Let The Deconstruction Begin

 Just a quick reminder that even though the markets are over for the season - the store will be back bigger and better next spring! - online ordering is available around the clock and I will also be available by phone during more reasonable hours (10am-4pm weekdays). And with the markets over, if you think I'm going to be taking it easy for the next few months, think again. Besides updating product information on the website and writing patterns that were brainstormed and prototyped this summer, I, along with Mom, will be reverting the motorhome to the rv it was meant to be and renovating a new-to-me shuttlebus to be the best darn mobile yarn store you could possibly imagine! This week's blog will concentrate on the beginnings of the end of Lorigamivan 1.0.

 Above are a few photos showing what the store looks like without yarn, patterns, etc. Looks a little bleak, doesn't it? And tomorrow, while Mom is in the house preparing Thanksgiving supper, I will be removing all the needles and hooks from the entryway as well as turning the shower back into a shower instead of a storage closet. If all goes well, those pictures, as well as photos of the fully reverted motorhome will be showcased in next week's blog.

In the meantime, if you're wondering where all the yarn will be before finding its new home in the bus, take a look at the photo to the right. And there are two more of these trolleys full of yarn that hadn't made it out of the motorhome yet when I took this picture yesterday. To say the warehouse is stuffed is an understatement! I am just thankful that this is supposed to be a mild winter because we are going to be spending an awful lot of time running between the new bus and the warehouse getting it ready for the new market season.

Do NOT take that last statement as an invitation to NOT order from the online store. I want to know that people were listening when I said "pet the yarn now, so you know what you're ordering this winter". If you leave me with holes to fill in the new rig, I get to fill those holes with NEW product!

So whether you celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday or are feasting today, know that I am always thankful for the customers that have stuck with me through this transition from brick-and-mortar to click-and-order to mobile store. (If anyone can come up with a mobile phrase that rhymes with the other two, please leave it in the comments. I may even give you a prize if I like yours.)

written by Lori, thankful TCL owner, who is feeling blessed to have made it through the past couple of years.

Two More Days For Free Shipping This Season

 If you haven't ordered online from us yet, then you may not realize that shipping is one option to receiving your products.  The other is pickup. During the Community and Farmer's market season, a third option is available: free 'shipping'.

When ordering online, I encourage everyone to choose PICKUP and then tell me what they really want in the notes section. Why? After all this time, I still haven't managed to get the program to calculate reasonable shipping rates. For instance, did you know that it costs over $300 to ship eight skeins of DMC floss from my address in Lacombe to another address in Lacombe?! In reality, eight skeins of floss fit into an envelope and can be sent at regular letter rates - but my program doesn't believe that. Hence, you must choose pickup or die from a heart attack because of sticker shock. I promise, waiting a day or two longer for me to visit the post office and email you the options is the healthier choice.

If you live in the Lacombe area or know you will be visiting it, pickup is a great option. Place your order, wait for the confirmation email, then follow the instructions in the email. Sometimes those instructions include calling ahead so that multiple customers don't show up at the same time. Since physical distancing is still a thing, I strive to help keep my customers healthy and only place one order in the dropbox at a time.

Now these two options are available year round. The third option is the one alluded to in the title of this blog. During this market season, the pop up store has been in six different communities, one of them twice a week (in two different locations). If you order something online and you know you are going to be at one of the markets, you can let me know to bring your prepaid product(s) to the market of your choice. Many people have already taken advantage of this option and you only have until Thursday of this week to take advantage of it for the last time this year! (Lacombe and Red Deer locations only) Why is it the last chance, you ask? Because market season is over Thanksgiving weekend and my pop up store is too big to fit indoors at any of the Christmas markets that will be taking place.

So remember, online ordering is available year round but free shipping comes to an end this weekend!

written by Lori, happy TCL owner, who is looking forward to being kept busy this winter with your help :)

-53 With the Wind Chill

 The last time I remember temperatures like this was a lifetime ago. I was living in Peace River and teaching at an elementary school in a nearby community. I believe it was the winter of ‘86-87. I was fortunate enough to live across a green space from my fellow teacher otherwise half the students would have been without an instructor. I could walk to her place without getting frostbite; the car refused to acknowledge the turn of a key despite being plugged in.

Twice that winter it had to be towed to a local garage to thaw out and, despite that history, the car was sold to a young Peace River man at the end of my tenure there.

Thankfully, I currently have at my disposal two vehicles that endure this kind of weather with few complaints. One resides year round in a carport without being plugged in. The other has not yet been plugged in this year. I may have to plug it in today 😉. Even in - no, especially in this weather - online sales are the go to for many people and I have to venture out to the post office to get product off to their rightful owners. Carport vehicle it is.

Written by Lori, cozy TCL owner, who is wishing you all a comfy snow day with no need to venture out into the polar vortex.