Online Shop Update with Links

We're busy bees around here, adding products to our website. Screenshot below of the category page, set to Newest items showing. Just click on a category (left column) to see all items.

From the website you can explore the categories (on left) or do a keyword search instead to find specific items. Use the magnifying glass field in upper right corner. 

 [This week shop has been closed Wed, Thur and possibly Fri due to smoke. Our AC broke and this smoke super triggering my meniere's symptoms. Call shop ahead to see if we're there. Open 11-3 Mon - Fri usually. Hopefully next week will see less smoke, cooler temps and our new AC up]

Here's various direct links to the categories:

Yarns

The snapshot above shows just some of the yarns we now have online. Goodness....we've been busy because there's a lot more yarns now than we realized! Click through to the yarn category page to scroll away and see all the beauties listed up. Try searching by brand or yarn name too.

Puzzles

 

Lots of new Cavallini 1000pc designs along with more Pomegranate (300pc and 1000pc). The restock order of White Mountain going quickly but still some left. Get them while we got 'em!

When ordering online during checkout you'll need to select the Multiple Puzzle shipping option. It's based on the weight (who knew puzzles were so tricky to ship!) especially when in multiples. We've discounted the rates and don't charge actual rates as a thank you for your order.

Magazines

Just arrived this week: Interweave Holiday Gifts and Fall Crochet magazines. Also newly arrived is the Noro Fall/Winter 2020.

Gradually we're adding the older issues of all our magazines in the shop to the online shop as well.We also plan to add pattern booklets and single patterns eventually.

Kits

We've added various kits online thanks to Berroco starting their Project of the Week to help their LYS manage during the shutdown. Additionally we've added a few  of our own and plan to expand more kits in the future. Watch for new Juniper Moon and Noro kits to be added, along with crochet toys and holiday theme projects....because we all need a little looking ahead to happy holidays this year!

Our Needles & Notions section a bit small at moment but we're expecting to expand as our Lykke and Knitter's Pride reorders begin arriving later this month. But our Pom Poms are up and in stock! Also check out the newly opened Maisie's Attic for sale bargins.

Bookshelf

Watch for our favorites to be added to the online bookshelf section. Many of our favorite series will be here along with lots of single titles we love. 

Perennial classics we usual keep in stock along with new novels, cookbooks and children's books.

Of note to middle school parents: The Big Fat Notebook Series is fantastic and helped our kids a lot. In this age of virtual school (and parents helping teach their kids) these are great resources. 

 Bath & Body

 At moment just the big restock of Michel Designs Foamers listed up. We love the new mini sizes!!!!

 

From the Category page you can jump to other sections:  Tea,  Gift Certificates Future plans to grow the Children's Things and Holiday Items too. Nothing there yet but if this smoke persists then they'll start filling out soon! If you hit a snag on the website or have any questions, special requests don't hesitate to call or email us. 

 

Hope everyone safe, healthy and getting through this crazy year. Megan and I thinking we'll break our rule of  "no Christmas product out until after Thanksgiving" because right now I could do with lots of holiday music, decorations and baking!!

New batch Michel Design Foamers and new Mini Ones!

 Heads up! 

New batch of Michel Design Foaming Pump Soaps arrived in the shop this week. 

New adorable Mini Foamers!!!  These foamers last  a long time - much longer than regular hand soaps. We love this new mini size! Price is nice so you can mix and match. These will make perfect little gifts come holiday time. 

Several new scents: Sunflower, Summer Days, Garden Party, Bunny Toile, Country Life

Also our best selling Honey Almond, Indigo Cotton and Lemon Basil.

One of our favorite new: In a Pear Tree....it's a wonderful fruity, crisp pear that's making us long for autumn and cooler temps. So yummy almost makes us the forget triple digit temps and smoke.

We even have a few mini Merry Christmas and Christmas Snow because after this year...we all need a little happy Holiday Good Cheer to keep us trudging along. Lots more of the new Autumn and Holiday scents on order and arrive in shop mid Oct. But looking at this beautiful snowy landscape scene makes us feel a moment of thrill that yes....Christmas is Coming!

 

You can find both Foamers in our online shop  or stop by 11-3 Mon-Fri to bricks-n-mortar shop.

Shop Update: New arrivals and our growing website

Current Shop Hours

11-3pm Mon to Friday

(still closed weekends)

But first garden show off pictures! Megan can grow massive sunflowers! Well....I started it from seed, coddled it then gave her 3 plants. Chickens promptly ate one but the other plants grew too fast for chickens to demolish. Here's her first Teddy Bear Sunflower blooming! It's MASSIVE, at least 12" across. Having the mobile living chicken manure machines must have helped.

Here's my measly little tiny sunflower sibling. 2" across....that's it! Same seed packet, planted same time, coddled and watered daily.  Proof that abundant sunshine and fresh chicken poop works- I have much less sun and no chicken poop machines. Also proof that I truly excell at starting things....but finishing....meh! I'm happy with my little weenie sunflowers. They're delicate flowers.....just like me! Hahaha

Okay onto what's new at the shop! I'm busy building the website with new items added daily! Especially if I've had a day where this is what my I feel like:

At least on these day I get lots of stuff listed up in the online shop!

