Knitting with Company

I have two older brothers and a younger sister.  When we were kids our family would take an annual holiday to the seaside – always the last week in July and the first week in August.  Whitley Bay, on the coast of Northumberland  was always our favorite destination winning out against competitors like Redcar, Seaton Carew, Bridlington and Scarborough.   Each “resort” had its own caché and fans.

If there was no rain, we would spend our days on the beach at Whitley Bay, or in the amusement arcades if we had nasty weather.  The Spanish City was one of these arcades, and it was later immortalized by Mark Knopfler and the Dire Straights in their song “Tunnel of Love”.  I have lots of stories about the fun me and my brothers would have there – my sister was always too young to hang with the “big boys”!

In the weeks leading up to our holiday my mother would be preparing and packing.  I remember this one year she was knitting new swimming trunks for me and my brothers.  They were a rusty brown color – very appropriate as they would be able absorb the effluent from the local chemical plants without leaving too many stains.

Now, bear in mind that it’s the beautiful North Sea that laps the beaches of Whitley Bay and other coastal towns on that part of Britain.  Even at it’s warmest, and despite global warming, I doubt that the temperature of the water there rises much above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

So we were all prepared.  The beach routine went something like this.

1. Find your spot, and plant your equipment – at a minimum a windbreak and rented deckchairs.
2. Spread out the towels – I have memories of these being about the thickness of cheesecloth.
3. Change into your swimming trunks while your parents made a modesty screen with the towels.  If (wicked) Uncle Gordon was there, and he often was, he would always make sure that he whipped away the towel at a moment that would cause you maximum embarrassment.
4. Make sandcastles, go crab hunting, play some football (soccer) or cricket.
5. Hit the sea, and splash around until the blueness spread to the end of your nose and then run back to the spot and get a towel wrap and rub from my mother.
6. Drink a hot cup of tea (there were tea stands strategically located along the beach).

Then we’d start again at the “make sandcastles” and repeat until the blue wouldn’t go away anymore – and everyone was exhausted and crabby and ready for a nice plate of fish and chips.  In fact I think they used to make the tea greasy to help stimulate that appetite.

The Reveal

So there we were on the first day, all ready to hit the water in our new swim trunks.  Run! Fun! Splash! Fun! Splash! Brrrr! Let’s go get warm.  This was a moment of revelation and learning – DON’T EVER KNIT YOUR KIDS A SWIMSUIT MADE OF WOOL even if you do reinforce the seams!

My brother and I abandonned our dignity as we made our way back up the beach to the warming station while trying to pull our 20 pound trunks up from our ankles.  I remember that we provided quite a show for all the other holiday makers, something that they almost certainly forgot by the next day, but something that has blighted me forever, and will remain embedded in my psyche until my dying day.

We hear people everyday come into the shop and ask, “what’s the chicken wire”? Well it’s our clearance section in the store. Named “chicken wire” just because the backs of the bins are covered with chicken wire – it stops the skeins flying the coop.

It’s a great place to find a bargain yarn that we are discontinuing.  And because it is so popular we’re extending on line with our Chicken Wire Auction (over to the right of this article) to give those who can’t make it to the store a chance to get a bargain. Every week we’ll have a clearance yarn available in our Chicken Wire Auction. This week we have some Araucania Atacama – you could get as much as 85% discount off retail! So check it out – you could complete all your holiday gift knitting with a single bag (about 2000 yards) of this super-soft alpaca.

What a great response!

Thank you to everyone that participated in the auctions that we’ve been running over the past few days. We are still collecting the proceeds for the Blankenship Children’s Education Fund, and once we have all the payments we will let you know the totals.   We’ll be contacting the winners over the next couple of days to arrange for payment and shipping.   Dorie is deeply touched and very overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people and would like to thank you all.

In the meantime here is the list of high bidders … thanks again for your participation.

Everyone has been so generous, and we have about 20 items that will be on display over the weekend May 8-9-10.  Along with the bid sheets.

Come on down this weekend and place your bid … bidding ends at 4pm Central on Sunday, May 10th.

All the money we raise will be donated directly to the education fund for Dorie’s kids – without any deductions.

The online auction has been a blast … and the three items that we’ve listed so far will probably help us to raise about $200 (at the time of writing) … thank you bidders … and there’s still time to bid on those items.

Plus, we’ve just added two new items, that will only be available for purchase through the online auction.

There’s a barn raising blanket (approx. 56″ x 46″) that has been knit by a Wool and Company team that comprises staff, customers and local guild members.

Barn Raising Blanket

There’s a beautiful silver bracelet that was hand-crafted by Val Adelsheim.

Silver Bracelet - Hand Crafted

Yoo hoo! Spring has finally arrived.  I can hear the grass growing today.  When I cleaned out the gutters a few weeks ago I really didn’t expect mother nature to take full advantage.  Anyway, we’ve got beautiful sunny weather and a lovely spring breeze to dry things out now.  And Henry, our guest labradoodle will no longer need a full shower every time he returns from a romp in the yard.

So now, we can turn our thoughts to doing things outdoors and our downtown Geneva community has a great opportunity coming up for you next Saturday.

Gardenology May 9, 2009

Learn how to create, grow, and maintain your garden. Specialists and master gardeners will be here to answer any questions and give advice.  Topics include herbs, flowers, vegetables, heirloom plants and table scrapes. Learn about attracting birds and butterflies, wildlife control, composting, pest control, organic fertilizers and more. Kids can have fun too by planting seeds in biodegradable pots and creating sprout necklaces. Win a watering can from participating shops that will be raffled off at the end of the day.

We’ll see you next Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 11 a.m – 5 p.m. for Gardenology in downtown Geneva at participating merchants.

More Gardenology information at the Geneva downtown website or contact Deb or Sue at Country Naturals 630-232-1172.