Mini Road Trip: Mini Lion Brand Shop in A.C. Moore!

As you know, I've visited Lion Brand Yarn's flagship store in New York City a handful of times because I'm lucky enough to have a friend who lives in the same neighborhood. Every time I go I gather inspiration and feel generally excited about crocheting and all things yarn. It's a beautiful spot that I wish I could visit more than just a few times a year, but I'll take what I can get! 

So when I was scrolling through my Google Reader earlier this week and read this post from the Lion Brand Notebook, I was shocked to hear that they are now opening mini-shops in A.C. Moore stores and the very first one was opening this weekend in White Marsh, Maryland! This is amazing news because I always need a healthy dose of inspiration and I happened to have no plans this weekend, so I made a mental note to allow a few hours for a mini-road trip at some point this weekend to check it out. 

When I woke up on Sunday, I knew I wanted to make the hour drive to White Marsh and decided it would be nice to just go by myself, that way I could take my time if need be. So here's the inside scoop about these pop-up LBY stores! 

So, this is me really excited about going to the new LBY store. As you can see, I am overjoyed at the prospects of this trip ;). I decided to leave my dSLR at home and just use my cell camera as to not offend the crowd I was sure to encounter. This ended up being a great strategy, because A.C. Moore was crowded and I would've been nervous about something happening to my camera. 

 As soon as I parked at The Avenue, the shopping center where A.C. Moore was located, I was surprised that A.C. Moore wasn't advertising this new partnership outside. I was expecting posters and maybe some yarn bombing, but alas, I was excited enough without the extra flare. 

When I walked into the yarn department, I was greeted by an A.C. Moore employee who gave me a raffle ticket (excuse my disgusting thumb nail) for an upcoming 12 o'clock raffle. Sadly, I didn't win the raffle, but I sure "won" when it came to the steep discounts A.C. Moore was offering on LB yarn and supplies! As you can see, I picked up a new pair of stress gloves as mine tore a few months ago. 

The entire LB set-up is really nice and pleasing to the eye. It's essentially like shopping at your favorite local yarn shop, but with florescent lighting. It's actually really easy to forget that you're in a big box craft store because of the enlarged aisle space and work area. I really liked the signage and wood grain accents throughout the entire section. In true Lion Brand Studio fashion, there were plenty of sample projects, models, and assistants to help you make the most educated yarn purchase!

My favorite part of this partnership is that the yarn is finally organized in a logical manner. So many times big-box stores organize their yarn by brand and not by type, this new organization method allows A.C. Moore to organize the LB yarn by material and size (i.e. all the wool/wool blend is next to one another). 

The other great thing about this partnership is that now A.C. Moore carries so many more LB supplies! It's difficult for me to find hooks and other notions at local stores; I usually have to buy them online or whenever I visit NYC. So this entire end-cap was well organized and exciting for me to see so many options. 

If you look closely, there's a learning center much like the class area in the real LBS space. On this particular day, the A.C. Moore associates were doing a Make and Take headband using the new bon-bons! So many crafters were having a blast learning how to use the adorable little packages. Other associates were demonstrating how to use the Martha Stewart loom kit that LB released about a year ago. I actually scooped one up because they were on sale for $15.99 instead of the regular $39.99! What a deal!

Another great accent is that each bin of yarn has it's own hang-tag instead of just the regular big-box price tag. Each hang-tag offers the name of the yarn, the color, and the weight. They were extremely easy to read; much easier than those pesky little barcode stickers! 

Here is one of the displays that made me feel like I was no longer in A.C. Moore. This was a simple display that really allowed me to feel like I was in a smaller yarn shop browsing different samples. I really liked this personal touch.

So here's the bottom line: this is a great adaptation to Lion Brand's personal style you experience when visiting their flagship location in NYC. Sure, you're still shopping in A.C. Moore, but it's much more tolerable! Since their other locations have not been announced yet, if you find out your local A.C. Moore is making this transition, consider yourself lucky! I know I'll be making the hour drive to White Marsh much more frequently since there are so many more options and varieties of yarn available through this partnership!

xo,

FiberPhiladelphia!

I've been craving girlfriend time like crazy recently. Maybe it's due to the changing of seasons and me being tired of being closed up, or maybe it's just because I don't see my girlfriends on a regular basis (probably the latter), but I have been trying to squeeze in as much friend time as possible.

My good friend Whitney, owner of The Muse in downtown Frederick, invited me on a day trip with her to Philadelphia and I was more than happy to tag along! Many of the FiberPhila events and exhibits are still underway through the end of this month (and even into early April), so if you're near by, you may want to make a day or weekend out of it! 

