SASKATOON -- Saskatoon faced some extreme cold temperatures earlier this week and knitters were among the most prepared.

At The Wool Emporium, a local wool shop, sales spiked about 30 per cent in the days ahead of the cold snap.

“As soon as they start predicting (the freezing temperatures), a lot of people are coming out and they’re stocking up so they don’t have to go out into the cold,” owner Glenda Hudson said.

The store offers locally-made yarn products for knitting, crocheting, spinning and felting. It also has some ready-made toques, sweaters and mittens.

The Wool Emporium even offers classes and drop-in sessions for people of all skill levels.

Hudson said the store sold a lot of alpaca from local producers and wool from a New Brunswick company called Briggs & Little before the cold hit.

Wool is eco-friendly and biodegradable, and a popular material in the winter months, she said.

"Wool is very efficient - any animal fibre - at trapping your own body heat. How it traps the air against your body is what keeps it warmer. And wool whisks moisture away so that even when it's wet, it still feels a lot warmer than if you have something man-made against your skin ... it feels like plastic on your skin,” she said.

Hudson said the store doesn’t do much preparation ahead of cold snaps, but that staff are always ready to help people find the materials they need.

“We’re ready to help people if they need it and have what’s in stock, you know, what is most required, what people are looking for. We try to be ready for them.”