After Barrie, we traveled over to The Quilt Store / Evelyn’s Sewing Centre in Newmarket, Ontario. Madi has just opened up her yarn section and we are excited to say she will be soon stocking a nice selection of Zen Yarn Garden yarns in two different fingering weights. Her shop has a lot to offer including fabrics and pretty much anything you would need for sewing. It was very busy when we went in! Highly recommend if you live in the area – the staff is friendly and ever-so-helpful.

Mr. Zen and I are planning to get out to a few more shops in the area so if you live in Ontario and have a recommendation for us, please let us know where you’d like to see our yarns or better yet, tell your local yarn shop all about us so we can come out for a visit. Ontario has a lot of lovely yarn stores in the province and we’re excited to see a few more of them!

Oh, and if you were at Stitches West and entered our yarn bouquet contest, we did pick our winner – Michelle from San Jose, California! Some of my posts said “San Diego” but oops, it was actually San Jose that Michelle was from – darn Canadian brain…LOL! Rest assured, Michelle has received her bouquet and is loving it!

 I’m looking forward to next year – you must drop by our booth to enter – who can resist free yarn? Better than chocolate is’t it?

When we left Detroit, it was rainy and cool but California was having lovely weather so that all made up for the long plane ride to Oakland. Traffic wasn’t too bad thankfully and we made our way to Santa Clara, got set up and the show opened!

It was especially great to meet everyone I’ve talked with on Ravelry as well as some of my regular customers. Without the help of my booth mates (Lisa aka Chief Tiara Polisher [left] and Robin aka Double Point Diva [right]) I would have had a heckuva time keeping up with the crowds that passed through our booth! Even with Mr. Zen helping us, the west coast knitters kept us hopping all weekend! We loved it so much we are planning on returning next year. Who can beat California in February? Yarn, good weather and good company – priceless. Even Lisa and Robin are already planning to be there to help me again!

Lisa and Robin had a lot of fun modeling their Mezquita Shawls – didn’t they turn out pretty? Knit from Zen Yarn Garden yarns too!

And Rosemary dropped by to smell the yarns with me one day too! What a cute moment that was…who can’t get enough yarn fumes?

And just like that, the week was over and we were back in Ontario! Now I wish I had taken a few more photos but alas my camera was always somewhere else and I was busy helping everyone with their yarns. Maybe next year I’ll just shoot more photos with my phone – should be easier I hope. Until next year California…we already have lots of ideas brewing! See you soon!

Before we knew it, it was time for the show to begin! Here’s a few shots of our booth – even Mr. Zen has really gotten into helping out with the yarn business the last few months – here he is ready to help customers. We networked with a lot of shop owners and others involved in the knitting industry and came home with a few new yarn shop customers. It was great to see the customers we already had as well as pick up new accounts that we’ll be filling in the coming weeks and if you missed it, we even had the pleasure of speaking with Clara from Knitter’s Review who included us in her write-up for the event. Now I’m just crossing my fingers she takes Serenity Silk Single for a spin and writes up a review of it. We already know it’s luscious but it would be lovely for Clara to agree don’t you think?

Of course there is always a bit of time to be silly during these events and Michelle (FickleKnitter Designs) definitely knows how to make us giggle! I swear it was the yarn fumes or perhaps it was the sheer exhaustion of the weekend but either way, Suzanne, Michelle and I were laughing so hard it was just too funny.

And when the weekend was over, onto a jet plane we got having enjoyed the opportunity to meet lots and lots of people all bound together for yarn.

Prize is 2 skeins of yarn as pictured (1 Serenity 20 in Frosted Teal & 1 Serenity Silk Single in Delphinium) valued at $70. Everyone qualifies including international folks! Please comment by Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 (midnight EST) and I’ll randomly draw the winner when I return from TNNA. Have fun and spread the word!

P.S.:  If you’re not a Facebook fan, no worries – just comment here on the blog and I’ll consider that your entry – one comment per person please. Good luck!

First up, my office…it’s not very exciting but we do have one room in our house completely dedicated to the myriad of administrative tasks that take place from packaging up orders to winding up yarns and tagging all the yarns.  Mr. Zen and I share this room and so far, we have not had too many disagreements…okay, that’s not true, there’s the usual husband/wife bickering at each other once in awhile but we manage to get through it. Working with your significant other is a whole other matter compared to working with fellow employees. The little quirks of your relationship tend to sneak into the working relationship. I think we are finally finding a good balance between the two of us and things are running quite smoothly. I have learned not to push his buttons and he mine…LOL! However, when the deadlines loom and we’re both feeling a bit of pressure that’s when the disagreements tend to surface. I do believe it’s a different way of handling things – me, I just rush in and do them. Him? He has to make lists and plan and then do them. I say “just do it” and he says “let’s make charts”. I should have suspected it – he is an engineer…LOL!

From there, we move onto the garage where containers of yarn are piled up waiting to be dyed and a peak at the table where all the dyes are stored. This is probably the messiest area of our dyeing process and I’m so thankful it’s in the garage away from where I can see it…LOL!

