My visit to Jimy Beans Wool...

There is often a scwabble between us in my weekly knitting group...buying yarn at a local yarn store or LYS and buying online. Most of  them agree that you have to touch it, smell it, salivate over it and pet it before you buy it. One friend will rub it against her face and call it "My Precious". I agree to this usually ... except and it is a big EXCEPT for the one and only...creative genius that is called Jimmy Beans Wool.

 

 I stumbled on  to Jimmy Beans a few years back when I worked at a LYS that was going out of business and I needed a certain yarn. I found Jimmy Beans on line and they had it. Soon it became my "go to" store when the local stores couldn't fill my yarn needs...then it all changed. I saw that they had a newsletter and blog signed up for it. No longer was I only going to JBW when I needed more of something that I already had..I found myself visiting the site to see what was new and upcoming!

On our summer vacation to the west coast I realized we were only an hour way from JBW in Reno, Nevada. My pulsed quickened, I  may have started to sweat, my brain started to race...could I convince the hubby and my seven year old to take the side trip? I began to scheme...I was making sure I wasn't spending a lot on souvenirs or fancy dinners..."Souvenirs/food who needs that when yarn could be part of the equation!" I thought to myself. So when my hubby asked what I wanted to see when we were in Lake Tahoe. I smiled my sweetest smile and said " It would be neat to take the yougin' to Virginia City an old gold mining town". The hubby agreed then I threw in "And by the way there is this yarn store..." and the rest is below...

I walked in the show room and aimlessly wandered around. Warm and inviting, I gazed at all the goodies...
The Cascade wall...

 The table of Madelinetosh...

 The table of Lorna's laces...

 More Lorna's Laces...I was in heaven...yarn heaven that is. I wish I could have a wall like this at home!

 Then I  heard you could get a tour of the warehouse. It started here in the yarn garden. This is where my husband and son left me off and hugged mom goodbye. I am pretty sure they were a bit worried if they would see me again! I  was greeted by the warm, friendly and may I say amazingly cool Jeanne. I was among my own kind, as if I went home to the mother land!

 Jeanne started the tour with telling me the origins of JBW. My brain didn't know which way to go...listen to the amazing story or just stare in awe at the amazing isles of yarn. I regained my composure and listened as guided me through the aisles...aisles of yarn and fiber bliss. Jeanne explained all of their adorable "gift sets" and JBW exclusives. The who,what and why's. How they come about. What was working for them and what was not. So many interesting details about the operation at JBW and not just the ususal details...but the real behind the scenes info .Jeanne explained the staff, how she started at JBW. It was a real up close and personal tour. Not something you would expect from an "online retailer".

 Below is their Rowan Pure Wool Worsted Pickle sampler in these adorable canning jars.

  Rows of their exclusive beautiful Flower Bouquets.

 If I could of and it wouldn't of gotten me thrown out or make me look as if I lost my mind... I would have thrown all sense and caution into the wind and went Yarn Diving!!! Now that they know me a bit maybe next time and oh yes there will be a next time!

 Once again I regained my composure and got to meet these lovely ladies of JBW and "Jimmy" herself. We chatted about the business and the industry for a bit. They were so gracious to take time from their busy day to talk with me...cause all those boxes of yarn were waiting for them. I could have sat all day there with this fun and interesting group of gals. However there was shopping that needed to be done. I was not going home empty handed! Back to the show room I went!

 and decided on these beauties...

Some Lorna's Laces, Madelinetosh and Freia fine hand paints along with these adorable stitch markers cam home with me. There would have been more but we tried something new this trip and only had one suitcase for all of us. Big mistake BIG!! Not to worry ...cause all I have to do is log onto my computer and all the gorgeous fiber is at my fingertips!

 Not only does JBW carry the major yarn companies, they work with a lot of independent artist as well...like these stitch markers from Spark made exclusively for JBW.

Still need more convincing...

Check out the JBW exclusive Lorna's Laces Limited Edition yarns.These are my personal favorites and I have mentioned many times on my blog. They are a monthly treat that I look forward to and am completely addicted to. From colors inspired by the Royal wedding of William and Kate to the new STARZ series Outlander. When these are gone they are gone so what are you waiting for!

The adorable gift sets and samplers...check them out and start making your Holiday wish list!

