La Bobineuse
Kate and I ventured off the beaten yarn-store track this morning, to la Bobineuse de Laine (translation: the Wool Winder) on Mont-Royal Avenue East. It's hard to describe this place -- there's a good blog post here about it. This is not brand-name yarn. The store is filled with cones of yarn that they sell by the pound. All of the prepared yarns are made up of several very thin strands, but they're not spun together; or, you can choose your own combination of various fibres, and they'll wind them together onto a cone on their huge old machinery. (Yeah, it's hard to explain.) There are lots of acrylics, but they also have cotton and wool, and it's crazy-cheap.
I figured it was a good place to buy cotton for a shopping bag: this one, for example, or this one, or maybe this one. At $10/pound, I couldn't really go wrong. (One needs about half a pound for a bag, in case you were wondering.) I was looking at some boring dark blue, but Kate pushed me (nicely) toward the métallique mélange cones, and I ended up buying an 8-ounce cone of a white-&-silver mix: 
Grocery shopping is about to go glam, people.
19 comments:
OOH! Going Green never sparkled so much! Can't wait to see it!
What an interesting "roll your own" concept! Love the folk art vibe photo, too. Nice.
LOVE IT. If you were ever wondering what I needed . . . it's sparkly cotton. Seriously.
ooh i'm so jealous, i wanted to hit up la bobineuse when i was in montreal last summer. it was my first ever visit (loved it!) and unfortunately there just wasnt enough time to squeeze in everything!
what a great concept though.
Remember buying bra by the pound?
LOL - I wonder if it has reflective properties to keep you safe out walking?!
hey, did you see that you won the drawing?!!!!! i am sending you a blue kit (unless you want a red one again, tell me quick!)
km
I'm short on time and Google-fu tonight, but if you look you can find the crochet version of that kind of bag. They make up in the round with only chains and singles and are sososo fast! They are more eggplant shaped and have more volume if you're planning to grocery shop or go to the beach with your bag.
Wait, I found one -- with a pocket and everything!
http://www.crochetme.com/reduction-tote-bag
that will be one rockin' shopping bag!
Hey thanks for letting me know about that store, I'll have to check it out soon!
congrats on winning the quilt kit! I think I'll have to buy one of those one of these days.
Can't wait to see your finished bag!
PS, come and check out our group on facebook, "Knitters of Montreal", we are slowly starting up a small Stitch n'bitch, the more the merrier.
GLITTER! That's exactly what grocery shopping needs.
Which bag are you going to make? I have seen a couple of the Ever Lastings started, but I would want to see the bag in action before making it. I'm really hard on my bags.
Woohoo, that is gonna be some swanky grocery bag! I, too, would love to know what pattern you'll be using.
I haven't been over there yet...I'll have to check it out.
I love the sparkles. That sounds like a fun place.
Man - back in the early 90s there was a shop just like that in midtown Manhattan. Climb up crooked steps to a second floor loft space - filled with the same cones of mystery yarns - and two ancient men would combo your choices onto single cones...it was AWESOME and cheap - and wonderful.
Add this to my list of Must Sees when next in Montreal!
If you want to try your hand at a croched version there is this one.
http://frayedattheedges.blogspot.com/2006/08/free-crochet-grocery-bag-pattern_03.html
I meant crocheted....sigh
I could spend HOURS there! I cannot wait to see your market bag. I think it is going to look terrific.
Post a Comment