July 15, 2016

Etsy Update Preview!!

There will be an Etsy Uodate today at 10am MST!! I have been dyeing up a storm this last week and I Hope you love all the colorways being introduced πŸ˜„

 

There's a Full Preview of all the colorways on the bases on the Prairie Dye Studio Facebook Page HERE !! There are also a couple OOAK single skeins!! 

Happy Shopping!! 

July 14, 2016

The Knitting Room 😍😍

I've been wanting to pop into the NEW Knitting Room ever since I've started having chats with Helena about introducing my yarn there. I had never been to their new location and honestly it's been a while since I've been in a yarn store πŸ˜‰ Being a stay at home mom on a slim budget it's not conducive to spend lots of time in a yarn store πŸ˜‚ Anyway, my husband and I were looking at getting a Newer used vehicle and popped into Calgary on a whim to check out a few dealerships. It was the perfect time to stop in after all the frustration of car shopping. 

The Knitting Room is located in the Mall attached to the Safeway on 3630 Brentwood Road NW in Calgary, Alberta. As soon as I saw it in the mall I thought it was a beautiful yarn shop 😍

 

Like how gorgeous is this shop!

 

Inside there's lots of cubbies filled with yarn and my Prairie heart is warmed just looking at the home feel you get from her shop!

 

There's a couple comfy chairs visitors can knit in and there is a Starbuck's just a little ways down in the mall. So you could pick up your favourite latte and pop in for a few rows and a chat πŸ˜‰ There's also a larger table behind the chairs if you wanted to work larger projects or visit with a larger group!

 
 
My OCD heart is singing just looking at this immaculate wall of yarn 😍 She carries many mainstream sock yarns from the major yarn companies and what I consider Workhorse yarns 😍 I use workhorse yarns for all my normal projects that I knit everyday. She also carries Handmaiden and Fleece Artist for that special project!

And of course Prairie Dye Studio yarns!!

 

I can tell it's been picked over ALOT from the first stocking! There are a few skeins left and I'm hoping to restock in about 2-3 weeks, unless stock gets VERY SLIM in the next little while. Then I'll be there sooner! Helena currently carries some MCN Lace, SW Lace, BFL Silk Fingering, BFL Sock and Anna's Sock! So if you would like to check out my yarns in person head over to The Knitting Room and have a look and a feel πŸ˜„

 

Check out all the Fleece Artist on that rack 😍


Helena has gorgeous samples displayed throughout the store!

 
 
I love these mittens 😍

 

A beyond inspiring color work shawl!!

 

Some super cute knit plushies!!

 

I loved this display!! If I could steal that wooden case, I would!! With no remorse πŸ˜‚

 

And how gorgeous is this yarn bowl? I have a deep love for orange and I kept telling myself, "you don't need another yarn bowl!" But really does need have anything to do with it? πŸ˜‚ Someone save my wallet and buy it before the next time I get there πŸ˜‰❤️

I was super good and ONLY bought 1 skein of yarn. Now to everyone that's not sure what I consider workhorse yarn:

 

This is a skein of Cascade Heritage Wave. It's a 75/25 wool nylon mix and I have knit this brand of yarn many times and it's soft and super durable. It's a good example of mainstream yarn that is esthetic ally beautiful yet budget conscious! This is what Helena specializes in. Having budgetconscious yarns for everyday projects AND that special yarn for that special project 😍

I had a fabulous time visiting and taking photos! I had an awesome little helper while I was taking photos πŸ˜„ There was a darling little girl that had to be about 4-5 that was showing me the best angles to take photos and I have to admit, she was right πŸ˜‰ 

Pop into The Knitting Room and have a wonderful chat with Helena πŸ˜„ I wish I had a yarn store like this a little closer to home😍

Happy Shopping!!

July 12, 2016

Etsy Update Friday July 15!!

I am so happy that Canada Post has decided to continue bargaining and when I say this I mean that Canada Post and the Union, together! Because both have consessions they need to make. My to make this political or anything but it's important for both sides to make consessions and work together for the benefit of the business, the employees and the customers! That's all I have to say about that.....

Anyways! I hit the dye pots yesterday and dyed up 31 skeins of yarn! I'm super excited about how these came out! Here's a quick preview:

 

I have posted a complete preview on the Prairie Dye Studio Facebook page HERE !! You can see how each base looks in the colorway! 

I have 30 more skeins to dye and a custom dye job so there will be more colorways to show off in the next couple days πŸ˜„ Tomorrow is dye day 😍

Happy Soon To Be Shopping πŸ˜„

July 07, 2016

New things are in the works πŸ˜„

I've enjoyed my little time off after Olds Fibre Week and have had some much needed time for myself and with my kiddos πŸ˜„ I've been tossing around some ideas of what direction I want my small business to go. I have a couple new products that I'm working on and I'm really excited to see what the response is for my first update and sequential updates after the Canada Post Strike / Lock Out is resolved! So there are very positive things on the horizon!

For now I'm super excited that my yarn order came in yesterday! MCN will be hitting the dye pots in the next couple weeks and a restock of Anna's Sock, which will soon be called 80/20 Sock. I know it's unimaginative BUT it makes it easier for people to see what it is when I'm doing shows. So there will be a transitional period while my Labels with Anna's Sock are slowly phased out. Thanks so much for your patience πŸ˜„

Now some awesome news! If your follow my Instagram feed or follow me on Facebook you would have seen that just recently The Knitting Room in Calgary, Alberta has started selling my yarn and featuring my yarn! I'm super excited to be working with Helena of The Knitting Room for this expansion of my small home run business! I love that she's rebranding an existing business that she's purchased and introducing more modern yarns and is supporting local fibre artists πŸ˜„ If you haven't been to the NEW The Knitting Room it's definitely worth the trip! I'll be visiting it on Saturday to check it out again in person!! They just recently had s fabulous review by The Yellow Pages by a fibre lover! Check it out HERE !!

