What Nora wants...

Well, she’s 7 so she doesn’t always get what she wants.  In this case though, mom is going to give in.  What does she want?  She wants her own yarn club, of course.   (And a horse. A girl horse, preferrably black, and a puppy she can name Sheba.)

For some time now, she’s been telling me when she grows up, she wants to have a store next to mine so we can visit each other because we’re both dyers.  After she started saying this, she was quite miffed with me when she found out I did not rent the booth next to mine for her at Rhinebeck.  Quite. Miffed. 

It all started, when I laid out some plastic on the kitchen floor and let her give it a go with some food coloring, once upon a time.

Next thing you know, we’ve got yarn the color of her favorite gum, and yarn that every young girl (almost) loves, and Crushed Candy Cane – 2 shades of red, but she was quick to point out… no pink. She cracks me up.  Then we had a test of color theory which she passed with flying colors (pun intended) – what do you get when you take neon yellows & green and overdye it in neon pink? Sunset.

Then, one day, the special request came.  Georg wanted Nora to dye her some yarn.  She took this news very seriously.  Thought hard about the color cards and spent some time doing some real thinking.  Georg is not a ‘pink’ kinda gal.  Nora pretty much nailed Georg with that custom color, aptly named ‘For Georg’.

Every once in a while, she thinks outside the box – or maybe that’s outside the corral?  This is the Black Stallion, the whole dye process can be found here.

I started telling Nora the things folks were saying about her colorways.  Sometimes, someone would ask for Nora to dye them something.  Each time, she took the request with, if possible, more seriousness than the previous one. She began asking me questions like, “Did the person say what their favorite color is?”, and “Did the person say if there was a color they don’t like?”. 

Then one day, she said something to me, and I knew I might be in trouble.  “Mom, I think some customers might like my colors more than yours.”

I didn’t batt an eye.  Looked her up & down, and said with all honesty, “Nora, you might be right.” 

This past couple of months there has been the phrase ‘sock club’ in just about every conversation around here.  The 2009 club was ending, and at the same time, we were gearing up for the 2010 club.  That’s when I heard things like ‘Do they want to use my yarn in a sock club?’  I explained how Lisa designed the socks, and I dyed the yarn to match whatever the sock subject was, and showed her pictures of the Cowboy Boot as an example.  Her brain went to work.  The next thing you know, she’s coming home from school announcing that all her friends want yarn from her yarn club. 

So… What’s in a 7 year old’s yarn club, you ask?  Well, its 3 months long – one colorway per month and no one but the club can have it until the club is over.  And it’s all about the whimsy!  This is a 7 year old, after all!  She’s asked Georg to make stitch markers for her club.  Who knows – maybe they’ll glow in the dark like these glow-in-the-dark-mood-ring-style beads!

And she informs me that if they like her yarn, they might like other things she likes as well (logic is good) like candy…. and who knows what might strike her fancy. (hints:  She has been talking about Whales & Mermaids, Watermelons, and HoneyBees, among other things.)  It will be fun, it will definately be unique, and it will be an adventure!

We’ve got a 400 yard skein of yarn in a brand new Nora colorway, fun stitch markers, and goodies picked out by the 7 year old – let your inner child hang out on a monthly play-date with my 7 year old.  It’ll be great!  $80.00 for the 3 month subscription covers it all including postage.  Questions?  Post them here if you like, and Nora & I will do our best to answer them, or you can email me at jennifer@holidayyarnsDOTcom.  I just have one request:  Please don’t let Georg tell her about dyeing fabric for quilting.  The house just isn’t big enough.

Woops!  You missed it!  Now you have to wait 3 months to get ahold of Nora’s new colorways (and matching stitch markers!).  The first one goes out tomorrow (April 1st – no fooling!) and it’s full of spring – like a bouquet of flowers!