Movember sale

Movember is a month for celebrating maleness, raising awareness of Prostate Cancer and raising money to battle this massively rotten disease. At Knifewear we love a good bit of facial hair and will take full advantage of any reason to grow a fabulous 'Mo'. Pop by the shop and 'Sponsor' your fave Knifewear 'stache.

 To celebrate great moustaches we are offering a 10% discount on all of our rad classic shaving gear for all 'Mo Brothers'. Just pop into the shop sporting your tremendous moustache and receive the discount for the duration of the month. We have, probably the largest selection of classic shave gear in Western Canada. Brushes from: Kent, Simpson, Vulfix, Vie-Long, Edwin Jagger, Merkur, e-Shave Safety Razors from: Murker, Edwin Jagger, Feather Double Edge Safety Razor Blades from: Feather, Merkur, Derby, Lord Straight Razors from: Dovo, Iwasaki san, Feather and Knifewear (hand hammered in Japan) Soaps, creams, pre-shave and post shave from: D R Harris, e-Shave, Edwin Jagger, Taylors of Old Bond Street, Kent, Dovo, RazoRock, Col. Conk, La Toja,  Castle and Forbes, James Bronnley and Czech & Speake 

Classic shaving is a true manly indulgence.

Edmonton Pop-Up

Hey Edmonton, we love you!! 
Look for our rad pop-up store on 109th, just off of Whyte and right next door to the RAD Three Boars Eatery.
We will be offering kick-ass knives, sharpening supplies, meaty cookbooks, LuckyPeach magazine, Edmonton exclusive shirts, knife storage and classic shaving gear. And super great news we will be offering knife sharpening!!
You are in good hands with Jordan (great past staff member of the Calgary shop) and Chad (ex-chef and a bit of a food amster about town). You are in great hands.

8422 109 St, Edmonton

(Beside Three Boars Eatery)

twitter: @KnifewearYEG

Calgary Farmer's Market

What makes more sense than shopping for meat, vegetables, spices and super-awesome Japanese kitchen knives under the same roof?

Our Market stall will open on November 15. Pop in to say 'Hi' Thursday - Sunday 9am-5pm. We will have great knives, sharpening supplies, books, mags, cutting boards and shave gear. The booth will be manned by Naoto from the Inglewood shop. Look for 'Sharpen While You Shop' service eventually.

Great for gifts!

510 - 77th Avenue SE, Calgary

Beside Silk Road Spice Merchants

market@knifewear.com

 twitter: @knifewearCFM

Christmas in Inglewood!

Inglewood,  it's a funny old place. We like to celebrate Christmas in November. Pop by for great deals and a fun way to get in the spirit. Most shops will have special deals and events. We may even have Pierre Lamielle signing books or something fun-ish.
 

Thursday 15 November  5pm-9pm

Free gift** from Masakage knives 

with every Masakage purchase (while supplies last)

**It's a hand forged letter opener. Totally cool and over the top.

Let's Beer!

It's almost here. Knifewear's Tongue Cutter IPA will be hitting the taps at all Brewsters and Beer Revolution locations around the middle of November, just in time for the opening of the new locations. 

Yes, Edmonton will get some kegs this time around. Call your local Brewsters to find out when they will have it. This time a full batch (20 kegs) was made and will hopefully last longer than 10 days like last time. 

Overly hopped, overy malted and kick-ass....if you like that sort of thing.

Keep Your Knife Sharp

Hey, for all of you that ask. Here's Mark from Knifewear Kelowna showing us how to use a honing rod properly. You rock Mark!

Moustache Style Guide

Movember Sale

Movember is a month for celebrating maleness, raising awareness of Prostate Cancer and raising money to battle this massively rotten disease. At Knifewear we love a good bit of facial hair and will take full advantage of any reason to grow a fabulous 'Mo'. Pop by the shop and 'Sponsor' your fave Knifewear 'stache.

To celebrate great moustaches we are offering a 10% discount on all of our rad classic shaving gear for all 'Mo Brothers'. Just pop into the shop sporting your tremendous moustache and receive the discount for the duration of the month.

We have, probably the largest selection of classic shave gear in Western Canada.

Brushes from: Kent, Simpson, Vulfix, Vie-Long, Edwin Jagger, Merkur, e-Shave

Safety Razors from: Murker, Edwin Jagger, Feather

Double Edge Safety Razor Blades from: Feather, Merkur, Derby, Lord

Straight Razors from: Dovo, Iwasaki san, Feather and Knifewear (hand hammered in Japan)

Soaps, creams, pre-shave and post shave from: D R Harris, e-Shave, Edwin Jagger, Taylors of Old Bond Street, Kent, Dovo, RazoRock, Col. Conk, La Toja,  Castle and Forbes, James Bronley and Czech & Speake

Classic shaving is a true manly indulgence.