Their newsletters...warm and friendly filled with all the new yarns and great projects...I get excited like a kid on Christmas when I see them in my Inbox!

So my fiber loving friends it does exist...an amazing on line retailer with the feel of a home grown yarn store. Great Company ...Great people!! Go check out for yourselves...you wont be disappointed!

When I relocate to Tahoe in a few years I will go to JBW and beg for a job and they wont have to even pay me...wink wink.

If you want to read  more about the JBW operation check out these articles in the New York Times written about JBW. Really interesting look into the small business world.

And on a side note...Thank you Ladies for the warning about the road leading you into Virginia City!! Wow that road is a DOOZIE! My stomach was in my throat most of the time!

Thank you ladies for a great visit! It was such fun to meet you all!

Be well, 

Ming

Everything was AWESOME...

when we went on vacation to California for a visit with family in the Bay area...

 five days in the Sierra Nevada's in Tahoe

 

  

a day trip to Virginia City, Nevada...

 

 

a final Lake Tahoe sunset

then an eleven hour drive down the coast to San Diego area...

 

  

for a visit to his Mecca ...

 

 

 Oh Cali, I didn't realize how much I missed you! It's been 30 years since my last time with you (Geez, do I feel old!) How I forgot about all your splendid beauty and how your colors inspired me! We traveled the same route as I did when I was 12. The Bay Area, Tahoe, and then south to the San Diego area for the long awaited visit to Lego Land for the little man. He has been talking about it for three years now. So, we finally decided that this was the year to do it. We don't think we have ever seen him happier! I think the face in the picture above sums it up.. don't you? He never wanted to leave the hotel...we had a pirate themed room, very cool!

Our visit with family in the Bay area was so fun. Four little boys...8 and under...that was a bunch of energy in one house. They played extremely hard all day and night. Us parents just watched in bewilderment thinking

 "oh we are so in for it when they are older!!"  Then we were off to Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay...gorgeous!! Hikes through the Sierra Nevadas. Hair pin turns on mountain roads...my stomach was in my throat much of the time!! Breath taking views all around us. I think I would definitely relocate to Tahoe someday.  We spent a day as well in Virginia City, Nevada...an old gold mining town about an hours drive from Tahoe. The little guy said to me "This looks like the Old West" ...yes child this actually is the Old West, I had to explain to him! Then we drove eleven hours south. It was a gorgeous ride seeing much of the state...but poor Cali, you are sooo dry! That drought is terrible! We saw some Army maneuvers on our drive down the coast...they were waving to us as they drove by...we saluted them back. And, of course I insisted we see a California Coast sunset. The youngin' wasn't happy about it as it took time away from Lego Land (a whole hour..god forbid!) but, he got into taking some pictures... the blurry one of course. Like any good mom I love it cause he took it! The four older kids you ask?? Where were they? Here, there and everywhere this summer. Yes, we left them behind this time...that was a first for us. We did miss them, 

really we did ;-)!

It was a great summer with lots of good times. Now it is time for school. I am always sad when summer ends. I love my kids home with me<3! Tomorrow we send the youngest daughter off to the other end of the world to New Zealand. Our oldest son moved out this summer to begin his "after college life". The older daughter is heading south to Florida and the middle son has been in Vermont working all summer and started his Junior year of University. So, we almost have an empty nest ...at least for us that is what it seems like. Down to one 2nd grader who can not wait to get to school...he got the "cool teacher" this year!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer too! Make sure you stop back later this week to check out my visit to Jimmy Beans Wool in Nevada! Really, did you think it would be a vacation for me without some sort of fiber or craft involved! As my little guy would say,,,"Seriously!"

Be well,

Ming

**the picture of the Lego bike rider, that is the reception desk...that is a whole wall of Lego Minifigures and the wheels are magnifying glass so you can see them!!!

Creative Blog Hop around the world

I was so excited when i was asked to join this really unique Blog Hop (spanning the globe!!!) by Elisabeth of ElizyArt a fabulous crochet blogger from Spain. This is my first Blog Hop too! What I like is how this hop is tapping into the bloggers creative genius and process on why and what they do. Another interesting aspect is that it is not limited to just one particular craft. So it really covers quite a gamut. So here I go with my four questions!

Question #1: What are you working on at the moment?

