Dear Mother Nature...

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that Winter has been allowed free reign for far too long in these parts.  There was more snow, blowing snow and drifting into the wee hours of this morning -- and we've been teased with above-zero temps and sunshine just enough to emphasize the Spring weather we're not getting -- at least not yet.

Easter was a week ago, and it was colder that day in much of this part of Canada than it was on Christmas morning.

Nurseries and hardware stores have their seed packs, starter kits and gardening supplies on display, front and centre, just waiting.

Grocery stores and florists are show-casing daffodils and tulips.

Friends on the Wet Coast (😉 ) are taunting The Rest of Canada, posting photos of sprouting blossoms on social media.

Here at The Crafty Lady we should be delighted.  Fall and Winter are busy seasons for us, because people have a hankering for yarn -- especially wool and wool blends -- to make cozy sweaters, hats, toques, mittens, scarves and socks for loved ones.  Crocheters are awash in toques and blankets that bring loving warmth.

But even avid yarn-crafters long for Spring, for cool, lacy tops, beach cover-ups, tank tops and decorative scarves on their needles and hooks, rather than all that toasty animal fibre.

So this week at the shop we're offering our own taste of Spring, with our Super Special sale of delicious Spring and Summer colours in this easy-care cotton blend:

100 grams = 245 metres (268 yards)

75% Acrylic

25% Peruvian Cotton

Regular Price: $8.50

Sale Price: $2.13

Note: to ensure the Spring Spirit is spread around,

there will be a limit of 10 skeins per customer!

See you in the garden!

Berroco featured pattern: Cibber
in Weekend DK

In the Company of Artisans

Photo credit:
Indigenous: Organic Fair Trade Fashion

Here at The Crafty Lady, I'd estimate that the three of us who spend our work-days guiding, teaching, serving, answering your questions and doing our best to ensure you have what you need for your chosen craft, have well over a century of combined experience in various skills: knitting, crochet, embroidery, paper arts, jewellry making, colour theory, sewing and quilting.

We are a company of artisans...and we welcome all who join us, who 'keep company' with us each day -- especially those who book a lesson to take up a new craft or to move their skill level up a notch, thus adding to the world-wide population of "makers".  😊

To be an artisan is to be someone "...who works in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand".  And despite the surprise of those who don't have such a practice, artisans are not a vanishing breed -- even in our highly technological Western culture.

There's something so very appealing about making with one's hands -- the rhythmic movement of the fingers, the sensation of touching fabric, fibre, clay, wire, beads, the vibrant colours of the materials -- not to mention the satisfaction of creating something unique that expresses one's singular voice, ideas, views of life and the world around us.

Add to that the slowing of time in order to revel in the creative process, and you have the perfect antidote to the stress and strife so prevalent in today's "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".

That's why this week, for our Super Special Sale, we're offering you a lovely opportunity to slow down, to dream a little, to take time to select colour and revel in quality, to join our company with

Berroco Artisan

50 grams = 112 metres (123 yards)

80% Merino Wool

20% Silk

Regular price: $18.50

Sale Price: $4.63

Please Note: 

Due to the special quality of this yarn,

we are limiting purchases to 10 skeins 

per customer.

P. S. Did you know that the City of Lacombe has an annual celebration of artisans -- and the art and fine craft they create?  Want to see more artisans at work, and share the beauty of their creations?  Want to see what young local students are making?  Want to enjoy locally-prepared food delights, wine, and craft beers?  

Then make time for the 19th Annual Lacombe Art Sale and Celebration of Creative Expression!

April 20 - 21

Lacombe Memorial Centre

For more details, click HERE.

*Written by Margaret, happy TCL employee whose life has been enriched by crafts.

Easter Hours

Greetings from THE Crafty Lady. You know me. I'm the one in the store who has no blogging skills so I usually leave this job to my two (semi-)professional bloggers. I'm breaking with tradition to let you know that I wear many other hats.

I am not just the owner of  'the best little yarn store in Central Alberta'. I am also one of the church musicians at not one, but two, churches. Being Easter weekend, that means I am very busy this time of year. My music obligations actually start tonight (March 28) with a special Synod wide service. Then a 12 hour day at the store on Thursday - we're still doing inventory. Followed by Good Friday.

