October Greetings!

I hope you have been keeping calm by stitching the past couple of weeks. It certainly seems to be a wild ride if you're watching the economic news closely. Usually when the economic climate is shall we say, "tight", hobbies come to the forefront more for people. Whether it's to relax, stitch a gift for a friend or just for fun, needlework is a great hobby. I know you have lots of other things you can be doing with your money and we do appreciate you spending some of it with us!

DJ Designs Trunk Show Continues Through Nov 1

Dale has agreed to let us continue the trunk show through November 1st, so if you have not had a chance to come by the shop to see his amazing selection, you've still got time. From floral pillow canvases to SF designs, purses, stitched boxes and foot stools, there is a wide range of beautiful hand-painted designs. Remember, you do earn Rewards points on trunk show purchases as well. So come by and take a look at these great designs before November 1st.

Let Love Abide Book Signing - November 4th

We are so pleased to announce the release of Let Love Abide - The Marian Soss Sampler Collection by In The Company of Friends. Marian lives here in the SF Bay Area and has an absolutely amazing sampler collection. This book has photos of 104 of her extensive collection along with documentation about them.

Marian and the publishers will be here for the book launch and signing on Tuesday evening, November 4th from 6pm - 8pm. Marian will speak a bit about her collection and how it came to be and will sign books. We'll have plenty of them on hand so you can pick up a copy, meet Marian and find out more about her collection. We'll also have some tasty treats in case you come straight from work.

There is no sign-up required. If you want us to make sure to hold a book for you, or if you aren't going to make the event but want a book, you can give us a call before the event or drop us an e-mail. We'll add the book to the online catalog some time before the book signing.

Sharon G Classes - November 6-9th

Please join us November 6th - 9th for 4 days of great Sharon G classes. Thursday and Friday Sharon will teach Directed Stitching, where you bring a canvas and she'll help you bring it life with color, threads and stitches. You can sign up for one or both days. Cost is $135 for a single day or $225 for both days.

On Saturday and Sunday Sharon will be teaching one her lovely hand-painted canvases, Terrace, which evokes Tuscany to me. You'll learn a wide variety of stitches using silk and metal threads. Class & Canvas fee is $400, with the thread kit it's $550 (we'll kit it with partial skeins to keep the cost down).

Sharon is a great teacher and a funny, warm person. You'll enjoy these classes immensely and I'll hope you'll be able to join us for one or both of them. You can find out more details about the classes and sign-up for them in our website. Or you can give us a call.

Join Us For Some Halloween Fun

It's hard to believe Halloween is just 2 weeks away! The local business association we belong to sponsors a Trick-Or-Treat event for kids on the street so we get a lot of dressed up children during the day which is great fun - some of the costumes are pretty cute.

In the spirit of the holiday, Leila (who is multi-talented woman) will be offering free, light-hearted one-card tarot readings to customers on Halloween.  Leila moonlights as a tarot reader (www.leilajo.com) and is looking forward to bringing a touch of magic and mystery to the store this Halloween.  So stop on by, pull a card and see what the season has is store for you!

2008 Christmas Finishing Deadlines

The deadlines have past for Finishing for Christmas but if you have a piece that still needs to be done we can see if the finisher might be able to handle it in time. She sets the deadline far enough in advance so they are sure to get everything done in time for Christmas. But occasionally they can take more items - so just give us a call and we can check.

News

Be sure to check out our What's New Blog!

We held the first of our monthly BoINK Stitch Groups this week. Join us either for the Tuesday evening or Saturday Stitch Group. There is no fee for the Stitch Group and it's a great way to come stitch with others who are working on the same piece You'll find the Book of Ink Circles available for free from the Ink Circle website. If you like Celtic designs this is a fabulous piece you should check out. The charts are available only on Tracy's website and you pick the fabric and thread colors to make your piece unique. Dates for the 2008 BoINK Stitch Group which are now also for Jeannette Douglas's My Stitching Album are: BoINK & My Stitching Album Stitch Group Tuesday 6pm-8pm BoINK & My Stitching Album Stitch Group Saturday 11am-1pm November 11 November 8 December 9 December 13

Here's a few new cross-stitch items that have come in recently: Little House Needleworks Sea to Shining Sea Shepherd's Bush Scatter Pumpkins M Designs Boo! Shakespeare's Peddler Ann Harrison 1830 Little House Needleworks Holly & Berries La D Da Something Wicked Elizabeth Designs - Autumn Leaves II, Be At Peace, Jack O Lantern, Let's All Be Merry, Night Before Christmas Homespun Elegance - Boo To You, Majestic Christmas Indigo Rose - Beads, Buttons & Bows, Stella, Winter White JBW Designs - English Plum Pudding, Red Mitten Collection I & II, Tis The Season, Christmas Purse La D Da - Something Wicked, Three Sweet Hearts Little House Needlework - Gingerbread Trio, Holly & Berries, Sea to Shining Sea Lizzie Kate - Christmas Double Flip: Tree/Candy & Faith/Cheer, Don't Get Your Tinsel In A Tangle, Santa's Got The Goods, Tiny Tidings XIII M Designs - Autumn Leaves, Boo!, Imagine Tree Ornament, Inspire Tree Ornament Shakespeare's Peddler - Anne Harrison 1830, Shepherd's Bush - Anna's Stocking (we also have the thread pack), Scatter, Christmas, Scatter Pumpkins The Sweetheart Tree - January (Garnet & Carnation), February (Amethyst & Violet), March (Aquamarine & Jonquil) Twisted Threads - My Kitchen Waxing Moon - By Jolly By Golly, Merry Christmas: One Color Wonders, Holiday Minis Pillow: One Color Wonders, Snowballs 4 Sale These items are available through the Hoffman Merchant Mall. Check our What's New Blog for the latest info.

We sold our of our first shipment of the Just Cross-Stitch 2008 Ornament issue but we do have more on order. You can still order them through our on-line catalog or by calling the shop.

Jeannette Douglas's new multi-part design, My Stitching Album has just released part 3, which we'll get sometime next week. We have more of parts 1 & 2 as well as the thread packs for them. I've added Vintage Luna and Vintage Lentil as fabric options to the on-line catalog. Most people have picked Light Examplar or Pearled Barley, but you can stitch this on anything. It does require a larger cut than usual, 55x27 so we special order them from Lakeside. If you have a favorite Lakeside color we've not listed, just send us an e-mail and we can order a custom cut for you. Dyeing time is usually 2-3 weeks but can be longer if they are swamped with orders. This is a year-long design that Jeannette is releasing through late 2009 and a very fun project. You can read more about it on Jeannette's website. You can order any of the currently available pieces through our on-line catalog and let us know if you want to sign-up for them to come on auto. Starting in November we'll combine this project with our BoINK Stitch Groups since both are lengthy projects and I'm sure we could all use the stitching support!

I'm off to Nantucket for 2 weeks. I do the boutique for CA Well's Legacy Needleart event and then I'm taking my second Nantucket basket class from her sister Chris. My husband is coming with me and we've rented a house for 2 weeks so I do some actual vacation time this trip! I'm looking forward to both the events but to also having some time to relax, enjoy exploring Nantucket, perhaps read a bit and stitching with a nice cup of tea and some great fall weather!

I hope you have some fun doing a bit of stitching this coming week - and enjoy the fall weather as well (or Spring if you're down under)!

Happy Stitching,

Cathe
...and Debi, Caroline, Lelia, Mary, Ali, Jennifer, Cheryl, Sherry, Susan and Margaret

510-522-0404 * 877-HAYSTAC * 877-429-7822

Shop Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5pm, Sun 1pm - 4pm
Monday By Appointment

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