Happy New Year, Knotty ones! Now that we are over the Christmas/New Years hump, right around this time of year the heart’s fancy turns to… dreadlocks! Ok, ok and maybe a little lovin’ with the whole Valentines Day thing. We just had our Chinese New Year last weekend (Kung hei fat choi!), and Alberta, Canada has Family Day on Feb. 21st. Aw, that’s so cool that families have their own day to celebrate over there in Alberta – families are pretty important. And even if you don’t live home - home on the range, you can still put on your old Skipper Barbie costume, get on your broomstick horse and clop around giving your family big fat smooches as you speed by. Cuz we hear that’s exactly what people in Alberta do on Family Day! Next is St. Patty’s Day is on March 17 and then comes Spring Equinox on March 20th. And that is really something to celebrate as we Vancouverites were just getting ready to build an Ark of, you know, BIBLICAL proportions before we all start floating downstream. Hang in there, y’all - soon we’ll be seeing little purple and white crocuses popping up from the ground and tiny pink cherry blossoms busting out all over the place. The rest of you should really see the neighborhood here in the Spring at The Knotty Boy Lock Shop and Salon – like the trees and streets are buried under fluffy pink snow! Truly magical - just like Merlin and Ronald McDonald.

So here’s to turning over a new leaf for yourself, which we all should do once in a while. Here at Knotty Boy we’ve got lots of news and new stuff to go along with the whole ‘new beginnings’ theme – let’s start with those dreadlocks!
 

The Knotty Boy Lock Shop has been a buzzing hive of activity these days! Not only can we barely keep up with the demand for Zoe and Becca’s wonderful work on dreadlocks, extensions and related services, they’ve also had the pleasure of three-day’s worth of intensive skills upgrading by none other than Karen Wallington, owner of the Knot Just Dreads salon in Toronto. This training has given our stylists access to even more techniques, secret tricks and innovative ways of doing natural dreadlocks, dreadlock extenders using human hair (that means it can be colored!), no-damage human hair extensions, synthetic no-fade highlights and much, much more. Our slogan ‘If you can dream it, we can do it!’ has never been more true! A big Thank You to Karen for her time with us, it was a pleasure having her here!
 

Nope, not a tortilla filled with cheesy veggie goodness , you sillies, but our new Dreadlock Wraps for wrapping up your nappy head! If you haven’t noticed we’re all pretty dang excited about these things, and we’re officially sold out of our initial run. But never fear, more are on the way so do check back soon. In the mean time, have a look at the page for different ways of doing these funky wraps, as well as a link to a video showing eight ways to fashion wrap t-shirts, tube tops and halters. We also will have more photos up soon of our own unique ways of using these wraps, heck! maybe even as underpants! Send your pictures and descriptions in, too, and we’ll add them to both the wrap and Dreadlock Styling Ideas pages!
 

Just a reminder! If you’ve been waiting to order one of our wicked Knotty Boy Pigtail Pilot Hats then beware, Knotty Boy will be retiring these babies for the season in early April and they won’t be back until next year. So don’t delay, get one today! Stay warm in your dorm!
 

By popular demand, the much requested 3-pack of our luscious Knotty Boy Dread Shampoo Bars is now available, and you save $3! Since these lathery suckers last forever due to their highest-quality ingredients and French-milled process, you won’t need shampoo again for quite some time, AND you save big in shipping when you buy three at once rather than one at a time.
 

Also now available in new HUGE 16oz sizes are the Knotty Boy Liquid Dread Shampoo, and legendary Knotty Boy Dreadlock Conditioning Sprays in delightful Green Tea or Coco-Knotty scents - and you save $4! Twice as much goodness in one big bottle, and cheaper too. Just what’s needed after a day in the rain, er, Spring sunshine!
 
You’ll also be thrilled to know that we’ve gone through and dropped the prices on many of our Dreadlock Beads, Sleeves and Coils by as much as 50% on selected items. Chinese zodiac and other pendants, wooden beads, silver and copper dread coils and the famous peyote-stitch sleeves are reduced for greater value to our esteemed Knotty Boy customers!


