Alchemy Trunk Show

This week we received an unbelievably beautiful collection of sample garments from Alchemy Yarns. I'm not kidding, these are some of the most gorgeous hand knit garments that I've ever seen.

Remember Clara Parke's rave review of Haiku? You can't fully appreciate the beauty of this yarn until you see it knit up. We have two amazing sample garments in Haiku, the Muse:


And the Illusionist Shawl:


Both are incredibly stunning. These garments have a magical magnet-like force. You will be drawn to fondle them and once you do, you will find it very hard to walk away. You think I'm joking. Just try it.

We have lots more magnificent samples from Alchemy's recent book, Destination Alchemy, including the Origamist, Cable Cardigan, Tre Tre Chic Kerchief, Math Geek Scarf and Slanted Eyelet Scarf, all knit with Silk Purse. We also have the Connoisseur Pullover that's knit with a combination of Haiku and Silk Purse. And the Surfer that's knit with Silken Straw.

Sadly we can keep this fabulous collection for only one week. Any fondling must be done this weekend, then it will all be packaged up on Monday. Sorry Edgemont but this trunk show is only in Point Grey. We didn't have time to transfer it over the bridge and back. If it's any consolation, we'll soon receive a Mission Falls trunk show that will appear in both stores...

Weekly Special

Instead of a solo special this week, we've put multiple yarns on sale at 50% off. There are some excellent yarns from lines like Colinette, Debbie Bliss, Garnstudio, Rowan and many others. We're clearing them out for various reasons; some are discontinued, some have overstayed their welcome and some are lonely singles.

Sorry Edgemont but these specials are only available in Point Grey - we've consolidated our stock in one location to get the best possible quantities of colours and lines. Quantities are limited.

We have to find a new home for these yarns so we can make room for all the lovely new things that we've recently received. One of the recent arrivals is a beautiful new yarn, Garnstudio's Lin:


It's a DK weight 100% Linen, with 120 metres per ball. A perfect yarn for summer projects. And it's only $7.95. Look here for a couple of great Lin designs.

Stay tuned over the next while for more details about some of the great new yarns and books on our shelves...

Babies

We love to knit and crochet for babies. They're small projects that we can usually finish before our attention starts to wander. And babies look so adorable in handmade garments.

We've seen a bunch of very cute baby projects lately. Here's baby Molly in a Sublime hat and jacket, knit by Sandra Dunkin:


Millie looks adorable modelling the Blue Sky Alpacas Sundress:


Millie's mom Ingrid knit the dress. Remember Ingrid, the Rowan Lady? The yarn is the ultra soft BSA dyed organic cotton, we have lots of colours hanging on our BSA walls.

Jen knit this lovely cardigan for her grand-daughter, Cassie:


She used Sirdar Baby Bamboo for this one. Love the colour combo. The design is by Louisa Harding, from her wonderful book, The Magical World According to Miss Millie.

Jen's been busy, she also knit this beautiful blanket for her next grandchild who is due anytime:


This one is sure to become a family heirloom.

Not only do we love to see the handmade baby garments, we love to see the babies themselves. Don't hesitate to bring your babies into our stores, as long as you don't mind sharing them with us for a little while...

Two More Days

There's been a great bargain buzz around the stores this week. Knitters love a yarn sale almost more than knitting, it seems. Many of you have dropped by more than once which is a very good idea. There are so many buckets and baskets of discounted items that you can easily miss some treasures. And we've added many new items to the list over the past few days, not to mention the extra 10% off...

But all good things must come to an end. There are only two more days of bargain hunting, then on Monday the signs will come down and the clean-up will begin...

Marvellous Malabrigo

We've recently hung up on our walls many new colours of the scrumptious Malabrigo Lace and Malabrigo Worsted. Also the beautiful new Malabrigo Silky Merino that's 50% silk and 50% wool:

Love this stuff.

If you drop by for a peek at the Malabrigo, be sure to check out the Alchemy Haiku that's hanging next to it:


Clara Parkes raves about Haiku in this week's Knitters Review. She says it's the first thing she'd pack for an extended desert island stay. That's quite an endorsement, I have to say that my toothbrush might beat out Haiku for first place. But I digress, Clara goes on to beautifully describe Gina Wilde's artistry in creating the amazing Alchemy colourways. We agree with her assessment, Gina is a talented artist and we're lucky to have the opportunity to knit with her stunning yarn canvasses. Heavenly Haiku indeed.

Too Much Yarn

We have a bit of a problem. It's a nice problem, but a problem nonetheless. Our stores are bursting at the seams. And Herman keeps bringing us boxes. Box after box after box. Did we really order all this stuff?

