Kid Friendly Yarns!

Baby's Got A New Pair Of Shoes Sweater Set

While experimenting with a new self striping yarn last spring, I realized that my One Seam Sweater pattern works just as well with Aran weight yarn (slightly heavier than true worsted) as it does with traditional chunky (as opposed to the bulky weights that now use that moniker). For those of you who aren't familiar with the gauges of the aforementioned yarn weights - in a 4"(10cm) gauge swatch, worsted is 18-20 sts on 4.5mm needles, Aran is 16-18 sts on 5mm needles, and traditional chunky is 14-15 sts on 6mm needles. And just to round out the most common yarn sizes, dk (double knitting) is 22-23 sts on 4mm needles.

In other words, Cascade's Anthem Rondo knits to the same gauge as James C. Brett's Marble Chunky and Universal's Major giving my One Seam Sweater yet another look for the little ones in your life. (See top left corner of the first photo.) I would not try it with the adult sizes as the stripes could get too busy.

                                       

This week's offerings in the store include all the yarn sizes mentioned above so you can knit a wide variety of projects from your purchases this week, all in machine washable and dryable quality acrylic.

Cascade's Anthem and Universal's Uptown are the two worsted weight yarns and they play beautifully together so feel free to mix and match to get just the right colour combinations.

Berroco's Comfort dk and King Cole's Big Value dk, on the other hand, are very different yarns, both perfect in their own way.

DMC's Top This hat kits are great for making hats, stuffies, and (if you buy two kits) slippers.

There are a few other yarns thrown into the mix but you'll have to come into the store to see what they are.

And don't forget that you can now find us at Ponoka's Communty Market on Monday nights!

written by Lori, perturbed TCL owner, who doesn't understand why I can't use the strikethrough font in the title.

Well! That Was Short Lived

June 14th I published a quick blogpost letting you know that the posting date was going to change to Tuesdays because my weekends have been off by a day and Sundays felt like Saturdays and Mondays felt like Sundays and I was often late writing my blogs. Well, no more!

I have picked up a new market!

Starting this week, you will be able to find me at the Ponoka Community market 3-7 Monday evenings. That’s right. Ponoka shoppers get to enjoy wandering around my 104 sq ft showroom twice a week. Lucky Ponokans!

This week I am showcasing acrylic/wool (or acrylic/alpaca) blends. Most are solids but there are a few variegated offerings as well.

For those of you who are amazed at how my blogging skills are progressing by my use of a picture montage, don’t pat me on the back just yet. The market manager at the new (to me) venue asked for photos and this is how they arranged themselves in my messenger response. Editing screenshots is easy. Getting photos and text in blogs to behave themselves is not.

written by Lori, TCL owner, who is stoked to have yet another market for my customers to shop at.

Did I Miss the Sock Hop Last Night?

 I'm not sure what was going on in the store last night, but this is the first thing I saw when I walked in this morning - Watermelon Girl either doing a face palm or hiding her eyes. Don't know for sure which it is or why. 😂

According to the weather report, we are in for another week of heat. That means another week of small projects for those of us who continue to knit and crochet during the warmer months of the year. The plant based offerings were well received last week since they are about the only fibres that won't stick to your hands in this weather.

This week we have sock yarns. Most are 4ply. Some feel like 3ply even though they say they are 4ply. There are also a few 6ply and one 8ply. Most are self striping or self patterning with a few solids, semi-solids, and hand-dyed thrown in for good measure. And, not ALL of them are wool! There are also some cotton and manmade fibre blends for those who just can't do wool.

Also, please remember, you may not feel like knitting anything right now, but right now is when you can come in and pet the yarn. After September, when the Farmer's Markets are done for the season, you will only be able to order online and it's hard to pet a computer screen. 😉

written by Lori, curious TCL owner, who wants to know what kind of shenanigans the mannequins get up to when I'm not there.

Plant Fibre Week

No. It's not an official week - that I know of - it's just what the pop up store is concentrating on this week.

We have 100% cotton yarns, cotton blends with wool, rayon or acrylic, some even have multiple fibres blended in with the cotton for super drapiness, as well as other plant fibres such as hemp and flax.

There's even a little surprise fibre in here that isn't plant fibre but I don't like lumping it in with animal fibre because it feels more like a plant fibre even though it comes out of an insect's butt. You guessed it! I have some silk in the mix this week.

