Knitting in Toronto

If you plan to visit the T-Dot for some knitting tourism, then here is your guide to getting to the LYSs in Toronto.

Romni Wools

658 Queen Street West, near Bathurst

http://www.romniwools.com/

You will not be disappointed if you make your way down to Romni Wools! The aisles are filled with yarny goodness. Pack light because you're not going to want to be bogged down by extra bags as you navigate your way past other customers and through the narrow aisles. If you are looking for it, this shop will most likely have it. Also, there is a basement for sale yarns that are discontinued. You'll also find a nice selection of knitting needles, crochet hooks, buttons, patterns, and knitted gifts.

Tip: Walk east (toward Yonge St) after visiting Romni and you'll end up in the fashion district. If you like beads and fabric you're in for a treat!

The Knit Cafe

1050 Queen St. West (between Ossington and Dovercourt)

http://www.theknitcafetoronto.com/

Located a hop, skip, and a jump from Romni Wools is this cozy and intimate yarn shop.

The knit cafe specializes in carrying a selected few brands of high end fibres. They have a good selection of needles and accessories and a cafe with a refreshing selection of coffees, teas, treats, flavored waters and sodas. Some of my favorite things about the cafe are the patterns written by knit cafe staff that are for sale, the monthly high tea, and the weekly stitch n' bitch.

The Purple Purl

1162 Queen Street East
http://thepurplepurl.com/index.shtml

Queen Street is definitely a happening place when it comes to yarn shops. If you travel east you will eventually reach this well known and renowned destination-The Purple Purl. Many Toronto knitters talk about the Purl and I think this may well be one of their favorites. Staff are exceptionally friendly and have a wonderful energy. The shop focuses on providing local yarns as much as possible. There is also a little cafe so you can grab a tea and relax in an armchair with your fellow knitters. Lots of events happening at this shop so it's well worth taking a look at the website to see what's coming up.

The Naked Sheep

2144A Queen Street East

http://nakedsheep.ca/

There is a photostream on flickr for the Naked Sheep here http://www.flickr.com/photos/30285126@N02/

While I know very little about this shop from the looks of the photos it seems like plenty of knitters have a great time here! It is further east than the Purple Purl and located in the tourist hot spot "the Beach" neighbourhood. Visiting the shop provides a nice excuse to walk south to the beach and soak up the cool breeze blowing off Lake Ontario.

Americo Original

456 Queen Street West

http://www.americo.ca/

If you started your knit shop journey on Queen West you won't want to miss out on Americo Original. This is one of my favorite shops! Americo sells their own brand of high end yarn. Lots of alpaca, wool and cotton here. There are loads of sample patterns knitted up and lying around the shop-just waiting for you to play with them. Patterns are revealed after you purchase the yarn to complete the project, but believe me it is worth it! You won't want to use any other yarn. Chunky bags, shawls, sweaters, and ponchos plus baby knits. The shop is a feast for the senses. A must-see!

Lettuce Knit

70 Nassau Street

http://www.lettuceknit.com/

This cool little knit shop is tucked away in Toronto's authentic Kensington Market. Kensington Market is a must-do neighbourhood as an afternoon walk on a nice day. Lots of eclectic little shops, health food stores, vintage clothing and goods, handmade items, cheapie stuff, fresh produce, fish and meat, and specialty food items. I am glad that Kensington includes a knit shop because for me this is what makes the 'hood more than worth the trip. Lettuce Knit is a small, narrow shop with lots of yarn goodies to keep you happy. Check out their website for up to date info. They offer lots of classes, so you may want to check one out while you're in the city!

Downtown Knit Collective November Bus Trip 2009

"SHOW US YOUR KNITS"

proposed slogan of our DKC bus trip

Our first stop was the Needle Emporium in Ancaster, Ontario. This is a gorgeous yarn shop in a heritage house just on the outskirts of Hamilton, Ontario.

The Masonic Lodge just across the street from the Needle Emporium. We could not have asked for a better day. Clear blue sky, fresh breeze, beautifully fall.

A basket of sock yarn. I had to buy just one! This is Mini Mochi by Crystal Palace Yarns, 80% merino wool and 20%nylon.

Sock yarn, cottons, anything you can imagine. It's all here.

This is a photo of the sweater kit that I purchased. The owner graciously gave us DKCers 20% off all yarn. The kit I purchased was for XL, in the same colours in the photo and pattern by Spud and Chloe. The yarn is comprised of superwash 55% wool and 45% organic cotton. It is simply delicious to the touch.

Foxy ladies in a line-up. I tried asking them not to smile, but I think it was impossible for them while clutching a bag of newly purchased spoils.

Mug Shot

Belfountain Inn. This is the quaint venue of our lunch. We had quiche and salad, bread with oil and vinegar, and pie for dessert.

Rhubarb Pie!!! with fresh cream (not enough of it!)

My new friend Annie. She and I were accused of skewing the average age of the DKC membership. Yep, I'm the baby. Feels good to be the babe sometimes.

