88 Stitches Sale!

Hey, upcoming sale alert! Our longtime sponsor 88 Stitches in Walnut Grove is having a big sale this weekend! Check out their Blog!

Don’t get into too much trouble Gang! Have fun!

Feburary Guild Meeting

Hello everyone! Don’t forget our upcoming meeting Wednesday the 22nd. 7:30 at Christ the Redeemer Parish. If you would like to come and don’t have a ride contact us at fvknittingguild@gmail.com and we can see if someone is in your area. The Parish is a 10 minute walk from the closest bus stop. Hope to see you there.

January Guild Meeting

Hello everyone! Don’t forget our upcoming meeting Wednesday the 25th. 7:30 at Christ the Redeemer Parish. If you would like to come and don’t have a ride contact us at fvknittingguild@gmail.com and we can see if someone is in your area. The Parish is a 10 minute walk from the closest bus stop. Hope to see you there.

New Year, New Oppurtunity

Some knitters want to learn a new skill embracing lace or colour work for the first time.

Some, to finally get all their unfinished projects out of the basket and complete.

Others desire a new material, or perhaps a change in colour palette.

What about you

Going to make a pair of colour work mittens or embrace sock yarn as a weight not a project suggestion

Finally knit that sweater out of the gorgeous alpaca blend that caught your eye at your favorite LYS

With so many possibilities to choose from it can be hard to narrow it down.

So……….. decided yet

Great! Me Too!

This year in the guild we have some great upcoming programs so come by and learn with us (or teach us)

January : Yarn structures and their effect on knitted fabric (we are asking anyone to bring samples of different yarns swatched if possible)

February : History of Cowichan sweaters

March: Techniques in Lace Knitting

We can be found at: Christ the Redeemer Parish 16613 Bell Road in Surrey. This is a great meeting spot but we assure you we are a non-denominational group. No religious overtones are endorsed or discussed at our meetings and we begin at 7:30 pm.

Also if you are interested in picking up some new materials, Fibres West is coming up March 16^th and 17^th at the Abbotsford AgRec building on the Abbotsford Exhibition grounds.

Hopefully you can come and meet us, let us know what inspires you this new year or leave a comment here and as always you can reach the guild at our e-mail address:  fvknittingguild@gmail.com

Looking forward to seeing what you’re up to this year! Thanks for visiting our blog!

Homecraft Importers, Vancouver

Store Profile: Homecraft Importers

2348 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC V6K 1P1
(604) 738-2614
http://www.homecraftimporters.ca/

An institution in the Vancouver knitting scene, Homecraft has been in business since 1952. Serving the traditional knitting community, Homecraft has nonetheless kept up with the times in its selection of yarn lines — Berroco, Patons, Phildar and Needful Yarns.

This is Sausalito from Crystal Palace. (I love this picture. It’s my new desktop wallpaper.)

On a recent blitz tour of 6 or 8 Yarn Harvest shops, it was the only one where I actually purchased yarn (FWIW, I bought two balls of Lang Yarns Jawoll Magic Superwash in a dark black-green colourway). I was particularly pleased with their extensive selection of Aero needles — my personal favourites.

Homecraft also carries stitching supplies — cross-stitch, needlepoint, and embroidery. I’m told their back room is a wonder to behold, although I have to admit I was concentrating on the knitting yarns and notions out front and totally missed it.

The store itself has rather subtle signage and can be easy to miss when you’re driving. Trust in the address — find a parking spot and stop in.

I had lunch a couple of doors down at Terra Breads and was very happy with my artisan bread turkey sandwich. (And I’m fussy about my bread.)

Urban Yarns, Vancouver and North Vancouver

Store Profile: Urban Yarns

Urban Yarns Point Grey
4437 West 10 Avenue
Vancouver, BC
604-228-1122

Urban Yarns Edgemont
3111 Highland Boulevard
North Vancouver, BC
604-984-2214

Toll Free: 1-877-488-YARN (9276)
knitting@urbanyarns.ca
http://www.urbanyarns.ca

Urban Yarns has two locations — one in Point Grey (Vancouver, near UBC), the other in Edgemont Village in North Vancouver. This is the Point Grey branch.

They’re quintessential examples of the new urban yarn shops. Sharp and lavish, but with not without a sense of humour. When we visited the Point Grey store on one of our mini-crawls to drop off Yarn Harvest materials, we were delighted to find a display in homage to the recent Royal Wedding.

Among the usual quality lines, Urban Yarns carries Spud and Chloe, Debbie Bliss, Dream in Colour, Rowan, and Tilli Tomas (don’t'ja just love their beaded and sari silk yarns?)

Parking at both locations can be problematic (they’re well located in busy retail neighbourhoods), but we’ve always been successful in finding a spot within a block or two. Near the Vancouver location, there’s a Tim Horton’s at the end of the block, and we can personally recommend Burgoo Bistro across the street from previous visits to Urban Yarns.

Once Upon a Sheep, Maple Ridge

Store Profile: Once Upon a Sheep
22188 Lougheed Hwy
Maple Ridge

http://onceuponasheep.blogspot.com/

A healthy community yarn shop with an outstandingly generous twist to its personality. OUAS (as the staff refers to it) is run as a fundraising business to support Salvation Army activities in the same building. And it’s staffed entire by volunteers. How great is that?

Once Upon a Sheep has a very nice selection of quality yarn lines such as Noro, Berroco, and Diamond.

