Baaad Anna's Yarn Store

As September comes to a close this is the time of year that many knitters on the left coast start getting itchy to connect, meet up with other people who understand the joy of playing with string and see all that is new in the wild world of fibre arts. With the physical Knit City event not possible this year there have been some really interesting community-building projects that have popped up. Here is your notice for an amazing weekend coming up! Mark your calendars!

Fibre Love Affair is Vancouver’s first online Fibre Festival, and is entirely volunteer run showcase of all things knitty happening next weekend Oct 3rd & 4th. A number of vendors you would have had a chance to visit at KnitCity will be presenting free workshops, trunk shows, personal shopping experiences and in our case a fashion show over zoom, skype or facebook throughout next weekend. Check out this amazing line-up and sign up here for your free link into all of these presentations. FREE of charge and a great place to virtually smell the fall yarn fumes!!

 

I want to send a shout out to Yoriko of the Fibre Art Studio on Granville Island for taking on this initiative after hearing about the void created by the cancelling of Vancouver’s annual fall yarn show. She did this at no cost for participants and at minimal cost for vendors, offering an accessible virtual yarny event that can be viewed near and afar; connecting our community in a very philanthropic way. Along with Rebecca Glazier of Wild West Dye (volunteering with social media) and Nicole @thespinnacle (volunteer webmaster), these ladies have done a lot for our community and I encourage everyone to join in this event by visiting various makers at this virtual yarn crawl this weekend, from the comfort of your own home!

Additionally, there will be two FREE online pyjama parties organized by these lovely ladies that are still to be announced (rumour has it one will be scheduled for after the KC’s paid zoom knit night); so be sure to follow Fibre Love Affair on Instagram and/ or Facebook to find out more and meet the vendors who will be presenting.

For our noon to 1pm timeslot, join us on Zoom for a live fashion show of a number of garments that have been produced by friends of Baaad Anna’s over the covid lockdown and summer. We will not only showcase the garments but do a personal shop tour to brainstorm how you could match up yarn choice and patterns to get you started on your next knitty adventure! If not in person, this is another way to connect with the excitement of a new project that often comes from our annual fall meet up, and we hope you will join me at noon at your virtual LYS (local yarn store)!

 

 

We will also be taking some of our new Fall yarns and kits for a field trip into the Lower Mainland on Sunday via our mobile yarn mini-home, The Travelling Woolery. Find us rain or shine in Langley at the Clayton Community Farmer’s Market on Sunday Oct 4th from 10am-3pm! Come visit us and these yarns in the wild!

 

 

With the forecast set for the September rains to set in, this is a perfect time to cozy up this weekend from the comfort of home while learning a new fibre art.  We have two workshops to offer you, Beginner Crochet Scrubby and Learn to Needle Felt both Online via Zoom!

 

Beginner Crochet Scrubby Workshop – Online via Zoom

This is a beginner class for someone who has never crocheted before or is looking for a refresher. Participants will learn the basic stitches for crochet including; chain, slip stitch, single crochet, double crochet & magic ring. The class project will be a reusable washcloth or face scrubby.

DATE: Saturday September 26th from 1-4pm PST.

Instructor: Rebecca Glazier

 

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Learn To Needle Felt  Workshop-Online Via Zoom

Join us for this 3-hour workshop online to learn a new art!  Needle felting is quick and fun way to create three dimensional fibre art pieces.

Baaad Anna’s is happy to welcome local artist Mel Broome to come teach the basics of needle felting.  Participants will learn: the basics of 3D needle felting, the tricks to creating a fine finish on your work, how to mix and shape wool like a pro. No previous felting experience necessary and all materials included. For ages 7 and up.

Sept Date: Sunday September 27th from 10am-1pm PDT

Oct Dates: Sunday October 25th from 12:00- 3:00pm PDT ∼or∼

Nov Dates: Sunday November 22nd from 10:00am to 1:00pm PST ∼or∼

Dec Dates: Sunday December 6th from 12:00-3:00pm PST

INSTRUCTOR: Mel Broome

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Interested in something else? MORE CLASSES and registration here!

Are you nostalgic for KnitCity? Ready to see some amazing indie yarns and fibre arts kits in the wild? Wanna check out our Travelling Woolery trailer? Come visit us at the Vintage & Handmade Society Maker’s Market on the lawn of Vancouver Art Gallery this Saturday and Sunday from 11am-6pm. Strict covid protocols will be observed similar to how the Farmer’s Markets have been operating in Vancouver, but here’s our mid-Sept hoorah to welcome in the Fall Yarnie Season!

