Monday, September 25, 2017

Time to kilt

The weather this week is predicted to be much better - sunnier, warmer and drier than last week when we officially moved from summer to fall/autumn. The colours of the trees are incredible - and Banff has been recording record numbers of tourists to visit the Larch trees in southern Alberta. These trees are related to the Tamarack - which grows locally. They are one of the hardest woods growing in this part of the world. They were prized for furniture by early settlers. They are a deciduous conifer. Tamarack were logged off most of the area in the early 1920's and 1930's. Their colours are incredible and well worth taking a walk/drive to see.
I am lucky enough to live where I can walk along the edge of a lake, with all the wonderful colours - the reds, yellows and greens. The mosquitoes have gone into hibernation, so the weeds start blooming - really! How wrong is that?

Let's hope the farmers can get their crops off over the next couple of weeks. I love the look of combines working in the fields - and bales ready for pick-up.

When working with yarn or other fibre it is a real gift to be able to work with incredible colours. At The Crafty Lady, we have a saying - "Please touch, feel, drool - but keep the drool on the floor". We believe you will not finish a project if you do not enjoy the feel of the yarn.

Autumn is a transition time between summer and winter. It is a time to plan and celebrate special events with family and friends - a coffee on the deck, a picnic in the park, a "happy hour" on the patio or a walk in the woods. Celebrate the colours and the incredible beauty of the country we are privileged to live in.

As I have been thinking about this week's 75% Off Sale, I did a little bit of research on the colours of kilts - and not wanting to spread rumours, would like to refer you to an excellent website for additional info: https://albanach.org/early-history-of-the-kilt-e0c5b0101b5. There are a lot of misconceptions on the colours, and history of a kilt which surprised me, being of Scottish and Irish backgrounds.


Kilt

by Katia 
46% Virgin Wool, 46% Acrylic, 8% polyamid
50 gram balls - 71 yards
Reg. $12.00 
75% Off
$3.00

Posted by Anne, who owns and wears a kilt, happy knitter at The Crafty Lady

Monday, September 18, 2017

Fall is in the air . . .

I am a barefoot or sandal person. I wear closed shoes when it is too cold/wet - ONLY. This past week there have been a number of pictures of snow in Alberta on The Weather Network and Facebook.

One day last fall when I was taking my dogs for a walk, it started to rain. My son looked at me very skeptically and said "Setting a good example for the grandchildren? Why are you walking in flip flops in the rain." I just shrugged. It might have been better if I had gone back at that point and put on something else. When I got home about an hour later, it was snowing and I was very cold. Note: I did have a warm coat on. I had to go out to the garage for the box of shoes and boots.

Trying to be wiser this year, I have already asked my husband to bring in the boxes of boots and shoes.

Yesterday my husband added to the sense of changing seasons, when he mentioned there are less than 100 days to Christmas. Are these positive ways to add stress to a person who wants to make a number of gifts for loved ones this fall? I know I am an optimist when I consistently estimate the amount of time required to make most things. Adding insult to injury, I come to work and watch Lori create things in a couple of days  . . .  and the things she creates are beautiful. It often takes her longer to write the pattern for her creations than to create the item.

Back to the weather, the forecast for next week says flip-flops may be wearable, maybe not. There was frost on the windshields Saturday morning. So I wore sandals!

The leaves are turning colours, the sun is setting earlier - we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Indian Summer. Is it just me or do we get the best sunsets in the fall? Yesterday, we were out visiting friends, and I noticed there are a number of fields with bales sitting in them ready for pick-up. This to me is one of the iconic fall scenes in Alberta.

So all that being said, last week's special of Comfort and Carefree was a great deal. This week's special is Ice - not the slippery, fall down and break something ice, but a beautiful Ice yarn named Tweed.

TWEED
30% Wool 70% Acrylic 50 gm 
Reg. $4.00
75% Off
$1.00



Submitted by Anne, a person who loves the fall - it is one of the most beautiful seasons



Monday, September 11, 2017

Comfy and Carefree

What's your knitting or crochet style?

Do you stress out, tense up and clutch your hook or needles in a death grip?

Or are you laid back, relaxed, comfortable and carefree about your chosen yarn-craft?

There are crafters who turn knitting into a full-body workout by using their entire arm to bring the yarn around the needles, and there are those who control it briskly with the tip of a forefinger.