This is where the blog becomes relevant to you.

Good Friday is a real, honest-to-goodness holiday so

WE WILL BE CLOSED March 30.

Saturday, March 31 has no religious significance and is therefore not a holiday (in my book) so

WE WILL BE OPEN March 31.

Easter Sunday. No news here. We're

ALWAYS CLOSED ON SUNDAY.

Easter Monday is a government holiday. Since I am not a government run business, I do not observe it and I absolutely do not take off another day in lieu of. Can you tell this is one of my pet peeves? ;) The bonus for you is that the store

WILL BE OPEN April 2!

If we do not see you during the Easter season,

have a Happy Easter!

Posted by Lori, happy owner of TCL

Have you heard the buzz?

CBC reported the return of the Golden Eagle over Crows Nest Pass late last week! The return of the birds is often considered one of the first Official signs of spring.

Golden Eagles can start migrating as early as the end of February. Their populations are widely scattered and are hard to count. They do congregate as they migrate along both sides of the Rocky Mountains. This is where birders are often able to count the population.

Peak migration of the Golden Eagle is from mid March to the end of April. The birder who contacted CBC reported seeing 35 fly over his home - so the migration is well under way.

Albertan's survive the winter and dream about the coming spring . . . and currently the coffee shop buzz is "who has seen the most interesting sign of spring?"

We vie for the first sighting of a pair of shorts (yes), the first flip flops (yes), the first crocus (no), the first motorcycle (yes), the first robin (no) - and the list goes on.

More of us want to get out for a walk. Why not try a spring scavenger hunt?

 

Or do you enjoy reading poetry in the sunshine?

Spring by Emile Pinet

Drip by drip the snow melts away
for the sun stays longer each day.
And the smell of earth rides each breeze
as life awakes from winter's freeze.

Color returns to barren trees
in the form of emerald leaves. 
And daffodils and tulips show
popping their heads up through the snow.

The air tastes sweet as honeydew
while the sky's a robin egg blue.
And love is everywhere it seems
as smelts spawn in the creeks and streams.

The honking sound from flocks of geese
corresponds with winter's release.
And freshness permeates the air
no other season can compare.

As song birds nest and hatchlings squawk
Nature poses in Her green frock.
And a warmth caresses your skin
as the first signs of spring begin.

Spring buzz to me, means colour - The rabbits are changing, the grass appears through the snow and the younger ones find every available mud puddle. To help, this week's 75% off Special is washable and dryer safe!!!

Bonus Buzz

by Hayfield

100 gm - 306 yds/280 m

100% Acrylic

Reg. $10.00

75% OFF

$2.50

Written by Anne, happy TCL employee, who is really appreciating the spring buzz

Something Shaded This Way Comes

Brush off your high school French, and try this word on for size: ombré (awm-bray).  Once more, with feeling!  😉  There!  Now you've got it!

Now...having mastered the accent, do you know what it means?  😊  Don't confuse it with "hombré", which is Spanish for 'man'!  Ombré is defined (per the Cambridge English Dictionary) as "having different shades (= strengths) of colour, gradually going from light to dark."

Photo credit: Lounge Hair Studio

And ombre colour-ways have become very popular of late, to create a gradient of colour in a fabric, yarn and -- believe it or not -- hair!

I can't say whether or not The Crafty Lady herself will seek a new look for her long, lovely red-headed locks, but I can tell you that yours truly is developing her own natural ombre hair colour -- even in my short style -- as my hair moves from chestnut to dark brown to silvery grey thanks to the aging process!

And I can tell you that we love ombré yarns here at The Shop.  We have in stock "Berroco Alpaca Tonal", which is a variation on the strict ombré look.  We also have lovely packaged sets of "Crescendo" -- skeins of gradient hand-dyed fingering-weight yarn from Sweet Paprika Yarns.

But the best news of all this week, is that we have selected one of our ombré yarns for our Super Special Sale!  That's right!