Last week we received 35 boxes:


And there are more on the way.

I can hardly begin to tell you what's new. The stuff is piled everywhere. The new Louisa Harding pattern book for babies and toddlers was sitting in one of the boxes. Super cute. The matching yarn is gorgeous, had a quick squeeze. The new Noro book, Joy, has some fabulous new designs. And there are several bags of a new Noro yarn, Matsuri, it looks fantastic. One box was bursting with some new Fleece Artist kits and yarn. There's also more of the beautiful Butterfly mercerized cotton in some stunning colours:


There's a big box full of new books, the Interweave Harmony Guide Basic Crochet book was at the top of the pile. Looks great. There's also the new Shibori Knitted Felt book, Victoria Lace Today, Knitting Classic Style, Vogue Felted Crochet and many others. Hope to have some photos and more details sometime soon...

In the meantime, we need to make some room. So before we pop the balloons and take down the signs, we're going to extend our anniversary sale for another 6 days. With an extra 10% off all current sale prices. That's right folks, what was 25% off is now 35%, what was 40% off is now 50%, etc. Here's The List. But these bargains are only available until Sunday, May 25. Then we'll clean up the sale chaos and organize the lovely new things...

Sale Update

We have many more sale additions. Check out the Araucania Nature Wool, beautifully hand-dyed with vegetable dyes by a women's cooperative in Chile. We have both Nature Wool Aran and Nature Wool Chunky. This is a fabulous felting yarn and it's 25% off the regular price.


Be sure to have a look at Elspeth Lavold's Classic Al and Chunky Al yarns. Both are 50% baby alpaca and 50% wool, at 25% off. Gorgeous.

We've also added a beautiful Italian Angora yarn, Novangora, at 25% off. And there are a bunch of fun Filatura di Crosa and Online yarns, grab a couple of balls and make a quick scarf or shawl. Stock up now, these are 25 - 40% off. There are also some new Rowan tidbits at 50% off. We haven't had time to add them all to the list but there are lots of new bargains in the mix.

Don't forget, we're now open on Sundays in Edgemont but closed on Mondays. And we'll be open on Victoria Day in Point Grey from noon to 5 p.m.

Bag Lady

I admit it. My closet is cluttered with a ridiculous number of bags. Sadly, this is partly a function of the number of unfinished projects residing within the bags. It seems that no matter how many bags I've stashed away, I still have a hard time saying no when new bags arrive. At least one of our latest additions will soon be added to my collection.

We have a few of the fabulous Zhivago Bags from Offhand Designs. If you feel like splurging on a TDF bag, this is the one:


There's enough room inside for a full sweater project or for a wonderful weekend away. It has two deep outside pockets, six inside pouch pockets and an inside zipper pocket to keep everything organized. Quality materials are used throughout, including the plush limited edition velvet, chenille and brocade exteriors. A very edgy bag.

We also have Offhand Design's Circular Clutches:

Amy Singer of Knitty called these "...the best case I've found anywhere for storing circular needles, period." Check out the whole review in Knitty's Spring 2007 Cool Stuff section. You just can't have too many bags...

Sirdar Sale

If you're a Sirdar fan, today's your lucky day. We've put a bunch of Sirdar yarns on sale at 40% off. And we have lots of great leaflet patterns for these yarns.

The entire Sirdar Denim line is on sale and we have a good selection of colours. The heaviest weight is Denim Ultra, it knits up quickly to a 9 stitch gauge on 10 mm needles. Knit this cute and easy cardigan with Denim Ultra:

Next is Denim Chunky, it knits to a 14 stitch gauge on 6.5 mm's. Here's an easy girls pullover pattern for this yarn:

Or if you have a boy to knit for, this is a great design:

Denim Sport Aran knits to an 18 stitch gauge on 5mm's.

And the lightest weight, Denim Tweed DK, knits to 22 stitches on 4mm's. Here's a classic, versatile pattern for Tweed DK with sizing for the whole family:

Or try this cute cardigan for a little girl:


All of the children's patterns are sized for ages 1 - 12. And we have lots more patterns for these yarns. Just ask us, we'll find something that suits you. Yarn quantities are limited so if you're a Sirdar Denim fan, don't delay....

More Additions

We've added lots more stuff to our sale list.

First up is the lovely Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Astrakhan boucle yarn at 50% off. This is a beautifully soft yarn that gives instant texture to your knitting. We've added to the mix eight gorgeous new colours. Check out the list of colours right here.

