BLOG
Blog
Slow Clothing Movement
Destination Yarn Store – One Stop for Inspiration and Materials.
A fully stocked, wide selection, gloriously eclectic yarn, wool and fibre destination.
Ethically sourcing has been a hallmark since inception.
Home of RSCKnits Originals – one-of-a-kind, locally designed and created.
Great Balls of Wool – in biz since Nov 1, 2010
Owner, Roisin Sheehy-Culhane has been knitting most of her life. Taught by her grandmother, Rose, at 6 yrs old, her needles have been clicking every since. She has never viewed knitting as a hobby. For her, coming from the Irish tradition of ‘knitting for necessity’ it is a constantly evolving well honed skill.
Living for many years on the West Coast she has developed many of her own designs and patterns, incorporating the skills of the Coast Salish indigenous wool workers with original concepts of Australian Jude Skeers and Roisin’s own knitting visions. Stylish, artistic garments for everyday wear.
With her life experience of knitting, Roisin sees this as an opportune time to share her skills. Many classes, courses, workshops are offered at Great Balls of Wool.
This store is located on Marine Ave, main street in Powell River, B.C. in a 1930’s store built by Mme Loukes for her 5th Ave Dress Shoppe.
At Great Balls of Wool our yarns are chosen with care.
Honouring the animals who’s fleece and fibers we love
Support for local producers and artists
Priority for fair trade companies
Each individual piece represents years of skill development, design expertise, and many hours of hand knitting with love in every stitch.
Classes, courses, workshops.
Elizabeth Zimmermann, Baby Surprise Jacket, and Child and/or Adult Surprise Jacket.
Fiber Trends Felted Clog Slippers
The Lundie Hoodie, baby, child adult (a Roisin original design and pattern)
Chantal Poncho (A Roisin original)
Savary Island Clammer (R original)
Jude Skeers Circular Shawl
Coming in February, Zevolution J
ON line sockistas.
And now for some art!
Hey everyone 😀😀😀 It’s official! It’s knitting season! I have so much stuff planned. However, today I want to talk about some of our Art that we have available here at GBOW. So lets get right into it shall we? This first piece is a multi-media painting by Adam Cramb. It’s on paper and mounted and framed and under glass. It’s a bit different for Adam I think because it his choice of canvas. If you are familiar with Adams work then you know that he often paints on found objects of all kinds. So this feels a bit more formal than usual. It would fit easily into any style of decor with it’s classic framing.
Here is another of Adams pieces which shows what I mean by how his choice of canvas is often part of the nature of his style and Genre. Adam is a Graffiti artist. His work could easily be called fringe art. So the fact that his canvases are often found objects ladders into that style or Genre of art. This piece is from his show called Hugging America. It has political content. One of the things I love about Adams Art is the fact that every piece has a story and some kind of political content.
This piece is by our newest employee and up and coming young artist Felicia Joseph. This and one other piece I have to show you today are new work for her in a new style. This piece is called Gentle Intuition. So far all of our pieces from Felicia have been abstractions. This painting leans more toward magic realism. I absolutely love it.
This is one of my painting. Katrina Craig. It is an oil on canvas painting of the view from my apartment overlooking the strait here is West View. It`s titled Rain. It`s a small canvas. It is currently in the window if you would like to see it in person.
Belinda Fogarty created this next painting. It is an technique called an acrylic pour. This style of painting was very popular in the Sixties and is making a resurgence right now. People are doing some amazing things with this technique using Acrylics as you can see from Belinda`s piece here.She has a few different Acrylic pours in the Gallery right now. If you like this style you should come in and see all of her different works. They are all very different from each other in color and effect.
This is another of Adam Cramb`s works. It is in the window currently if you would like to come see it in person. It`s a lovely vibrant piece and a favorite of mine. It is mixed media on canvas and it is a great size to fit into any house, large or small.
Here we have another of Felicia Josephs paintings. It is acrylic on canvas and is is a lovely local landscape. She has a very west coast style to her work. This piece is in the window currently if you would like to come have a look at it. It is a lovely very classic looking painting that would go well in any style of decor. It`s larger but not so large as to be difficult to find a big enough space to hang it. So gorgeous and versatile.
these last two paintings are both mine. Katrina Craig. The upper one is a painting of a rain storm over Harwood Island. It is oil on canvas with a wooden frame painted white. It`s on the smaller side and quite traditional compared to my current work. I painted this about five years ago now and I am no longer working in this style so there will be no more like this made. The lower painting is of Texada at sunset. it is also an older painting of mine and is interesting because it is one of the very first of my paintings to shift into a more multi-media abstract style that I paint in currently. It features metallic pigment powders that glow and shift color in different lighting.
