Archive for January, 2006
It all started when Samia Morgan, our fabulous realtor who helped us find this great location, came by with her stash of yarn remnants. She had this collection of beautiful yarns that she left over from her many different projects.
Then came Linda Adler and she told us it would be a good idea to establish some kind of yarn exchange for our customers. The idea was that you put a ball of yarn in and take one out. Then someone chimed in that Girl Scouts should be allowed to take a ball of yarn without putting one in. Then someone suggested, sometimes they had projects that they just need a little bit of something of. So, we’re combining a couple of ideas and coming up with the “The Yarn Exchange.” The rules go something like this:
- If you’re under 12 years of age, you get to take a ball of yarn for free.
- If you’re over 12 (and no, it’s not if you feel like you’re 12), you can take a ball of yarn for every ball you put into the pot… er basket. Or bin - whatever we end up assigning as keeper of the exchange.
- It’s an honor system, so we will not card you but at the end of the day, Nine Rubies knitting reserves the right to cut off people from addictions to the bin.
- All yarn is accepted - with or without labels and it certainly does not need to be bought at the store. You can just put some yarn in and it will supply young knitters.
- The rules can be changed at any time. All suggestions to rule changes will be listened to.
I know I have a stash of wool that I will never use and I will have a hard time parting with it. Start combing through your collections and bring what you *know* you will not use. Bring your goodies by and feel good about cleaning up your stash, and contributing to young people who are learning to knit. Have a wonderful time.
January 31st, 2006
We’ve got our first Beginner Knitting and Crochet sorted out. It took a little while but they are finally here. I’ve also added a time slot for Social Knitting time so everyone can come and do what we all like doing best - knitting and chatting with each other about the latest issue of People magazine.
If you want to sign up for any of the Knitting or Crochet class, give us a call at 650-685-6205 or drop by the store. I am limiting the classes to 6 people, so you can have good 1:1 time with the instructors.
Beginning Knitting – February 2006
4 Sessions - $75 (Supplies Additional)
10 am -12 pm
Starts February 4th
First learn to knit a cute little test swatch. Learn the basic knitting techniques- cast on, knit, purl, and cast off. You will then choose a scarf pattern, select yarn and needles, and start knitting your first project. We will work with you to finish the project in the next few sessions.
Beginning Crochet – February 2006
4 Sessions - $75 (Supplies Additional)
2 pm – 4 pm
Starts February 5th
Learn to make a slip knot and foundation chain first – that’s your basics. Then move on to slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet. The project for the class is an infant blanket that you can choose to make in a variety of yarns from the store or bring your own supplies.
Social Knitting
Every Wednesday – FREE
6 pm – 8 pm
Starts February 8th
Just come and hang out at the Nine Rubies Knitting store in San Mateo – just a time to come relax with other knitters and share your stories, figure out problems and of course, gossip. We’ll tell you about the new yarns we’ve gotten, preview trunk shows, and maybe even have special guests drop by.
January 26th, 2006
Yesterday was a truly exciting day, because we met members of so many knitting circles — including the local (and large!) Yahoo Group, the great folks down the street at “M” is for Mystery bookshop, knitting biotechies from Genentech, neighbors from Hillsborough. Wow!
We’re already planning evening get-togethers at the shop for some of these groups, starting as soon as the week of Feb 8. If you or your group is interested, please drop me a line at saloni@ninerubies.com.
January 22nd, 2006
The store is now open and we need to knit samples for every darn yarn in the store. As you know we have a HUGE selection of yarns - it’s a tragedy, I can’t knit every one of them because I love them all. So, we are looking for people to knit up the yarns - so many fun projects. Swatches - we are planning to have 6×6″ swatches for every line of yarn we carry. So, if you just want to try a yarn or two, let us know and we can go from there.
For anything more than a swatch, we will actually pay you to knit a sample for us. The payments are not going to make you rich - but it might be good pin money to help you buy yarn for your next project. OK, if you do fall in love with your project while knitting it, I will sell it to you at a discount of 10%. There will never be an exhaustive list of projects but here are some that I would like to get started with
- A Ribbon Rib Scarf in Mountain Colors Merino Ribbon
- Elegant Textured Stole In Five yarns from Mountain Colors
- Lotorp Bag in Noro Kureyon
Imagine all the fun trying these great painted yarns!
To get started, send me an email at info@ninerubies.com. I will send you a qeastionnaire asking about your experience etc. And then we sign an agreement for the specific pattern I pick for you. Or if you are close to the store, just drop by and we can go through this quickly and get you started right away.
January 18th, 2006
Nine Rubies Knitting officially opened on Thurs. Jan. 12 — what an exciting relief! We spent the entire prior week tagging the thousands of balls of yarn that we needed to have ready. Glad that part is over, let me tell you. The yarn is all on the shelves:
And the show window is ready for Valentine’s Day:
The store is open from 10am to 7pm everyday.
We still don’t have a sign out front (we’re next to the Selix formal-wear rental shop, and they have a big sign), but people saw us inside, saw the wonderful colors through the shop window, and kept stopping in. So we actually had or first sales even before we opened. One special sale went to our friend Samia Morgan, who not only found us the wonderful location for this first Nine Rubies store but also helped us find our lovely house in San Mateo. We owe her a lot, and it was terrific to have her be our first customer.
From our other customers we’re learning about how popular knitting is among the staff at Mills Health Center, particularly on the night shift. We’ve have a few nurses and doctors come by already, and they are pros. We’ll be looking for creative ways to serve this crowd in the future.
January 15th, 2006
Welcome! We’re pleased you stopped by but you’re a little early!
We’re opening our retail shop in downtown San Mateo, CA soon. And we’ll have our Web site up and running some time after that. In the meantime, feel free to drop us a note at the address below.
Phone: 650.685.6205
Fax: 650.240.1326
Email: info@ninerubies.com
January 4th, 2006