There are also a few new colours of FFF Jolliet Multi, a shimmery ribbon yarn. Knit a fantastic scarf with just two balls. Look at the list of colours right here.

We've also added some lovely Jaeger yarns at 50% off. Trinity is a wonderful DK weight blend, with 40% silk and 35% cotton. Albany and Siena are two lovely mercerised cottons, perfect for this time of year.

And one of my favourite knitting books, Rowan Babies, is now 25% off:


This book has over 35 great knitting designs for babies and kids up to 5 years. There are a few designs in Big Wool and Denim, two yarns that are currently on our sale list at 25% off. There are also some great designs in Wool Cotton, Kid Silk Haze, 4 ply Soft and 4 ply Cotton, all of which have recently dropped in price.

The entire sale list is right here. There are still tons of great bargains to be had...

Some New Additions

We've re-stocked Misti Alpaca's Baby Alpaca Hand Dyed Chunky and we've added to our collection their Worsted Weight 4 ply. This yarn is absolutely gorgeous and sumptuously soft. I'm gazing longingly at a skein as I write this and let me tell you, it's calling my name. Loudly.

And the Fleece Artists in Nova Scotia have done it again. This box arrived full of hand-dyed Dreadlocks in loads of fabulous colourways:

Dreadlocks is a loopy boucle yarn that's 78% kid mohair, 13% wool and 9% nylon. There's 180m on a 250g skein and it knits to a 7 stitch gauge on 12m needles. We've added this one to the sale list at 25% off. These won't last long...

We've also added Louisa Harding's Miss Bea's series of children's pattern books at 40% off, only $7.17 each. They're storybooks with beautiful photographs, illustrations and patterns for the sweaters worn by the children in the story:

Miss Bea's Seaside has 10 designs using Rowan Denim, a yarn that's on our sale list at 25% off.

If you're planning to shop for bargains in Edgemont this weekend, you can visit us on either Saturday or Sunday. This is a permanent change in Edgemont - we'll be open on Sundays from noon to 5 but closed on Mondays. We're still open 7 days a week in Point Grey. We hope to see you sometime soon...

Anniversary Sale

It's been four years, amazingly. I have many fond memories from the month of May, 2004, when we first leased our space on West 10th. One of the most vivid memories is of Anina, in handyman clothes, working the skill saw and banging the boards as she installed our new hardwood floor. I'm sure I have photos somewhere... She's a multi-talented woman and I'm lucky to have such a fantastic business partner.

Our Anniversary Sale starts today and runs until May 18. The entire sale list is right here. There are many great bargains on the list and we'll continue to add new items every day.

A huge thanks to all of you for your continued encouragement, support and inspiration over the last four years. It's been a blast. And we hope the fun will continue for many years to come...

An Amazing Stash

You think you have a big stash? Try looking at a few million dollars worth:

Aisle after aisle, all filled with bags of yarn from floor to ceiling. We walked up and down for hours, fortified with a sandwich and wine at lunch and a beer break mid-afternoon. We had a hard time saying no to any of it!

Here are a few highlights for Fall:

1. Three brand new Noro yarns. Silk Garden Sock is high on our list. Also Yuzen, a blend of wool and silk with a touch of kid mohair, in the trademark wild and wonderful Noro striping:

And Maiko, with almost equal parts of wool, silk and kid mohair, this one's in semi-solid colours:


2. Three brand new Mirasol yarns. Mirasol has quickly become one of our favourites. First of all, both the yarns and colour palettes are gorgeous. Equally important is that partial proceeds of all Mirasol sales help to fund a Children's Centre in Peru. (A significant amount of money has been contributed this year, more details on this in a later post.)

The stunning new Mirasol yarns are Chirapa, 100% hand-dyed merino wool; Pima, baby alpaca and bamboo (yum!) :


And Tupa, merino wool and silk:


There will also be a new Mirasol book by Jane Ellison with some fabulous designs.

3. Debbie Bliss has a new yarn, Como, a superchunky that's 90% wool and 10% cashmere. She's as prolific as ever with her designs, there are three fantastic new books scheduled for Fall. Winter Essentials has 12 women's designs, Rialto Family is a collection of designs for men, women and children and Essential Kids has 20 new designs for kids aged 2-5.

4. Aslan Trends is a new line of natural luxury yarns. Didn't get many details on this one but the samples looked scrumptious.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, we'll soon have all of these items and much, much more. They'll begin to arrive in mid-August...

And finally, a huge thank-you to Peter, Ted, Dino and everyone else at Diamond Yarn for their hospitality last weekend. It was tons of fun and we hope to see you again sometime soon.