Ok that`s what I have for you today. Coming up we will have new pictures of Roisin`s latest Fishermans Rib sweaters on a live model and we have tones of classes available starting this month. There will be sweater classes, slipper classes, felting classes, spinning classes and more! Come on down and sign up while there is still room 😸😸😸
Until next time!
💖Happy Knitting!💖
Great New Things!
Hey everyone! Great new things afoot at GBOW 😀. First of all here is a picture of me spinning on the new Atomic Flower drop spindles. It works like a charm. I’m so happy to be able to offer a spinning class for anyone who wants to learn to spin art yarn on a drop spindle. You can spin about a worsted weight on this spindle. We are hoping to have a project available for you to look at to see what you might do with your yarn after you have made it.
Today we have a bunch of show and tell for you to look at. This is Lori Moore’s Willingdon Beach sweater 😀 Isn’t it wonderful? I love it so much. It’s one of many that people have been knitting. This sweater is so versatile. It looks unique each time someone makes it. You can use the original sweater designed by Roisin and change it to suit your taste. People are finding it an easy pattern that adapts well to your individual needs.
Here is another of Lori’s projects. They are knitted and felted water bottle holders for hiking or just wandering about town. You can hang your bottle from your shoulder. Very convenient.
This shawl is Lori’s too! It’s lovely isn’t it? It has pockets 😀😀😀 How great is that? I just love anything with pockets.
Next we have another GBOW pattern that has proven to be easy and versatile. The Purl Piccadilly Scarf. this is Lori’s interpretation of the Purl Piccadilly scarf.. Very long and knit simply in a long tube it’s been very popular and it is always fun to see it done in a new color way. Thank you Lori for bringing yours in to show and tell.
Last but not least Lori brought in this wonderful hummingbird sweater to show everyone. It’s just so lovely.
More new stuff happening right now… we have a new person coming on board to work here at GBOW Felicia Joseph is going to be working here now 😀😀😀 How great is that? She is just starting out but you are welcome to come in and say Hello! And she can tell you a bit about her art that she displays here.
In the fall season we will be having more classes available for your knitting and felting cravings. Belinda will be teaching her classes on needle felting. Roisin will be teaching her new sweater, the Fin Bay Fishermans Rib. Petra will be teaching knitted felted slippers as always 😀 And I will be teaching spin to knit art yarn.
We hope to see you come in!
until next week…
💗Happy Knitting💗
Sari Silk Yarn!!!
We just got this luscious new shipment of Sari Silk yarn for your knitting pleasure!
Come in and touch it 😀 it’s sooo soft and luxurious. You will just love it. I bet this stuff is going to go fast! I know I considered it 😍
It’s hard to tell from the photo but the first two of these yarns below are sparkly 😮😮😮 I`m telling you… that is temptation! You really have to see them. Drool worthy for sure! From what I understand there is more coming! Can’t wait to see that now..
Look at this! Isn’t this deluxe? This is Roisin’s second Fisher mans Rib sweater called the Fin Bay Fisherman. This one is charcoal with a black collar and button band. The collar and button band have super soft yarn knitted onto the inside. So no itchy scratchy neck! Perfect for all your sensitive skinned Fishermen. it’s getting lots of attention. People just love it. Roisin will be offering classes to teach this one. It’s pretty strait forward. But as of yet there is no written pattern. So classes are the way to learn it!
Look it’s Claire 😮😮😮 Someone cut her head off. But I know is her. And now so do you.
But that`s not the point. The point is her glorious poncho. It’s Roisin’s Chantal Poncho knit out of Katrina’s (that would be me) hand dyed sock yarn paired with my hand spun yarn as an accent. I think it’s just amazing. Like nothing I ever could have imagined. I love it. Very creative.
So September is just a around the corner! Are you prepared for knitting season? We have everything you might need. Tones of fun and inspiration by the bucket load. So come on in! There tones of luxury yarns for you to squeeze and dream of knitting.
Until next week!
💗Happy Knitting!💗
Machine Cones
Look at these babies! 😀😀😀
Are they not gorgeous??? Machine knitters cones or weavers cones. Gorgeous colors. 100% wool form Germany. Deluxe stuff.
And look at the colors! I personally am diggin the oranges, pinks and purples. But that moss green is super sweet too. You should drop by and squeeze them. You will love the feel of it. Very soft.
In other news here is a picture of Patti knitting Roisin’s Savory Island Clammer original design. Lovely colors out of soft cotton. A very nice summer top.