I'm a big fan of day trips in general, but this trip was extra special because it gave me the girlfriend time I needed, plus a healthy dose of inspiration for the spring and summer! Here's a look at our trip (and my thoughts regarding the show, too):

 

 

What do you think? My favorite exhibit was the one above that was curated on the theme of Mending = Art. There have been many times that my art has helped me mend myself. I think one could also argue that the process of mending a piece is also art unto itself, right? Maybe all art is mending and all mending is art?

Throughout all the exhibits I noticed a subversive trend regarding if craft could be interpreted as art. It's a great argument and one that I am constantly struggling with in my own life and work. Is crafting really an art? Has it always been or is it just now gaining said attention? Can we attribute the handmade revolution that has been sweeping our country throughout the last decade to this idea? Or has it been an art all along? 

What are your thoughts? I'd love to know!

xo,

Book Review: Extra Yarn

A few months ago I was scrolling through sponsorship ads on some of my favorite blogs and stumbled upon One Sheepish Girl, written by one of the sweetest people in blogland, Meredith. It didn't take me long to see a lot of myself in Meredith as she so accurately communicated the ebbs and flows of college life for an English major as well as the ebbs and flows of a knitter/crocheter! Now, we all know I'm no knitter, but I sort of want to be by looking at her beautiful work (I really die over those stirrup socks every time I see them)!

Anyway, so one day in December Meredith posted about a soon-to-be-published children's book, Extra Yarn. As soon as I heard the name, no lie, I headed straight to Amazon to pre-order it. I received the book in January and have been loving on it ever since. It has transformed itself into a coffee table book that Cory and I have on top of our wedding album! That's how much I love it!

I think the cover alone is sort of amazing; I seriously can't imagine how it could be any better. I love the mixture of texture and color with the little details, like the strand of yarn winding between the letters in an outdoors setting--so unexpected!

I love how the publisher suggested that this text is appropriate for people aged 4-8. Do you know of a knitter or crocheter of ANY age that just wouldn't love it?! I mean come on!

I am in love with the image above (^^) as the image of a girl, hooks/needles and yarn in hand, patiently walks her dog through the snow as if there is nothing more in life that she needs. I have definitely had those moments when the snow is falling and I have nothing but a good project to keep my mind occupied. Pure bliss! 

What I love most about this book is that it's simple. I miss the days of simple stories and simple ideas that truly keep our world working. Children's books are often convoluted with bright colors and extreme stories--but this is the complete opposite. The colors are used to show the magic of yarn and craft, the magic behind patience and knowing a skill, and the magic of creating. This is now my go-to gift for needleartist friends and baby showers! Love it!

What books have you discovered that put a magical twist on an art or a craft? I'd love to add them to my library!

xo,

Deck the Halls: Stash Buster Braided Scarf

Hi everyone! Life has been catching up to me big time. Over the last week I had A LOT of papers to grade, lessons to plan, gifts to buy, and recipes to bake. Are you starting to feel the holiday crunch? I sure am. Every day I'm making a more and more specific To Do List. I think I even have a To Do List for my To Do List. And unfortunately, I'm not joking. 

The good news is that this weekend Cory and I had zero plans, so after being out of town last weekend, I wanted to make sure I could bring a few new cute DIYs that might make your holiday more festive and your gift giving much easier!

This time of year I have an embarrassing stash of yarn.... and by embarrassing, I mean huge. I can't bare to throw away large hunks of left-over yarn because "I can definitely use it for something!" Do you say that to yourself, too? Well, the good news is that I am finally using it for something Hooray!

Today's DIY is a simple project that you and a group of loved ones, friends, or children could work on. Everything you need you probably have around your house, especially if you knit or crochet! Ladies and gents, I introduce to you:

Materials:

scissors

yarn stash (I also added a little lace, trim, and ribbon, too!)

 (I picked a color family that I thought I would wear all year round. I like a lot of color, so this assortment of colors definitely works for me. You could match like-colors with different textured yarns and get a pretty cool effect!)

Step 1: Group all your yarn together and tie a knot with about 3 inches at the end for a tassel. 

Step 2: Unroll all your yarn and measure nearly 2 yards. Cut your yarn. Don't be afraid if your floor looks something like this:

Step 3: Section off your yarn into 3 sections so you can braid. I tried to group different colors and textures together for a eclectic feel.  Try your best to keep the strands apart as you braid so you don't have a gigantic knot. I had my husband hold the tassel and I walked the strands through the braid (a little ridiculous looking if we had recorded it).

Alternative: If you're not into braiding, you can knot every 6 inches or so throughout the scarf and still get a pretty cool look. I actually decided to do both on mine! I just wanted it to look really funky and original ;).

Style, wear, and enjoy!  

I will be making these as quick gifts for some of my Anthro-lovin' girlfriends ;)

Want to see more Deck the Halls posts?