Do You Yarn?

Have you noticed how the weather is trying to tell you that it is time to start 'yarning'? This is a new verb that I have learned over these past few months as a market vendor. People have been praising me on my ingenious (their word, not mine) use of my motorhome and want to check it out even though they don't yarn.

"Oh, I don't yarn but my aunt does." "I never learned how to yarn." and similar comments have been heard on a daily basis this summer. Now I understand that not everybody yarns. I don't expect them to. I know that there are a number of people out there that fabric. Or paper. There are even a number of Facebook groups for people who rock and then leave them around for other people to find.

Thankfully, my customers and I know that there are a number of different ways to yarn. One can knit or crochet or weave or felt. One can even gather. ??? Surely you've heard that working with yarn and collecting yarn are two separate hobbies? 😁 Anyway, this week's offerings are primarily yarns from Gathering Yarn, a great little Canadian company that uses both local (to them) and imported yarns (mostly Italian), many of which are hand-dyed right here in Canada (BC). The remainder of the yarns are from other suppliers (both Canadian and American) that will play nicely with the Gathering Yarns.

 written by Lori, amused TCL owner, who hopes to meet many more yarners with the goal of turning them into knitters, crocheters, etc.

Pluff Will Keep Us Together by The Captain and Chenille

Flutterby Animal Print, regular Flutterby and Dolphin

Bella Chenille and Pluff

 Please tell me you groaned at the title. That would mean you are old enough to understand it and I won't feel so bad about using it. Besides its not the worst earworm you will have ever had to deal with. 😉

It dawned on me last week that most of the markets end around Thanksgiving weekend. That means from now on, every yarn on display will be the last time you get to pet it before it goes back into the warehouse for the winter. Then its online ordering only for the next six months!

I am working on setting up classes at LPAC (Lacombe Performing Arts Centre) this fall/winter and will post details as soon as they are confirmed so there will be some yarn petting/purchasing available at the classes. In the meantime, have fun playing with the yarns of the week with some fun patterns from Ravelry.

Pluff is a great alternative to Bernat Blanket and will make these slippers or adorable Yipyips for storage.

Flutterby (regular) can make a squishy receiving blanket with just two balls. Bella and Dolphin would require three. This cute sweater will fit up to a size 10 child using the same amount of yarn. 😊

The Animal Print Flutterby is super chunky and one ball will make a super quick cowl if you need a last minute gift for someone.

One thing to note about all chenille yarns: put a knot in the yarn at the end of the tails (beginning and end). You can't feel the knots once they are woven in but without the knots, the yarn will unravel and there will be no saving your project.

written by Lori, TCL owner, who is looking forward to seeing how many more people take advantage of free shipping before the markets are over.

Brain Fog or Haze Brain?

I have no stories to tell this week. Either I'm tired or it's the smoke-filled skies that are robbing my brain of oxygen. Either way, this week's blog will be short and sweet.

It is the second last week of the second rotation of yarn this market season which means you are about to see most of the yarns for a third time before the snow flies, after which only online ordering will be available. So make sure you take advantage of the pop up store while free pickup / no shipping charges are still an option!

This week's yarns are Merino roving, hairy/furry yarns and the few ruffly scarf yarns still in my inventory. The fur peeking out under the earflap and acting as a brim is Furreal by Knitting Fever. The fur portion of this hat is Moscow Hat. The outer portion is not a pattern, just me playing around with Lumiere to experiment with a double thick hat for those who need it.

written by Lori, wheezy TCL owner, who is hoping all the rain forecast for this week clears the air of all the haze.

Adventures of a Mobile Store

It may not look like much to you but that is a new solar panel on the roof. "But Lori, I thought you already had solar on your rig." I did. Which brings me to an interesting story.