And a peak at the sink where all the rinsing takes place – after this many years of rinsing, it really isn’t too badly stained because we make sure to uptake as much of the dye as possible when the yarns are being dyed.

In my house? There always seems to be yarn hanging
on my banister either freshly rinsed or ready to be tied up for dyeing. And from this picture you can see a wee bit of my dining room which has been overtaken by yarn!

That leads us to the dining room which is slowly being converted to an in-home LYS! This is the least used space in the house and it seemed fitting to make it into a storage area for the dyed yarn and our in-stock items for the online store as well as stock getting ready to be packed up for shows.

And following the stairs to our basement, in our unfinished area we have the drying racks. As you can see, we also have air cleaners set up to pick up any fluff that might be in the air from drying the yarns. It’s surprising just how much fluff we have to vacuum out of that area on a regular basis just from the yarns drying. Thankfully that area is closed off and we can close the door while the yarns are in there drying.

And that concludes our quick online tour of my house and our set-up. Slowly but surely this business is taking over the house which I don’t mind but one day I’d sure like to move the dye studio out of our garage so we can perhaps park our vehicles in there again and also have controlled temperatures during the coldest and hottest times of the year.

Mr. Zen and I are talking about a commercial store front too but for now, it’s just a dream but maybe in a year or two we can realize the dream and have a place for you all to come and shop at! Wouldn’t that be fun?

Besides TNNA we are also prepping for Stitches West and now that we have our booth assignment (#1235-#1237), this show in February is becoming very real as well. Our business has shifted a little in the last year or so as Mr. Zen has set his heart into the business alongside me. I used to dye as orders were filled but moving into shows the size of Stitches West has meant dyeing up a whole lot of yarn prior and by a whole lot I mean at least 200-250 lbs of it. That number only a year ago would have sent me into a tailspin but with Mr. Zen at my side, the business is really beginning to make a lot of strides and have a lot of changes. Things I couldn’t do on my own are that much more possible with two of us. My Dad has even gotten into the mix and is itching to get back to help us out yet again.

If Rhinebeck is kind enough to let us in this year, my Mom and Dad have alluded that they would be excited to travel to New York with us. This has really become a true family business. I’m not sure where I’d be without them all either – with everyone’s help a lot more opportunities have opened up for our little business and it’s exciting to watch it all unfold. I have always been a fan of slow and steady growth and we have managed to maintain that ethos through all the years we’ve been at this. It’s getting to the point where I could easily use a third set of hands but for now, Mr. Zen and I are having a lot of fun with watching the business slowly but surely grow. Thank you to all the knitters out there who continue to passionately love their yarns – without you, we’d not be here and I’m looking forward to meeting some of you at Stitches West this year!

Once we return from Arizona, we will be home for a couple of weeks and heading out to Stitches West. Mr. Zen and I are quite excited about this trip as we hear the Stitches West show is a show you must attend. If you are coming, look for us in booths #1235-1237. We will be over near the concession and looking forward to meeting all the west coast knitters!

Several new projects are currently in the works and will be slowly revealed over the coming months. For now, we are knee deep in yarn and dyes getting ready for TNNA and Stitches West. Wishing you all a lovely 2012 filled with yarn, happiness and prosperity. Let’s hope 2012 is the year the economy starts turning around and we all breathe a little sigh of relief.

It’s been a pleasure for me and Mr. Zen to serve you this past year with lots of colourways and lots of yarn!

We’re both looking forward to new adventures in 2012 and hope you will all join along with us as we explore more yarns and more colours.

As for knitting, I’m moving right along on a couple of projects. Both Catkin and Geada are on the needles and I managed to make my goal of knitting 11 shawls in 2011 and even designed 8 of the 11! Not sure how I managed it but it seems that knitting a little bit every night makes all the difference in the world as projects seem to get finished a little bit at a time.

What are your plans for the holiday season? Have you finished all your Christmas knitting? I may not be knitting Christmas gifts for my loved ones but I do promise that Mr. Zen and I are hard at work with the yarns but in a different way of course! Slowly but surely my house is being taken over by yarn and in case you didn’t believe me, here’s my dining room…yup, there’s really no place to eat in there although if you’re a knitter, I do believe it’d be heavenly to eat in my dining room so it all comes down to perspective doesn’t it?

We will be heading to TNNA in January in Arizona, turn around and come home for a month and then head over to Stitches West in February. I’m excited about Stitches West as Mr. Zen’s cousin and a friend of hers will be in the booth helping out. Lisa and Robin are both knitters and are also excited to be joining me! It’s really hard work doing fibre shows but the nice part is seeing all the knitters in person and the person contact brings the yarn to life. It’s something I wish I could duplicate online but somehow being able to touch the yarns seems to make all the difference in the world. Us knitters are a tactile bunch that’s for sure!

Do you like the new domain name?  It feels right…a life of colour indeed. I debated on spelling it without the “u” but the “u” adds yet another distinction – I’m Canadian, hear me roar…LOL!

Anyways, welcome! I hope to document a lot more this coming year – 2012 is going to be busy! Stay tuned!