Check this out – ex-Knotty Lesley shows us here how amazing our Knotty Boy Dreadlock Removal Kit took out her 3-year-old locks!

“The result of the undreading of my 3-year-and-3-month-old rock-hard locks is pretty great! I didn't think I would save this much hair and in such good condition. Thanks!” Ex-Knotty Lesley

Thank YOU, Lesley, for taking the time to send us all these great pics!
 

The numbers are in! In less than three months, starting in November 2005 when we began the Eco-Friendly Packing Material fundraiser for Child Sponsorship (you can catch up on all the info here)… are you ready for this? drumroll, please…! Over 475 of our Knotty customers chose this option in order to help sponsor a needy child for one whole year! That is truly overwhelming. Our little Knotty hearts swell with pride that so many of you guys chose not one, but two options for helping meet the needs of our planet. We now have the official (and adorable) Knotty Heart-O-Meter up on the Social-Eco Action page to show you as you check back with us how we’re coming along, and we will post the profiles of these kids as they are sponsored here, too. Only 600 $1 donations are needed to sponsor one little one for an entire year that you can contribute on the Check Out page when you place an order - and we’re almost there for our first one! Thank you SO MUCH for your contributions!
 

Last week we got another note from the good folks at the Vegan Outreach Society that Knotty Boy generously supports.

“…Thanks for helping to spread the message -- we continue to get veg starter pack requests (on a weekly basis) from individuals who heard about us through Knotty Boy! Best wishes, Jon Camp, Vegan Outreach“

Yay, Knotty kids! If you haven’t done so already, you can continue to help us fight unethical farming and the senseless suffering of animals by learning more at the Vegan Outreach website, or by choosing the free Why Vegan? pamphlet next time you order on the Knotty Boy order form.
 

Elke Robitaille, folk musician extraordinaire and officially sponsored Knotty Kid, was just recently nominated for two awards and ended up taking home the award for Rock City News Outstanding Folk Artist of the Year! Way to go, Elke! So far she has released two albums. Her debut album "Doors", released in 2002, has now been followed up by a full-length studio album called "Naive". Elke graduated from the renowned Musicians Institute of Hollywood, California, with certificate training in Recording Engineering and Music Business Management, AND has launched Rag Veda Records, her own indie-folk label. We could go on, but you get the point. This Knotty girl pretty much ROCKS.

Alright, here we go again! We need you, you talented, beautiful, dreadful being of light! We’ve got free Knotty Boy stuff to give away, some red carpet to roll out, and some talent to show off. If you’re the bomb at something, anything, then we want to meet you. We’re gearing up for our next six-month Knotty Kid sponsorship and we’re on the hunt! Check out our Sponsored Kids page for all the info you’ll need to qualify. Submissions are due by April 1st, 2006, and new Sponsored Kids will be announced May 1st, 2006. We’re waiting to hear from you. Show us what you got!

Last but not least, if you haven’t done so already, please take one more moment for us to fill out our Knotty Boy 5-Second Survey, and let us know what we’re doing great for you, and where we can improve. We won’t know unless you tell us, so lay it on us, baby!

OK, everyone, that’s all the time we have for today! Join us next time for all things dreadfully summer-related – can you believe it? Man, doesn’t the time fly. Hey, before we leave you, how about taking a moment, sitting back and pondering this beautiful quote on that topic, Knotty-ones…

“Do not allow the present to be passed over in the race for the future. Do not neglect the here in favor of the there, whereby the individual is dwarfed by the enormity of the mass… Find the joy in the now, the peace in the here, the love in me and others which go toward making the kingdom of heaven on earth…” Anne Morrow Lindbergh, from her book Gifts from the Sea (which everyone should read at least once!).

Take care, Knotty family, until next time! We love you!
The Knotty Crew