In May, all sock yarn (in our sock yarn section) will be on sale at 20% off!

We have lots of options for you when it comes to sock knitting: fingering, sport, dk and worsted weights; hand-dyed, self-patterning and solid in a range of colorways; wool and non-wool blends; commercially and Maine produced and dyed! Socks are great to knit in the summer as they are small, and you often don't need a pattern handy. This is a good time to stock up on these yarns that make great travel companions!

From May 24 through September 2, join us for the 3rd annual Maine Yarn Cruise and enjoy a leisurely yarn crawl through the great State of Maine.

This year the cruise will feature 22 shops, from York to Eastport and Norway to Southwest Harbor. Each shop features a monthly prize and a grand prize. After you get your passport stamped at every shop, you can enter a drawing for the End-of-the-Road Grand Prizes -- a $100 or $300 gift certificate for the Maine Yarn Cruise shop of your choice! Passports are $11.50, which includes a tote bag and bumper sticker.  If you don't particularly feel the need to get to all 22 shops, this is a great way to explore areas of Maine that you may never have been to before. It is such a beautiful state!

More information and a list of participating shops can be found at Maine Yarn Cruise.

Phone the shop at 207-338-8388 or email us at heavenlyyarns@gmail.com to reserve your passport and tote bag. A fabulous summer awaits!

These Maritime Mitts say MAINE!

Even with warm weather, these mitts come in handy to wear boating or on cool evenings during three seasons. This pattern is designed by Maine designer MaryJane Mucklestone and is available on Ravelry for $6.00.

We knit these mitts in a Maine yarn: Quince's Owl, a worsted weight 50% alpaca/50% wool. Emily (works on Saturday with Helen) knitted them and reports that it was an enjoyable, quick knit!

The Ashland Hat is a baby hat written in three sizes for our Fiber of Maine subscribers a few months back. It was sent with a dk alpaca-blend yarn that was grown and spun in Maine. This pattern is now available at the shop. We have Maine grown and spun alpaca and alpaca blends in dk weight, as well as 50-gram Swans Island Eco-wash (eco-friendly, hand-dyed superwash merino), that would work well for this pattern.

For years, our monthly newsletter contained the most comprehensive listings of events going on in Belfast. However, the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce has been doing a great job lately compiling a list of events.  It seems redundant for the shop to use resources to reformat the events -- especially when there are a dozen or more events we think our customers may enjoy! Therefore, each month going forward, we will list the events that the Chamber does not, and we will provide their link for you.

We encourage you to join their newsletter to receive a weekly Thursday update; it is so much more informative now, with no need to click on the events for more information. Here is a link to their May calendar.

Join Belfast Flying Shoes on Friday, May 3, for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church St. in Belfast. The evening begins at 6:30 pm with a community dance called by Chrissy Fowler. The contra dance begins at 8 pm.

This month's caller is Belfast's own Chrissy Fowler, a founder and leading light of the Belfast Flying Shoes dance series.

Sharing the stage with Chrissy will be the Racket Factory. Based in Western Maine, the Racket Factory has decades of experience playing traditional acoustic music for dances and listening. Their dance repertoire highlights New England fiddle music's roots in the Celtic, French Canadian and Old Time traditions. Band members are Margaret Cox, Cynthia Phinney and Hank Washburn on fiddle; Eric Johnson on guitar; and Mark Rains on bass. The band's name comes from the old Maine Racket Factory building in New Sharon, the town where most of the members lived when the band was formed.

Sound provided by Eric Johnson and John Pranio.
 
For more information, phone 207-338-0979, email belfastflyingshoes@gmail.com, visit Belfast Flying Shoes or find them on Facebook.

On May 7 at 6:30 pm at the Belfast Free Library's Abbott Room, Friends of Sears Island and the Belfast Free Library will co-host a free presentation titled Lessons from Avian Haven Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center: A Citizen's Guide to Helping the Birds of Maine, with Laura Suomi-Lecker. Laura will discuss common reasons why birds are admitted to Avian Haven in Freedom and what public citizens can do to help our local birds. Recent Haven cases will be highlighted, including injured eagles, owls, hawks, loons and many species of songbirds.

Laura Suomi-Lecker is the education and outreach coordinator and long-time volunteer with Avian Haven and also the Technical Director at Somerset County Soil and Water Conservation District, where she does a variety of bird-related programs.
 
For more information, phone the library at 207-338-3884, ext.10, or visit the library's Events for May 2019 page.

Launchpad is proud to present the 5th Annual All Roads Music Festival, set for May 17 and 18 in Belfast, Maine. All Roads is a celebration of local and indie music talent that brings some of Maine's finest emerging musicians under one banner in a city known for its passionate support of the arts and locally grown creative talent. Performances, panels, artist development sessions and special events will be held in multiple venues throughout the downtown district.

Thirty-plus bands and over 150 Maine musicians from across the state participate in this incredible event. Online sales for Friday Events end May 16 at 11:59 pm and online sales for Saturday Events end May 17 at 11:59 pm. For more information, visit All Roads Music Festival.

The Come Boating! Launch Day and Nautical Yard Sale will take place at the CB Boat Shed at the Belfast Public Landing, Saturday, May 25, 9 am-2 pm. (Rain date: Sunday, May 26.) The event will include refreshments and information about CB's free community rowing program. Trained coxswains will be on hand from 11 am-2 pm to take visitors out for a row on a 32-foot Cornish pilot gig. Also, the All Things Nautical Yard Sale, with great deals on many items, will take place from 9 am-2 pm. All proceeds of the sale will benefit Come Boating! which offers free community rowing throughout the summer and early fall.

Donated items needed: If you have any nautical equipment: small boats (dinghies, kayaks, small sailboats), boat accessories, life jackets, oars,  paddles, foul weather gear, nautical books, crafts, collectibles, art and/or charts you would like to contribute, contact Carol at 207-322-3090 or carolkuhn4@gmail.com. All items must be in clean, workable, "sailable" condition. For more information, visit Come Boating! or contact Carol by Friday, May 24, for drop-off and pick-up arrangements.