Wow this is a GREAT idea!  Who has wanted to take their hand at spinning but got scared off my the equipment cost?  Or has baskets full of unwound yarn.  I bet you.  Definitely me.  Now you can borrow the right tools for cheap at the baaad ass yarn shop on Hastings and Solcan.  Super duper sweet.

below text taken from their website: www.88stitches.com
-----

You're invited

 to our Customer Appreciation Day Extravaganza!

ONE DAY ONLY!

 Saturday, February 25th, 2012

10:00 am to 5:00 pm



   We think it’s highly appropriate that in the month

known for big hearts and flowers, we pick a day to let

our friends of the shop know how much we appreciate your

continued support.    We are changing things up this year in a big way,

moving in a different direction, and “shaking” it up.

 There will be no timed discounts this time around.    Instead, you will have the chance to draw

 your discount at the time of purchase.

The luck of the draw will award you either

30%   35%   40%  45%   or even an AMAZING 50%  off your entire purchase!

Nothing in stock is excluded from the sale!


There will also be the chance to win some fabulous door prizes.
  


RULES FOR THE DAY:
  All sale items are final sales.

We expect to be very busy and therefore cannot wind

your yarn or offer knitting help with projects on the sale day.


To ensure fairness to everyone, we will not accept

     layaways anytime before or on the event day.

     In other words, please do not ask us to hold (or hide) yarn for you prior to Saturday.


Please bring reusable shopping bags and your patience:

there could be long line-ups.


Thank you so much for your support and we hope you have  fun fun fun!

Happy stashing,

from all of us at 88 Stitches

Wool is Not Enough is have a sale this weekend: Thurs Feb 23rd to Monday Feb 27th.... and as of Feb 28th WINE will be closed on Tuesdays.

Katia
Ondas Lux 15% off
Triana Lux 15% off
Roccio 20% off
Park Avenue 20% off
Ronda 30% off
Sabrina 30% off

Nova
Butterfly 25% off
Flamenco Floating 25% off

Filtes
Brina 30% off

Elsbeth Lavold
Baby llama 30% off

Debbie Bliss
Como 40% off

Mirasol
Q'ina 40% off
Kacha 40% off
Tupa 40% off

Noro
Silk Garden Sock 30% off
Yuzen 30% off
Vintage 40% off (only 3 balls left)

Sirdar Nomad 30% off

Louisa Harding
La Salute 50% off
La Salute Quatro 50% off

Berroco
Cuzco 20% off
Inca Gold 20% off
Jasper 15% off

Cascade
Soft Spun 50% off (not much left)

All felting pads, needles roving, and books 50% off

Hand Crafted hardwood Drop Spindles and Nostepines 30% off

On line Starlight 60% off
Himalaya Pollen 60% off

All Books (not including yarn booklets) 30% off the Canadian price

Cara Birkeland, the third generation owner of the well loved Vancouver wool and yarn company which has been running for over 70 years, has recently announced their upcoming closure.  I know the community is very sad about this, as am I.  Thank you Birkeland family for your legacy of beautiful, quality products, hospitality and camaraderie.



Below is Cara Birkeland's message to the community, taken from their website.

February 2, 2012


To all our Valued Customers,

Birkeland Bros. Wool will be closing as of March 1, 2012.

Birkeland Bros. Wool would like to thank you for your patronage over the last 73 years. We have enjoyed helping, laughing, and sharing your wool dreams. You are not only our customers - many of you have also become our friends.

This decision has not come easily. My grandfather founded the business, and my father took over until his retirement due to illness. About 15 years ago, parallel to a nursing career, I started to expand Birkeland Bros. Wool into its current format of supplying a wide variety of products for crafts and fibre arts.

A wonderful community has formed around our business, and it has been much fun, and you as customers have contributed to 2011 being one of the most successful years in the history of Birkeland Bros. Wool.

Nevertheless, health reasons have forced me to re-assess my options and consider drastic changes. With pride about what my family, our staff, and you as a community have achieved, and with sadness that all good things will have to transform at some point in time, I have decided to close the doors of Birkeland Bros Wool, and focus on new horizons.

Help us to celebrate the wonderful and woolly things shared, of decades past and new decades to come, in this month of February. We will be having several sales events, and it will be a good occasion to re-stock your coffers and drop by and say hello.

We wish you continued happiness in knitting, spinning, weaving, felting and many other wool dreams.

We have loved being part of your life.

Sincerely,


Cara Birkeland

3rd Generation Owner,
Birkeland Bros. Wool Ltd.