October News

More Stores to Serve You!!

If you hang about on that waste of time called Twitter you may already know that we're opening stores like crazy.



We opened Kelowna, BC in June of this year and it's going great with Mark at the helm. This is a full service store with kick-butt products, classes and sharpening service.



Our first Edmonton pop-up will be at the Enjoy Center in St Albert on October 20. This will be strictly sales of knives, sharpening supplies, Lucky Peach and shirts.



Our second Edmonton pop-up will be at a yet to be determined location from November 20- December 31. This shop will have sales of all of our products that you love (knives, sharpening supplies, shaving gear, books, mags, cutting boards....) but will not offer sharpening or classes. Sorry.



November 15 - July 15 we have a spot at the Calgary Farmers Market for sales only till the end of the year, but will offer 'sharpen as you shop' service starting in January. How cool is that?
 

Calgary Farmer's Market


November 15 - July 15


Thursday-Sunday 9am - 5pm


Beside Silk Road Spice Merchants


twitter: @KnifewearCFM



Edmonton Pop-up Shop October


Saturday, October 20


10am - 6pm


Enjoy Center, St Albert


twitter: @KnifewearYEG



Edmonton Pop-up Shop November/December


November 20 - December 31


At a location TBD


twitter: @KnifewearYEG



Kelowna, BC


10am-6pm every day


10am - 8pm Thursdays
2983

Pandosy Street


twitter: @KelownaKnife

Maskage in Calgary

Thank you to everyone who came to Sunfest this year for the blacksmithing demo by Kato san and the blacksmiths of Maskage Knives. It was a super cool and they acually made knives in the street with coal, fire, sledge hammers and anvils. It was quite an event that you can read more about here. It's always great to meet up with the Masakage gang and especially nice to welcome Toru Tamura san back to the Knifewear shop.

You can follow the adventures of the Blacksmiths and Shibata san on Twitter: @MasakageKnives

Shibata san, President of Masakage Knives

Kato san and (Yuu) Kurosaki san, Master Balcksmiths

Tamura san, Ikeda san and (Makoto) Kurosaki san, Apprentice Blacksmiths

The Return of Tongue Cutter

For those of you that loved it and those that missed it you're in luck! Tongue Cutter is back and will be even gutsier. Robert, the head brewer at Brewsters has said he wants to tweak the already rad recipe to make it maltier, boozier and hoppier. Basically the original recipe hopped up on some performance enhancers. I for one can't wait. Tentative launch date is November 17, 2012. We are hoping to get a few kegs up to Edmonton this time around. Oh, and I feel it's worth mentioning that the last batch of 20 kegs was gone in 11 days. This time around we'll be making 40 kegs and hopefully it will last a bit longer. Personally I'm hoping to have more than the 5 pints I had last time.

Available in pints at Brewsters and Beer Revolution

Carve Like a Turkey!

When the bird is golden brown and mouthwatering to look at don’t feel the fool when the carving knife is thrust toward you. We’ll help you with the skills you need to rock the turkey this season. Our demonstration classes are only $15 ($15 will be credited toward a slicing knife on the night) and you’ll get a turkey sandwich to boot.
 

Tuesday November 27 at 6pm sharp



Calgary location only



Call 403 514 0577 to book your spot.



The class is limited to 15

Shave Shop

If you've been to the Calgary Shop recently you will have noticed that we've pumped up the shaving gear and there is more to come.

Edwin Jagger, D R Harris, E-Shave, Jack Black, Dovo, Merkur, Feather, Kent, VieLong, Art of Shaving, Taylors of Old Bond St., RazoRock, Cella, Lord, Col. Conk, Vulfix, Gold Dachs, James Bronnley, Iwasaki san, Knifewear Kamasori razors.

If you wet shave we can take care of you. It's my new hobby. Who thought I'd love shaving?

Full-time Knife Sharpener and Sales

We are looking for knife nuts with personality. You must enjoy talking with customers. 

 Knowledge or interest in knives, a cooking background or Japanese language skills would be beneficial but not necessary. Experience is not necessary as we will train. The desire to learn is mandatory.

Our Calgary retail store has 1 position available:

· full-time knife sharpening with some sales responsibilities

You will receive an in depth knife sharpening apprenticeship in the Japanese knife sharpening style. We sharpen our knives by hand on waterstones, the most precise way and with the best results. Learn a dying art.

Knifewear staff enjoy a fun and professional working environment, a healthy discount on knives, and the love/admiration of chefs, foodies and knife nerds.

At Knifewear we sell the finest handmade Japanese kitchen knives available. Most of our knives cannot be found in Canada, many of our knives are not seen outside of Japan. We work with 25+ Japanese knife makers who we consider to be the top blacksmiths in the world.

