Store Loyalty

Do you have a favourite store that you are loyal to? I do. One day my sister and I were convinced by someone to test our loyalty to the store and the results had me questioning what constitutes a good store?

A few weeks ago my sister and I were in a bookstore in the knitting section (of course) looking at pattern books. The lady that was standing beside us brought up a conversation with us about knitting. We talked for a little while and she introduced us to Ravelry (have you gone there? I feel as though I was the last person to find out about this if you are into knitting/ crocheting you have to join this site it is fantastic!) and she also told us about Romni  which is a store on Queen St in Toronto. We traded stores with her and told her about Len's Mills which is where we go in Waterloo. She insisted that once we go to Romni we will never be able to shop anywhere else.

It just so happened that the next day we were able to go to this store. Upon first arrival we walked into a wall of yarn. Literally. This store was huge even more so in comparison the other stores that are on Queen St which are relatively small units. Romni was packed floor to ceiling with every colour, weight and material possible. I thought it was awesome because it had many styles that were hand made and even hand painted. It was all so beautiful! They also had a large selection of pattern books that were imported from Europe which I loved.

However for some reason it was not all that I expected it to be. I still thought that I would rather be in my Len's Mills Store. I think the answer for this is because Len's carries more than just yarn it also carries fabric, embroidery supplies and even baking. It really is a one stop shop for all of your possible hobbies. The problem with Len's is that it doesn't sell a lot of pattern books mostly the ones that are made by the fabric companies. (Although they do have a large selection of the free tear away patterns that yarn companies give out) Len's features all of the most popular yarns such as Red Heart, Pattons, and Bernat however the handmade yarns and hand dyed yarns found in Romni can not be found at Len's.

Which brings me to another point I love pattern books obsessed with you could go as so far to say. I really like the ones that can be found in Chapters. I like to preview them within Chapters and then buy them online and have them shipped to the house. They are always cheaper online but they don't allow you to look within the book online only the synopsis given by the editors so you really don't know the patterns you're getting hence the in store preview. Also ordering online allows me to partake in my favourite past time... Waiting for mail!

So what does make the store that you go to the most often your favourite is it because it is close to home? Does it have lower prices? Does it feature more hand made or boutique yarns? Or can that store also be seen as a convenience as it also carries a variety of things?

I think that everyone that has a hobby at one point has found that trying a new store is not the same as the one that you used to frequent. I guess we get used to the ease of access within a store that we frequent often. But nonetheless the experience of going to Romni certainly was an eye opener I have never seen hand painted wool before and the colours that occur were quite fantastic and bright. It certainly was a store for inspiration. What I especially like about both stores is that they are not major chains such as Michael's (Len's does have 9 stores but they are sort of local as Len was a man from Mississauga) or Walmart and shopping there is supporting a local business.

I think that the quest for the perfect hobby store is in order.

It never hurts to shop around right?

Happy Creating!

*** in no way am I trying to promote either store. This is merely an observation and in no way was I asked to promote one or the other. Merely the musings of a knitter. I hope you feel encouraged to go out and find your own favourite store!

It's Been Awhile...

'Tis the season... Midterm season that is. I haven't had much time to visit blogland I've been isolating myself from the distraction of the internet.


But luckily when I do get a break from my readings and my studying I take a break to work on this

Remember this? It was first featured in this post here. It is my fall project well that's at least what its turning into. It's my first adventure into embroidery. (Although its just straight stitches nothing fancy)

One day I came home from class and decided that I should get started. So me and the window had a date. I taped this pic to the window and then covered it with the fabric and began to trace it with a fabric pencil. Once I was done tracing I could hardly wait to begin stitchin' my way along.

Eventually it turned into this

It's a little different from the original but that's art right? There's still some more stitches that I want to add and I am unsure if I want to fill in the inside of the tree with brown thread or not. Decisions decisions...

How are your projects going? Is this rainy season helping you to stay inside and complete projects? Or is this a busy time of year for you too?

Happy Creating!

Jessica 

P.S. 67 creating days till Christmas YIKES!

Some of My Favourite Things

This weekend I got to go home to see my family for Thanksgiving. As always the days before returning home are spent dreaming of the things awaiting me...


1. Seeing my family. 


2. Seeing this little boy...

He is an Airedale Terror I mean Terrier nope I definitely mean terror. His name is Riley and he is 4 years old. He causes a lot of trouble as any Terrier does but we love him despite it. I always look forward to see his little face running towards the door when we land at home from travelling. 

3. My home bed. 

What do you look forward to on your return home from being away for a time?

Happy Creating! 

Jessica

Needle Point (the Alternate Version)

New month and a new hobby:)


Instead of doing the project posted down below I decided to start a kit that I had picked up at the end of the summer. It is currently a WIP (Work In Progress). (I someday hope that all of the projects that I have on the go will graduate from being a WIP to being complete, you gotta dream right?) Anyways so this kit I bought at Mary Maxim (what doesn't this lady have?... seriously) it's by Dimensions and its five inches by five inches. It Really drew my eye with the large almost print like pattern and bright colours. I thought it was a great little starter.

I once again scanned something instead of using a camera. I'm counting the days till me and my camera are reunited. 

The small area to the right of the hoop has already been filled in and that area is all it took for me to get hooked or should I say needled? It's so easy to curl up on the couch with it while watching television. 

It already has me dreaming of the patterns that I could design myself! But the next step is what to add this little delightful square to? This project is turning out to be greater then it was at first, but don't they all?

What projects do you have on the go? Have you ever tried needle point?

Happy Creating!

Jessica

I Know. It doesn't look like anything right now...

Hello everyone!


How is your week going? Are you tackling all of the creative projects that you have on the go?


The list of hobbies is growing... I am thinking of adding cross stitch/ needle point. I have made a little trial project to see how I`ll like it.


As of right now i do not have a camera well at least a digital one (but fear not my friends this will not last for long as i am going to go on a retrieval mission for my soon, its at home and since next weekend is thanksgiving...) so in order to get some content up here I made a scan of what I want to do. A girl`s got to do what a girl`s got to do.

I know, I know it looks rough but hear me out. Its going to be transferred on to black fabric and then the tree embroidered in what and the outside leaf line in green. The square black panel is going to be sewn onto a plain burlap bag that needs some embellishment. I`m also going to add some other shapes cut out and sewn on. 

Once all complete they will be added to the bag, I`m also going to use this opportunity to hide a seam for an inside pocket. 

It`s going to be a complete bag transformation!

Happy Creating! 

Jessica 

Welcome!

I thought a little introduction was in order... My name is Jessica and I'm a university student at WLU. Here is a little place that you can view my current project and project ideas. From everything such as knitting, recovering furniture, sewing and cooking/ baking (sometimes). I hope you like what you see!