Wool Is Not Enough is a wee yarn shop that recently opened up in the International Village Mall.  The proprietor Shoshana was kind enough to answer some questions about her shop right in the middle of the holiday season AND amidst moving the shop.  Read the interview below:

Janna: First off,  I'm really curious if there is some inside joke to the acronym of the name of your shop, WINE?

Shoshana: No the acronym means nothing it was an accident that I didn't even realize until someone pointed it out. The name is just a play on the expression "once is not enough." Wool is not enough means you need lessons, needles, other yarn, friends to knit with etc. because a knitter cannot live on wool alone.

J: Which products that you offer are you most excited about?

S: I try to offer quality products in an affordable price range. I think that the Berroco line can't be beat for this and I will be carrying more of it all the time. I also carry the old stand by Sirdar, not just quality but their pattern library is unmatched and timeless. I also love the Mirasol line because it supports a school in the highlands of Peru for the children who raise the animals and it is also very good value for the money with excellent quality. 

I also believe that I carry more Katia yarn than any other store in the GVA. The one ball scarves
are great fun. people love them. Katia is also a very good company that supports their product with patterns and videos. I don't think any other company does these scarves better.

So I'm, excited about carrying some Canadian yarns. I am sourcing these now. I am also excited about carrying the Knit Pick needles, which aren't available in any other Vancouver yarn stores as I know of. I love the rainbows. I also carry milk cassein needles which are made of milk plastic. They are soft and pliable absorbing the oils from skin and yarns as well as warmth to create a lovely slick but pliable silent needle to knit with, my favorites.

J: Part of the reason I wanted to interview you was because of your recent fundraising to buy a herd of goats for villages in Uganda.  How is that going so far?  Can you tell us more about the program?

S: The kid mohair for kid goats promotion continues until Jan 15th. I need to make a sample from the yarn to promote it, and maybe find a good free pattern i can give people with it. I just wanted to give something back for the success of my business.

Plan Canada is a great charity that provides tools for success in underdeveloped communities, such as goats, chickens, trees, learning kits etc. Instead of just food aid. The dollars are also matched by governments to increase the donation. Actually one of my main yarn suppliers Diamond Yarn decided to give 20 chickens 15 goats and 10 donkeys to underdeveloped communities through OXFAM rather than give us all pens. That's way better than pens. I think the more businesses give back the better all our communities become. 

J:  So, you shared with me in an email earlier that you're changing the location of your shop.  What's the reason for the move so soon after opening?

S: Each yarn store needs to get a feel for it's clientele. My customers will be different in Gastown than they are in Chinatown where I am currently located, even though it is only 2 blocks away. I'm moving because it is time. I began teaching lessons, then opened a pop up shop in my friends front window, for the summer, then I opened a yarn kiosk in a mall in Chinatown because there is no yarn store in downtown Vancouver. Now I am moving to Gastown and opening my own store. The mall has been great for exposure and my business has done very well far surpassing my expectations for the first quarter, but it is challenging to be in the hallway. So it is time too move upwards and onwards. I will be building my collection over the coming year, adding new lines every month or so, or as finances allow. 

J: You mentioned something about a yarn parade or something awesome like this in one our past convos.  Can you elaborate on said awesomeness?

S: I am having a yarn parade because it (moving the shop two blocks) really isn't far enough away to rent a truck to take over a rolling slat wall and a rolling shelf unit. So I thought why not have a parade and march the yarn over.  Following the parade there I will be having a New year's Grand Opening Reception until midnight with food and entertainment. Lots of fun. 

J: So anyone is welcome to join in the yarn parade then?

S:Yes of course everyone is welcome for the yarn parade. We are marching the yarn to the new store with live musicians, and we need hands to help push the rolling shelves.

J: When and where will it be occurring?
5 pm beginning at the International Village location (88 West Pender) on December 31st, new years eve

J: And where will your new location be?
S: 77 E Cordova St.


_

_
J: Anything else you want to share about Wool Is Not Enough?

S: That's about it for now.  I'm a bit nervous about my new venture into Gastown but I just need to let people know where to find me and they will come I think. Check back next year and we'll see.

J: Thanks so much Shoshana! I wish you the best of luck in your move and with the future of the shop :)



Wool Is Not Enough links
Website
Twitter
Facebook
VY PAGE

I don't claim to know about all of the very talented knit designers in Vancouver, but seriously how have I never seen Elena Nodel's amazing designs?  Just now I was cruising Ravelry where I stumbled upon one design and shortly thereafter was led to her website and proceeded to drop everything to write this blog post.

It's obvious that if you have a little lady to knit for Elena's website is a place you must visit.  The bellow pattern Sprite is one of her many free patterns.

