Sunshine. Alpacas. Maine.

That's what we're headed for on April 14th.

Join us for a day at the Sunshine Alpacas of Maine farm. We'll meet Lori Malloy, her suri alpacas, her llamas, her angora bunnies, her chickens, her dogs, her cat and her parrot. We'll tour the on-site spinning mill, have a lunch from Sebago Brewing Company and take yarn dyeing workshop. It's a great way to break the cabin fever and launch your spring.

Sign up now, as there are only 6 seats available.

What: A travelling knit circle to Sunshine Alpacas of Maine
When: Saturday, April 14th 8:30am - 6:00pm
Where: leaving from the Circles parking lot
Who: why, you, of course!

See you there!

A Charity Knitting Event

Hat Off for Cradles to Crayons

On Saturday, September 23rd, we'll be hosting a charity knitting event. We'll see how many hats we can knit in a day.

We've been collecting an impressive amount of new, hand-made items for Cradles to Crayons, a charity that provides clothing and school supplies to homeless children throughout Massachusetts.

You can support the effort in 3 ways:

1. sit with us and see how many hats you can add to the pile
2. bring a new, hand-knit item to add to our collection
3. make a money donation to Cradles to Crayons.

However you choose to participate, please join us.
Saturday, September 23, Noon-6pm

Sheep Shop Yarns

The first of the Sheep Shop Yarn has arrived.

Yes, we're launching the entire line at the Showcase next week
Saturday, September 16th, Noon-6pm
but we thought we'd give you a little preview....

The "solid" colors in this very soft, bulky, 2-ply are on the shelves and they look awesome.

To support the launch of Fonnie's new business adventure, we are offering her yarns on sale today through the showcase.

The Sheep 2 bulky, regularly $13.75 per skein will be on sale for $11.50.
The Sheep 1 single-ply chunky, regularly $13.00 will be on sale for $11.00 (these will make their debut on the 16th.)

Please join us as congratulate Fonnie and wish her great success.
(There will also be a surprise new product revealed that day!)

New Shop Hours

To aid in our transition to a Co-operative and the development of the new programs we will introduce this year, we are temporarily changing our shop hours.

Starting the week of September 18th Circles' hours will be:
Thurs, Fri, & Sat Noon-8pm
Sun Noon-5pm

To learn more, go here.

All social circles will remain active and we will still have a full class and event schedule.

Thank you for your support.

Stitch N Style Tanks

We don't usually carry garment, but we liked these tanks, with great graphics for knitters, so much that we thought we'd give them a try.


(They only had photos of t's. We have 1 T by mistake, the rest are tank tops. We'll have nightshirts later in the fall. Also, they come in 3 colorways.)

Come check them out, they're great summer wear!

Summer Yarn Coop Special

The Yarn Coop has been a huge success at Circles. We'd like to thank our customers for supporting this pioneering approach to the management of a yarn store. It is the success of the coop that has led to our idea of community ownership.

As we transition to community ownership of Circles, we are also working towards enhancing the role of the Yarn Cooperative. In the past, the Yarn Coop members have reviewed yarns that we are thinking about carrying at Circles. We have kept these reviews in mind as we plan the yarn inventory for each season.

At our next Yarn Coop meeting in August, we will begin to turn the Yarn Coop into the yarn inventory planning group. Coop members will do more than influence the inventory. They will work with a budget and decide what inventory Circles will purchase.

To reward you for your support, and to encourage new members, we are offering a summer incentive to re-up or open your Yarn Cooperative account. For the month of June, you will receive a 15% bonus above the standard benefit - see the chart here. For the month of July the bonus will be 10% and for the month of August it will be 5%.

Here's an example of how it works: You deposit $250 into a Yarn Coop account. You then receive the standard 10% benefit of $25. If it's still June, you will then receive and additional 15%, or $37.50 for a total Yarn Credit of $312.50.

The Yarn Coop is a win-win proposition for Circles and its customers. Customers get a discount and Circles learns exactly which products they want to buy. Thank you again for all of your support. We look forward to working and knitting with our community for years to come.

1st Annual Circles Book Fair

We hear people talking about the books they've loved and the ones they didn't find so helpful all the time. We watch customers agonize over which book will suit them. It can be so hard to tell from the pictures. There are so many to choose from!

The best way to get sense whether a book will suit your needs is to talk to someone who has used it. We can't carry every book, much less read them all. You might not run into anyone who can review a book for you when you visit a shop.

So, we've come up with a solution: the Circles Book Fair. Bring your favorites - make sure to put your name in them - and talk to others about theirs. While you're talking and perusing, you can make a list of the books you want. We'll be placing a custom book order for the book fair participants. Get 15% off any books you order that day.

Yes - your own gaggle of reviewers and a 15% discount. That's our kind of event.

Please join us:

This Sunday, April 30th
1-5pm
at Circles - 555 Amory Street, JP

See you there!

Fashion Preview for Knitters

Marcia Cleary of Knittingbag.com returns to lead us through another preview of the upcoming Fall fashions with a knitterly eye.

We'll discuss the trends seen on the New York runways and what kinds of knitted pieces would complement them. Marcia brings samples of her designs for a bit of a mini knit fashion show. She has keen eye for the simple details that make things fashionable, without being trendy, and her joy for the subect matter is infectious. This is sure to be another delightful evening that will light up your weekend and inspire you to pick up the needles and get creative.

Please join us:
Friday, May 12th, 6:30 pm

Learn About our El Salvador Travel Circle

Dean Stevens will be at Circles on Thursday, April 7th at 7pm to introduce us to the work he does in El Salvador and to answer any questions you may have about what our Travel Circle experience might be like.

Dean is a warm, entertaining and remarkable man. This is sure to be an inspiring experience. If you are interested in going to El Salvador with us, want to find out what we plan on doing there, or simply want to learn more about Dean's work, please join us.


Thursday, April 7th, 7pm
at Circles