Heads Up!!

He Shoots! He Scores!! might be more appropriate - Just in case you are unaware Hometown Hockey is coming to Lacombe Feb. 3 - 4, 2018!!

The Crafty Lady will be a part of hockey central as we are on one of the streets being closed for these two days! You are invited to come in and warm up, stroke our yarns and visit . . .

Hometown Hockey schedule and road closure information is all available on the City of Lacombe website, on Sunny 94 and in The Lacombe Globe. 

The City of Lacombe is closing Hwy 12 between Hwy 2A and 51st Street (east/west) and 50th Street between 50 Ave. (Hwy 12) and 51st Ave. The road between the Flatiron building and the Bank of Montreal will also be closed. The Flatiron Building will be Hockey Central.

Tents, stages and free performances will take over our streets - come out and celebrate Hometown Hockey

Access to The Crafty Lady will be interesting - there is free public parking behind our building and in the Alberta Agriculture building parking lot.

The Crafty Lady is scoring a hat trick of specials 
Thursday - Saturday
Feb, 1 - 3, 2018

Free Pattern #1 Ring of Fire 

Free Pattern #2 Basic Ribbed Sock

 All 

6 ply sock yarns 

25% off 

+ 2 free patterns

with purchase of yarn
(one pattern per purchase)

Call us if you would like additional information at 403-782-7238.

P. S. We strongly urge you not to throw your hand-knit hats during Hometown Hockey!

Posted by Anne, former hockey mom and current hockey fan!!

Baby, It's Cold Out There

Whether you quilt, knit, crochet, work with wood, leather or metal - no one is offended when you want to go home to create something beautiful, made with love that will outlast anything purchased in a store.

The Weather Network was good enough to inform me as of the weekend - we are headed into at least two weeks of negative high temperatures. If the weatherman is correct the warmest day will be Feb. 9 with a high temperature of -7. They are also predicting several days of no sunshine. Very typical February weather in Alberta - great weather for curling up with a ball of yarn!

Currently my husband is home with a fever, as a result of a root canal. I NEED my knitting to create  much needed sanity. 

I have one sweater I am inches away from finishing, one waiting to start and two I need to take apart and redo part of - so it fits. Isn't it interesting when you work on a sweater, including doing a gauge swatch, and the back is so big it goes all the way around. It would be okay if it was intended that way, but it is a Chanel style fitted sweater  . . . so I will have to take out the seams and re-do the whole back as it is worked from the bottom up. To make it even more frustrating, the shoulders fit nicely.

As many of us are - I am trying to finish at least one "in progress project" before I start another one - even though the new sweater is in gorgeous colours and wonderful yarns and even in a new pattern  . . . what a wonderful dilemma to have (as long as I get all of them finished before spring).

So I am actually looking forward to cooler weather so I can hide. A week ago, I was walking down by Gull Lake and saw pussy-willows in bud. This cold weather is not going to be good for them. A disturbing fact is - No snow/precipitation is forecast during this cold spell. Notice the blue sky and no wind - it was a wonderful day for a walk.

Many of our customers are coming in looking for chunky yarns for their projects. We have had four or five customers this week alone purchasing yarn for blankets or afghans. The coming cold spell is a great time to work on project as it warms your lap as you work on it! There are many blessings to knitting/quilting/crocheting items. This week's 75% off sale is only going to help you create something beautiful and warm . . . .

Diamond Luxury Collection 

MIRAGE

60% Wool 40% Silk

16sts/20rows - 4"/10cm

Reg. $15.00

75% Off

       $3.75

Posted by Anne, who is one of the people who is saying I need to finish one more before I start a new project - can I do it?

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I'm a child of the fifties and sixties, when it was still common for women to wear fur coats.  One of my earliest memories -- I must have been about 3 years old -- was of snuggling up to my mother in church, finding comfort in the wide long sleeves of her sheared beaver coat.

