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.

Did you see this?  How exciting huh?

They are currently taking applications for both instructors and vendors.  Apply!

Do you have a Vancouver based blog or website that is fibre, craft or art related, and want to share our website with your visitors and readers?  Please feel free to download our logo and add it to your website, and be sure to let us know so we can add your link to our links page too :)

Collages by Tracy Jager of Living Feral make me smile.  They remind me of those weird dreams where characters turn into other people randomly, and you know you're in your house but it doesn't look like your house - you know those kind?

Above is a new one that I'm loving.  Also check out the awesome desk calendar she offers.

<3 J

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.


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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

On the web these days I've been really enjoying Walter Helena Photography by west coaster Nadine.  This one is my favourite; so beautifully simple and calm.  Have a look at the others and be seduced.  I just can't get enough of them and have been including them in pretty much every VY treasury.


Nadine's blog
Nadine's etsy

PS.  The cards are on sale right now for only $14 (for 4).

xJanna

I've been noticing a lot of paper mache things on the interweb these days.  Could be because I recently made a giant teapot out of the stuff for a group project in school, but funnily enough the ones I've noticed have more than the main media in common where all have been painted gold, like this bowl or the super cool gold nugget-esque ring (as seen above) by Vancouver's Fluur.  My teapot has faux gold leaf too :)

Remember how to make the classic paper mache paste?  I find that 1 cup of flour to 2.25 cups of water makes the perfect consistency.  Before making the teapot it had been a couple decades since my last paper mache project so I was super suprised at how sturdy the finished product was.  Find more info on how to paper mache here.

Today is the first day of my winter break so I pretty much love everything and everyone right now.  This semester of fibres wisardry school kicked my butt a little, so I slept until 1:30 today after a long bout of all-nighters filled with paper writing and preparing installations for critiques.  I should have some updates about the latter up on my personal blog soon.

On this day of laziness I've had time for some things I love doing (like reading and knitting) and I finally I started a series of VY treasuries on Etsy which I've been wanting to do for a while.  I really enjoy making them and it is yet another way to spread the love about all the talented cookies in and around Vancouver, check out the first one.

My favourite discovery of the day are these pallet coasters by Vancouver's cantilever and press.

Circle Craft ends tomorrow, check out the list of exhibitors!    If you're planning on going be sure to stop by the Capilano U Textile Arts table.  They are there to answer any questions you have about the program and flaunt their hand-mades.  Alumni Wendy Van Riesen of Dahlia Drive and Vanessa Cunningham of Thrums are there.  Vanessa says her red shawls are going fast. 

Next weekend is the All Handmade Sale on 1st Ave and Salsbury.  It's personally my favourite Vancouver winter market.  In the past I've left with a homemade frozen cookie dough log, hand-made mugs from JustPotters, lovely wooden earrings, a hand-knit cowl with the cutest buttons, locally grown vegetables and hand-made soaps.  Oh and I also rented a mini potted Christmas tree from this market.  It was later picked-up from my home and re-planted in the ground.  So awesome!

See our calendar for details on both events

Image taken from the All Handmade Sale facebook page