Right now the main projects I am working on...cause there is never just one! Is sock knitting. I am on my third pair now for the Rock the socks KAL on Ravelry hosted by Andi of My Sister's Knitter. She gave me the sock bug and I can't seem to shake it! Here is what I have accomplished so far...

"How I make my socks" by Susan B.Anderson

Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder

Socks On A Plane by Erica Lueder

Along with sock knitting I have been doing some stitch a longs with The Frosted Pumpkins Stitchery. These girls just make the cutest cross stitch patterns...I have been collecting them all! They are just too cute to pass up! Right now I am working on the Once Upon A Time Sampler. You purchase the pattern and every month you receive a new fairytale story to stitch. Along with that I am working on the The Mysterious Halloween Town. Same thing here, for three months you receive a section of the pattern. its really fun to anticipate what you are getting next and it really keeps you engaged in the project. It is also fun keeping up with everyone's progress during all these A-longs on Facebook, Ravelry and Instagram!

Once Upon A Time Sampler

Mysterious Halloween Town

 Question # 2: How does your work differ from others of your genre? 

 I don't really know if my work does. What comes first to mind is that I like to put my own spin on whatever I am making. If it is a pattern or project created by someone else I always have to tweak it somehow. Or  I like to take a very traditional look and make it current. How so you say? Right now I am on a a Civil War fabric kick. However they aren't really my style but I am finding the colors that are my style and mixing them together. So it may be a more vibrant and less traditional looking Civil War quilt project. I really think I just like to mix it up and experiment. Then again who doesn't! I am almost positive that others must work this way to. Second thing to mind is that I really focus on color first and foremost. When I worked at local yarn shop I was know for my use of putting colors together for projects rather than my actual knitting and crochet skills.Yet, again I know I am not alone here on this point either. I often question is anything ever really unique or different or just an adaptation of what has been done before. Like with fashion..whats old is new kind of theory. One other fact is that I not the biggest on trends...it really has to speak to me. I won't create something just because it's the latest trend or fashion.

Question #3 Why do you create what you do?

Well, I come from a family of artist.from painters in watercolors,oils and charcoal to knitters, crocheters, cooks, and gardeners. I really do not know another way of life. I grew up with people constantly creating around me. I can remember my grandfathers garden (prize winning tomatoes) and his topiary bushes under his bedroom window. He would shape the bushes into the sign of the cross top keep bad spirits away! My Father was a an amazing watercolorists,stone mason and custom home builder. He would just look at something and create it. One Christmas season I came to find him shaping a Reindeer out of chicken wire and weaving it with winter greens for a lawn ornament. This was decades before Pintrest or Martha Stewart!  My mother was constantly making and crocheting us clothes when we were young. My grandmother cooking and baking. So to me it is a way of  life. I have always been mesmerized by anything created by hand. I am always saying "I can make that" rather than buy it. That way it is way more unique, especially when it is a gift for someone.

I can not remember not being creative in some capacity. Even when I stopped crafting for a while it was during the period of my life when I had a career as a Hairstylist. It may not have been a needle craft or such but I was still using my hands and using my creative process.

My grandmother's traditional Easter pies and

Question # 4: How does your creative process work?

Hmm...This is  a good one ! I thinks it all has to do with a habit of mine. That I do not like to be limited to just one craft or process. I don't like to specialize in just one area. to me there is just so  much to learn about everything. From needle arts to cooking to gardening to decorating to reading. To me by dabbling in all, I have learned that they can be integrated. While doing one I may find that it inspires me in another. The colors in my garden may grab my attention and say to me "Wouldn't these colors look great in a yarn for a scarf... or a passage in a book may give me an idea for a stitching pattern. One recently is a pattern I am working on called Little Lady Baby slipper...I was reading an antique book I found at a yard sale The History of Royal Children. I started playing with yarn got an idea about a shape ..now I  am perfecting the pattern. So whatever I make has many facets to it.

 I hoped you enjoyed yourself and found a bit of inspiration here on my blog today. It was so much fun to 

share my thoughts with you I was very honored to be asked to join this hop! I sincerely appreciate your time visiting my blog. I hope you will come back soon!

I now pass you along to two spectacular bloggers on next Monday August 18th Amy from, Amy Made That! and Francesca, from FuoriBorgo. Two very talented women will take on these same questions!

Enjoy the Blog Help and Be Well,

Ming