The Long Pink Table — July 12, 2026
Hi friends,
We ran away to the cabin for a week. Narrowsburg, right on the Delaware River, the water exactly cold enough and no cell signal worth fighting for — the good kind of nowhere. I packed one project, ran out of yarn by day two, and cast on something else on the spot. I'm calling that resourceful, not a character flaw.
The kids spent the whole week catching herps — approximately every frog, snake, and salamander on the riverbank. And every single day ended with a soft serve cone. That part was non-negotiable.
Otherwise it was peaches on everything, a comfort rewatch on the tiny TV I've seen so many times I can knit through it without looking up, and The Sleepwalker — which I tore through in a week and finished last night, sock heel be damned. A real page-turner. I'm not okay about it.
Then home, a heat wave, and a wall of holiday quilting cotton all waiting on the doorstep at once. Yes — Christmas fabric. In July. It happens every year… pretend you're surprised.
— Joey
P.S. Leave a comment and tell me what you're making right now. I read every one.
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You'll know us by the big teal windows on the corner of State & Olive, and the 14-foot pink table taking up most of the room inside. The chairs are open. Come sit, spread out a project, ask a question you've been Googling for a week. This week the holiday quilting cotton is out early on the table, the summer cottons are front and center, and there's usually someone mid-sweater who will happily show you what they're doing.
A lacy summer shirt and a pair of porch socks — both cabin-approved.
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The lacy summer shirt I can't put down
The Boden Shirt by Caidree is a top-down knit in a textured stitch that reads like crochet. Cropped, airy, barely there. Exactly what you want on the needles when it's 90 degrees and you still refuse to put the yarn down. It's a paid pattern. Worth every penny. Mine's the one riding shotgun on the dashboard these days. Make it in: Knitting for Olive Cotton Merino ($11), held double — mine's a soft lavender blue. |
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Porch socks you can knit half-asleep
Rye by Tin Can Knits is the sock pattern I hand to anyone knitting their first pair. Free, forgiving, mostly stockinette with a little garter detail — seven sizes and a tutorial for every step. Perfect porch knitting. You barely have to look down. Make it in: Isager Sock ($10), with a Malabrigo mini for contrast heels and toes. |
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Sweater weather is closer than it looks
We just landed sweater quantities of Noro Madara — that wool-silk-alpaca tweed that knits up like a stained-glass window — in a handful of colorways. There's enough of Col. 03, 39, 40, and Bonsai to make a whole pullover. That won't last. It's July. I know. Cast on anyway. Patterns built for it: Hiroko, Yasu, and Marana. |
Rhinebeck: Antipodes Sweater
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Cozy Cascade Jacket
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Crochet: Piper Beach Bag
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Kids: My First Scarf
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Machines — we sell them and we fix them. The Janome Sewist 721 is sold out at the moment, but we can special-order one anytime. Our in-house repair service (Janome only) starts at $75 and comes with a 30-day labor warranty.
A fresh shipment of hand-block-print Indian cottons just hit the table. Lightweight, breathable, a little bit sheer. This is the fabric you want draped over a sweaty body in July — not a quilt in your lap.
Red Poppy hand block
from $3.25
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Blue Bouquet block print
from $3.25
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Marigold on Navy
from $3.25
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It's a heat wave, so naturally the shop looks like December.
Snow Storm — Bundle Up
from $3.50
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Berry Dotty — Silent Night
from $3.50
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Flowers in the Thicket — Teal
from $3.50
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Peppermint Candy — Turquoise
from $3.50
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Winter Woodlands — Bundle Up
from $3.50
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Trimming the Tree — Bundle Up
from $3.50
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Fruit is having a moment. Not on the table — on the hook, the needles, and the cutting table. Cherry colorwork, strawberry coasters, a tomato pincushion that is somehow the most-pinned object of the summer, quilts in every shade of citrus. It's silly. I'm completely on board. And it's the fastest way I know to burn through all those bright scraps you swore you were saving for something.
Fruit Salad stripe (yes, really)
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PRU hand-dyed ECO DK
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Colormix DK — Rainbow
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Watching — a comfort rewatch, the kind of show I've seen enough times to knit through without glancing up. No plot to follow, no stakes, no notes.
Reading — just finished The Sleepwalker — a week, start to last night's final page. It beat my knitting in a straight fight, which almost never happens.
Eating — peaches, and everything adjacent to peaches — over yogurt, baked into a cobbler, or just standing at the counter over the sink.
Doing a little good — the Media Food Bank always needs more in summer, when the school lunch programs pause. A couple of bags on the way to the shop is an easy habit.
Put on Normal Gossip — the podcast where a stranger's low-stakes drama gets handed to a guest like the juiciest thing you've ever overheard at the next table. Zero craft content, total commitment device. A good long episode is worth a whole sock.
Dining Under the Stars — Wednesday, July 15 (and every Wednesday through September), State Street closes to cars and turns into one long outdoor table, 5:30–10:30pm. Reserve if you can; the sidewalk tables go fast. Details →
Rose Tree Summer Festival — free concerts most nights at Rose Tree Park, 7:30pm. This week: Jersey Beach Boys (Mon 7/13), Eco del Sur (Thu 7/16), Live Wire (Sat 7/18). Bring a chair and a project. Lineup →
All-Star Week in Philly — if your household is baseball-shaped, the MLB All-Star festivities land in Philadelphia July 14. A short train ride and a good excuse. What's on →
This week: @_janewalksardmore_. Jane Murray is walking every block in Ardmore and posting what she finds — brightly colored doors, native-plant gardens, the occasional whimsical lawn statue. It's a love letter to a walkable town, and a good nudge to look up on your own street.
That's the week. See you at the pink table.