Middleford Yarn & Stitchery Shoppe

Our summer PJ Party was a big success this past weekend.  If you missed it, you missed out on great food and lots of fun!  Betty was kind enough to share her wonton chicken salad recipe, which was the hit of the evening.  Make this great dish for your next get-together and it’s sure not to disappoint!

Wonton Chicken Salad

Salad:

• 3 – 4 chicken breasts, boiled with a peeled piece of ginger, chopped into bite size pieces
• 6oz slivered toasted almonds
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup dice green onions
• 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 pkg wontons, fried and crumbled

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup oil

Boil sugar and cider vinegar together until sugar dissolves, add pepper and salt.  Cool.  Add oil.  Toss with salad ingredients and serve.

Our favorite skin care company, Bar-Maids recently held a contest for their retailers.  Send in a picture of your display, fill out a survey and be entered for a chance to win $75 worth of free product.  Well, thanks to the lovely Erika (pictured below), we won!

Be sure to come in and check out all the great products from Bar Maids.  We love Lo-Lo!

Just a little peek at what’s going on down at the shop.

Stop by often to see how our expansion progresses.

Congratulations to Karen Zimbelman, winner of the Mirasol Basket worth over $100!

Congratulations to Shirle for finishing her first pair of socks!

She learned to make socks by taking Renee’s Fireside Sock Class. Way to go, Shirle!

We know you’re all anxiously awaiting the Fall 2009 newsletter.  It’s currently being finished up and will be mailed by the end of next week.  We have a bunch of new classes to delight you as well as exciting news around the shop.  Be checking your mailboxes around August 22nd for your copy of the MYSS newsletter.  Don’t forget, if you’re not on our mailing list (or if you misplace your newsletter), you can always find the most current MYSS information here on the site.

We wish to honor all of those who serve, have served, or have given their lives so the rest of us may be free.  We salute you.

A few ways to honor them with yarn:

• Socks for Soldiers
• The Ships Project
• Rectangle 6×9

To Stitches West, that is.

Are you going down to Santa Clara this weekend for Knitter’s Magazine Stitches West event?  If so, be sure to visit Sonja in the Market!  She will be winding yarn at the Oregon Wood Worker’s booths (#801 and 900).

So, be sure to stop by, say “Hi!”, and see the debut of our new MYSS exclusive product.  What is it, you ask?  Well, you’ll just have to go see her and find out!

Our Winter 2009 newsletter is now up and available for you to read!  Find it under Yarns & Stitches at the top of the site.  Our online version features active links to some of the things we talk about as well as a couple of pictures.  We hope you enjoy it and welcome any feedback.

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A fun little excerpt from our recent newsletter.

Sonja’s Knitting Rules

1.  Never stop in the middle of a row.
2.  You must make a gauge swatch, unless you don’t care about giving the garment to someone else.  The knitting fates never miss the chance to smite the smug.
3.  Never leave your knitting out alone in the presence of animals or small children.  Many hours of knitting can be undone in a matter of seconds.
4.  Always buy an extra ball of yarn.  Patterns never seem to give you the right yardage, no matter how hard they try.
5.  Remember that children have small bodies and big heads.  Bind off loosely!
6.  Mohair is beautiful to knit with, but ugly to rip.  Read your directions carefully!
7.  No matter how excited you are about a finished project, don’t wake your spouse in the middle of the night to show it off.  They won’t be nearly as excited as you are.