It was another lovely weekend here in Montréal. We saw the first buds come out on the trees on St. Jacques, we had the door open for a comfortable breeze every day and we had a few visitors come in to entertain and delight us!

Two little critters from Scotland decided to pay us a visit a few days ago. They quickly made friends with the locals.

Can you spot them? If not, here they are:

Look closely! Lounging next to Charity, Muswell (in blue, not pink today) and Sally, are none other than the original Elijah and Otto, created by the charming and talented Ysolda Teague.

Here they are, hanging out with Jennies Class doll. (They also became pal’s too)

And here she is, her charming self!

It is always a pleasure to have guests and visitors to our little store. It was a joy for both of us to meet and spend a bit of time with you, Ysolda. If you ever do find yourself in Montréal again - which we hope you do, - our kettle will be on and our couches will be cozy and ready for more knitting, chatting and visiting!

We have also found ourselves becoming quite friendly with our potential new spinning wheel that we have been test driving.

But then we seem to be making more friends with the spinning world either way….

Howdy there.

Finally. Even though there are still piles and piles of snow on peoples front yards, I am happy to say I can now wear my favourite kind of spring footwear.

Last night also showed signs of spring. A few of our knit night members moved outside.

I believe the cat was also interested in what these lovely ladies were doing.

Jessie decided to take a spinning wheel we are test driving outside to see about it’s “all terrain” qualities.

We are also starting to see some spring and summer yarn come in. And there is more on the way, folks, but for right now, a little peak at what we have in store right now:

Be Sweet 100% Bamboo

This lovely lovely yarn is made from 100% Bamboo, and is also Fair Trade. Anti bacterial and socially aware, this DK weight yarn is perfect for summer tanks, tops and baby clothing.

On Your Toes Bamboo Sock Yarn

Just in today, this sock yarn is made from 75% bamboo and 25% nylon. Great for toes that can’t take wool, and also antibacterial, which means less stinky dogs at the end of the day.

Do you have the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome? I know I do:

Note that this sock is only half done. At the time of this photograph, the subject’s mate had been finished for well on 10 months. I know, embarrassing. At least I was only knitting them for myself!

There are definite signs and symptoms of Second Sock Syndrome, as identified by the Merck Manual of Crafting Addiction. Ask yourself, are you:

1. jittery, evasive?
2. snappish when asked questions like: “what ever happened to my birthday gift”?
3. avoiding all talk of your # of works in progress?
4. always buying more dpns, because all sets you possess are “holding” a single sock whose mate will never see the light of day?

If you suffer as I do, I have good news. The fine ladies at Ariadne have seen fit to hold an emergency walk-in clinic of sorts, to cure you of your affliction. It is a class on how to knit two toe-up socks simultaneously on a single circular needle. It is not, unfortunately, covered by our universal health care system, though IMHO it ought be.

Does this sound like complete crazy talk, this knitting-two-socks-at-the-same-time? That’s what I thought. But I’ve been assured it is not only easy but fun by Kate, who will be teaching the class, in both official languages no less.

Wait - does that mean she will be doing FOUR things at the same time? Does she have two brains? How does she do it? Find out for yourself on Sunday, April 20. And the next time you make a silly promise of birthday socks? Never fear. Take this class and you will never have to run shame-faced to the Body Shop at the last minute to buy a lame gift basket again.

NOTE: the socks featured in this diagnosis, err, post, were knitted out of this, using a generic toe-up sock recipe (try this one) and the easiest lace pattern I could find, namely Vine Lace from one of the Barbara Walker books (the blue one I think). And yes, they are finally done. See:

Ok, so this is completely unrelated, but congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks on winning the men’s NCAA Basketball title.

Teleportation to Mass Street for proper celebrations would be in order, but I’ll just settle for looking at the crazy pictures and waving the wheat at the store today.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!