Summer Time = Luxury ??

What do you think? What is your "luxury"?

 Miriam-Webster defines luxury as: something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary. 

Spun golden fleece headpiece is luxury? Summer is lazy, hazy days of luxury . . . and as children "summer" equals freedom from school, routine and much of the adult supervision we endured during the winter. What luxury!

Holidays are considered a luxury (as well as a benefit). When you go to a hotel, staff do many things for you, i.e. clean, laundry, cook and serve meals. Luxury! When you go camping, you do not have the same standards as you do at home - luxury! 

Treading quicksand - we are lucky to live in a country where we have the luxury to voice our opinion, practice our faith, criticize others actions/decisions - with little to no consequences. I was totally startled to hear a lawyer state "Currently our legal policy is to find nine guilty people innocent rather than convict one innocent person."  What a luxury! Most of the world is working from the concept we are guilty until proven innocent. 

For many centuries making your own fabric an clothing was a necessity, now knitting and creating your own are artistic crafts! And often considered a luxury.

Working with one of the wide-variety of yarns we carry is a luxury - and an opportunity to create artistic luxury for ourselves or loved ones. Llama yarns come from the fine undercoat of the animal. The other, heavier coats are used for household items and outer garments. Silk is the oldest and strongest natural thread and, for centuries, considered a luxury. This week's special is from Diamond's Luxury Collection.

75% off

Tafi

60% Llama, 40% Silk
93 meters/skein

Original price $13.00
Sale - One week only

$3.25 

Chunky Can Be Beautiful

I take after my father and his family -- an entire line of people built like a box: short and square.  I've fought my weight (and shape) most of my life.  When I was a pre-teen in the early 'sixties, They (yes, Them; the Ubiquitous They) came up with the idea of 'half-sizes' for children who were...um..."chunky".  While the clothes (dresses especially) fit well and made the wearers look pretty good, they were labelled "chubby" sizes, which made the wearers feel decidedly not good!

Maybe that was the idea...or maybe it was the crush I had on a certain guy in Grade Seven. Whatever the impetus, non-athletic, bookish me worked hard and lost weight, so I could fit into "normal" clothing.  It worked.

And yes, I dated the guy too...at least for a while.  But that's another story!

Today, if you Google "chunky fashion for girls" you'll still find references to "chubby girls".  A slight improvement is one reference to "curvy girls" but then there's this one from that font of visual interest, Pinterest: "25+ Ideas About Thick Girls' Outfits" (Thick!  Aaargh!)

If you check for images of 'chunky pre-teens' online you get lovely photos of pretty youngsters who -- for the most part -- look healthy, decidedly not 'chunky', 'chubby', or 'thick' (and blessedly not very 'curvy' either!)

Female fashion aside, there are "chunky" things in the world that are absolutely lovely...like chunky chocolate bars...

chunky chocolate chip cookies...

chunky chocolate ice cream...

And other treats guaranteed to, well...make you "chunky".  

Sigh.

The loveliest "chunky" thing of all, though, is "chunky" yarn which, like 'us gals', can range in size from 'true' or 'slightly' chunky to 'bulky'...but we won't go there!

Let's focus instead on the fibre of said yarn, which can range from squishy acrylics to woollens and this week's Special Sale Offering: an alpaca-wool blend.

  

It's perfect for quickly-knit hats, cowls, scarves and shawls.  It will make up into a cozy cushion cover or an even cozier sweater -- with decent stitch definition, too!  And...given that it's made by our friends at Berocco, it has excellent pattern support.  What's not to like...especially at this week's Special Sale Price!

Berocco Ultra Alpaca Chunky

50% Peruvian Wool, 50% Superfine Alpaca

131 yards/120 metres per 100 grams

Regular Price: $14.25

Sale Price: $3.56

Written by Margaret, happy Crafty Lady employee who's learning to love all that is 'chunky'.  :-)

Life is a Cabaret . . .

As Lisa Minnelli sang "Life is a Cabaret" - Life does not work according to plan. Recent weather cancelled plans for many, such as washed out bridges causing long delays and detours. I especially sympathize for those who have changed their plans and now have "bored" children under foot. When I was growing up, we went out and played in the rain, came into a fire and a warm drink (read hot chocolate), thinking we were so lucky. In the summers. we were in a cabin, with no heat, insulation and the plumbing was the outhouse. My mother did not complain about the wet clothes or boots, as she had quiet/productive time while we were all out.

Dress code for playing in the rain: shorts, jacket and rubber boots with hand knit socks. Our feet were warm and dry. Our legs dried more quickly than slacks or jeans AND easier to wash. children are not made of sugar - they do not melt in the rain.

One of the really special joys of working at The Crafty Lady - we get some very interesting questions. We can not always have "the" perfect answer, we do have fun assisting, or pointing people in a different direction. Life is a cabaret - you often do not know how your day is going to go.
Summer knitting can be a challenge if you are not comfortable with working on the afghan or bulky-weight sweater. Lighter weight yarns can be easier and more fun. Summer projects can be smaller and more portable. You can take your knitting to the beach, out in the boat or camping. Weekend projects can create escape time for you.

This week's special is smc Cabare, a cotton polyester blend. You can create a number of different looks using this yarn. Life is a Cabare - and what a special at 75% off!

Cabaré

by SMC Select

Bulky: 78% Cotton, 22% Polyester

Regular Price: $10.00

Sale Price: $2.50

Posted by Anne Homenuk (happy employee who is thoroughly enjoying her new position, as there is almost no stress).