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.