The Return of Our Show Us Your Shawl Extravaganza! DEFINITELY click to see the big version of this picture, it's stunning! Last spring, we had a “Show Us Your Shawl Extravaganza,” in which we asked our customers to dig out all the beautiful shawls they made and wear them into the shop. We found that weekend so amazing, so humbling, and so inspiring that we’re thrilled to do it all over again. We are celebrating Show Us Your Shawl Weekend on Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17. During these two days, come into the shop wearing a shawl that you have knit or crocheted. We’ll take a picture of you for our blog, and in exchange for Showing Us Your Shawl, we’ll give you 10% off your entire regular-priced purchase. At the end of the weekend, we’ll have a lovely online journal of our favorite shawls. Want some inspiration? Check out this collage of the participants from last year’s extravaganza.

What’s New; What’s Going On That might be snow falling from the sky in April, but we have hope that spring is coming! To prepare for warmer weather and new yarn from this summer’s trade show in Columbus, Martha has done a yarn bump to make room for all that is new and wonderful. Now at 20% off: Marble Baby, Hempton, AllHemp6, Zauberball Sock, Swiss Mohair, and Trekking XXL. At 30% off: Noro Kureyon and Silk Garden, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky, Cascade 128, Malabrigo Chunky, Abstract Fibers Miro, and Arucaunia Ruca. At 40% off: Brown Sheep Superwash Worsted and Cotton Fleece, Sirdar Snuggly DK and Snuggly Kisses DK, and Dream in Color Baby Laceweight. In need of some inspiration? A number of new books and magazines have arrived, including the Spring issues of KnitScene, Interweave Crochet, and Spin-Off. A few months ago, we met with our Pagewood Farms yarn rep and were thrilled to see so many new yarn lines from this fabulous, family-owned and run, California-based business. In addition to the workhorse sock yarn lines such as Yukon and Denali that Pagewood offers, we now have Denali 4, a DK sock yarn; Verano, a sportweight cotton; beautiful colors of Pencil Roving, and Kiana, a superwash worsted. We are so happy that our Bring Your Own Bag program, in which you enter our monthly raffle for a $10 Natural Stitches gift card is turning out to be such a success. Congratulations to our March winner, Vanessa F.! So soft and cuddly! Easter is coming, and what better excuse to knit or crochet a bunny? Last year, Monica offered some suggestions for fun spring toys and garments on our blog. We can now add our infamous Bunny Nuggets to the list. And here’s Kelli’s knitted bunny for her nephew, made from less than one skein of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton. We are slowly but surely embracing the world of social networking. In addition to our established Facebook, Twitter, and Ravelry accounts, you can also check-in to Natural Stitches on your Facebook app on your mobile device, as well as on FourSquare. Also due to popular demand, you can follow Zizmo the Bunny Nugget on Twitter as @ZizmoBunneh.

Our Natural Stitches Family Grows! Spring is the season of change, and we here at Natural Stitches are no exception. Our dear friend and crochet teacher Annette is moving on to focus on her full-time job and her new baby coming in September! We wish Annette well, and we're happy to welcome Jack, who will be teaching basic crochet and all of our children's knitting and crochet classes. In his real life, Jack is a fifth grade teacher who just became engaged! Also this spring, Steven is leaving us to take his internship at Vogue Knitting and then begin his Ph.D. studies in the fall at Michigan State University. In addition, in case you haven't noticed me waddling around the store, I am having my second child in May, and will be on maternity leave from mid-May through September. This means you will see recent hires Jenn and Zelda's smiling faces much more often this summer. Jenn holds a degree in art and has worked as a graphic designer, including designing our Natural Stitches fliers. Zelda works at PNC and brings years of experience in knitting, crochet, tatting, and embroidery to the table. Our new crochet teacher, Jack, and Karen (yes, make lots of Will and Grace jokes; I have), will also be joining the floor staff. Karen is a chemical engineer, working in a post-doctoral position at the University of Pittsburgh, and has been knitting and crocheting since she was a child. We’re thrilled to welcome these folks to our Natural Stitches family. Calendar of Classes

Show and Tell Michael models her Tea Leaves Cardigan in Malabrigo Rios Nancy shows off her colorwork baby cardigan from Cascade’s new 60 Quick Baby Knits. We’re thrilled to say that this lovely sweater is for Nancy’s new granddaughter, Grace! Yvonne finished her Wool Peddler’s Shawl for the shop’s KAL in Dream in Color Classy in Black Pearl Monica just completed this shop sample, Cecily’s Silk Cardigan, in The Fibre Company’s Road to China Light. The pattern is by Blue Sky Alpacas and is available here in the shop. We got a sneak peak at Ysolda Teague’s forthcoming book Little Red in the City, and Yvonne, Zelda, Jenn, and Nora have been hard at work on shop samples. Nora completed her Angostura Vest in Berroco Peruvia Click on the pictures for enlargements One final note, we will be closed April 24th for the Easter holiday. Hopefully spring will be here by then, we're all tired of the snow!

From the entire staff of Natural Stitches, we wish you happy knits, creative crochets and splendid spinnings. And, as always, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know!

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