BUY THE BAG SALE!

Just wanted to show you a picture of some of our bags of yarn on sale. There are actually way too many to put in one picture.

This is such a great week as it allows people to really get the best deals on larger quantities of yarn that they love. These yarns are like our pets for whom it's time to send them off to good homes where people will cherish them and use them well.



In addition to our storewide 20% discount on bags of yarn, we actually have some that 30% and 40% off, and great deals on books, needles and gadgets throughout the store too (including all our in stock Lantern Moon baskets).

Don't forget, if you live out of town, please feel free to call us to see if we have a yarn that you're looking for on special. (613) 384-3951.

Also, next Sunday, being July 1st will see the launching of the new e-newsletter. If you haven't signed up for it yet, please send me an email at wooltymekingston at gmail dot com and we'll be glad to add you to the list.

Enjoy the summer, wherever you are. Stay cool.

Anne

The wonder of magazines

I was telling the ladies at the Knitting Circle get-together last Tuesday that I had had such fun a couple of weeks ago, looking through the magazines at Chapters. I was shocked when I went to the cash and realized that I had racked up $40 in publications that we often flip through in a waiting room without paying too much attention.

For me however, this really is money well spent on hours of perusing. I love magazines. All magazines. I remember going through a copy of "PIZZA TODAY" magazine in a little diner in New York State while we were waiting for our lunch. Who knew such a publication could exist?

Anyway, this is one of the new knitting magazines that is making a name for itself. For years, we had the same 3 or 4 publications that each catered to their own group of knitters with very little overlap. With the advent of so many new, fashion conscious young knitters, there has been a turn to meeting their needs in some new magazines.

I love this edition of Knitscene. I probably wouldn't knit much from among their patterns, but they give me ideas, they show me how creative today's designers are (many of whom are Canadian, by the way.) They introduce me to new people in the fiber world, and new products and gadgets. Knitting magazines aren't just pattern books, just like cooking magazines aren't only cook books, or meditation magazines (see right for one of the interesting magazines I bought last week) aren't just how-to manuals. For the price of a few bucks, they let us see what other people find important and worth being passionate about.

Colours Galore

Last Saturday was quite quiet in the store, as Saturdays often are in the summer, so I got a chance to play. I brought in my embarrassingly beaten up crockpot and some Kool-Aid (4 packs of cherry, for those who want to try it too) and followed the directions for Kool-Aid dying that I had printed from Knitty.com and spent the morning watching the whole mess do nothing much...until it obviously hit the heat level that was needed to absorb the dye. Then like the magic that can come from Hermione's wand, the water was suddenly almost clear and the the red dye was in the wool.

The picture of the skein hanging is not really all that accurate as to colour, it's actually quite a lovely uniform very rich coral colour. Next Saturday I plan to try Topsy Farm's premium super fine wool and Blueberry. It's really fun to find things that can astound you, just like when you were a kid.

As I mentioned, the crockpot's contents didn't do much of anything for the first couple of hours so I was working on a pattern that I had seen before and had intrigued me for quite some time. "My So Called Scarf" comes from the Sheep In the City site (you can link to it from the "Other great blogs & links "section to the right) but from her description of its origins, it sounds like it might have come from a Barbara Walker collection from way back. The scarf from the site is done with Manos del Uruguay wool but I had one last skein of this great colour of Wooly Bully left and wanted to see if the thicker yarn would look good in the woven texture. Well as you can see, it's a great combination. One of the nice things about this stitch is that it keeps you focused without requiring too much brain power. The other great thing is that although both sides look quite different, there really isn't a right/wrong side, and better yet, it doesn't curl as most stocking stitch derived patterns can.

The customer who sent me the pattern had used this stitch for a band around a hat. It would work equally well as the cuff of mitts or as a purse, or anything. It's a great pattern stitch.

Despite the fact that the weekend can be a bit relaxing at the store at this time of year, we've been busy during the weeks with the pre-inventory sale and next week we get to prepare for the Big Count after our final BUY THE BAG sale week.
But more about that later.

Quick Note

For all of you who await this news: The new KNITTERS magazine has just arrived. It always sells out early so...get 'em while their hot.

COTTON & SUMMER YARN INVENTORY SALE

With our new counter system on this site, I've been able to watch how many have been coming to visit, and although I don't know who they are, I do know that many are from away...and can't come into the store to take advantage of the sales that we offer.

Never fear, you who are not lucky enough to be in the Kingston area. We do have a way for you to take part in our annual inventory sale. Just call the store during the sale period and we will be glad to let you know what we have in stock and take your order with your credit card. We will ship it off in the blink of an eye and it will be in your expectant hands before you know it.
(**See the end of this post for contact details.)

This week - until Sat. June 16th only, we have all of our summer yarns on special for 20% off.
Here are some of what we have:
From Estelle: 100% Aran Silk, Young Touch DK cotton, Mystic DK cotton/viscose,
From Diamond: Cantata DK crepe cotton
From Sirdar: Just Bamboo, Ocean, Surfer, Breeze, Denim Tweed DK, Denim Sport Aran, Denim Chunky
From Elsbeth Lavold: Hempathy DK hemp/cotton.
From Needful Yarns: Isis DK linen and viscose.
From Dale of Norway: Stork 4ply baby cotton.
From Basics: HP No 31 ( a weird name for a glorious DK crepe cotton).
From Mission Falls: 1824 cotton.
From James Brett: Kool Kotton.
From Cascade: Fixation cotton/spandex sock yarn.
2 other cotton blend self patterning sock yarns.
All of our Crochet cottons: Opera, Clea, Anne, Traditions,

** Contact Details
The store is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 5:30pm, and on Thursday evenings, we are open until 8pm.
Phone: 613-384-3951,
fax 613-384-3137 (don't fax your credit card #, leave us your phone number and we'll call you back to get it.)

ANTICIPATION...

I remember when we were kids the Sears Christmas catalogue would come in the mail about the time of my brother's birthday, which was September 25th and it was so delightful to see the toys, the trees, the candy, the pictures of the (fake) snow when we had barely gone back to school.

I love it when we would go away with the kids for "spring" break with snow still to our knees, yet we could shop summer clothes in the stores.

Lately, I'm reminded of this slightly out of synch quality that delights us about the marketing world. That's what I am living now at the store. In early May many of our distributors in Toronto have open-houses to display what's coming up for fall. Then starting about now, the sales reps come around with their cases of samples that are set up for maximum drool effect.
But one of the great things about all this new "fall" stuff is that it will be actually coming to us relatively soon. In July there will be some new 6ply Jacquard (self patterning) sock yarn which is brand new for us. We've never carried this thicker sandal-sock weight of fancy sock yarn. It should be fun. Also in July, we're expecting new colours in some of our favourites: Country Style, Baby Snuggly, Super ball: YO YO. Early in August, there is an amazing selection of new yarns - both fancy and classic - from several suppliers to get us all revved up to get back into the knitting season. And I have new things coming regularly until October.

All of this selection can be a bit overwhelming but this year, I've decided that I will be vigilant, I will keep track of what is coming in, I will not order 3 versions of the same yarn from 3 different suppliers, I WILL BE ORGANIZED! Yeah, right.

KINGSTON KNITTING GET-TOGETHERS

Kingston Knitting Circle: meets each 3rd Tues of the month in the Community room at Chapters on Princess St (Near RONA) from 7-9pm. Everyone is welcome. Bring your knitting or your crochet and a friend.

Sleepless Goat: Knitting at the Goat on Princess St (near Tara Foods) each Wednesday from 7-9pm. Everyone is welcome.