Have you ever tried needle felting?

It might be good time to get hands-on with a new fibre art. We just brought in some Introduction and Intermediate needle felting kits that include everything you need to create a fibre structure in only a few hours. This is a quick fibre art that anyone aged 7 to 107 can pick up quickly and the world of felted 3D objects is your oyster! Check out these amazing kits:

A collection of our complete BEGINNERS needle felt kits ranging from $25-$35.

Kits include everything needed to complete your critter!

For BEGINNERS (easy peasy kits) we have:

• Spring Lamb
• Sleepy Fox
• Sleepy Panda
• Sleepy Mice
• Sleepy Koala
• Snoozing Polar Bear
• Sleepy Brown Bear
• Red Robin
• Puffin
• Blue Tit
• Jenny Wren
• Long Tailed Tit

For INTERMEDIATE (upgrade your skills kits) we have:

• Wild Scottish Hare
• Wire Haired Dachshund
• Rainbow Lorikeet
• Red Squirrel
• Kangaroo & Joey
• Sleeping Highland Calf

Or alternatively, we have also put together a quick grab and go of rainbow hand dyed Falkland fibre and black/white Corriedale fibre with four felting needles for  $27.75. Additional needles cost $1.85, needle felting foam blocks $7.25 and/or The Ashford book of Needle Felting $31 which you can call in to the store to order for curbside pickup. In addition to the online store here, we will have staff on hand daily from 11am-2pm for phone-in/curbside pickup orders.

Although our storefront is closed for browsing, we are happy to help keep you crafting. We will weather this together, as we are stronger as a community.

Our store front is now closed for browsing, but my staff and I will still be on hand to help you find a yarn or fibre for any project. We will also be actively reaching out in various ways to let you know we are still a strong and vibrant creative community. Here’s how to connect:

* Fibres arts help & advice: We will be available from 11am to noon every day by phone to answer questions on yarn and pattern matches. We hope to substitute all of the reasons you may have found yourself popping by the store for, as well as help out anyone who wants to start on their fibre arts journey! We will do the best, but please have patience with us as we navigate some new routines on a daily basis. If the phone is not answered, please leave a voice mail and we will reply to you as soon as we can.

* Shopping: We will now offer curbside pickup (meet you at your car out front or at the front door) after we ring through any purchases by phone during our 11am-2pm staffed openings, or you can pick up any orders made in our online store with the ‘in store pickup’ option. Our online store has up-to-the-minute stock information so you don’t have to guess what we have in available. If you are further away, we also have inclusive shipping options. Consider us your personal shoppers!

* Virtual knit togethers: Stay tuned for information on various virtual knit-ins that are happening, and send us an email at baaadannas@gmail.com if you want us to add your virtual craft circle to our blog listings. Let’s stay connected.

We will weather this together, as we are stronger as a community.

Things are changing daily, so as of tomorrow we will adapt to meet your yarny needs in a variety of new ways. The bricks and mortar store is closed but we will have staff available by phone to give yarn/pattern recommendations, assist your shopping needs and offer curbside pickup. We will be supporting the community through virtual knit groups and intro fibre arts kits, and of course almost all of our in-store offerings can be found at www.baaadannas.store our online. Come visit us virtually and help support our fibre arts community if you are able.

More details will be posted here on a regular basis so don’t be a stranger. We will weather this together, as we are stronger as a community.

We know that many of you are wondering whether we are open and if classes will be going ahead at Baaad Anna’s. There are no plans at the moment to temporarily close our brick and mortar store or to cancel classes as classes are small and our space allows for students to spread out around a large table.

That being said, we are sensitive to how quickly the situation is evolving and will continue to follow the advice of the BC Provincial Health Officer and the Minister of Health. If any of our classes need to be cancelled we will let you know as soon as possible by email or phone. If you are registered for a class or have started a course, and are feeling unwell or choose to opt out, we will work with each participant to either issue a refund (up to 36 hrs before the first class) or offer alternate dates/times to make up for that class in future scheduled similar classes. Please email the store at baaadannas@gmail.com to discuss.

