Lockdown: Open for Pick-up, Shipping & Delivery

A new lockdown order goes into effect tomorrow, but since we never reopened for in-store shopping nothing is really changing for us. Still, new lock-down orders are always a great opportunity for us to get in touch and connect. You can find ALL the details at the bottom of the main page of our website knitomatic.com.

Shop Online or by Phone

You can place your order online on our secure e-commerce website knitomatic.com, or by phone Monday to Sunday from 11am to 5 pm: 416-653-7849.  If you need help choosing a project or materials please feel free to email or call us!

Open for Pick-up, Delivery & Shipping 

• During COVID LOCKDOWN we are currently offering shipping, curb-side pick-up, and same-day delivery.
• We are not open for in-store shopping, knitting help, classes or sit ‘n knit. 
• We are open Monday to Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm for curb-side pick-up and anything you need to do over the phone.
• The fastest way to get your order is to purchase online and choose pick-up at check-out (during store hours our turnaround is usually between 15 minutes to an hour). You can also call us to place your order.
• At this time we are not offering instruction online. We refer our clients to excellent resources like KnittingHelp.com, VeryPink.com and Craftsy.com.

New Store Bird

Since the issuing of a new lockdown feels oh so blah, I thought maybe I’d cheer you up by sharing some family pictures. If you’ve been one of our clients for a while you may know that for many years we had a store bird who passed away in August 2019. Well, at the start of the winter I was fortunate and was able to welcome a new family member, Gruau (it’s french, pronounced Grew-OH). Now that the weather is getting warmer I’ve started bringing him to the store, and last week was his first visit. I’m thrilled to report that he’s a NATURAL, he’s sliding right into the role!

Bird FAQs

• Gruau is a Peach-Faced or Rosy-Faced lovebird with an Aqua or Dutch Blue mutation.
• Gruau’s previous owners are Quebecois, and he is Franco-Ontarian. His name is french and means groats, or oatmeal. He is fairly bilingual and understands both French and English.
• If you see him at the store and have a hard time pronouncing his name you can also call him Bo, or Bo-Bird. I frequently tell him in franglais/fringlish he’s a “beau bird” (pretty bird), so he’s very familiar with the term.
• His wings are currently clipped, which keeps him safe and out of trouble. He can still fly, he just doesn’t get as far or as high.
• He has a cage at home and at the store. He’s a pretty sensitive soul, so right now he’s going to be commuting with me to work and back.
• I carry him in a ‘bird-bag’; a carrying bag I knit and felted. It’s a safe, soft, warm place with holes on both sides to peek out.
• He’s about three years old, I’ve known him since he came home from the pet-store and used to babysit him when his dads went out of town, or just needed a break.
• His favourite foods tend to be beige and include pasta and rice. He also likes dried mango and whatever dried fruit is in his favourite treat mix.
• He likes to weave, does not like it when I knit, and usually joins me in meditation in the mornings.
• He prefers jazz to classical music, but also chills out to plink-plunky spa-type Solfegio music.
• I don’t think he talks … sometimes he mumbles but I think he is copying the sound of the television. His first family says he has a few words in french, but if he does his accent is too heavy for me to make it out.

Gruau exploring the mannequin … thankfully he’s a mamma’s bird and isn’t getting into things. So far his favourite place is on my shoulder, followed by Noel’s shoulder, and under invoices. He’s very personable, but a little shy with strangers and isn’t used to being around a lot of people. Lockdown is proving to be the the ideal time to get him used to travelling, being in a new space, and meeting new people.

Gru’s favourite new game is playing in invoices! Will he become the internet’s next big social media darling? Doubtful, but maybe he can have his own Youtube Channel … how does “Yarn Store Bird” sound? I’m open to suggestions.

The only part Gru isn’t in-love with is getting in his bird-bag, but he’s learning that the bag comes with visiting the store. He also doesn’t like his store cage, but I furnished it with some fun, familiar toys (and truth be told, parrots rarely like new things, I’m impressed with his tolerance thusfar).