Bring Me Basics

Have you heard of BringMeBasics?

Numerous businesses in Lacombe have made online shopping easy for you by 'setting up shop' all in one place. All of them are geared toward good health - physical and mental. The Crafty Lady's offerings fall into the latter category - unless you count the physical wellbeing of those around you if you don't have something creative to keep you sane.

All the offerings are stand alone kits. If you choose Chainmaille, the basic tools are included in the price. If you choose the Friendship Bracelet kits, you get a pattern booklet plus the free embroidery pamphlet if you take the floss based kit. If you choose the Top This kits, you don't have to worry whether or not you have the right size needle or hook. What you don't get with this one is the choice of which pompom style you get. If you want to choose the exact Top This character you receive, you need to go to www.craftylady.ca where you'll still get free delivery within Lacombe city limits.

Right now, online is still the only way you can shop with The Crafty Lady. I am waiting on the city of Lacombe and a few of the markets in the area to confirm start dates for my pop up store so stay tuned for updates.

written by Lori, impatient TCL owner, who is chomping at the bit to get out there and safely visit with all my customers again!

Summer Fun

I had a customer inadvertently remind me of the fun Anne had making water bombs for her grandchildren last summer. These bombs (or balloons) are eco-friendly because they are reusable - unlike the rubber / plastic ones that just litter the ground and cause problems for the wildlife that are attracted to the brightly coloured debris they leave. The Crafty Lady is currently blessed with enough stock of the perfect yarns to keep each and every one of your kids (of all ages) entertained this summer with their own custom coloured bombs!

There are a number of patterns available on Ravelry for these quick projects. Here are just a few. Some are crochet, some are knit. Some are free, others cost a nominal fee. All of them are guaranteed to bring hours of fun in the fresh air.

Most, if not all, call for Bernat Blanket.  The Crafty Lady's equivalent yarns are Cascade Yarns Pluff, James C. Brett Flutterby, Universal Yarns Bella Chenille, and Himalaya Dolphin. With that much variety in brands, you KNOW there is a large variety of colours to choose from, so don't hold back!

What to do with them when you're done for the day? Make a mesh bag to put them in so they can hang from the clothesline or tree branch - whatever's handy 😊

written by Lori, happy TCL owner who can't wait to see the grands playing with these again!

One Step Closer

The weather was perfect this past week for working on the mobile store. Whether warm or cool, there was always enough of a breeze to keep the air moving and temperature comfortable.

I managed to get some extra (cool) lights mounted so that the yarn colours are truer than under strictly warm lighting. I got a designated sale section in place and even a piece of pegboard for displaying buttons (or needles / hooks). I want to be ready when the restrictions are loosened - even if I can't remove the kitchen bottleneck yet. Chances are it won't matter for a while because I will probably only be able to accommodate one person at a time anyway.

I am also trying to write the guidelines for shopping in the mobile store. Masks will be required because physical distancing will be impossible. Disposable gloves will be required even though customers will be required to use hand sanitizer before entering the RV. Do you know how hard it is to politely word "I know you wanna touch the yarn. How do you propose I clean / disinfect it for the next person without destroying it with alcohol and aloe gel from the hand sanitizer?" Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I will also probably have to have customers make appointments to shop so that social distancing protocols can be maintained outside of the mobile store. Thankfully, online shoppers will have a place to pick up their purchases with a less sterile atmosphere than is currently the case and delivery will still be an option in town.

Some positive news: I did the calculations. The yarn may be able to be on a three week rotation instead of four. Not because I have less yarn than I thought when I did my first calculations, but because I managed to squeeze in some hanging display area as well. I might even reserve the fourth (and occasional fifth) week displays for the non-yarn product in the store - think stitching, kid's crafts, lace and trims.

I am SO looking forward to seeing your bright smiling faces again and I can't wait to see your eyes light up when you see the new-to-you yarns that have been sitting in the warehouse just waiting to meet you 😍

written by Lori, Happy TCL owner, who knows the light at the end of the tunnel is NOT a train.

Did I Jinx It?

Last week I said I would attend Knit Night from my deck if the rain held off. As I am writing this Saturday morning, it is still spitting out, even though it was supposed to stop yesterday. Did someone take my decision to actually venture out onto the deck as a challenge to see how long I could be kept inside? Along with everyone else?

Doesn't matter. Mom's garden is in and is relishing all the moisture. It hasn't been a torrential downpour trying to invade the garage space again. And when I venture out to the warehouse, my hoodie is enough to protect me. I will only actually complain if I hear a downpour pummelling the warehouse roof when all I have is said hoodie and I need to go back to the house for some reason.

Quick jaunts out to the RV have been productive. I solved the cab access issue for the most part. The center bins now rest on a cabinet on wheels that fits the walkway like it was custom made. (see video below)

The existing lights may be enough but I would rather deal in overkill so that the yarn is shown of in its best light (Sorry, not sorry). Thanks to the virus, I have plenty of time to work out the details.

I have also had time to work on some fine details in the online shop. Every day it is getting easier for you to find what you need. You still won't find mask elastic. Don't know what the holdup is there with my supplier but it is what it is.

I was thinking of trying something a little different to let you know what is available online. Who of you would be interested in a Feature of the Week in this blog? Please comment below or on the Facebook page so I can get a feel for the demand for such a feature.

written by Lori, mentally wterlogged TCL owner, who is looking forward to the days (next week) that I can whine about how hot it is ;)

Progress

I've been getting a lot of calls from customers this past week asking if the store is open again now that non-essential businesses have been given the go ahead providing physical distancing / sanitation protocols are in place. It has been fun listening to the surprise in their voices when I tell them the business was never closed. I guess not everyone knew I had taken the store online in February, even though the advertising was everywhere for three months. Regardless, sales are steadily increasing and I may have to get the RV ready sooner rather than later because some Farmer's Markets are indicating opening dates sometime in June.

