I have had the pleasure of discovering the best kept secret in the Lower Mainland. Tucked into the corner of the Salvation Army and the Caring Place Ministry in Maple Ridge, is a great little yarn shop called Once Upon A Sheep. Now at first, this LYS doesn’t seem to be much different from any other LYS. As a matter of fact, you may have shopped in there without knowing much about it at all. What sets this LYS apart from all the others I have ever been in is that all the proceeds from sales goes towards the Salvation army and the shelter that is housed in the building where it resides. As a matter of fact, there are no paid staff in the store, as it is run entirely by volunteers.
Major Kathie as she is called by the volunteers running the store, started Once Upon A Sheep to satisfy her desire for yarn. What started with just one distributor and a few different lines of yarns has grown into a store carrying quite a variety of yarns to satisfy the needs of a large demographic of knitter, even though she is allergic to sheep wool! The store is very orderly and the yarns are arranged in order of tension, making it very easy to find exactly what you are looking for. Kathie has the philosophy that everyone should knit and has been very selective in the yarns she carries in the store. While you will find a few balls at $15 or slightly higher, most of the yarns are priced below $10/ball. This is done however, without sacrificing quality. Even the acrylics that are there are very good and I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had Organic merino wool under $10/ball too.
Major Kathie displaying the delectable yarns available at the shop!
The other side to the story is that the volunteers are all very friendly and informative and love to share their experience and passion for knitting with you. There is no pressure sales going on in this store, and customers are encouraged to sit and knit if they have the time. There are numerous resourses at hand in the form of books, magazines, and a computer, but the best one is the volunteers themselves, always willing to help with problems. The store is open from 10 – 4 from Monday to Saturday. They also have a drop in on Tuesday nights from 7 – 9 pm with a wide variety of ages and stages as Kathie puts it. There is ample room in the store for the knitters that show up and everybody and anybody is welcome to attend.
Rosemary, one of the volunteers, explaining knitting details to Lily.
Major Kathie works with the Salvation Army and actually bought the space for the shop from them (even though she built the entire site from the ground up). The Salvation Army runs a ministry, short term stay shelter, and community outreach program from the location. I personally think this is such a great idea I am surprised it is not done in more areas. In speaking with Kathie, her and her husband have been relocated to Ontario and will be moving at the end of June. Fortunately the store will remain and Kathie is confident that with the Board of Directors in place it will continue to be an important part of the community. I personally wish her all the best and look forward to hearing what she does in Ontario – hey, a gal’s gotta knit!
If you’d like to visit the store, it is located at 22188 Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge. They can be contacted at 604-463-8296 x109. They also have a blog HERE, and a website currently under construction. When you drop in ask about getting your discount card and shop well knowing that the proceeds are going to a great cause!
Hugzzz 😎