Our gnomes are taking social distancing seriously too.

No matter what the next few weeks and months bring, we will be here. Our online store is always open and we have a number of options for those who aren’t able to make it in to the store in person. You can order over the phone and online and we will provide curbside drop off, or you can take advantage of our accessible shipping options.

We hope you are all staying healthy and safe and we look forward to seeing you in person again when the time is right.

As life seems to be shifting on a daily basis, one thing Baaad Anna’s would like to offer is the opportunity to retreat into fibre arts. We have regulars and visitors alike that come in to the store to find materials to finish a project, get inspiration and/or support local and indie fibre artists. I know my staff deliver help, support and often a kind ear but with social distancing being prescribed as one of the single most important ways to work through this new reality we wanted to let you know we will continue to work hard to get all of our stock online and accessible. As of today, Baaad Anna’s would like to offer Inclusive Shipping options for the period of time our community might need our yarn store experience to go virtual. Read more details below.

We would like to offer a choice of no cost, at cost or pay-it-forward shipping options in our online store at www.baaadannas.store for any yarn, fibre and knit, crochet, or felting tools we have available. We will continue listing the new yarns we picked up at Fibres West, so along with our regular stock there will be an accessible way to continue to support fibre artists from throughout our community.

How this will work is:

• For NO COST, you can use coupon code ACCESSIBLESHIPPING and our $12 flat rate for shipping will be removed from your order.
• For PAY-IF-YOU-CAN, just shop as usual
• For PAY-IT-FORWARD, you can add $12 to your cart anytime with this listing, we will use it towards anyone’s shipping costs who needs it or donate it to the Vancouver Food Bank if it goes unused

Fibres West sadly had to be cancelled very last minute while set-up was happening so there are a number of small fibre arts businesses that are having a rough weekend. However, there are a number of ways to support and strengthen your local fibre arts community. We will be open regular hours as our shop cannot max out the 250 people limit on the ban, and we have invested in a number of the local fibre artists that were impacted this weekend by bringing their lines into our store, and offering others a venue for a pop up venue over this weekend. Check other yarn stores for how they are supporting local artists, and keep an eye on this blog as we will be offering accessible postage rates for online order in our www,baaadannas.store as soon as we get our newly acquired local stock into our eStore. We will weather this together, as we are stronger as a community.

Spring is a wonderful time to learn a fresh new skill or technique.  Here at Baaad Anna’s we have an extraordinary group of instructors to guide, support and inspire you on the path of fibre arts.

Intro to Weaving Class

This is a 2-day beginner weaving class using an Ashford Knitters Loom, and includes equipment rental for a three week period.  Participants will learn how to set up and use the equipment. All materials included.

Minimum 2 and maximum 4 participants.

MARCH DATES: Saturday, March 21st & 28th from 9:30-11:30am.   

To register visit us in store, call 604-255-2577, or register online here!

Beginner Crochet Class – Scrubby

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: Sunday, March 22nd from noon-2pm.

To register visit us in store, call 604-255-2577, or register online here!

Beginner Felting Class

Come by for a 2-hour workshop 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.

March DATE: Sunday, March 22nd from 2:30-4:30pm.

To register visit us in store, call us at 604-255-2577.

Come by the shop between 1-4pm this Sunday and join us for a fun sock-filled Give Back Sunday! It’s going to be all toes, heels and cuffs with a side of bundt cake, tea and conversation with other lovely charity knitters. And as always, if socks aren’t your thing, join us to knit or crochet anything for a community donation!

In January, we hosted a Give Back Sunday event which was paired with a circular sock machine hands-on demo where donated sock yarns were cranked into tubes, ready for any charity knitter to add heels and toes to complete a pair of hand knit socks. We now have a gorgeous rainbow of sock tubes and we need your help to turn them into cozy socks that we can donate to the temporary modular housing project that is being built near the Nanaimo skytrain station. We have seven pairs already completed and need another 45 pairs knit up to meet our goal of donating 52 pairs of socks as a welcome gift for every resident.