Here she is wearing it! It’s not that difficult a knit if you think you might like to try it. You can come in and pick out your yarn that you want to knit it with and then Roisin will walk you through it if you have any difficulties. Doesn’t Patti look splendid? I love this design. Very cool and so pretty.
Next we have a picture of my progress on my second Wilingdon Beach sweater. It is starting to really take shape now. I just separated for the sleeves. I am super enjoying this pattern. I made a mistake though and had to rip it back a bit. Roisin had to help me pick up the stitches. So far that has happened on both of my attempts to navigate this pattern. I am new to knitting from patterns. This is my first ever sweater pattern. I’d like to make it a couple more times I think. I am learning so much.
I am crazy about the colors in this sweater! And it feels amazing. So soft. The Alpaca is slightly slippery and the mohair is kinda fuzzy. It’s been challenging to knit with two such fine yarns. Also the mohair is kinda sticky/felty so ripping out is dangerous. Making sure I have always got two strands means I have to pay more attention. But all in all I would say it has been a pretty easy project. I am almost done all the tricky bits. All I have left to do is the cable cast on stitches under the arms. then come back around and pick them up. Then is just knit, knit, knit, all the way down the body and I am done! I don’t think I will be putting on caplet sleeves. It depends what I think when I try it on. I will keep you posted!
I hope everyone is enjoying their lovely hot weather and swimming lots and lots while the sun shines. Goodness knows that soon the rains will start and we will be moaning about the grey rainy days! That is part of being a Canadian I think… moaning about the weather! No matter what the weather might be.😂😂😂
September is almost here then it’s officially “Knitting Season” 😀😀😀
We all look forward to seeing you here!
Come drop by even if it’s just to chat😘
Hope to see you soon…
until then…
💗Happy Knitting💗
Atomic Flower Power!
Look at this! My brand new design!!! Atomic Flower Jumbo Drop Spindles !!!!I had help though, from Turtle Made on Etsy.com, together we designed these unique. One of a kind. Hand made. JUMBO drop spindles 😀 These spindles are specifically designed for spinning bulk, chunky, Art Yarns. Each one is individually 3D printed out of fully COMPOSTABLE natural fiber plastics. They are made from CORN 😀😀😀😀 and can Bio-degrade. They are available here at the store already so you can come buy one and try it out. Or I will be teaching classes here at GBOW in spinning designer Art Yarns.
And here is something else new in the shop 😀😀😀
a whole new batch of all new color ways of my hand dyed sock yarn!
I have been trying out some new colors in my pallet. So I have a whole bunch of new grey color ways.
There are twenty new skeins in all to choose from. They are currently in the window if you want to walk by and have a peak. They are all priced and ready to walk out the door if you are feeling the need for some knitting therapy.
Look at this work of Art!!! It is Roisin’s latest design project. A men’s sweater in lovely Fisherman’s Rib stitch. So as I understand it, Fisher mans Rib is like the less “fancy” predecessor of Brioche. So if it looks similar to you there is a reason for that 😜 This is our new signature men’s sweater and Roisin will be teaching classes on this in the future. So if it looks challenging, no worries, Roisin can walk you through it.
Last but never least I have some news. Belinda and Cindy and I will be having a booth out front for Blackberry Street Festival. 😀😀😀 Here is a picture of Belinda’s gorgeous Blackberry inspired dryer balls! Are they not the cutest thing ever? So come on by and see us for Blackberry fest 😍
Ok! That’s about it for this weeks installment of our faithful blog o sphere presence. Hope you feel inspired! Knitting season “officially” begins in September… that’s less than three weeks away 😮
until next time…
💗Happy Knitting💗
Hot Summer Knits
Hey everyone 😀
Hot enough for ya? It has been truly summer gorgeous out lately. Hot and clear and bright. It’s kind of nice to have a cool day don’t you think? I could really get into a day of rain to catch up on things around the house. Maybe even do some knitting? What do you think? Are any of you knitting in this heat? Some of our customers are. Look at this beautiful sweater that Janet made. Each of those dark lines is a row of loops. So the sweater has a textured effect. It is bright white and navy with one red stripe at each shoulder at the top. So summer! So beautiful! Janet is a very talented knitter. You should see here beautiful work. We get to see it here at the shop when she comes in wearing things she has made. Always a pleasure to see Janet 💗
And here is another of our buddies! William 😀 William does Tunisian crochet. Look at his beautiful blanket 😮 It is a baby blanket all of Galway wool in the colors of Ireland. You have to see this close up to truly appreciate the intricacy of the stitches. It’s glorious. And so thick! Tunisian crochet gives a unique thickness to the finished blanket and an unusual patterning to the stitches. Not something you see every day. We love it when William comes for a visit. He’s so sweet!