(Who knew a pandemic is what it takes be organized and build a website after 11 years! LOL)

Lots of Puzzles!

The new Cavallini Puzzles arrived-6 new designs! We also have more White Mountain in stock. Found two different style Puzzle Sorters too. All available online.

A Few New Yarns...

In order to make the budget nowadays any new yarns have to be super duper special! All below are available on our website so just click on through if you want to order. 

Cumulus Rainbow

This was my most-anticipated new Spring yarn. It was delayed until we reopened but well worth the wait. Cumulus is one of our favorite cotton yarns-a staple in the shop. Now there's have a gradient multicolor version. And it's in this sweet little cakes!! Pattern below is Zeynap with 2 balls ea of Cumulus Rainbow and contrasting solid of Cumulus. Technique is shadow knitting and chart only....so not the easiest knits but so cool!

 

This pattern, Xavi Duster shows how #201colorway knits up in a garment.

Katia Fair Cotton Craft

Mongo yarn cakes, super soft, sport-weight in beautiful colors. It's very soft and colorways are lovely. One ball makes this baby blanket: Just One Cake Baby Blanket (free pattern) Perfect is you're needing to make a special baby blanket or garment for a new wee one in your life.

Katia Big Paint

Speaking of Katia yarns.....also in the online shop is Big Paint , a chunky acrylic/wool blend because it's perfect for fast hats, nice and chunky (#11+ needle), fun colors and a great yarn for beginners just learning.

Berroco New Fall Yarns

This new collection is so beautiful and perfect to use even in warm weather temps. We had hopes the new lineup wouldn't be robust (to help us order less)....but our hopes were dashed immediately upon seeing the lineup. It was gorgeous! Colors soft, pretty and right in our wheelhouse. The new yarns were cuddly, cozy and oh so hygge! Which right now we all collectively need.

[hygge: Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment]

Artesia

A new chunky weight blend of alpaca, kid mohair and nylon. Soft, fuzzy, and light with unique hand-dyed colorwars. Use by itself or held together with another yarn. Perfect for garment and accessories. Massive yardage = 2 hanks gets Kim this sweater! Check out pattern booklet #420 to see how this yarn works up singly or paired with yarn for even bulkier (= faster) projects. 

Millefiori Light Luxe

You'll recognize the newest addition to the Millefiori line up. Colors ebb and flow just like in the Millefiori Light but with a subtle sparkle. The metallic strand makes the finished fabric seemed kissed with just a hint of dew on a frosty morning. Berroco always does sparkle right! Pattern Collection and Virtual Trunk Show

Not in the shop yet but due mid Aug are the next two new Fall yarns:Mochi and Tiramisu. Due to arrive mid Aug. But you can preorder on our website!

Mochi

This aran weight baby alpaca, wool and nylon blend comes in an easy to work chainette yarn. Because of it's structure you can bump up the gauge a bit to a chunky probably, making this a nice choice when you need to crank out something fast.

Subtle speckled colors in this heavy worsted yarn create soft and light, yet warm accessories and garments. Once again a soft, soothing, calm color palette!! Just perfect for cocooning! The patterns are also just as cozy: #419 Mochi Patterns

Tiramisu

In this yarn colors gently flow with a soft halo of mohair is what make Tiramisu a unique structre of multiple strands different yarns. It combines the self-striping qualities of Millefiori Light with the halo of the new yarn, Aerial, a soft silky mohair (Aerial due in shop early Sep). It's a blend of wool, acrylic, mohair, and silk blend, the colors flow from brights to dark to make a beautiful self-striping fabric. The seeming fine yarn is actually a light-worsted weight (#7-8 or H hook). Patterns in #418 Tiramisu booklet.

More new stuff....

Noro Fall 2020 Magazine

(you'll find all our back issues in our online shop)

Interweave Knits Fall 2020

(it's gorgeous and no models  used in the making of it...I like it better!)

Furreal Pom Poms are finally here!!!

Been on order since last year and now there's bunch of new colors!

Great fur poms for all your pom pom needs.

Some Website Tips

Most of the links above take you to our website. Usually to the item page, or to a category page with multiple items. From our site here's tips on navigating around:

• Search: Use this bar or button (top right) to type in what you're looking for. For example "berroco" or "berroco ultra wool" let you click and go to that item. Even searches for partial words work.
  

• Items: These usually start with vendor name followed by the specific item: Berroco Mochi, Juniper Moon Cumulus, etc....
  

• Colors/Design Photos: Drop down menu for colors/design-click on color and main picture changes to it

• Extra Photos:Scroll down through all the picture thumbnails on left in item page for more images. I sometimes add pictures of patterns so you can see the yarns made up.
  

