It's not an illusion

Canada is one of the best countries in the World!Thanks to Gwen for her lovely sample .

Have a lovely day Celebrating being Canadian!

This Week:

Warning ...Rambling ahead:

Yesterday was runaround day, today it is nice to just stay in one place!

Tonight is Knitt'n Night, the shop is staying cool, but if you are coming you may want to bring a cold beverage.

Tomorrow and Thursday are early escape days, a reminder that I close at 4pm and then Friday is July 1st!

Saturday the shop will be open from 10 am - 4 pm.

I started a few knitting projects and have managed to be overwhelmed with my stack of WIP's. This week I plan to finish something!

The boss is looking grumpy..back to work!

See You Soon.

Another Sidewalk Sale done!

After a busy week...I am happy for a couple of days to recover!

Do you realize that it's 6 months until Christmas?

Don't say I didn't warn you!

See You Tuesday.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1,

Getting ready for the Countdown Sale.

Yarns you will find in the sale:
Creative Focus Super wash was $10.95 now $5.00
Sirdar Bigga...very thick was $12.95 now $5.00
Beach.. was $12.95 now $4.00
Mesa Chunky was $7.95 now $3.00
Tempo Chunky was $5.95 now $3.00

Odds and Sods of lonely dye lots and a few straggler yarns $1.00 and $2.00

Assorted Pattens $1.00 and $2.00
As baskets empty other yarns will take there place and sometimes the baskets get dumped into the next lowest dollar basket. You might end up with a $12.95 yarn for $1...if it lasts that long.

Sale runs:
Thursday 10 am - 6 pm
Friday 10:30 am - 9 pm
Saturday 10:00 am - 4 pm.

Mission Falls Clearout

I keep looking around the shop, trying to come up with more space for the new yarn I have ordered.

I love Mission Falls yarn, but they stopped making it and the stock is becoming less available. Starting Thursday all Mission Falls yarn (1824 wool, 1824 Cotton and the 136 Merino) is on Sale. 25%-50% off the regular price. Full bags of 10 in one colour will be 30% off and I can special order full bags!
(orders take about a week to arrive)

Come in this Weekend for the best selection.

It's Sidewalk Sale and Summerfest. The street will be closed to vehicle traffic and the downtown will be filled with all things Summery!

See you Soon

Norm

Today we said goodbye to Norm. A lovely man, the Grandfather, Father and Father-in-law of friends. Described by many as Goofy, Funny, Lovable....we will miss him. We worked together for a little while on a big project, he called me MUM because I kept reminding him to be careful.

I was lucky to have known him.

See You Tuesday.

Well, that was fun!

A couple of weeks ago I went on a road trip and came home with a few bags of yarn! Included in this was a discontinued yarn that was hand dyed pure wool that looked very interesting. The more I looked at the 200 gram skein I knew what I wanted to do with the yarn.


I have done a little bit of felting but haven't done very much lately because just before I opened the shop we purchased a new laundry team that included a front load washing machine. (Being on a well that was known to run dry it was the best option.)



The more I looked at the yarn the more I thought "what the heck, I'll give it a try". I looked at all the usual places and began the project with an nice square bottom. I found my 6.5mm circular 32" needle. Cast on 32 stitches and knit until I could count 32 ridges. Leaving the stitches on the needle I picked up 32 stitches along the edge, picked up 32 stitches along the cast on edge and another 32 stitches along the last edge and started knitting. I knit for a while and decreased 8 stitches along each side then knit a bit more and did the same decreases. Then kept knitting until I had enough left to do a garter stitch edge for 10 rows or 5 ridges ( the final length was about 18 inches...not sure I didn't really measure?)

I cast it off and made a long I-cord rope out of the remaining yarn.

Then I threw it into my front load washer (inside a pillow case) with 3 pairs of The Boy's old jeans. I set the machine for a quick wash with hot water and medium spin. I checked after the first wash and it was just about right but it could use a little more. I managed to stop the machine just before the final rinse and checked again. That's when I got out a plunger (it was new!) and put the project into a basin with hot water and plunged away for about 5 minutes. I did this in the laundry tub, it was a little splashy! I think that helped get rid of some of the creases that developed.

Then I squeezed out as much water as I could and found the perfect box to shape it and let it dry.

It took a couple of days to get it dry and I poked some holes through the bag and threaded the I-cord through the holes.

Pretty neat eh!

There are 2 more colours.....I need to perfect the pattern.

What did you do that was new to you?

See you Soon.

It all started:

with a leftover bit of Malabrigo sock yarn that I used for a Travelling Woman Shawl I finished just before Christmas. I loved the yarn so much and didn't want the remaining bit to be wasted I planned to use it up by adding another skein and making Ishbel. (Patterns are for sale here in the shop) I didn't want it to be too big. The pattern is very adaptable, I made the 'larger' beginning and repeated A,B,A,C,D and then E. I didn't want to run out of yarn.

I completed the pattern in a week.

Blocked it

This is what I have left over...about as much as I started with!

Good thing I found this: Daybreak by Steven West.

I called the supplier to order more of the Malabrigo Sock yarn and its so popular that they have started another mill and everything is back ordered like crazy! (Again the most popular yarn in the shop is never 'in' the shop very long.)

Friday?

It's Friday already, where has the time gone. Summer hours are taking a bit to get used to, but closing at 4 pm on Wednesday and Thursday is really nice! (for me!)

Today I am looking around the shop and it's in complete chaos. I am trying to get caught up with the paperwork so the desk is covered in paper. Then the shop has more little piles of yarn everywhere that need a spot or a new home!

The chaos continues at home. We had a window replaced and The Farmer is to do the trim around the window that means the 'front' room is in a shambles. There are boxes of paper that I am sorting and then there is yarn! I looked under the sink in the kitchen to get the fertilizer for my plants only to discover that the 37 year old drain pipe had sprung a leak and there was water covering the floor of the cabinet. The Farmer put on his 'plumber' hat and quickly replaced the pipes, but it meant removing the nice space saver rack, the contents of the cupboard are on the floor in the kitchen. (Our house certainly is not child proof any more!)

Knitting? I am knitting a shawl, imagine that, hope to have it done over the weekend just to say that I actually finished something.

Well back to work!

Don't forget about Knitt'n Night on Tuesday 6 pm - 8 pm. "No Purls allowed!"

Finally Friday!

The warm weather has finally arrived and needless to say I am seeing less of you than normally. Which means you are busy out in the garden and not locked inside the house!

I hope to enjoy some of this nice weather by closing early on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday! Why should you have all the fun! ( I am open later on Tuesday, until 7 pm) If that seems like a good thing, I may keep that later time during the rest of the year.

Knitting takes a backseat to other things during the summer, but small projects are easy to take to the Lake, Soccer Game and the Campsite.

I just received a new batch of patterns from "Never Not Knitting" you can download the patterns but the hard copies I have are beautifully presented. As you see I could not wait to start a project to during the quiet times in the shop!I had a lovely visit with Lisa the other day and quickly snapped a picture of her latest creation. A Garnstudio pattern using Kid Seta mohair. The final cast off row had 4000 stitches. It looks amazing.

I love it when you bring in the finished objects to show me!

For those of you visiting the shop in June, be sure to fill out a ballot to enter the draw for a Namaste Messenger Bag.

See You Soon.