 

 

We will be featuring our newest lines of indie dyers including:

• The premier-LYS-launch of a new local Wild West Dye who will be showcasing her lovely naturally dyed caked yarns available in amazing 25g, 50g or 100g cakes (so you don’t have to buy more than you need — genius!);
• Our hottest new local dyer from Northern BC (Williams Lake) Chester Knits;
• The entire THREE years of Hue Loco’s Backyard Chickens sets;
• Stunning vintage colours of Seattle’s Earl Grey Fiber Co;
• And of course a selection of my personal fav Rohrspatz and Wollmeise yarn, for which we are a flagship store in BC!

 

We will also be showcasing a variety of introductory and slightly-beyond-basic fibre arts kits at this show to get all hands on deck joining us in our love of all things fibre. This is a great time to get settled into a new craft, or share your love of fibre with those you are ready to hunker down with for the upcoming season!

 

 

And come and be introduced to our newest have-yarn-will-travel mini-house… Baaad Anna’s The Travelling Woolery (join our adventures on Instagram!)…

 

Mark your calendars to come down and visit us this weekend on the front lawn of the VAG! We are super excited to meet with our yarnie and maker community!

Ready to knit your first socks?? Or just learn to knit??

Fall is in the air and with it comes the beauty of changing colours, crisp mornings, cooler evenings and the return to school.  We have a great variety of  Online Classes and Workshops to help inspire you on your fibre arts creative journey from beginner to specialized techniques, self-paced support and project based learning. Here is what we have coming up over the next few weeks.

 

 

Tip Toe Up Sock Class with Holli Yeoh – Online via Zoom

This toe-up sock class is a skill building opportunity to knit socks with completely replaceable heels and toes. Over three weeks we’ll tackle the beautifully invisible Turkish cast-on, Holli’s favourite increases, placeholder stitches for the heel, a stretchy sewn bind-off with no sewing, opening a large hole in your sock for the heel, and grafting on the needles. Take this opportunity to learn a “new-to-you” technique for working in the round: two circular needles, one long circular needle for the Magic Loop technique or double pointed needles. Or feel free to use needles that you’re most familiar with while learning the other new skills.

There will be homework each week so you’re ready to try the next step in the class together.

You may knit a sock of any size, but plan to work about half the sock between each class. If you’re knitting a sock for someone else, come to class with the foot circumference and foot length (not shoe size).

 

Skills needed: Participants should have experience knitting in the round. If you’ve never knit a sock before, use heavier yarn such as DK or worsted weight and needles about two sizes smaller than the ball band recommendation.  We recommend the Uptown Worsted on 3.5-3.75mm needles.  This will knit up faster and be more a pair of slipper socks.

INSTRUCTOR: Holli Yeoh of Holli Yeoh Designs

To register call 604-255-2577, or register online here!

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BEGINNER KNITTING with Rebecca Glazier – ONLINE via ZOOM

 

 

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Beginner Crochet Scrubby Workshop – Online via Zoom

This is a beginner class for someone who has never crocheted before or is looking for a refresher. Participants will learn the basic stitches for crochet including; chain, slip stitch, single crochet, double crochet & magic ring. The class project will be a reusable washcloth or face scrubby.

Materials Needed:

• One 5mm crochet hook
• Cotton worsted weight yarn, such as one ball of Sudz Crafting Cotton, available in Solid, Spay and Tonal.

DATE: Saturday September 26th from 1:00-4:00pm PST.

Instructor: Rebecca Glazier

 

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Learn To Needle Felt  Workshop- Online Via Zoom

Join us for this 3-hour workshop online to learn a new art!  Needle felting is quick and fun way to create three dimensional fibre art pieces.

Baaad Anna’s is happy to welcome local artist Mel Broome to come teach the basics of needle felting. Participants will learn: the basics of 3D needle felting, the tricks to creating a fine finish on your work, how to mix and shape wool like a pro. No previous felting experience necessary, for ages 7 and up.

All materials Included.

Sept Dates: Sunday September 27th from 10:00am-1:00pm PDT ∼or∼

Oct Dates: Sunday October 25th from 12:00- 3:00pm PDT ∼or∼

Nov Dates: Sunday November 22nd from 10:00am to 1:00pm PST ∼or∼

Dec Dates: Sunday December 6th from 12:00-3:00pm PST

INSTRUCTOR: Mel Broome

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Advanced Beginner Short Rows Workshop with Holli Yeoh – Online via Zoom

Photo courtesy of Holli Yeoh.

Learn several methods for working short rows and see how they compare so you can decide on your favourite method.  Features techniques found in the Ebb & Flow blanket and Eventide pullover.

Included will be the wrap and turn and Japanese short rows among other lesser known methods. The Ebb & Flow blanket from the book, Tempest is a wonderful beginner’s project for practicing short rows.

Skills needed: Knit, purl, cast on and bind off —advanced beginner.