Margit, one of our volunteer give back knitters, holds sock tubes that need to be made into socks.

You may be saying to yourself, “but I don’t know how to do a cut in heel or toe!!”. Not a problem, we’ve got you covered. We will have staff and experienced volunteers on hand to help you, just bring your sock needles and we can teach you the rest. If you have some fingering weight sock yarn hanging around in your stash, this is the perfect way to use it and please bring it with you.

If you want a fun preview of how to do a cut in heel, check out this great YouTube tutorial by Kirby Wirby.

Sock tubes ready to be finished with cuffs, heels and toes. 

Don’t worry if you can’t make it on Sunday, you can still participate! We’d love you to pop by the store and to take home a sock tube that you can make into socks. There’s no timeline to complete the socks, but they do need to be part of the donation to the modular housing project.

Keep an eye here as we will be hosting another circular sock machine hands on event in April. More details to come soon.

Baaad Anna’s has a long-standing commitment to serving the community. Our Give Back Sundays take place on the second Sunday of every month and we happily and gratefully collect knit, crocheted or woven donations all year round. Mark your calendars as the next ones will be happening on April 12th, May 10th and June 14th.

Read more about our warm things drive in December and the impact our Give Back Sunday and volunteer knitters made in 2019.

We have teamed up with the wonderful humans of The Learnary a few doors down from us to help with their objective of inter-generational learning by co-hosting one of our fav learn to knit classes at their non-profit studio down the street. Every been interested in learning to knit and have an undersaged freind or family member you want to learn with? This is the workshop for you:

Amanda Kaffka learned to knit on arbutus twigs when she was six and hasn’t looked up since. She has a fashion design degree from Ryerson University and a passion for knitwear design and teaching. With a no-rules-in-knitting approach but high standards for excellence, Amanda’s passion is to guide students to knit freely with solid technique. The Crafty Jackalope is the hub for Amanda Kaffka’s simple to knit, stunning to wear knit & crochet designs. They offer an array of knitting/crochet patterns, knit kits (pattern & yarn), LYKKE needles, publications, knitwear samples and craft accessories.

Knit Two Together

Bring your favourite adult and learn to knit a project together from beginning to end! Choose between one of two projects to work on with your buddy. Learn to cast-on, knit, purl, basic decrease, and cast-off. 
Fee is for both participants, for all three classes, and includes all supplies

Intended for adults with children from age 5 through 12.

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You can register HERE for this class to be held at The Learnary.

With March just around the corner, now is the perfect time to learn a new skill and put a Spring in your step with the Beginner Sock Knitting class with Holli Yeoh. And we also have our Beginner Knitting and Beginner Wheel Spinning starting next week if that is on your to-do list!

Photo credit Holli Yeoh

SOCKS FOR BEGINNERS

This is a class for the knitter who has been knitting for a while and is ready for a fresh challenge. Over the course of a few weeks you will knit a top-down boot sock (DK-weight) or an around-home sock (Worsted-weight).

Techniques To Be Learned:
• Holli’s favourite stretchy cast on
• Circular knitting with double-pointed needles (DPNs), or two circular needles or one long circular needle for Magic Loop (your choice)
• Avoiding ladders and loose stitches
• Heel construction including heel flap, heel turn and picking up stitches around the heel
• Grafting (Kitchener stitch)
• Getting the right fit

DATES: Mondays March 2, 9, 16, & 23th from 6:00-7:30pm

To register visit us in store, call 604-255-2577, or register online here!

BEGINNER KNITTING

This is a beginner knitting class for anyone who has never picked up needles, or for someone who is looking for a beginner refresher. Participants will learn the basics including casting on, knitting, purling and casting off. The class project will be a choice between simple  hat, scarf, or arm warmers.

DATES: Thursdays, March 5, 12, 19, and 26th from 6:00-7:30pm

To register visit us in store, call 604-255-2577, or register online here!