There are some who are left-handed, some who are right-handed, and some who are ambidextrous.

There are knitters whose habits find them unintentionally twisting stitches, giving their work an interesting texture.

There are some who want instant gratification from their craft, so they work with large hooks or needles and bulky yarn, and some who knit fine lace and socks simply to take as long as possible to savour the process.
Whatever your yarn-crafting habits, we know you all love to squeeze, fondle and work with yarn: wool, alpaca, silk, cotton, linen, acrylic, solitary fibres or blends, solid, variegated or self-striping...It's all good!

And now that cooler, shorter days are upon us, it's time to get into cozy, comfy, carefree projects.  We'd like to help you do that with this week's Super Special...Two yarns that aren't too bulky -- but aren't too thin, are soft to handle but sturdy to wear.  Comfy and carefree!







Diamond Yarn's
SELECT Comfort Chunky
40% Superwash Wool
40% Acrylic
20% Alpaca
50 metres (55 yards) per 50 grams

Regular Price: $4.50

Sale Price: $1.13
75% Off!
and





Diamond Yarn's
SELECT Carefree Chunky
70% Acrylic
30% Wool
55 metres (60 yards) per 50 grams

Regular Price: $4.50
75% Off!
Sale Price: $1.13



Thursday, September 7, 2017

While the Cat's Away...

It's Show Time!  CreativFestival is back in the West again this year, and September 8 and 9 you can visit Lori, Anne and Lori's mom, Muriel, at The Crafty Lady booth in Sherwood Park's Millennium Place. 


There's a whole raft of fantastic demos and classes for those who sew, quilt, weave, spin, hook rugs, embroider, felt -- and knit!  Yes -- in the Edmonton venue only, our Lori has returned to teaching this year, focusing on fun techniques in small projects that are portable and quick-to-finish, including short rows and entrelac.  See the Festival brochure's pages 17 and 18 for full descriptions of her classes, which run both Friday and Saturday!

But wait?!  Who's minding the store?!

Margaret's been left there all alone...and it's her birthday...
😢

Not just any birthday, either -- a MILESTONE birthday!

What's a yarn-lovin', sock-knittin' gal to do, left all alone to mind the store?
Alone on her Big Birthday?

Have a Birthday Sale, of course!

Friday and Saturday ONLY -- Sept. 8 & 9...

Can't make it to the Show up north? 
Want to start your Holiday knitting with something fine and fancy for socks, gloves, mittens, shawls?

Come to the shop, give Margaret a Birthday Hug and pick up a skein of

Diamond Yarn's
Soxy Lady

60% Wool
20% Alpaca
20% Nylon
400 metres (437 yards)
per 100 gram skein



Regular Price: $18.00
25% OFF!
Sale Price: $13.50

IN STORE ONLY!
September 8 and 9!
There's a wide variety of colours,
but when it's gone, it's gone!

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Don't Be Fooled...

Cranna Lake, Lacombe, AB
Autumn, 2016
Despite the fact that it's sunny and around 20° C here as I write this -- with a forecast high in the mid-to-high twenties by later today -- Autumn is in the air!  According to The Weather Network -- for this part of the world at least -- these sort of temps will begin to moderate mid-month and, if history is any indication, we'll be having highs reaching only the mid-teens, with lows dipping down near or all the way to fr-r-r-reezing within the next couple of weeks.

"Already?!" you ask.

"So soon?!"

Yep; so soon.  The days are already shortening, and sometimes one has to restart the furnace just to take the chill off the house before that first cup of coffee kicks in...


Cuddle Cushion (knit)
Designer: Torya Winters
Binnacle Watch Cap (crochet)
Designer: Cathy Dipierro
It's time to get something on your needles or hook.

Something cozy.

Something easy.

Something to while away the longer evenings; something to show love to a young 'un waiting for the school bus on a frosty morning or making a nest for the first time in a college dorm room.

Something to take the edge off the fact that Labour Day shut the patio doors and opened wide the class rooms...

Something with a bit of wool for the warmth synthetics alone don't always give...Something like this week's Super Special ...





Hayfield's
Chunky with Wool
80% Acrylic
20% Wool
145 metres (159 yards)
per 100 gram ball

Regular Price: $7.00
75% OFF!
Sale Price: $1.75