The weather is all over the place this time of year...sunny and hot, foggy and freezing, sunny and windy. Having lots of knitted items on hand to layer on and off as the temperature changes is just the ticket. At least that's the excuse I'm putting forth for having everything from a cotton tank top to an alpaca Einstein Coat on the needles at the same time.

Not that this stops me from coveting each and every new yarn that comes in the store. For instance, today we saw some geeorgeous new handpainted chunky alpaca from Misti Alpaca that should come to us by the end of the year...

Other news from around the shop is that Ellen is off to Stitches East to teach for 4 days. She's teaching a few long classes and half a dozen short, in-the-market classes. She's taking with her her new Misti Alpaca Chunky Einstein Coat and her Southwest Trading Company Rock mitered square cardigan. Both are sure to be hits, one for its softness, the other for its colorfulness.

Halloween is nearly here and Auban has knitted and felted a couple of cute pumpkins for our counter. The pattern is Auban's circular version of the one available from Knitty.com. Just come in and ask us for Auban's pattern if you'd like some pumpkins of your very own.

And Marieke is swatching with a sample we of some of the new Malabrigo lace weight we have coming in a few weeks. Yeah! Malabrigo. This yarn which we have coming in worsted and lace weights, is soft merino wool kettle dyed in a beautiful array of colors, some variegated and some "solid." I can't wait to start a sweater.<\p>

And I definitely need some more socks, don't you think? The Rio de la Plata sock yarn sits across from me in the shop and talks to me, asking me which color should come home with me. It would be good for lace too. Maybe lacey socks. I just need more time in the day.

I'm also excited about some new Knit to Support opportunities we're putting together. We have the knit alongs on the first and third Sundays of every month in support of the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund (BCEF). Bags will be knitted and donated to BCEF to be auctioned at their annual fundraising event, next September. It's a fun time to get together and knit. Some great bags were just turned in for this year's fundraiser using Noni patterns available in the store.

And now we're cooking up a new opportunity to support an East Bay charity. More soon.

In the meantime, keep knitting the world together.