DATE: Sunday Sept 20th from 9:30am-12:30pm PDT

INSTRUCTOR: Holli Yeoh of Holli Yeoh Designs

To register call 604-255-2577, or register online here!

 

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Beginner Fixing Common Mistakes Workshop with Holli Yeoh – Online via Zoom

Photos courtesy of Holli Yeoh

$%#$@#^! Isn’t knitting supposed to be relaxing??
Learn how to get yourself out of a knitting related disaster and get back on track.

Picking up dropped stitches, fixing missed increases and twisted stitches, un-knitting (cleverly known as TINKing as it is the word KNIT backwards!) and other common
fixes will be covered in this 3hr workshop.

Skills needed: You’re comfortable with the basics and know how to decrease, increase, and follow simple pattern instructions.

DATE: Sunday Sept 27th from 9:30am – 12:30pm PDT

INSTRUCTOR: Holli Yeoh of Holli Yeoh Designs

To register call 604-255-2577, or register online here!

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For all of our classes and registration please see here.

We are back from our Give Back Sunday summer hiatus and are looking forward to kicking off our giveback knitting events again in October! Mark your calendars, on October 18th from 1-2:30pm we will get together again on Zoom to do some charity knitting (we’re moving it back a week due to the Thanksgiving long weekend). We will put out a reminder closer to the date and will post all the Zoom details here the morning of October 18th.

Sock Project Update and Call for More Socks

We are continuing to work towards our goal of collecting 52 pairs of socks for a temporary modular housing project in the Downtown Eastside and we have over 35 pairs already collected. Thank you to everyone who has contributed a pair (or pairs) of socks so far!

Just some of the donation socks that our amazing community of charity knitters have donated.

If you are interested in knitting some socks for donation to help get us to our goal of 52 pairs, we need socks of all shapes, sizes and colours, but most needed are large-sized in neutral colours. We are also accepting donations of:

• Sock yarns: Any washable yarn with some nylon in it for circular sock machine cranking (we have someone who is offering to crank out sock tubes for us)
• Any already completed under-loved hand knit socks FOs (finished objects) in like-new condition.

Bias Blanket Project Update and Call for Volunteers 

The bias blanket project is also coming together! We have received enough bias squares to make at least two good sized donation blankets and we are now looking for community volunteers to help sew the squares together. We can provide the yarn to seam them together as well as guidance on what techniques might work best if you are new to seaming blankets. Each blanket has about 48 squares that will need to be seamed together and you would have creative freedom to arrange them in whatever pattern you like.

Just a small sample of the bias squares that have been donated so far for blankets.

If you are interested in picking up a set of bias squares to sew into a blanket please email us at baaad.annas@gmail.com or call the store at 604-255-2577 to arrange details.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars, here are the Give Back Sunday dates for the rest of 2020:

• Sunday, November 8 – 1-2:30pm
• Sunday, December 13 – 1-2:30pm

If you have any donation knits to drop off please check our open hours and you are welcome to drop them by any time that the store is open.

Baaad Anna’s has a long-standing commitment to serving the community. Our Give Back Sundays typically take place on the second Sunday of every month and we happily and gratefully collect knit, crocheted or woven donations all year round.

We are so grateful to everyone that contributes to these community projects – you are making a difference! 

We’ve got the perfect pairing for your WIPs (works in progress)! There’s a new batch of project bags and yarn bowls in the store and they’re all from BC or Alberta makers. Here’s a small peek at the selection we’ve got in store and online.

Atelier Nekozuki Project Bags

Hand-crafted in Cochrane, Alberta, Atelier Nekozuki box shaped project bags are all made from 100% cotton Japanese fabrics. Each bag holds about 400g of worsted weight yarn and your project and we just love the prints that Katie chooses for her bags (what’s not to like about a pup wearing glasses?!).

Browse Atelier Nekozuki project bags

Two Sticks and Ewe project bags

Handmade by Brenda Blocha in West Kelowna, these Two Sticks and Ewe project bags are made from 100% cotton (inside and out) with a removable swivel handle. A little bit smaller than the box bags, these bags are big enough to use for a few pairs of socks you’re knitting, a smaller shawl project or a few hats. They are the perfect size for popping into your bag and bringing with you for on-the-go knitting!

Buy a Two Sticks and Ewe project bag here

Lavender Lampworks yarn bowls.

Our yarn bowls from Lavender Lampworks might be as gorgeous as what’s on your needles and are the ideal way to keep your ball of yarn in check. The Lavender Lampworks yarn bowls are made in the Comox Valley by Judy Gadicke (who is both a lampwork artist and a potter) and come in beautiful greys, blues and brown/green.