Our next stop after lunch was Camilla Valley Farm. Lots of stuff for the weaver and knitter and what a beautiful property. Worth the drive!

Fresh skeins of Manos silk. I desperately wanted to buy some of this lime green, but thought better after leaving the Needle Emporium with my sweater kit. I managed to score some amazing linen, cotton, and wool at $1 per cone or skein in the bargain bin because they were supposedly "mill ends".

A good look at the merchandise.

The woman in the purple top is the prez of the Toronto Downtown Knit Collective. She is spunky and way cool. Her name is Carol!

Taking a break outside of the Camilla Valley Farm Weaver's Supply Shop

A view from their property.

That's the end of our trip. We head home, our bellies full, our bags full, and our wallets empty, smiles on our faces all the while. Until next year, I hope.

Toronto Zoo Fundraising Project

I have a couple of ads up currently on the TCA website. For those that do not know the TCA is the Toronto Craft Alert. The greatest invention since carbohydrates. I can't get enough of checking it out to see what is coming up next in my city in the world of art and craft.

This past summer I went on a field trip to the zoo with the clients I work with. I took a little detour into the gift shop and found a wonderful skein of camel hair yarn. Yummy, yummy, yummy. I am still saving it for something special. It looks so good as it is I may never knit it up. Anyway, while heading home from the zoo by public transit (a 2 hour plus trip) it occurred to me that the zoo could be making their own yarn. The yarn I bought was from an animal far, far away. We have our own animals! I contacted the zoo right away and proposed that the fibre be collected and processed so that people can knit it up into wonderful things to be donated back to the zoo so they can sell them for profit. Three months later I finally got a reply and was told that this is a possibility. I may be able to get my hands on that animal hair after all! So I am putting together a project team so we can tackle this together.

Spoonflower, It's a New Drug.

Yellow Scallops by Wonderfluff

(now a part of my fabric collection)

Yeah, like totally man. I'm diggin' Spoonflower. We can all be textile designers thanks to this cool site. I ordered some fabric off Etsy from the shop Wonderfluff who gives credit to Spoonflower for being the printer of this artist's design. Being the curious crafter that I am I had to check out Spoonflower's site for myself. How can I resist a name like Spoonflower?Sounds like heroin to me. I could be right. I can't stop myself from looking at all of the amazing designs that artists from around the world have submitted either for sale or for pure eye candy. Page after page of enticing designs.

J'aime Montreal!

Old Montreal

I visited Montreal for the first time ever and my family fell in love.

Pop Montreal is an annual music and art festival that I was invited to attend by the Puces Poporganizers. Puces Pop occurred on the last weekend of the festival and it was a rad 2-day craftavaganza. I was honored to be there among such talented artists.

Here are some photos from the trip. You gotta go!

Here I am selling my little heart out.

My hunny after a big breakfast at Cora's

My son standing in front of a street mural.

My First Phat Fiber Box

In August I successfully bought a limited edition phat fibre box on Etsy. It is an interesting concept wherein independent and small businesses submit samples of yarn, roving, and yarn related accessories and patterns. The box is then "dropped" twice on the sale day (it happens once a month) at the Etsy shop and folks buy them up as fast as they can before they dissapear (which takes literally two minutes). You can find the Etsy shop here. You can receive email notification of when the box goes on sale by signing up here. It was a lot of fun to join the rush of folks online in order to nab one of these exclusive goodie boxes. I will be sampling the yarn in the weeks to come and will blog about my experience. Although I am busy back at my full-time job and juggling various festivals with my Vintage Baby Revival clothing and accessories I will do my best to post about as many of these products as possible.

'Zines Go Public

I am not an expert on 'zines, but I find them fascinating. Many people have said "what is a 'zine" and like Julia Roberts replied in Pretty Woman, "What do you want it to be?"

Really, that's what it is. It is a self-published publication on pretty much any subject that you wish to discuss, comment on, cartoon, instruct. The possibilities are only limited by the human imagination. I learned about 'zines from a friend who is addicted to making informative 'zines about yoga. I have 3 'zines in my repertoire currently and they are all instructional. One teaches how to knit, one how to purl, and the other how to crochet.

Today I learned about the Seattle Zine Archive and Publishing Project whose claim to fame is that it is the world's largest collection of 'zines. Pretty impressive. My three 'zines will begin their journey to the western United States to join this collection this afternoon thanks to an Etsy order. I am so proud! I wish I could accompany my 'zines there and see this neat space for myself. Actually I have had a hankering to visit Seattle since I watched a travel episode dedicated to this city.

I encourage people to make their own 'zines...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5oD8EyZHOU this links you to a cute little video on how to make a one-sheet mini 'zine. The only thing is it doesn't explain where to place your cover and each consecutive page on the full sheet of paper. Look at the video carefully and see where the artist's cover page is, then each page thereafter is placed going counter-clockwise around the page. You'll figure it out!

Also, here is the info on ZAPP the Zine Archive and Publishing Project http://www.hugohouse.org/zapp