Hands Up If You Miss Petting The Yarn!

 The lighting update (promised from last week) is currently on hold but in the meantime, I have been busy with customers who miss petting the yarn. That means it is time to remind you all how you can continue to pet the yarn even though part of the year I am an online store only. This means you need to share this blog with all your yarnie friends!

I haven't solidified my entire route yet, but there are a couple of markets from last year's roster that are year-round markets that I will be returning to - Ponoka's Monday afternoon market and Wetaskiwin's Wednesday afternoon market - as soon as the weather is conducive to keeping the bus door open while parked outside.

I've told many market customers who had visited the mobile store last season that I really didn't care if they bought at the market. I still stand by that. I made it very clear that yarn is a tactile purchase. It is hard to purchase a yarn that you can't touch. Every customer that didn't purchase at the market was given a business card so that they could purchase (online when the wind blew colder and the days grew shorter) the yarn that spoke loudest to them when they petted it. You see, I know when most of you work with yarn. There are a significantly smaller number of us that knit year-round but even we need to pet the yarn when the opportunity arises.

So - I will update you on my full market schedule as soon as I have confirmed with the market managers but, until then, just remember that the majority of them run from May long weekend to Labour Day weekend, with a number of them extending the season if the weather permits.

written by Lori, TCL owner, who is eagerly awaiting my first yarn shipment of 2022!

Winding Down the Season

Fall is definitely in the air which means the outdoor Farmer's (and Community) Market season is winding down. Because the first final day is coming up shortly (Sept 16 for Camrose), I've decided to do something a little different for the next few weeks. (My valid excuse for this blog being late this week.) Instead of just swapping out last week's yarn for this week's, I am also putting the following week's yarn (or at least most of it) in the overhead cabinets as a way to preview the yarn, especially if the customer won't be there the next week. That means that you can shop the cotton, silk flax and hemp this week as well as scope out most of the sock yarn.

I will continue this until the end of the season. And, who knows. That may become the new normal in the pop up store.

The final market days are as follows:

Ponoka Community Market (outdoors) Sept 27

Stettler Farmer's Market (outdoors) Sept 28

Ponoka Farmer's Market Sept 29

Wetaskiwin Farmer's Market Sept 29

Lacombe Farmer's Market Oct 8

Red Deer Downtown Farmer's Market Oct 9

If you are wanting to take advantage of the free shipping (aka delivery to the market) make sure to place your order no later than the Monday before the final week. Any order placed during the final week may not be able to be picked in time to be delivered and then you'll either have to pay shipping or make arrangements to pick up at the warehouse.

As for the pictures of the sky, God was out with his paintbrush leaving beautiful brushstrokes in the air on Saturday when it was still bitingly cold. When I was taking these pictures, one of the other vendors offered to take my picture for me. He thought I was trying to take a selfie in front of my motorhome so I pointed out the beautiful show the clouds were performing that he'd been too busy setting up to notice. Sometimes it's the little things in life that make things alright.

And right now we need those little things. With the mask mandate back in full swing, I will be layering up in more ways than one.

There is a new sign in the store.

Since the mask rules are for indoor venues, along with the door being open, I will be keeping open all vents and windows to allow for outdoor style ventilation, which means it may get pretty chilly in the pop up store. During inclement weather, I will require masks because only the door will be open those days. So pray for beautiful weather until Thanksgiving!

written by Lori, TCL owner, who has thoroughly enjoyed the market season so far - meeting new people, reconnecting with others and actually getting a tan in the process. 😀

 

This was Supposed to be a Phone Update :(

 Today's blog is late but for good reason.

Remember a couple of blogs back when I said that I think I had a solution to the texting to landline problem? The new mobile number for The Crafty Lady is xxx-xxx-xxxx. (You will see down below how long I waited to get it done as far as it got but the number isn't right. I need to fix it before I give you the actual number.) I will retain the landline number (403-782-7238) because I'm old school like that. Besides, it's a daily reminder that Dad took the time to research the perfect phone number for my business endeavour. (The last 5 digits spell out CRAFT)

As I am still trying to fill out the weekly Farmer's Market schedule, I took a road trip with my two roomies on Saturday. Nothing like needing to know what the roads are like before I take a well-loaded RV onto them. Based on the roads we took, I came to the conclusion that Tuesday will probably only have one stop, if any. I also learned why/how Big Valley got its name. Beautiful valley nearby but absolutely impassable with the amount of yarn I'll be carrying. I don't want to be spending all my profits on a new transmission! Don't let the gently sloping road on the far side lull you into thinking I'm a wimp. The road down to the bridge at the bottom is nowhere near that gentle and its a single lane bridge so there would be times I would definitely need my brakes (and transmission) when I get to the bottom.

At least the three of us were able to get out of the house for a day.

As for the new phone line, the process started at 10am this Monday morning with the installation of a new modem in the warehouse and at 3:20pm we are almost finished the process. It will be convenient having a dedicated business cell phone so that I will know when I should answer in a business-like manner and when I can just be Lori 😁

written by Lori, impatient TCL owner, who can't wait to get out on the road!