This is Cindy’s sock 😲 It’s crochet!!! Not knit. So it looks completely different. For all you crocheters out there reading this.here is a fun project you can try. Crocheted socks! These socks are made out of Katrina’s Hand dyed sock yarn (that would be me😋😜) it looks super cute knit or crocheted. One skein is enough to knit a pair of socks. The colors pool rather than striping or patterning. You can do so much with this yarn. It’s not just for socks! It can be for shawls or sweaters or anything you can dream up! I am currently working on a huge new batch of my hand dyed in all new colors. I hope to have it in the store ASAP.
Look! It’s our friend Melissa 💗💋 Back from out of town for a visit 😀 She was in last weekend to stock up on woolly supplies to knit this summer while she is down from the Great White North for a bit. You can see here that she is needle felting her very own Orca. Apparently the local Orca have been very busy both here at the store and out in the strait. A friend of mine was on the ferry this last weekend and said she saw a pod of them Breaching and Blowing and being their spectacular selves in front of the ferry. She said whatever side they were visible from, everyone on the ferry would rush to that side to watch their display!
Here is Powell Rivers own signature pod of Orca whales that were made right here at great Balls of Wool 💗
So next month is September! Back to school for the little ones… and back to knitting for all you grown up ones! 😄 It’s going to be cooling off soon. Personally I have my winter knitting all planned out! How about you? I am knitting a coat, a cardigan, a sweater and lots n lots of socks. Remember socks? It’s Sockista’s on every Tuesday afternoon from 1-3pm. We are right here waiting for you to come back in to the cozy Loopy Lounge for your winter knitting fix.
Whatever knitting you might be planning we have the tools and yarns to set you up. You can come down and hang out with a cup of tea and your new favorite project and knit knit knit!!!
So we hope to see you soon!!!
Until next time…
💗Happy Knitting💗
Madame Loukes Historic House
Look what the old Great Balls of Wool location has become! It’s an air BnB 😀 We have already had guests. It’s all set up and ready to go should you need accommodation for guests from out of town. You can book it on-line. Or perhaps if you just have the hankering to spend the night in the place that used to be your local yarn shop. Minus the actual yarn. So maybe not. The yarn being the reason you might want to spend the night in a wool shop.
This is Virginia. She made a Jude Skeers circular vest out of a soft light weight yarn. Isn’t it glorious! She did such a good job.
Here is another one of Ruth’s creations and it is knit out of milk. For real. the yarn is made from milk protein. It doesn’t smell like cheese though. It has no smell at all. It’s a chocolate milk sweater. With a matching hat.
Petra’s slipper class is turning out slippers like a factory! One pair after another. here you can see the ladies hard at it kitting up their slippers in a happy group. So fun. Petra is a great teacher. She really rocks. She’s patient and good at explaining how things work. If you want to try out her class she will be teaching slipper class here on an ongoing basis. You can come in and put your name on the list to be notified when the next class will take place, and you can reserve a spot.
This is Monica’s slipper before felting it in the washer. Look how big it is! It will shrink quite a bit and get much thicker and denser as it does so. These slippers have a double layer of kitted fabric in the sole. So they last forever. they a fully washable too which is nice.
Here is Monica herself. Kitting. you can see her working on the mate to the slipper above. you can see she put some fluffy art yarn in the cuff to add some character.
Ok that’s what I have got for you today 😀
I have added a new widget to the blog today. It is a subscription box!if you scroll down to the very bottom you can see it. Enter your email into the box and blogger will send this blog to your email account every time we post. So you can keep updated 😍
Alrighty then…
until next time
💗Happy Knitting💗
th Avenue Dress Shop
This is our shop! Lots of people in Powell River remember when this building was the 5th Avenue Dress Shoppe. Madame Loukes, who owned the shop was a seamstress and Designer from New Orleans. People say she may have come to Powell River around 1912. She opened the dress shop later. She is vividly remembered by the community and we often get people who come in just to look at the shop they remember from their youth.
Here you can see a lovely pictutre of the front of the building. Roisin went to the Powell River Museum and got these photo’s for us to share.
Here you can see ladies looking at lovely garments and chatting about merchandise. What a wonderful snap shot of an era of Powell River history. We are all wondering which one might be Madame Loukes herself? If anyone has any information to share we would be excited to find out any details we can. Perhaps someone out there might know her first name? The exact time she came here? The date she opened the store? Or any good stories of your experiences here would be loved and appreciated.
