Let's Take an Imaginary Trip....

I'm home! And wow! Are the yarn stores great in Vancouver! Sarah and I met last Saturday morning for a little crawl through Vancouver's finest yarn stores. At least the ones that were open. (Ladies of Three Bags Full, I hear your store is terrific but you were closed on the long weekend. That was a poor business decision since I was in the mood to buy.

One little thing before we begin. I sent my husband and daughter to the beach with some family. With the camera. This means we'll be doing an imaginary tour of Vancouver's yarn stores. Now everyone close your eyes, think of silk and cashmere, and we'll be off on our magical journey.

We started at a Touch of Wool on Dunbar since it's close to my sister-in-law's house. (Hi, Doris!) It's a little bit on the granny side. A lot of acrylic and cotton which is fine but we were in search of finer things. We didn't dawdle here but did make time for iced coffee beverages. I have priorities, you know.

(Not actual Grannies. It's my neice, ID and my bugaboo.)

Birkeland Bros. Wool Ltd on Main was our next stop. This store is owned by the third in a generation of spinners. The back of the store houses large spinning equipment (what do I know about spinning except that someone out there needs to do it so there can be yarn for me to knit.) The store had a fairly modest but varied selection of roving and yarn. A little Fleece Artist, Handmaiden and Misti Alpaca among others.

(Intended to be a picture of a tiny front store filled with yarn leading to a spinner's heaven, it is actually some tourists and a beluga whale.)

I walked away with a couple of kits for pencil kits by Handmaiden. The red is for T. and the blue for me. I'm excited to see how these turn out. (A little tip: If you ever see T. modelling her skirt on the blog, tell her that her butt looks tiny. She'll love you forever.)

Back in the car, Sarah and I navigated our way towards another yarn store when we were inspired to seek out silk. Sarah had frequented a silk studio in Granville Island and on the spur of the moment, we went for it. Wow! A wall of silk in rich colors in different weights! You could just roll in it.

(This was meant to be a picture of a wooden studio that overlooks an inlet and sits on Granville Island. It's actually me, my lovebug and an otter.)

I found a little laceweight yarn made with silk and seacell. It's like laceweight Seasilk. I couldn't resist!

And on to our final destination, Urban Yarns in Point Grey. This store is lovely with a wide selection of high end yarns and plenty of Lorna's Laces, Koigu, Fleece Artist and Handmaiden.

(This was supposed to be a lovely store with pale blue walls, chocolate ceiling and crisp white shelves filled with wooly goodness.It's really my kiddo at the beach.)

I was reasonably restrained and only picked up a couple of skeins of Koigu for T. and some Lady Godiva for myself. I was thinking of making a hat with the Godiva. Anyone have any appropriate patterns? I kinda like the cloche in the summer Knitty so I might try adjusting it for my heavier yarn.

Wow! A very full morning. I had time to reflect on my purchases on my short walk back to the house. If only I had got myself some more sock yarn. Or maybe a little seasilk (my downfall).

And then the angels smiled! My sister-in-law decided she might like a new sweater for her daughter. If she took me to a knitting store, could we pick something out? Did she have to ask? That's like offering Homer a doughnut. Of course he's going to go for it, even though he's just eaten a dozen honey-glazed.

So back we went to Urban Yarns and Doris picked out some lovely Blue Sky Cotton in a very neutral shade. I had a chance to get a little Seawool sock yarn and seasilk of myself. Win-win, really.

Now, what the hell am I going to make with all this yarn? Anyone? (No, Doris. You are going to learn how to make your own socks, remember?)

Stay tuned tomorrow when I will reveal what I knit on the West Coast and what was waiting for me at home....