Faking Sanity

Knitting 101 Classes at Faking Sanity

Posted by mtlaise - 26/02/11 at 09:02:24 pm

Yes, you read that correctly! In addition to our weekly social knit/craft night, we will be holding a Knitting 101 class this April.

The class will be $65 (including yarn and needles to take home), and will take place over 4 Saturdays in April. We’ll be covering topics such as knitting terminology and supplies, basic techniques (such as casting on, knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, and casting off), as well as useful tools and online resources for the budding knitter.

You can register for the class until the end of March right at the shop. Feel free to pop in or call us if you would like any further details.

Happy Knitting Thoughts!

Freedom to Read Week

Posted by mtlaise - 23/02/11 at 03:02:49 pm

February 20-26 is Freedom to Read Week here in Canada. As long as books have been written, there have been people who objected to some of them. Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reafform their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Have you read any of the books that have been challenged over the years? You might be surprised. Of Mice and Men, which was required school reading for me, was challenged for blasphemy and profanity. Anne Boleyn, a history book about Anne Boleyn’s life, was contested for immorality. Call me crazy (many people do), but contesting a history book because the person it is about was immoral is ridiculous. How can we learn about and from the past if half of it has been censored out? Many books that I read as a child, or as part of my schooling have been challenged. Looking back, I can understand why some people are offended by the content of some of these books, but we each have a choice to read them or not. I don’t think banning Little House on the Prairie or the Tintin comics and preventing me from reading them as a child would have made me a better person in any way.

I found a couple of quotes related to this topic, recently, that I found very à propos:

“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book.”  Dwight Eisenhower

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”  Oscar Wilde

I think my favourite, though, is this quote from Ray Bradbury:

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them”.

The Coffee House is Coming Earlier this month!

Posted by mtlaise - 23/02/11 at 11:02:16 am

Our last post was about the quilts on display here at the store for Dawson’s Spirit Arts Festival. The festival ends this Friday, so come take a look if you haven’t yet. You can catch the final tour bus from the Art Gallery this Friday at 6 pm, and it will end the evening at Faking Sanity.

To tie in with this, the monthly Singer Songwriter’s Coffee House is being moved up one night to Friday, February 25th.  As an added bonus, the admission fee is being waved, and since we’re always open late on Friday nights, you can still browse the books, or pick up biscuits, cake, bread pudding, etc while you listen to the music. This month’s featured performer will be Karen McGowan.

Dawson Creek Spirit Festival

Posted by mtlaise - 05/02/11 at 10:02:26 am

As part of the Festival, the quilts from the local Piecemakers Quilt Guild are on display at Faking Sanity this month; this is the longest running quilting guild in the area. From traditional to modern, our walls are adorned with a riot of colour to beat off the dull February blues. Come check them out! Here’s a bit of a sneak preview:

novelteens

Posted by mtlaise - 04/02/11 at 02:02:19 pm

Tonight is the launch of “novelteens” – a joint project between Reconnect Youth Services and Dawson Creek Literacy Now.

The program is for youth 13 to 18 years of age who love reading or want to learn about all the options out there for teen reading. If you’re interested, or know someone who is, come join “novelteens” every Friday starting February 4th right here at Faking Sanity.

The group provides access to books, including a book to take home, as well as a space to read. There will also be regular guest speakers discussing different genres of books, as well as games nights.

Come check it out!

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