Be cool, become a Japanese knife expert at Knifewear.

Submit resume along with cover letter explaining how awesome you are to kevin@knifewear.com

Compensation:

$10/hour increasing to $12-$15/hour after training

generous profit sharing program

great employee discount

possible Japan trips

We are looking for excellence!!

Maskage Tour 2012

Masakage Blacksmiths in the House

OK, most days at the shop are pretty fun for us and our awesome customers, but every now and again some days are funner. 

August 4 and 5 are funner this year. Kato san, Yu Kurosaki san, Makato Kurosaki san, Tamura san and  Shibata san of Masakage knives are coming for a visit. Not only that, but they will be making knives in the street right in front of the shop with coal fire, sledge hammers, anvils, sparks, smoke and danger! How cool is that?

Kato san

"Making knives is delicate work with many considerations."

In 1935 Hiroshi Kato san's father became independent from his Sensei. After finishing high school Kato san began his apprenticeship under his father. It's amazing that after over 50 years as a knife maker he's still inspired by thinking of people cooking with his knives. He always considers balance when hammer the steel, keeping in mind where a knife needs to be thin and where it needs to be strong.

Kato san makes Masakage Hikari, Kiri, Yuki and Koishi. All available at the shop.

Shibata san

"I want to supply knives that touch people's hearts."

Traveling across America is when Shibata san realized his deep love for Japanese craftsmanship. After careful consideration he made the decision to start Masakage Knives and bring hand crafted Japanese knives to the world. Shibata san is seen as one of the top knife sharpeners in Japan and he takes pride in the fact that he hand sharpens each Masakage knife before it is sold.


Shibata san will be sharpening Masakage knives in the shop on Sunday Aug 5. He'll get to as many as he can.

Kurosaki san

"Temperature control is essential when hammering steel. Too cold or too hot will make a poor knife."

  Kurosaki san began his blacksmith work in 2002 when he started working in Kanehiro-uchi-hamono. He claims he was not a natural blacksmith from the beginning and wanted to quite many times. We are very pleased that he continued. He got a huge confidence boast when he sold his first knife and his customer loved it. Now, he always wants to make knives that make his customers as happy as she was.

Tamura san

Peach Legs Rock!!!

Toru Tamura san has left the building, but his bass guitar lives on in our shop! Tamura san was living in Canada to experience something new and to practice his English language skills. He was living in Vancouver, but moved to Calgary to take the job at our shop. We were super lucky to have him at the shop for almost a year. Sharpening knives every day, sometimes for hours a day, he realized that he wanted to become a professional knife sharpener and knife maker. Now apprenticing under Kato san in Takefu, Toru is living the dream. We will always miss his legendary mega sharp knives and strange humour. I hope he still plays with his band Peach Legs now and again.

Steel and coal and fire

So, Kato san and all will be making knives in front of the shop. When I say making knives I mean they will be using techniques from 200+ years ago. Currently they use spring hammers like the kind you find at Heritage Park in Calgary, but for this demo they will use the strength of the younger blacksmiths and their sledge hammers. As far as the Blacksmiths know and the Prefectural Government, this is the first demo of this kind outside of Japan. In fact their local Government has sponsored the trip as an important cultural exchange.

Knife evolution.

You can see a few of the steps to forging knives. The red steel is obviously hot like crazy, but don't fool  yourself, the black knives on the left are still crazy hot too. 

Insane temperature is key

SAIT Polytechnic will be supplying the equipment. Thanks to Andy Semak and Brian Dorn. These demos will be part of Inglewood Sunfest. 30,000 people in the streets and red hot steel, fire, sparks, sledge hammers....what could go wrong??

Masakage Koishi knives in the raw.

The demos will include constructing san-mai steel (3 layered steel for knife making), hand forging knives to completion, constructing the tang, thinning the blade and hand sharpening.

All in a days work for Kato san.

The demos will start around 11pm and go till 4pm. We will let Kato san dictate the speed and timing for the demos as he is in his seventies and it is hard work. We will have a schedule posted at the forge on the morning of the event.

Thanks to Joe Strummer for the great design!

As always we have a killer shirt to remember the day they will be for sale, $25. We've made a limited run of 25 so get 'em while they're hot. BTW all our shirts are made by Food On Your Shirt. Check them out for rad foodie shirts!! We'll also have stickers of the same design for $2 as usual.

Saturday August 4, 2012 

11am-4pm 

Knife making demonstrations 

Sunday August 5, 2012 

12pm-4pm

Meet the knife makers in the shop 

Shibata san will sharpen your Masakage knives

Knifewear, Inglewood

1316 9 Ave SE

Calgary, AB