Browse Lavender Lampworks yarn bowls here

Each yarn bowl fits a wound 100g ball of yarn easily with room for a few smaller balls too. You can use the holes on the sides of the bowl to store your needles or to help keep your different colours in order as you knit a colourwork project. No matter how you use your yarn bowl, they are sure to make your favourite knitting spot extra lovely.

Browse Lavender Lampworks yarn bowls here

Whether a bag or a yarn bowl, any of them would make a great gift for you or a fibre loving friend. Happy browsing!

Congrats to Becky Ward who won our recent new blog subscribers pom pom giveaway contest on Instagram! Thanks to our lovely friends at Yarnboler, we did a giveaway draw for a set of four pom poms to new blog subscribers that signed up between July 13 and 16. We are excited to welcome all our new subscribers and now want to show love to all of our blog subscribers, many who have been here for a long time. Thanks for following and supporting us, we appreciate you and are so grateful for your continued support, feedback and overall awesomeness!

If you aren’t signed up yet and would like to join the list, just look to the right and pop your email address into the ‘Follow our Blog Via Email’ box. We have lots of exciting things planned for the fall so it’s a perfect time to sign up.

Yarnboler has generously given us another set of four gorgeous large snap-on pom poms to giveaway and we want to give them to you! Every week for the next four weeks we will randomly draw a name from our blog subscribers list and gift that person one Yarnboler pom pom. If you are the winner we will send you an email to let you know and will arrange to get your new pom pom to you.

If you’re new to Yarnboler pom poms you’re in for a treat. All faux fur, they are the softest, puffiest pom poms we’ve ever used. They come in a variety of sizes and we carry them in a ton of colours! If you stop by the store in person soon ask to check them out. You can also find them in the online store.

Good luck everyone!

As of yesterday we are now open FULL HOURS three days/week!

NEW SEPT HOURS Open EVERY DAY:

Mondays: 11am – 2pm

Tuesdays: 11am – 2pm

Wednesdays: 11am – 2pm

Thursdays: 11am – 6pm

Fridays: 11am – 6pm

Saturdays: 11am – 6pm

Sundays: : 11am – 2pm

 

Looking forward to seeing you in store!!

We took a little break for August but we’re back with our September project of the month!

This month we are featuring the Baubles shawl by Andrea Mowry (available through Ravelry or Andrea Mowry’s website), knit up in beautiful Earl Grey Fiber Co fingering yarn that you can find in the shop.

Find your Baubles shawl yarn HERE

Sam, one of our wonderful sample knitters, whipped up this sample in Earl Grey Fiber Co Darjeeling ‘Desert Bloom’, and Gunpowder ‘Embers’ and ‘Nightfall’ that Gabby, our Community Coordinator, so kindly modelled for us below. This shawl uses four skeins of fingering weight yarn (two skeins of main colour and one skein each of your contrast colours), with the perfect amount of leftovers for socks and a hat or maybe a fun marled project to use up the leftover yarn.

Find your Baubles shawl yarn HERE

Baubles is an engaging knit for beyond beginner knitters. The pattern keeps you on your toes with a combination of lace, brioche, garter stripes, and baubles (you could kind of see the last one coming, right?). If lace or brioche are new to you don’t let this pattern discourage you from trying it. There are fantastic resources online and keep an eye out for our online Intro to Brioche class that we’re hoping to offer again this fall.

Find your Baubles shawl yarn HERE

The Baubles shawl is squishy and cozy, sized perfectly to drape around you and isn’t too heavy. Depending on how you drape it you can choose which sections of the shawl you want to highlight, and while we liked the feel of it draped all the way around it would look equally lovely worn just around the shoulders.

Check out Earl Grey Fiber Co yarn HERE

We have lots of fingering weight yarn in the store for you to choose from for your own Baubles shawl. If you haven’t had a chance to try the Earl Grey Fiber Co yarn yet, and are looking for an extra special yarn, their colours are dreamy and floral. You can learn more about Earl Grey Fiber Co here in our recent post about them. If you want any help in choosing colours for your shawl, we are here to help! You can call the shop or pop by in person and we would be happy to help you find the perfect combination.

Happy shawl knitting!

12 hours and counting until our online Anniversary Sale goes live in our online store www.baaadannas.store!

 

 

Check out the full sale listings here (and at midnight the links to each sale yarn will the automatically discounted!) and they will remain on sale right through the end of day Monday Sept 7th, although how long any of the yarns will stick around is unknown, so don’t miss out!

Please remember that although our East Van store is open, these prices will not be available in-store to encourage the socially distant sale frenzy to remain in the comfort of your own homes! Enjoy! (And remember to check back 24 hours later to join us for the launch of our partnership sale with Wollmeise starting midnight Monday)!