TTC Knitalong 2013 - Coming Soon to a Transit System Near You!

The TTC Knitalong team is thrilled to announce that we have finally settled on a date for this year's KAL! Please mark your calendars to knit along with us on the TTC on:

SATURDAY JULY 20, 2013

Registration and route announcements will take place at 12:00 (noon) on Monday, June 3rd so stay tuned!

A big thank you to our sponsors!

This year the TTC Knitalong was even bigger and better than ever. Despite rising temperatures and TTC streetcar diversions, our enthusiastic 80 participants and 13 captains across 6 teams and 8 yarn shops were un-fazed. The event would be fabulous already even if we stopped there, but thanks to some fabulous sponsors, everyone went home with some great tote bags with a few goodies, and about 2 dozen of our participants went home with additional prize bags awarded at the after-party at the end of the day. AND, it gets even better than that - between the proceeds from participant registration and some generous donations from a few retailers, the event raised over $1200 for Sistering which helps women in poverty in Toronto. We'd like to take a moment to thank all the fabulous retailers who donated to this event to make it great.

 
 

 In addition to offering coupons for shopping during the event or prizes for the extra giveaways, Patternfish, Knitomatic, Americo, Knit Cafe, and Mary Maxim all gave charitable donations to Sistering, and we celebrated their above-and-beyond generosity by adorning our event tote bags with their logos.

   

 Great prize giveaways came from several fine folks in the knitting community. Soak (of the well-loved Soakwash) gave us a beautiful Soakbox and a bunch of little Heel cream samples for swag bags. Westminster fibers donated several Rowan pattern books which were highly coveted, and Diamond Yarns gave a whole set of interchangeable needles! A few beautiful skeins of yarn came to us from Tanis Fiber Arts and Indigodragonfly Yarns, pattern booklets and project bags came from Cabin Fever and Knitty.com, respectively, and an entire case of Sweet Sheep brand Soakwash came to us from the Sweet Sheep.

Our swag bags were also practically filled to brimming with patterns from local Toronto-area knitting designers, Natalie Selles, Kate Atherley, Laura Chau, Stephannie Roy, Indigodragonfly, and Glenna C. Phew! That is one fantastic mountain of prize giveaways.

 
 

 Finally, we could not have done the event without the participation (and generous discounts on the day!) from our Toronto yarn shops Americo, Knitomatic, The Knit Cafe, Lettuce Knit, Mary Maxim, Passionknit, The Purple Purl, and Romni Wools. We thank everyone for making another enjoyable TTC Knitalong day and look forward to doing it again next year!

LYS Profile: Americo

I love to visit Americo at almost any time of year, but summer is probably my favourite. This little Queen West shop is always a cool oasis from the hot sidewalks outside. There are deep leather chairs just inside for relaxing in while you soak up the A/C and maybe knit a bit. The walls are hung with every fibre you can imagine in a stunning rainbow of on-trend brights, natural fibres and deep, rich colours--colours that are just unusual to catch your eye but neutral enough to knit up into wearable garments and accessories. The yarns you’ll find here are all unique to Americo and there is an emphasis on natively South American fibres like llama & alpaca. These lovely soft, luxurious-feeling fibres are balanced with plenty of wool, silk and cotton. And, as if this amazing selection of yarn isn’t enough, Americo always has beautiful patterns to knit, and sell the most beautiful leather bags and other accessories.

Also… this totally unrelated but in my head, everytime I say the name of the store its to the tune of “America” from West Side Story. La la la la la la Americo….

Website
www.americo.ca 

TTC Knitalong 2012: FULL

Wow! We've never had all the spaces in the KAL fill up so quickly: all teams are now full.

We have started a waiting list though, and there are almost always people who drop out a few weeks/days before the event. So, don't be discouraged! Please follow the registration advice here and send us your info. You'll get a waiting list confirmation email back and hopefully some spaces will open up. Waiting list will be in order of sign-ups so we suggest you sign up soon :)

Registration Update

Haven't registered yet? Click here to sign up.

The TTC Knitalong is still more than a month away and we're over 80% full - almost as many people have already signed up as participated in last year's Knitalong!

The Purple, Green & Blue Teams are all full.

Just a few spaces left in Red, Orange & Yellow Teams.

Why I totally dig Knit-o-matic

by Yvette Leclair aka longyarn

Knitomatic is a small, cozy, inviting store. Entering its doors on a gray Toronto winter day, you feel immediately as though you’ve entered a cushioned yarn cocoon. In summer, it’s an escape from the noise. It feels so OK to sit down at the center table and knit or read pattern magazines for a while. 

Being a smaller store, it doesn’t have absolutely everything, but Haley, the proprietor, knows what her clientele likes and stocks accordingly. You may not find lace weight but you will find an excellent selection of worsted and chunky weights in a deep rich colour palette. There’s also an amazing selection of kits and sock yarn. 
Knit-o-matic believes in keeping the stock rotating. If you don’t mind shopping slightly off-season, and I sure don’t, you’ll get amazing deals on yarn and magazines.

& Don’t forget their awesome mascot Pluto :-)!!


You can learn more about Knit-o-Matic's great sales, products and latest news at knitomatic.blogspot.ca

Knit-o-matic is the first stop on Team Blue and is also on Team Red.

Why Mary Maxim is Awesome

by Needle Addict

I know we all love the Purl, Romni and Lettuce but we want to do a shout-out to the other stores on the map.

Toronto’s Mary Maxim is not just acrylic sweater kits and Styrofoam craft cones. Yes, they do have acrylic, lots of acrylic, however perhaps in order to cater to a Toronto market, the Mary Maxim at Yonge and Eg also carries a nice variety of other yarns for those of us not so into synthetics.

MM tends to have a nice variety of reasonable priced work-horse yarns (Patons, Cascade, Kertzer) and some fancier yarns like Noro, Estelle and I have even seen Rowan and Debbie Bliss there on occasion. MM generally has a good selection of sock yarns at various price points and they usually have great specials/clearance items.

Since Mary Maxim has been added to the TTC KAL itinerary, the store has always been a favorite with attendees. Also I should add that on the 2010 Knit-along I picked up 8 balls of Cascade fixation for $1.99 a ball. Bargain time. It’s a fact.

Oh and don't forget Mary Maxim's house brand sock yarn Gemstones - its gorgeous, long lasting and super reasonably priced. There is also a great selection of other crafty supplies there, and a nearby pet store with cute bunnies!

Bob Hope wearing
a Mary Maxim Sweater

More facts about Mary Maxim:

• They are a family-owned Canadian business
• They were responsible for the oh-so-Canadian trend of Cowichan-inspired sweaters like the one Bob Hope is wearing here
• Check out more about their products, deals and history at marymaxim.ca

Mary Maxim is on Team Yellow and Team Red.