Aren't they the best?  There are many more on her site, some of which are on their way in adult sizes as well.  Check out her links bellow.

You'll also be glad to know that Elena teaches beginner knitting at Wool & Wicker in Richmond!

Elena's links:
website: http://www.anadiomenadesigns.com/
ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/elena-nodel

Okay, so I know this is a different kind of post for us, but when I saw these on the Maiwa blog all I could think about was who and what Vancouver blog I could send them to so they could blog about it.  Instead I've decided to jump out of our usual realm and share them myself.  Aren't they spectacular?  They are made in India of reclaimed wood and are just some of the new stock at Maiwa East in East Van.  Maiwa East is the Maiwa store in Vancouver (one of three) which sells home decor items and furniture.  The other two stores, in case your unfamiliar, are both on Granville Island.  One is the textile supply store (including yarn), and the other is the textile store which sells beautiful clothing and home textiles as well as accessories and books.  All of their fabrics are naturally dyed, hand-woven and printed in India, South America and other places around the world where Maiwa has close ties.  Also a lot of their clothing line is designed in Vancouver.   Bellow are a few of my favourite things on the Maiwa website.

Why I love places like Maiwa:

About 6 years ago I decided that I would try to buy more locally made clothing and stop buying stuff that's made in China (unless I find it in a thrift shop) and found that purchasing less items for a slightly higher cost really pays off.  Not only am I now wearing more clothing that will last a lot longer than the China-made stuff that I would only wear for one season before it started pilling, stretching and falling apart, but it also feels really good knowing that my clothing is made and bought ethically.  Check out Maiwa's definition of "slow clothes" here.  I have a block print dress, a pair of linen pants and a linen tunic all from Maiwa that I've gotten a lot of wear out of for the past four spring/summers.  

PS.  I also love shopping at Tutta Mia for Vancouver/Canada-made clothing and accessories.


Janna

August is an exciting month for Vancouver crafters with a million crafty things going on (which we've got on our calendar) beginning tomorrow with the Craft Pride Procession at Thornton Park at Main and Terminal.  Bring your banners, decorated bikes and of course your knitting/crocheting/embroidery/rug hooking etc to celebrate craft!  KT Kilgour will be weaving a community tapestry with YOUR fabric - so bring some ;)

Next Saturday (13th) is the Knit Social Yarn Swap where you bring yarn, needles, hooks, books and whatever other yarn-related things you care not have, to trade or sell.  As they put it, "How you swap is up to you - straight up, three-way, or a little cash thrown in to sweeten the deal, it’s your choice".  There will also be local vendors there to make experience even sweeter if that is possible.  It all takes place at the Cambrian Hall and entry is only $4.

On Sunday the 14th Britannia Centre's outside arts market, Artful Sunday is hosting a knit-out from 12-5, so here's an opportunity to show off your newly swapped goods and chill with friends in the community - you'll most likely make new ones too.

Also don't forget about the August workshop series occurring on the Sunshine Coast.  It's not too late to plan a weekend knit-away.

Something to keep your eye out for in the future is the Knit Mobile by Knit Social where they will be hosting yarn crawls, knitting cruises and more all right here in Vancouver.  But of course you'll always have us to remind you :)

Wow, this town in becoming the most craft-savvy place I know!  Love it!

Happy August!

ox Janna

PS.  Baaad Anna's is turning two at the end of August, so mark your calendars for their anniversary sale on the 27-28th

If you hadn't heard the sad news yet, the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival has come to an end.  Their wesbite doesn't have a clear explaination as to why they have dissolved the society, so I can't shead any light.  I do know that at the end of June they sold off all their festival supplies (tables, banners, columns etc), so it's official.  If you are driving down the Sunshine Coast Highway just past Pratt, you'll most likely spot some lovely hand-painted canvas banners at Unwind Knit & Fibre Lounge that owner Kim scored at said sale.

Although the closure of the festival is unfortunate I'm excited to share that the Coast yarn and fibre shops have come together, rolled up their sleeves and created a workshops series for you all to enjoy in the month of August.  So if you'd like to spend some fibrey time on the beautiful Sunshine Coast check out what they've coordinated.  The page I've linked to is the result of some online research that I did, so there may be some things that I'm missing out on that were harder to find.  Regardless there is quite a lot to choose from.

Carola's Quilt Shop will also hosting some quilting demos throughout the month.  She suggests that you sign up for her newsletter for notifications on when they will be.  Also Kim at Unwind is partaking in the Synchronicity Festival where she is hosting a participatory yarn bombing installation in the woods.  Sounds cool huh?  More on that soon.

Let there be sun,
ox Janna