We hope you are enjoying this outstanding summer of 2007. Hello to our friends in the Yukon Territory, South Africa, Brazil, England and the United States! The internet makes our store a truly Global community and we thank you for your positive feedback on our weblog. We enjoy the "Village Life" at our store with amazing relationships and bonds of friendship formed with wonderful and charming knitters.
We do not see or view knitting as a fad or a trend - it is an integral part of our lives. For many of us it is the key to our sanity, to our creative expression - even if it is only a few minutes a day. We love sharing our passion for knitting and crochet with you and are proud to retail what we consider to be some of the finest hand knitting yarns in the world.
We believe in community and supporting one another. That begins with our customer service, our attention to detail and the level of support we provide to our customers be it a few minutes explaining a pattern instruction, the varied classes and workshops we provide, to being a shoulder to lean on when life gets a little crazy.
Many books have been written of late around the theme of life in a yarn shop - and we could certainly write our own! We live that life. A crazy, at times hectic but beautiful, colourful life of texture, colour and passion!
We would like to share photos from this past Thursday when we gathered to bid goodluck to our friend Judy Strathdee who is moving to the Niagara region. Judy is a long-time customer and attends classes regularly at Village Yarns.
Judy's classmates honoured her with a rich chocolate cake and best wishes. The staff of Village Yarns would like to thank Judy for her patronage and we wish you well in your new home. You will be missed. Of course this is not good bye as we know Judy will keep in touch.
Thursday was also a time to celebrate Gloria Williams birthday. Gloria teaches all levels of knitting instruction at Village Yarns and is an important person in many of our lives. Dependable, inspiring, caring and a joy to be around. The queen of knitting and crochet techniques, Gloria is a treasure. Happy Birthday!
On The Needles.
Like many of you I can admit to having a few knitting UFO's at home and here is one I have recently connected with again.
The garment pattern is "Jethro" by Martin Storey for Jaeger. A cardigan I started many moons ago which I am knitting using Filatura di Crosa Zara.
Rather than focus on why I put it down for so long I am just happy to be back into working on this and finishing it!
It is a lovely pattern to work. A 12 stitch cross cable alternating over 18 stitches plus a slip stitch 1x2 cable and seed stitch is the stitch pattern. The real joy of this is knitting with Zara. We stock a fair amount of Merino yarns in solids, hand dyed, etc. but nothing in the double knitting range beats Zara. It is sheer joy to knit with and shows this cable pattern off real fine!
After a day of assisting others with their knitting it's nice to come home, crack open a beer and just knit!
We invite you to share your knitting projects purchased at Village Yarns with us. Send us jpeg photos of completed or in the works knitting or crochet projects and we'll post them. Many of you are working on the same pattens and it is amazing from our perspective to see your progress and achievements. We love show and tell at the store so the next time you know you will be coming to Village Yarns, bring us your knitting or crochet to see.
Felted Jewelry Workshop with Rae Brenne.
Today we had the pleasure of hosting a Felted Jewelry workshop taught by Jewelry Designer Rae Brenne. This workshop is part of our summer ClassPort teaching series.
Rae led students through the basics of needle felting and wet felting, having the students work with hand dyed wool roving to manipulate it into unique shapes using the two methods.
Ms. Brenne demonstrated how the addition of beads and other elements can be incorporated into their designs.
Free-form aspects of design were also introduced by creating larger shapes and felting multiple layers into rolls which can then be cut, exposing layer of colour inside.
Rae then instructed students in methods used to assemble felted shapes into necklaces, brooches and rings using beading wire and clasps.
Students benefitted from Rae's experience of working with wire and her demonstrating how to balance and secure sections of felted shapes when making necklaces.
Our Felted Jewelry Workshop is a great idea for birthday parties or to gather as a family and create together. If you are interested in this workshop, please contact Village Yarns and ask to be put on our Felted Jewelry class wish list or to book available dates. We need a minimum of 4 student to make a class and we will contact you with dates and times.
We retail a wide selection of hand dyed rovings from Fleece Artists and needle felting tools from Clover.
Please contact us for more information or to order at villageyarns@sympatico.ca or toll free 888-343-8885 or Toronto local (416)232-2361. We ship worldwide.
Thank you for visiting our weblog.
Enjoy Your Passion!
Village Yarns.
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
www.villageyarns.com