Speaking of the pop up store, the kitchen counter is still jutting out into the walkway. I don't feel comfortable removing the propane stove without professional help so it will remain there for a couple more weeks. The display area, on the other hand, is starting to shape up. I'm waffling between blocking the access to the cab with cubes for yarn (giving me 33 cubes or 51.56 cubic feet of space) or - as seen below - creating saloon style pegboard doors for needles, hooks, and other yarn notions (6 cubes or 9.375 cubic feet less) so that it looks like a wall during 'store hours' but still allows me to stay indoors to access the cab, especially during inclement weather.

Let me know what you think.

On the home front, Mom spent Friday and Saturday planting her garden. Even though it wasn't in by her usual deadline, she is so grateful to have it done by the long weekend. She can relax now knowing that, God willing, the freezers should be full this fall and all the canning will be lining our cold room walls and the pantries of a few blessed recipients.

One of those individuals is Mom's 91 year old sister who insisted I reintroduce her to knitting this winter. She wanted a scarf and I told her basic garter stitch makes the best beginner scarf because it is mindless knitting that keeps your fingers busy. She sent the yarn back to me this past week 'because the yarn was splitty' and 'don't laugh at my mistakes' and 'please make me something out of the yarn if you can'. Since I've been trying to do some mindless knitting of my own since finishing my OSS, I chose to knit her a cowl. In entrelac  (which is mindless knitting for me). It looks like a clown collar. So I have changed my mind to a One Row Lace pattern similar to this pattern on Ravelry. I can even work this one at Zoom Knit Night. And, if it doesn't rain Thursday night and the bugs stay away, I might even take my iPad out to the deck for Knit Night. We'll see!

Until next week, make good use of the beautiful weather, be productive indoors when it isn't as beautiful outdoors, and stay safe out there.

written by Lori happy TCL owner, who can see a light at the end of the tunnel and knows it's not a train. 😉

Normal-ish - a Word I'm Hearing More Often These Days

As I write the blog today, Mom is out preparing her garden for planting when it is dry enough and our lawns are being mowed by the best husband-wife team in the area. Myles, the cat, is sitting on my lap - a new thing since Covid-19 has changed our daily routine - but a welcome change because it means we get to spend more quality time together. My mind may be elsewhere but I've become a master of one-handed typing, which Myles appreciates.

This past Sunday we came home from drive through communion to a freshly tilled garden. Mom was so thrilled because she was sure she was not going to make the May 9 deadline that she has adhered to for at least 5 decades to get her garden in. Then it rained - hard - for a day. She couldn't even bring herself to do any baking. But when we saw dry hills in the garden late Tuesday afternoon, she got all her seeds ready for today, Wednesday.

If you read the previous two paragraphs carefully, you will have noticed some pre-Covid and post-Covid juxtaposition: our previous normal mixed with our current normal. I hesitate to call it the new normal because drive through communion is not how I want to permanently go forward in my church life. This will change.

Other things are changing on a daily / weekly / monthly basis. Businesses, once closed, are re-opening. Some with more restrictions than others, all meant to keep us happy and safe. Other businesses have followed in my footsteps by going strictly online. As you know, even that isn't the new normal for me, simply the current normal. I look forward to the day when the social distancing rules are relaxed enough to have more than one person at a time able to shop in the RV. Right now, there isn't anywhere in the RV that one person isn't within 2m of someone else and there's still the issue of everybody wanting to squish the yarn, whether or not they end up purchasing it. Have you ever tried to disinfect yarn without destroying it? So my normal-ish remains strictly online.

One part of my life that has changed and may become the new normal is connecting with people through platforms like Zoom. Even though I think it is a temporary thing for the Knit Night crew that lives in the area, now that it is an option, I think our outlying community (from Edmonton and Nfld up to this point) may continue to join us Thursday nights just because they can.

So for those of you who are mourning the loss of their old normal, don't despair. Some of the new normal will be an improvement over the old. I found this story the other day that helps sum up my outlook to all this change.

Me: Hey God.
God: Hello.....
Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?
God: I would rather not.
Me: Why?
God: Because you aren't a puzzle.
Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?
God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.
Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!
God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.
Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?
God: Only the very best pieces of you.
Me: I'm scared of changing.
God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!
Me: Becoming who?
God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.
Me: There goes another piece.
God: Yep. Let it be.
Me: So ... I'm not broken?
God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!
~Author John Roedel


p.s. I finished my One Seam Sweater. I love it but I will be making another. This time a medium.


written by Lori, content owner of TCL, who is more than happy to 'become' through all this normal-ish

Ordering Online Just Got Easier!

I spent most of Monday fighting with my current website, craftylady.ca, but it was so worth it! Your payment method is less likely to be turned down AND you can finally find products through TABS!

Yes! You heard right! There are tabs at the top of the page and they have drop down menus! More and more items are finding their proper homes in the webstore and I have discovered how to group them more efficiently for you to navigate with ease. It's still not as nice as the website that was supposed to replace it but it sure beats the hassle most of you have had to deal with up until now. In fact, I am seriously considering keeping this one because it means a whole lot less work for me.

And because I have been concentrating on the website, I do not have a finished photo of my One Seam Sweater  - because it isn't finished. Silver lining? It's now too warm to wear the sweater anyway. That means the weather is now perfect to split my time between the website and the RV (all while taking care of my amazing customers) so stay tuned for updates on both.

written by Lori, busy owner of TCL, who is refreshingly energized by all the work that lays ahead.