Easy to get to, but also easy to miss as you won’t see the yarn store sign until you’re pretty much past the building. Instead, look for the “Salvation Army – Mountain View Community Church” sign. On exiting the store parking lot, you can’t get back onto Lougheed Hwy westbound directly, but turn right, swing on down the hill and take a couple lefts and you’ll back on track.

A Peek at the Prizes

We’re taking a small break from the store profiles to show you some PRIZES!

After a hard day of shopping the local yarn shops, join your fellow Harvesters for dinner (details on the Yarn Harvest page) and prize draws! We have a grand selection of prizes this year and you don’t even have to be present to win.

From Wool is Not Enough (store profile forthcoming), we have a spinning package: book, spindle, a bump of fibre, and gorgeous tote bag. (If there’s one thing I like as much as notions, it’s tote bags.)

And several prize packages from the generous folks at Homecraft (their profile is also forthcoming — are you excited yet?) a Nanuk knitting ensemble consisting of pattern book, four balls of Berroco Nanuk, needles, and scissors.

From Homecraft, a charming set of cross-stitch patterns. Makes me want to take up my embroidery needle again.

From Homecraft again, a Paton’s crochet all-in-one kit: pattern, yarn, hook and excellent tote bag. (Another excellent tote bag! It grieves me that as a Yarn Harvest organizer, I’m ineligible to win any prizes.)

And finally from Homecraft (I told you they were generous!), a selection of Sugar ‘n Cream yarn, a whole sheaf of patterns, and an elegant wooden crochet hook.

And wait’ll you see the REST of the prizes!

88 Stitches, Langley

Store Profile: 88 Stitches
#602-21183-88th Avenue
Langley, B.C. V1M 2G5
604-888-6689
Opening 8:30am on Yarn Harvest Day, 24 Sept 2011

Up-front disclaimer: 88 Stitches is the LYS for many Fraser Valley Knitting Guild members. There, we’ve said it and we’re proud. (So how much gushing can I sneak into this profile and still sound objective? Let’s see…)

Sue and her cheerful and friendly staff make 88 Stitches a warm and welcoming haven for knitters from all over Vancouver and the Faser Valley. They’re conveniently located a short distance from the Trans Canada Hwy, off Exit 58 (200th St, Langley).

I’ve always thought the yarn selection at 88 Stitches was terrific, but I was extremely gratified about a year ago when I took some knitting buddies from the Seattle area to the store for a visit and they exclaimed at length over the extensive selection of Malabrigo. And just last week, I heard that that the fall Berroco order has arrived — all 13 boxes of it! In addition to variety, 88 Stitch is also well-known for quantity — knitters can be reasonably certain that they’ll find “a sweater’s worth of yarn” available in-stock, without having to resort to special order.

88 Stitches is also home to and the original retail distributor of Sweet Fiber — an indie dyer recognized for their luxury hand-dyed yarns. Sweet Fiber is actually Melissa, student at Emily Carr University of Art & Design and her artistic touch shines through her yarns and patterns. I believe that’s her yarn in the basket in the foreground of the picture below.

And speaking of patterns, Judy Marples, designer of the popular Calais and Dover Castle shawls, also calls 88 Stitches home. An engaging teacher as well as designer, you’ll also find Judy behind the counter serving customers and answering questions. (Oh, look! She’s got a new hat and fingerless mitt pattern – Sunshadow Tam and Gloves!)

We in the Fraser Valley Knitting Guild will always be grateful for Sue’s early and ongoing support of Yarn Harvest and for her generous and honest advice. Thank-you.

Parking: Enter off 212th St.; there is plenty of room beyond the store. Be careful not to park in stalls specially-reserved for other businesses.

Aunt Debbie’s Knit and Stitch, Chilliwack

Store Profile: Aunt Debbie’s Knit and Stitch
5628 Vedder Rd
Chilliwack, BC V2R 3M7
(604) 824-7790

Nestled at the far end of the Fraser Valley, you’re missing a terrific opportunity if you don’t visit Aunt Debbie’s Knit ‘n Stitch shop in Chilliwack.

Aunt Debbie’s moved this year, but thankfully the new location is only a couple of blocks further down Vedder Rd. from the old one so you won’t be too far off if you go to the old address.

While the building’s exterior is a trifle rustic, the interior is bright, clean and open.

The yarn stock is very good, but I think Aunt Debbie’s big strength is it’s inventory of magazines. It’s the only source I’ve found in the Lower Mainland for reasonably-priced copies of The Knitter magazine (from the UK) — and they also have a very nice selection of back-issues! I’ll definitely be going back to fill in the holes in my collection.

The staff have always given me exactly the right amount of attention — helpful but not hovering. They recommended a new (to me) magazine that I ended up buying, and we had an excellent discussion over the new Namaste bags the last time I was there.

Notions — I’m all about the notions… Oh! And as the store name implies, Aunt Debbie’s also carries cross-stitch and needlework supplies; an excellent source for smaller blunt needles for weaving in fingering and laceweight ends.

I’d also like to mention the excellent hand lotion they carry. Lavishea comes in an solid-but-soft cake with amazing fragrance (I fell for “Ginger Blossom”). It’s not at all sticky when applied, so I can get back to knitting immediately after using.

You definitely owe it to yourself to visit Aunt Debbie’s — you won’t be disappointed.