 

Helena has about 20-30 skeins in stock at The Knitting Room right now! I will be replenishing the stock and rotating the stock there for the next couple months as a trial to see what the response is and if it can be balanced with my online business. I am super excited that it gives local customers in Calgary to have a place to go and buy my yarn. Possibly buy more yarn as well since they are saving the shipping πŸ˜‰ 

I'll still be doing regular updates and I can't guarantee that all colorways will be available at both my Etsy Shop and  the Knitting Room. I'll do my best but it's inevitable that it might not be available through both avenues. I will only be stocking The Knitting Room once a month and possibly more if my stock is selling more. If you are looking for a custom order and order it through The Knitting Room it will have a 4 week layover time. 

I will do my best to maintain favourite colorways in stock in both my Etsy Shop and at The Knitting Room but I also don't want to stifle my creative outlet so I'll also be doing lots of free flowing creative dyeing. Which basically means that I have no set plan when I start dyeing and just let the creativity take ahold and see what happens. I find that the most gorgeous colorways are created when I do this 😍 The last thing I would want creatively would be that I have a set dye list every time I go to dye. That's no fun πŸ˜‚ 

For now I'll only have my yarn at The Knitting Room until I figure out if it's cost effective, on my part, to sell my project bags there! I need to stream line my project bag process to get it at a price point I'm comfortable with. Thanks so much for your patience πŸ™ 

I'll keep posting new items to my Instagram feed, in my Facebook group and my blog as they are completed! So keep checking back! A you can find my Instagram feed or link on the right side of this page in the tool bar. You can find PrairieDyeStudio on Facebook HERE and Prairie Dye Studio has a Ravelry Group as well HERE !! Feel free to share any progress pics or what your working on in the Prairie Dye Studio Ravelry Group!  

Thanks so much for all your support and hopefully I can branch out to the Edmonton area next πŸ˜„

Happy Knitting AND Shopping !!

July 06, 2016

Indie Dyer ❤️Love❤️...

Before I went to Olds Fibre Week I was obsessed with getting prepared for the market. I didn't have too much time to think about potential purchases. When I wasn't working on increasing my stock or my display I was spending time with my husband and 2 daughters. So after I had my booth set up I got a chance to check out some booths and had a mental checklist of what purchases I wanted to make. Flock Fibre Studio was definitely one of them! I picked up a couple things, did a massive amount of Instagram photos of all the vendors. Then I got home and was looking through my acquisitions and realized that I didn't get something from their booth! Palm.... In..... Face.....!!! 

Like how does that even happen? I was super exited that they did an Etsy Update a few days later. I promptly bought a skein of yarn and a braid of fibre. Shipping was super quick since they are located in Calgary and I'm located just north of Red Deer! 

 

I fell in love with this skein!! It looked so fabulous when I received it and when I un-skeined it to take this photo o could see all the flecks of color and the depth of the dye job was really fabulous! I can't wait to cast on this skein and see how it knits up!! It might be a little bit but it's on my short list!

 

Next up was this fabulous 65/35 Merino Silk braid. I had taken this "traditional" photo that everyone uses for braids:

 

But you couldn't see the depth and the marbling of each color in the braid. The colorway is call Thunder and Lightening and each color in the braid has a wonderful semi solid appearance so I know it's going to spin up magically 😍

They still have some gorgeous colorways available in their etsy shop and they are still shipping via courier! They are located in Calgary so if your local they may be able to meet up with you πŸ˜„

Happy Knitting πŸ˜„

July 01, 2016

Fried, just fried...

I've been spending some downtime with the family after Olds Fibre Week. I was super busy leading up to it and the positive response from everyone was so unexpected but in a positive way πŸ˜„ I usually make up whatever I feel like doing that day πŸ˜‰ and have no expectations set. Then any outcome is a positive outcome! So I was so grateful to have my stitch markers, project bags and yarn featured on some wonderful podcasts πŸ˜„ I was featured on the Grocery Girls podcast, the Fairy Little Podcast and have been tagged by so many lovely peeps on Instagram 😍 Thank you so much everyone for your kind words! I'll keep plugging along and I have some plans of expanding what I'm currently doing this summer. There will be lots of trial and errors but I'm hoping to expand my creativity and see where it takes me. The only person that can block yourself, is yourself πŸ˜‰

So during this brief time off I decided to go visit my Baba for a couple days with my mom. We did a 3 day road trip which was a 4 hr drive each way with an ornery and independent 3yr old and a 6m old that was constipated. It was a wonderful visit but it was a bit stressful on the way back. My mind is fried. Today was my first day back and I spent a good portion of it getting my house back to the way I want it. So doing laundry, dishes, cleaning and organizing. The normal thing if you leave your husband unattended in the house for 3 days πŸ˜‚ We also spent some time at the Local Canada Day festivities for children and had some good family time. But now I have my mindless socks out and I can't even muster the brain power to knit on them today. I'm surprised that I can type up this blog post.....

 

If your wondering about the project bag, it's one of my favs and I kept this last one 😍 It was slightly imperfect as the fabric is slightly crooked but I absolutely ❤️Love❤️ this vintage fabric!! I may have to go vintage fabric shopping in my moms fabric stash again πŸ˜‰πŸ˜‚

Happy Knitting!!