Above you can get a glimps of how the store was laid out and more fuel for the imagination as to what was on the shelves. Look at the beautiful mannequins! We wish we had those beauties now. Below is another picture of the store front. This one in the day time. This one is from befoer the distinctive shiny black tiles were put on. It sure looks different!
I have yarn store news!
We have as new shipment of Malabrigo!!! It is glorious! We have bags of it. All ripe for the taking. It’s all new colors or colors that have been out of stock for a while.
Here is a picture of the colors. The picture really doesn’t do them justice. You should really come in and have a look. I’m partial to the purples myself. I’m thinking maybe I need some… another sweater would be nice…
Not much to update on my sweaters progress. I have not been working on it as much so it is progressing a bit slowly at the moment. Im not quite to the sleeves yet. but soon. I’m still working on the increases. I’m finding that two strands of fine yarn is so much more challenging than I expected. It’s harder to see the stitches than I expected. Also keeping the two strands on the needles and not dropping any stitches is something I have to pay attention to. I’m loving the Alpaca to knit with! It’s so soft. This sweater will be thin but it will still be warm I expect. I think I am almost ready to switch from the green sparkle mohair to the bright purple mohair. Sorry I did not takes pictures as it looks not a lot different than last time. Just longer.
Alrighty then 😀
I hope you enjoyed looking at the old photos of the shop as much as we did. Once again I will say that if you have any info at all feel free to leave a comment or come in and talk to us.
Until next week…
💗Happy Knitting💗
Clothing
Hey everyone 😀 I thought I would show you some of our clothing that we have here at GBOW. It is all slow clothing. Handmade. Some are even Roisin’s original designs.
We have got a whole rack that we put together for you to brows through. On the right is the Texada Time Wrap. One of Roisin’s original designs. I have a couple examples to show you that are for sale here now. Or if you are up for a creative project you can come in and select the yarn of your choice and get the pattern to make your own!
Here you can see some of our lighter shawls and summer things. The left is a Chantal Shawl. One of Roisin’s original designs. You can buy the finished product here or you can come in and pick your wool and get the pattern and knit your own 😀
This gorgeous green poncho was knit by Brenda. It’s machine washable and it’s for sale here now. The hat that is with it is sold separately but it would look so sweet with this lovely shawl. The hat was knit by Roisin. It is 100% wool.
These two incredible lace weight jackets are a Jude Skeers design. These were knit by Roisin and are available for purchase here now. We also sell the pattern for this lovely number. I currently am knitting one out of Australian lace weight silk. It’s a relatively easy knit but remember, if you feel like knitting anything you see here just come in and put the materials together and Roisin will help you get it done!
The lovely grey poncho below is another of Roisin’s original designs. She knit this one out of a variety of different yarns but it looks gorgeous done in a solid color as well. We have another solid color one here in the shop that you can look at for inspiration or you can try either or both on for fit to get an idea what size you might like to make. This is a super easy pattern. It is knit flat!
Below is another example of the Texada Time Wrap Poncho. It’s a super fun easy knit too. It is knit flat as well. We have tones of gorgeous buttons to complete your project. So you can come in and get literally everything you need in one stop plus you can come back for instructions if you get stuck!
So in other news I thought I would show you a picture of my Wilingdon Beach Sweater. It is all done! This is another example of something you can make too. It’s super easy and satisfying because it goes quite quickly for a bigger project. We have an example here at the store for you try try on to gauge what size you might like to make. I loved this pattern so much I am making it twice!
Below is the beginning of my second Wiligdon Beach Sweater! I am knitting this one out of two lace weight yarns together to equal a DK weight. The lavender strand is Alpaca and the green strand is Mohair. It is very soft and has a slight halo. Also the green strand has a tiny bit of sparkle! So pretty. Im about half way through the yoke now starting from the collar and working down. Next I separate for the sleeves. This one is going to be sleeveless so once I separate for the sleeves it is a clear shot to the hem! Because it is knit on circs it is strait knit all the way through. Virtually no pearl at all. The only place you pearl is on the short rows when you are building up at back of the yoke. Other than that it is all knit, knit, knit!!! Easy Peasy!
All righty then! That’s about it for today’s update. I hope you will come in and try on some clothing. maybe start a new project??? It’s such a cool and rainy summer it is perfect knitting weather. Maybe we will see you down here for lessons! Come hang out and share tea and snacks. Have a chin wag with the ladies! The more the merrier 😊
Until next week…
💖Happy Knitting!💖