It's

NAKO Ombre

100 grams = 190 metres (208 yards)

75% Acrylic

25% Wool

Regular Price: $10.00

Sale Price: $2.50

I can vouch for it's look and feel, as I made a hat for my son out of some of it for Christmas 2016.  It's easy to work with, soft in the hand, and easy for a busy thirty-something fellow to care for.  And...it took only 2/3 of a ball (about 114 metres).  Two balls would get you a hat and mitts!

Pattern derived from the 

Super Simple Hat Calculator

What's not to love?  See you in the Shop!

*Written by Margaret, happy TCL employee who's not averse to getting shady with her knitting!

Just a Taste

Merino...munching....

Almost every day at The Crafty Lady, we encounter customers who won't buy wool -- unless it's soft.  It matters not the project they're planning -- there's a lingering memory of wool from decades ago, and that memory is sturdy and itchy.

Then one of us on staff will hand the customer a ball of wool -- from the Merino sheep.  "Oh," is the response.  "This is wool?"

Merino sheep produce very soft yarn -- especially the 'Extra-fine' or 'Super-fine' grades.  It's lovely for anything meant to be worn next to the skin -- particularly the torso or the neck.

(Side note: it's okay for socks...if it is a lower grade (i.e., less soft), and/or tightly spun and/or spun with nylon.  Otherwise, one ends up with soft, slouchy socks that wear out quickly.)

It's such a special type of wool that if it's included in any yarn, it has to be labelled as such.  It's sort of the "champagne" of wool.

The quality, the softness, the drape, the specialty of the breed...all of these things mean that, yes, Merino yarn is more expensive than your Everyday Acrylic (even your Best Brand Everyday Acrylic).

But this week?

We have just a wee bit of Merino available...as our Super Special!

Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine170

50 grams = 170 metres (186 yards)

100% Wool

Regular Price: $8.00

Sale Price: $2.00

AND

Debbie Bliss Rialto DK

(Extrafine, Superwash)

50 grams = 105 metres (115 yards)

100% Wool

Regular Price: $9.50

Sale Price: $2.38

And there's just enough for a cozy cowl or a pair of mittens.  A little bit of luxury can go a long way...


*Written by Margaret, who loves all things woolly but....ahhhhh....Merino!

Spring Storms bring ? ? ?

Did you search anything on Google last week? After all of the very interesting Google doodles for the Olympics, the doodle for Holi 2018 fit right in - bright colourful and celebrating spring.

Holi is a Hindu spring festival celebrated all across India and Nepal and among Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan as well in countries with large Indian subcontinent diaspora populations, according to Wikipedia. 

Central Alberta was experiencing snow fall and icy conditions late last week. Albertans have survived one of the coldest February's on record. A couple of nicer days, but overall - the lowest temperatures in decades, according to The Weather Network.

The end of February and the first of March often signal the "dreaded tax time" as T4's must be sent to employee's and people are starting to collect their paper work for Revenue Canada. We still have until the end of April, but deadlines do sneak up on many of us - Yours truly included (and maybe especially!). My stack of projects always seems to have a couple of URGENT projects. This does often lead to many things getting completed.

As The Weather Network was predicting a severe storm including several centimeters of snow and blowing winds, with freezing road conditions, several of our customers stocked up and then hunkered down at home last weekend. Here's hoping you were able to get some of them completed.

One of our staff members is already planning her garden, seeds have been ordered, tools cleaned off and excitement is brimming. She was really excited about the snow over the weekend!! The snow is going to add moisture to the garden soil, and wake up the fruit trees. I have noticed the willow buds (commonly known as "pussy willows") are popping!! They were showing a month ago - they tease and retreat, and tease again.

We do know spring is coming, and there are lots of projects teasing our fingers before Spring does arrive.

Our 75% Off sales are not a "tease" - they are For Real.  This week's featured yarn is:

Schachenmayr

Merino Extra Fine 85

Aran -100% Wool - Merino

93 yards(85 meters) - 50 grams (1.76 ounces)

Reg. Price $8.00

75% Off

$2.00

 Posted by Anne, who is being teased by many projects, beautiful yarns and not enough "snow"  . . .