I will try to post the yarns along with their prices every week so call me out if I miss a week so that I know someone is reading the blog 😉

 

written by Lori, fake skeptical TCL owner, who understands her blog isn't the most captivating in the web-verse but still appreciates each and every one of you that takes the time to read it.

Second Time Around - This Time in a Heat Wave!

Gathering Yarns is the featured yarn this week. Yes, I know it's sweltering out. Yes, I know the majority of their products are wool. I also know I only have two more opportunities in this Farmer's market season to showcase ALL my yarns for you before they are only available through the online store. Take advantage and strike while the iron is hot (as the air outside) so that you don't have to pay shipping this winter. Besides Gathering Yarns, there are also a few offerings from other yarn companies such as Zen Yarn Garden, Sweet Paprika, Fibra Natura, and Ancient Arts.

As you can see from the list to the right, I have everything from lace weight to bulky on the shelves this week. Fibers range from Flax to Bamboo to 16 micron Merino! I have worked with a few of the yarns and I'm sure I'll work with a few more if you leave them in my possession for too much longer. Help a girl out! I already have too many projects on the go! 😉

written by Lori, thankful TCL owner, who is happy to say she didn't die from heat stroke while rearranging the 'furniture' this weekend. Even the house electrical system didn't want to support the RV AC! The ice water and teeny tiny USB powered fan sufficed. YAY!

 

Drunken Mannequins?

It's finally here. The final round of yarns before the rotation starts over! That means not quite three full rotations during the market season. What that also means is that you only have two more times (at most) to come check out which yarns you want to be working with this winter.

In the top photo, nestled between the patterns and the 'baby' in the corner (hidden by the hanging demos) is the Magic Shawl demo that I've been working on for the last few weeks. It has been getting quite a lot of attention from customers as they watch it grow at the markets. You can find the free pattern here.

In the top right quarter of the photo, you will notice that I have my Dress It Up! buttons so, yes, last week's buttons made it through the earthquake of driving well enough to switch them out for new ones 😊. Because of that, you can expect to see different buttons every week from now on.

On the driver's side of the pop up store, you will see some of the kits that I had made up for the few markets that wouldn't let me sell retail. (Their 20% commercial was already full.) Their prices range between $14 and $53 (pre-GST). Someone was actually looking for kits a week or so ago so I thought I would try it out in the rotation.

You might just be able to make out, in the bottom left corner of the photo, the end of a wooden sock blocker. I know it would make so much more sense to have them when the bins are full of sock yarn - and they will be. I have three different sizes: 4.5", 8" and 9".

On the far right of the photo is a 50g version of a poncho yarn (Gala 200) I had in the brick and mortar store before I decided to transition to this 'business model'. The mannequin on the left is wearing a hat made from one ball. (The mannequins apparently had a party before I snapped this photo. They'll have to sober up by Tuesday 😉.)

I'm giving you a sneak peak at the prices in this last photo.

The upper three yarns in the right column are scarf style yarns, some of which I have used in a few of my patterns. Most of the rest of them are shawl yarns.

Above the prices, the felting tools are in their permanent (for now) home, just below the Canada flag patches that you might just want to grab considering Canada Day is just around the corner AND we may soon be travelling abroad again.

written by Lori, excited TCL owner, who is happy to see the light at the end of the COVID tunnel.

There’s Something About Routine

Some routines are easy and others not so much. Exercising daily is easy - until you skip a few days. Then it can be SO difficult to get back into the groove.

Having your weekend shift by one day can throw everything else off balance. I don’t know how shift workers with irregular shifts do it! Since the Red Deer markets started, it has been a struggle to get the blog done for Monday because Sunday has been feeling like Monday and Monday has been feeling like Sunday, especially since we haven’t been attending physical church for a few months now. Markets continue for another few months and blogging for Tuesday just makes more sense than trying to get the pop up store picture perfect in one day.

Speaking of - we are closing in on the final week(s) of our yarn rotation, so soon you will be seeing repeats of yarns that have been showcased already! Yay! This week is for hairy yarns - some of which are meant for trim and others which are meant to give an entire project a fun and funky look. 

To balance it out there is also Universal Major, a Marble Chunky copycat that I didn’t have room for last week.

I also decided to see whether or not buttons can withstand the earthquake of travelling from one destination to the next.

You can see from the photos that my mannequins have their own little corrals for travelling. So far they’ve worked beautifully. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I don’t have too much button cleanup to deal with once I get to the market each day.

Written by Lori, much calmer TCL owner, now that I’ve given myself an extra day to prep the blogs.