There are photos of me as a babe in my mother's arms; she's wearing a full-length grey lamb coat.  Later in her life she had it shortened to 'car coat' length so she could manoeuvre more easily in and out of our mid-fifties Volkswagen 'Beetle' -- a car smaller by far than any we'd owned previously.  Still later, that jacket was put into service to keep her cozy on early morning outings with my step-father, trawling for perch near our cottage on a bay in the St. Lawrence.  Mom was always one to combine the practical with the elegant!  😉

And even later than that, my mother-in-law passed on to me her short black lamb jacket, which I enjoyed for many years (it rather resembled the one at right, but had wider sleeves).

Those who've been unwilling to wear or unable to afford fur have still been able to enjoy the appearance of fur thanks to technology that's made possible the creation of 'faux fur' or 'fun fur'.

While most of the time these products emulate mink or fox -- both more expensive than beaver or lamb -- there is a way (even now) to create the cute, curly look of lamb, whether as a full garment or as a trim for your favourite hat, gloves, mittens or jacket project -- and that's what's on offer as our Super Special this week!

Nova Ebru

100% Polyamide

50 gm = 25 metres (27 yards)

Regular Price: $3.00

Sale Price: $0.75!

Written by Margaret who enjoys seeing something "old" made "new" again.

January Blues?

Good News! It has been confirmed and proven - the "January Blues" is a real condition!!

 "January Blues" are very different from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  "January Blues" are situational and short term, SAD is a clinical depression caused by personal biology and can last several months/years.

Why do we experience the "blues"?

1. We spent several months preparing for the holiday season - and now it is over, the decorations have been taken down and put away - we try to return to "normal" (read boring and work)
2. Family and friends have come and gone. Due to the extreme cold, some events were cancelled - very disappointing
3. We did not complete my "To Do" list - adding to our discouragement
4. We over-indulged and added pounds. This adds to our sluggishness and discouragement. 
5. The days are really short (though they are getting longer, it feels really slowly). There is nothing on the short term horizon to look forward to - spring is a long way off, the next long weekend . . .  also feels like a long way off and it is hard to make plans for it
6. If you made a New Year's Resolution - have you been able to keep it? We are easily discouraged

Several websites (hopefully reputable websites) offer good suggestions on dealing with  "January Blues". These suggestions include (and are not limited to . . .)

1. Think positive thoughts, remember the good things you were able to do over the holidays, the gifts you were able to complete
2. Finish one more gift/project, take it off the "To-Do" list 
3. Make plans to finish another project, help others in need, volunteer, phone a friend - one of the ones you did not have time to really visit with over the holidays 
4. Get outside - go for a walk - the sunshine does help, and if you walk a different direction, you may make a small discovery
5. Read that book sitting beside your bed for the last several months and then share it
6. Try in small ways to clear the clutter stashed in the closet/drawer or cupboard prior to Christmas - so it too reduces the "To-Do" list and the guilt that goes along with unfinished projects
7. Meet a friend for a meal - at your home, theirs or halfway in between. It is spending time with others that is important, eating makes it easier
8. Take time for you - be hedonistic (do something that is just for you!)
9. Reward yourself with something positive 
10. Record/journal your changes so you can look back to see what incredible this you have been able to complete/achieve

Not to sound preachy, and (seriously) looking in the mirror - you are valuable and special! Do something to celebrate 2018!

Colour can be a way to brighten your days - wear it, decorate with it, make something with colour.  If you are looking for a yarn to help complete one of those projects stored in the spare room - this week's special may be just the ticket! Variegated yarns can add colour or a highlight to finish something.

I have made several projects with variations of this week's 75% off special. It wears well, is a nice feeling yarn, works up quite quickly and drapes nicely. It is machine washable! It is a very versatile yarn, so you can do almost anything with it.

Come in and take a look . . .

Micro Grande 

100% Acrylic

200m - 100gm

 Reg. $6.50

75% OFF 

$1.62

Posted by Anne, who understands the blues and loves to work with blue yarns

Orphaned and abandoned . . .

All of the orphaned and abandoned yarn has found new homes - at really great sale prices. Thanks to our loyal customers, who can recognize a good yarn at a "Great Price".

