OMEGA YARN AT THE MEXICAN MARKET!!!

After my walk today, I remembered that my husband needed a can of jalapeno peppers, so I stopped at a tiny Mexican market that was on my way home, Maye’s Market at 15270 Manchester Road in Ballwin, MO. WOW! This tiny shop had a nice selection of food, including Coke in the bottle with SUGAR. But, they also devoted a significant part of their tiny shop to yarn, thread, and hooks! They carry Imra hooks with which I’m completely unfamiliar and Omega yarn and thread. They also had some sewing thread and needles. Didn’t see any pattern books, but the yarn/thread selection was decent – and the prices were very good.

Here are two links for the hooks:

http://creativeyarnsource.com/notions.html

and one thanks to Wheat Carr

http://www.prym-consumer-mexico.com/calidad_ing.html

I spoke briefly with Lindsay Rasch, the manager. She was very pleasant and helpful. I told her I had a blog and was going to write about her little shop. Maye is her mother but Lindsay runs the shop. I’m not familiar with a local Hispanic population that would support a shop, but such shops have sprouted up on corners all over the St. Louis Metropolitan area. I live in an area referred to as West County that is typically cosmopolitan. I had heard that Mexican markets might have yarn, but I had dismissed that possibility in the markets near me since they are so small. Wrong, again! And, happy to discover a source for well priced Omega yarn. I’m not a huge fan of the nylon thread, but I do like the OmegaCrys. Maye’s Market had a nice selection of OmegaCrys at $2.99 per skein – a great price. If I weren’t on a strict yarn diet, I’d have snapped up all of the soft aqua color!

Here’s what the Omega yarn looks like – in a Christmas variegated. It somes in several weights and is widely available.

omega-nylon-yarn-0709

http://creativeyarnsource.com/nylon_thread.html

Omegacrys has a lovely hand and comes in a huge selection of yummy colors. Here’s a close up to show the stitch definition:

http://creativeyarnsource.com/omegacrys.html

So, get yourself to your local Mexican market, if you have one, and report back to us if you find yarn and/or hooks. BTW, I couldn’t find a link to Imra hooks on the net. The ones I saw today were all steel hooks. Would love for someone to link us to a website dealing in these hooks so we can learn more about them.

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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