• Checkout: Once here you can change shipping to pickup. This makes it deduct shipping
  

• Puzzles Shipping: We have a special rate for puzzles. Please select "Multiple Puzzles" so order then calculates shipping properly based on weight. Puzzles need special rates due to weight, especially when ordering multiple puzzles!
  

That's it for now! Thank you everyone for supporting us. Don't hesitate to contact us if you need anything not found on website, have questions or need help. I'm at shop 11-3 weekdays.

Kim

Craftsy Classes at maisieblue Debuts

Some exciting news at the shop. Craftsy.com, a cool online "classroom" for wide variety of crafts, is partnering with local shops like ours. This means when you make any purchase on Craftsy via our special maisieblue links, as a retail partner we receive a portion of the sale. In return, we can promote and host Craftsy classes in the shop.



I'm tickled pink! Craftsy classes are fantastic. I've enrolled in several over the past year. And several new ones thanks to their big Summer Sale going on now (see more on that below). *good news: sale extended through Monday 7/22 EST!*

For those unfamiliar with Craftsy, it's an online instructional site with a wide array of craft classes, all with with well-known instructors in their fields. Each class has 24/7 video access to lessons, patterns, instructors and other students. Instructors answer questions via email any time and there's a classroom student forum to connect with other students. You  take the class at your pace, rewatch videos when you want, take notes with the video as you go, and bookmark areas to come back to. There's an ipad app I love. Easily pulls up all your enrolled classes so you can pick up where you last left off.

When a bout of late-night creative energies keep you awake,  pull up your class and continue, regardless of the late hour. The instructors are no slouches. They're bona fide names you'll recognize: Stephen West, Susan B. Anderson, Donna Druchonnas, Amy Herzog, Edie Eckman, Vicki Howell, Stephanie Japel, Franklin Habit, Laura Nelkin to name a few all have courses. It's like having a Stitches Convention at home, right on your couch all day everyday; whenever you want it!  Check out these free classes to test it out first. That's how I got hooked. The ins & outs of grafting and short rows are fantastic and you'll get a feel for how the whole Craftsy thing works.

Nice bonus: Craftsy is not just knitting or crochet. It's quilting, sewing, cooking, fine arts, jewelry making, designing classes. Any class you purchase via our maisieblue Classes web page or links on our blog helps us continue to host events and classes in our little shop. Click through via our page and we'll get credited for your visit.

In the future we're planning KALs for specific classes we love. First up will probably be: Myra's Crazy Lace Cardigan


I love this class. Enroll on Craftsy, then come to the shop for our meet-ups and we'll work together, knit-along style as we make our sweaters. Right now I'm busy making my first cardigan (Okay....I admit it. I currently have two of these sweaters on the needles as any good Cast On Monster would have). With this class you'll learn to make a sweater from scratch: with any yarn, at any gauge, customized to your own measurements. I've learn SO much already and I'm not even to the armholes yet. It's liberating. I can now pick my yarn, swatch, calculate the numbers and go! Watch for this Craftsy KAL in the shop sometime Fall 2013.

Now's a good time to give Craftsy a try. It's their big Summer Sale jul 17-21. Each new classes a discounted, some big time. I just signed up for Franklin Habits Heirloom Lace Edges and Joan McGowen-Michael's Feminine Fit: Bust Shaping Techniques. I'll be checking daily to see which classes are on sale each day. See one you really like? Let me know and we'll add it to the queue for the fall KAL schedule.

Craftsy Sweet Summer Sale 7/17-7/22 - All Classes now on Sale!

  *sale extended! now runs July 17-22nd!*

Head over to our Classes page on our website. Bookmark it and next time click through to Craftsy from there to help us launch our Craftsy Connect retail partnership in style! This is also where you can find out about our other non-Craftsy classes, like the Building Blocks series (next class starts Aug 3rd) Serious Socks (coming again this Fall & Winter) or details for private knit and crochet lessons.


Now for a little Poll Time Fun!

What Craftsy classes would you like us to do?
	Perfect Fit Crazy Lace Cardigan with Myra Woods
	Knit to Flatter with Amy Herzog
	Shawlscapes with Stephen West
	Wee Ones Seamless Toys with Susan B. Anderson
	Knit Sock Workshop with Donna Druchonas
	Top Down Icelandic Sweater with Ragga Eiriksdottir
	Knitting with Beads with Laura Nelkin
	Celtic Cables with Carole Feller
	Joining Crochet Motifs with Edie Eckman
	Tunisian Crochet with Purl Diva
pollcode.com free polls

Now for those intrepid souls still reading.... a sneak peek: Watch for our Birthday Sidewalk Sale Aug 10-11th. Lots of yarn deals and other markdows. We're cleaning house to make room for new stuff coming this Fall. More details in next newsflash. Just wanted to give our stalwart newsletter fans a heads up today. Also it took forever today to get this Craftsy blurb out so I've run out of time! LOL Thanks for being fans!

Kim and Megan

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