Several customers have commented the Weekly Special is a really great deal - which it is ONLY if you do something with it!😁 If you simply add it to the stash in the corner it is not so much a "great deal" as an addition to your carefully curated collection.

Speaking of our "stash", if you are sorting through your stash and come across acrylic worsted weight yarns you have set aside repeatedly, please bring it in to The Crafty Lady. We have several seniors who will knit and crochet it into Blanket for Canada. These blankets are donated to the needy. The seniors are very adept and will happily work with yarn from your stash, in whatever colours you care to donate. It is too early for spring cleaning, but as you work on your "unfinished" projects, curled up on the couch - please consider donating the acrylic yarns you will not use.

Was your New Year's Resolution to reduce your stash and/or finishing/re-working some of your on-hold projects? We had a customer in late last week, who made this resolution in January 2017. She is using a knitting machine to make blankets for the needy. She thought she was making good progress until she found three large tubs in her storage shed. As a result, she is continuing to work on last year's resolution.

In Years Gone By, we all made resolutions - the most often being to lose weight, quit smoking or other forms of self-improvement. The current era seems to be much less focused on resolutions based on a specific date, tending to make lifestyle changes.

Speaking specifically for myself, I start projects when I am stressed, make a mistake or don't like the way it is turning out, it gets put on hold. Often it sits there for years. Working here does not help, as I purchase more yarn than I am using. The redeeming factor is I am getting more projects finished in less time, as the incentive to start the next one is in front of me every day, with new yarns arriving almost weekly.

To complete some of those "on-hold" projects adding a highlight or contrast is a way to change the look or the yarns. This week's 75% Off Sale fits right into this category. This yarn is a super bulky, Italian soft wool blend with a hypoallergenic poly-acrylic micro-fibre. Ottawa can be washed on delicate cycle in cold water, dried flat.

Ottawa 

by DMC Nordic Sport

50 gm = 32 m

Reg. $6.00

75% Off

$1.58

Posted by Anne, who appreciates well crafted items - as they are crafted with love

Abandoned and Orphaned...

Yarn, that is.

Here at The Crafty Lady, we're rather fond of yarn.  Thick, thin, natural fibres or synthetic -- we pretty much love all of it (even if we tend to play favourites from time to time!)

So it makes us sad when people put in a Special Order (S.O.) for yarn and then, having had several calls and messages left to tell them it's here and would they please pick it up...they leave it in the shop -- sometimes as long as a year.

And it makes us sad when we see odd balls...orphaned from the pack because they're the Last of the Dye Lot.

That's why we're starting the New Year off right -- by trying in earnest to find these yarns a new home with you, our crafty, yarn-lovin' customers!

First, there's a full bag of S.O. yarn that needs to find a good home -- Sirdar Big Softie in a warm-your-heart red (Colour #358 - "Norsk"), perfect for more cozy toques and cowls, but there's enough here for a sweater!

51% Superwash Wool

49% Acrylic

50 grams = 45 metres (49 yards)

Regular Price: $6.50

Sale Price: $1.63

As for those Yarn Orphans -- there's a variety of single balls and skeins available, including the classic Berroco Vintage, a medium-weight (#4) wool-synthetic blend.  Pair up the colours for a striped scarf or cowl...or use a single ball for a toque or a pair of toasty mittens:

52% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 8% Nylon/Polyamide

100 grams = 199 metres (218 yards)

Regular Price: $11.50

Sale Price: $2.88!

It's cold outside.  You've (hopefully) finished your holiday knitting and crocheting.  Now that you've warmed up family and friends, the long winter evenings are the perfect time for creating things that will bring winter warmth to souls who really have been abandoned or orphaned.  Help us find homes for these yarns...and from your needles and hooks to the heads, hands and heart of those in need.

Tidings of comfort and joy to you from 

Lori, Anne and Margaret.

 Happy New Year!

*NOTE: Colours pictured do not necessarily reflect the colours of the yarn on offer!

Written by Margaret, happly TCL employee who loves to spend wintry evenings curled up with coffee, a book, and her knitting.