for availability on each base.  I will be  posting  the other collections soon.  PS. Colleen, our mail order manager is away on a trip right now and so all orders will be postponed until the end of next week, April 5.

Thanks!! Happy Knitting,
Dotty