Well here we are once more, it's early December, and we are in the final stretch of the race to the holidays. Where on earth do the years go ! I would swear it was only a month of so ago that I wrote last December's article. Anyone who has been through our stores recently will have seen how busy we are. This year everyone seems to be making lots of presents, and the yarns seem to have been flying out the doors. On one day recently, with twenty two boxes of yarn delivered in less than an hour I had to decide whether to be able to access the yarn aisles, or the washroom! At the close of business recently we sometimes don't know whether to laugh or cry. Can you imagine hyperactive zombies. Our bodies are completely exhausted, but our minds are exhilarated by the fun and excitement of the day.

We have had several new yarns in recently, and our customers are loving them. Probably the biggest hit (literally), has been the Cascade Eco Wool, and Eco Plus. Knitters have taken to this yarn in a big way. At $16.99 for 250 grams, and with well over 400 meters per skein this bulky gauge yarn is a wonderful bargain. My only problem is that we just cannot keep it in stock. I just think that we have sufficient to last a while, turn around and here comes another customer with an armful.

The other yarns that have been attracting a lot of attention are the two Noro yarns, Kureyon sock, and Silk Garden sock. The colours just beg to be knit. Freedom Spirit has some new colours which are hard to resist, and the new Freedom Wool, which is a very soft super bulky wool, has been selling very well too. Paton's Silk Bamboo has proven very popular, especially since book 500865 Nine to Five was launched.

Recently we have been offering special promotions to those customers who are signed up for our email newsletter. These have been very popular, so watch out for coming specials in the new year.

Regrettably, we are no longer shipping goods outside of Canada and the United States. This has been made necessary by the incredibly high cost of international shipping. A study we conducted in November found that we were losing money on every international shipment. Often the shipping charges to us were more than 50% of the value of the order. So we have shut down out UK web site, and will concentrate on our US and Canadian customers.

I have to close now, unlike so many of our customers I am way behind with my preparations for Christmas. As I said before the year has flown by, I guess that is what happens when you are having fun, but now with only three and a half weeks left I still have an awful lot left to do. Thankfully more of the work now falls on my family, but I had better get out there and shop till I drop.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season.

Carol.