On Wednesday afternoon, my friend Jackie (my most steadfasted knitting friend---read: fellow knitting geek) picked me up at work and we jetted off to Kingston for yarn-related fun. After a quick and entertaining stop at
Wool-Tyme (There's a sale; you should go!), we made our way to Chapters on Princess St to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a.k.a. The Yarn Harlot. Many avid knitters are already familiar with this author, though trying to explain her to non-knitters can be a challenge. She touched upon this in her talk---the joys of explaining her genre. Not how-to, not patterns
, she writes
knitting-related humour. As usual
, though we arrived with 45 minutes or so to spare, they had already run out of seating. They had only put out about 25 chairs---duh! Jackie and I prowled the store like chair vultures, and finally managed to snag a couple and bring them over. Not sure how many we were in total, but I'd guess at least 75. She was very witty, and Jackie and I enjoyed many a chuckle as we sat there working away at our respective projects. Highly enjoyable!
Then, as if the Kingston trip wasn't indulgence enough, I took a trip to Hamilton on Thursday/Friday and on the way back had a great time exploring an amazing yarn store in Ancaster. My brother Michael was competing at the all-Ontario track and field championships in the Javelin. After watching him compete and finishing in an amazing 4th place spot with personal best throws, my parents and I drove off to Ancaster to find
The Needle Emporium. It was fabulous: housed in an old stone building with a layout of small rooms which led you, as if ambling along a quaint little path, through the store. It held an incredibly diverse selection of weights, styles, and types of yarn, and in each room I liked leafing through the leaflets of patterns that were held upright in bunches in wicker baskets. The range of colours and textures was dizzying---I really think I could have wandered around staring and touching for hours. I ended up buying 2 skeins of Lorna's Shepherd Sock yarn in a blue-green variegate. I had been hoping to get some Handmaiden Sea Silk, but the only skeins were 200 gms and were therefore priced at about $77. A little out of my league yet. The store in having a big tent sale in a couple of weeks so if you'll be in the area, I highly recommend checking it out.
So now I'm basking in the cozy post-purchase yarn high, and imaging how nice it'll be to get myself onto my porch (or to the cottage), a nice cold brew in my hands, all this nice new stuff on the needles!
On Wednesday afternoon, my friend Jackie (my most steadfasted knitting friend---read: fellow knitting geek) picked me up at work and we jetted off to Kingston for yarn-related fun. After a quick and entertaining stop at Wool-Tyme (There's a sale; you should go!), we made our way to Chapters on Princess St to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a.k.a. The Yarn Harlot. Many avid knitters are already familiar with this author, though trying to explain her to non-knitters can be a challenge. She touched upon this in her talk---the joys of explaining her genre. Not how-to, not patterns, she writes knitting-related humour. As usual
, though we arrived with 45 minutes or so to spare, they had already run out of seating. They had only put out about 25 chairs---duh! Jackie and I prowled the store like chair vultures, and finally managed to snag a couple and bring them over. Not sure how many we were in total, but I'd guess at least 75. She was very witty, and Jackie and I enjoyed many a chuckle as we sat there working away at our respective projects. Highly enjoyable!
Then, as if the Kingston trip wasn't indulgence enough, I took a trip to Hamilton on Thursday/Friday and on the way back had a great time exploring an amazing yarn store in Ancaster. My brother Michael was competing at the all-Ontario track and field championships in the Javelin. After watching him compete and finishing in an amazing 4th place spot with personal best throws, my parents and I drove off to Ancaster to find The Needle Emporium. It was fabulous: housed in an old stone building with a layout of small rooms which led you, as if ambling along a quaint little path, through the store. It held an incredibly diverse selection of weights, styles, and types of yarn, and in each room I liked leafing through the leaflets of patterns that were held upright in bunches in wicker baskets. The range of colours and textures was dizzying---I really think I could have wandered around staring and touching for hours. I ended up buying 2 skeins of Lorna's Shepherd Sock yarn in a blue-green variegate. I had been hoping to get some Handmaiden Sea Silk, but the only skeins were 200 gms and were therefore priced at about $77. A little out of my league yet. The store in having a big tent sale in a couple of weeks so if you'll be in the area, I highly recommend checking it out. 
So now I'm basking in the cozy post-purchase yarn high, and imaging how nice it'll be to get myself onto my porch (or to the cottage), a nice cold brew in my hands, all this nice new stuff on the needles! 