Hallo!

Welkom, Nederlanders! (Did I get that right?)

I often marvel at the geographic diversity of our customers. People find us from all over the world: the farthest reaches of Canada, the most remote islands in the South Pacific, several countries in Asia, many Aussie outposts, and from nearly every country in Europe.

But there seems to be something going on in the Netherlands.

Never is this more evident than on club shipping day, when we send out two truck loads of packages at once, and we collectively admire the impressive stack headed there.

I wonder: do these people know each other? Are they all from the same knitting group? Do they get together to admire the yarn they receive each month? Are they all friends of Marjan from Yarnissima, one of our favorite sock designers?

It can't possibly be true -- it's a bit like telling someone you're from Minnesota, and having them ask you if you know their uncle Bob Peterson. But I wonder it just the same.

Thus, I took it as a sign when this showed up in the Duluth harbor recently:

 

That's right, two Dutch ships (the twins on the left and right), here to load grain. And a large vessel from Canada, proceeding quickly to its destination. There's actually another ship behind the Canadian one, but I was unable to see where it was from. Probably Liberia.

See? Duluth is actually a very cosmopolitan city of the world. The Dutch visitors (obviously) confirm this fact.

I can tell you that that people often mistakenly refer to the Netherlands as Holland. Holland is a region of the Netherlands, not a country. My former high school students were under the constant mis-impression that Amsterdam is a country unto itself. "Amsterdam is a city," I would say through clenched jaw. "Much like Baltimore is a city." They would blink at me blankly.

I can also tell you that every interaction I've had with a Nederlander has been lovely -- they are gracious, friendly, and obviously have excellent taste in yarn.

 Who's been to the Netherlands? Are you from the Netherlands? What interesting tidbits can you feed this geography-obsessed yarnista brain?

Bird's eye view

This is what I look like to my three year old, who took this picture.

And this is what she looks like to me.

Sometimes things are better as a grown up.

Once in a while. If you're lucky enough to have a spunkosaurus for a three year old.

Updates.

Update #1: Our new sofa was delivered yesterday!

Update #2: It had a hole in it.

Update #3: I really like the sofa!

Update #4: Except it has a hole in it. And the back cushions are lumpy and underfilled.

Update #5: Reputable retailer is fixing sofa, although it should not have been delivered in that condition in the first place.

Update #6: Today is the last day to enter the giveaway at Yarn on the House. It's free and all you have to do is leave a comment. Good luck to all of you!

Update #7: We have events coming up the next two weekends. On July 17th we'll be at darn.knit.{anyway} in Stillwater, MN. The class will be from 10-1 (click here for registration info), with a trunk show to follow. Everyone is welcome!

Update #8: We'll be at Bobbin's Nest Studio in Santa Clara, CA on July 24th. Workshop from 1-4, with trunk show to follow. I hope to see lots of my West Coast peeps in attendance!

Update #9: Our new club yarn lineup has been posted here. If you're interested in joining the party, you can sign up by clicking any of the logos here. Our clubs are nearing capacity again, so please be sure to hop on board now so you don't miss out on the cough --cashmere-- cough or the ahem -- silk.

Update #10: We now have the blinds of my dreams up. Sorry neighbors around the corner, they were too pretty to resist! But word to the wise: the blinds of my dreams are a pain in the tush to install. It took two grown men more than 20 hours to put them up.

Scared.

I'm not afraid to say it: it's scary to watch yourself on film. You notice every little twitch and inflection. "Do I really blink that often?" you ask yourself. "Why do my teeth take up 80% of the screen?"

But as my husband would say, "I am who I am." Apparently, I am someone who uses her facial muscles regularly.

So I'm going to be brave, and I'm going to share with you an interview I did recently with Veronika from Yarn on the House. Veronika and I talked about everything from how I come up with colorway names to why I love to wear pink. We had a great time chatting -- Veronika is adorable and easy to talk to.

In addition, Yarn on the House is giving away three prizes: two one-of-a-kind skeins of Adorn Sock yarn, and a set of two skeins of Glenhaven Cashmerino.

Feel free to watch the videos -- it's divided up into four parts because of the time limitations of YouTube. And then please enter the contest, which is being hosted at Yarn on the House. (Commenting here is lovely and welcome, but only commenting at YOTH will enter you into the contest.)

Closing my eyes and pressing Publish...

two years

For the first time in two years, I've been able to take weekends (mostly) off. 

I can't tell you how amazing it is to sleep until 7:00 am, eat some breakfast, read the paper, read to the kids, work on the house, take the kids out for ice cream, run errands, hit up some estate sales, visit with friends, walk the dog, cook some dinner, watch a movie, knit, read, knit, read, repeat. Amazing. Hasn't happened in two years.

The two years of working seven days a week, 80-100 hours a week, were a mixed blessing. I was fortunate in that I was working 80-100 hours a week at two jobs I enjoyed -- teaching and yarnista-ing. I can see now that the time was necessary to get me to a place where I can go out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and enjoy this:

The meandering St. Louis (pronounced in these parts like Saint Loo-iss) River. A sunny day. Three healthy children scampering with a chocolate-colored puppy, a husband who's always up for exploring.

After our adventuring, rain clouds started to roll in, dropping blobs of water on our windshield here, parting to reveal rays of sunlight there.

And then, the most perfect rainbow ever made. We could see it clearly from end to end, arching its way across the rural highway and the Mississippi River.

As if to demonstrate its own extravagance, nature sent a family of ducks waddling across the highway, forcing us to slow down to look at the babies following their mother blithely across a roadway where people travel more than 60 miles an hour.

"Not enough for you?" nature asked. "How about a second rainbow?"

This one more subtle than the first, mimicking the perfect arc across the terrain.

I've changed some of the photo's settings here so you can see it better:

And therein lies the bad: two years of missed rainbows and duck relatives.

How lovely to now work in a yarn studio with windows on which to see the world, surrounded by the colors of nature's extravagance, and to be able to once again enjoy the weekends.