July 21rst I was driving from Wednesday night's market in Wetaskiwin to Camrose, as is my weekly habit, looking forward to a peaceful sleep before a morning spent adventuring around Camrose before setting up for the market in the afternoon. Shortly after rounding Justamere Farms' corner, I started to hear an unusual racket. My first instinct was to assume that my pegboard wall that holds the needles and hooks had decided to unlock itself, which it does occasionally, and that I was not going to get that leisurely evening of Facebook and YouTube viewing that I was looking forward to but instead spend the rest of my evening cleaning up after the earthquake that was happening. Then, just before the Gwynne hill, something caught my eye in the driver's side mirror. It was my solar panel flying off into the middle of the road and bouncing a couple of times before coming to rest on the dotted line!

Thankfully, no vehicles were directly behind me! But before I could pull over and collect it myself, a kind gentleman in a van, who had seen the whole thing happen, stopped and was moving it out of the line of traffic. He offered to put it in his van and drive it up to the rv for me and, as grateful as I was for the offer, I graciously declined because I needed to express my negative energy toward the panel as I hauled it back to the rv myself and get it out of my system before I got back behind the wheel.

I initially just threw it onto the floor of the motorhome because I have no outside storage that could accommodate it, but it was obvious that it couldn't stay there. I mean, how could the customers shop around it! Rather than inconvenience them, I made it impossible to use my washroom. That thing just fit into my tiny rv bathroom but only because I could get it in at an angle with a 1/2" to spare to shut the door. It stayed there until the Saturday afternoon once I finished four more markets where I had to 'rough it' like all the other vendors and use the public washrooms.

Fast forward to August 8 and while I'm sitting in church, the lovely gentleman from SunFrog Solar who sold me (but did not install) the original panel installed this lovely replacement so I don't have to worry about driving around just to boost my house battery in order to have enough power to run my till, make coffee, etc. every work day. For those of you who are curious about the initial installers, I am perfectly happy with all the other work they have done on the rv and therefore am not going to put anything negative into the universe because I chose to have someone other than the guy who knew the system backwards and forwards put it on my roof. Some lessons are hard.

One other thing I learned through this experience, I really don't need the solar power, but it sure is nice to have.

Now for the part you were really looking for this week - this week's yarn selection. The store will be filled with James C. Brett's Marble in all its incarnations: Chunky, DK, Baby, and Baby Chunky, as well as Universal Major and a few other self striping / patterning acrylic yarns. These yarns work well with a number of my patterns, making it obvious what I think of them. 😉

written by Lori, grateful TCL owner, who is over the moon to have her solar power back!

August Means Sweater Weather is Coming

I know. The temperatures are way too high to be thinking about sweaters - unless you knit or crochet - then you know how long it is going to take to make the sweater you are going to want to wear or give to someone else once the cooler weather arrives.

That's why the pop up store is filled with Berroco Vintage this week. A couple of weeks ago I was featuring Estelle Worsted and Cozy Alpaca which are the drapier worsted blends. I like to call the Vintage family of yarns the workhorses of the wool/acrylic blends I carry. They are perfect for the sweaters that you wear over other layers, or the blanket that you want to snuggle under on those cool fall and winter nights. I can just imagine the warmth of a toque, scarf and mitts made from one of the three different weights available.

To go along with the Vintage (dk, worsted and chunky), I also have some other blends that will play nicely with it. Melilla is a worsted silk/wool blend that resembles Noro Silk Garden. Baby Azteca will work nicely with the dk weight Vintage. And Lakeland and Drifter Chunky will play well with Vintage Chunky. I also have Viva, which is a light worsted self-striping Merino that would make lovely Faux Isle projects with either the dk or worsted versions of Vintage.

And, of course, you can't make sweaters without proper buttons. Gone (for now) are the cute Dress It Up buttons which were a real hit this past month in the pop up store. (Don't worry, you can still order them online and have them delivered to the market nearest you. Free shipping, YAY!) I'm sorry the buttons look a little haphazard in the photo. It was close to suppertime and it was sweltering in the rv. They will look a little more organized by the time they get to your market.

written by Lori, TCL owner, who is happy to be out of the heat, at least for the night anyway.

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.