Friday, June 08, 2007

Finally!

Here's the post you've all been waiting for. I finally have the capability to post pictures (only because I'm back home for the weekend... sigh) so I decided now would be a good time to fill you in on my adventures.

First and foremost... it seems my appearance on the Yarn Harlot's blog has made me pseudo-famous... that is to say, famous by association! Stephanie is one of the funniest women I've ever met and she really did a great job with including everyone and being interested in everyone. Not an easy task when there were well over 20 of us.

Let me start at the beginning though. I went to the book signing downtown. Keep in mind, this is the first time I've travelled to Toronto on my own, and definitely the first time I've driven in a large city on my own. I'm quite proud to say, I didn't get lost or frazzeled in any way and I found my way to and from the signing just fine! I even arrived with lots of time to spare. This worked out to my advantage because I ended up being seated in the second row!
If you saw how many people showed up, you'd understand why being in the second row was such an amazing thing. There were people everywhere. I think she drew the biggest crowd for any book signing at this store.

Let me just tell you, she was funnier than most stand-up comedians I've seen. True, her humor may not be universal, after all, how funny would knitting jokes be to someone interested in say politics or underwater basketweaving? The humor just might be lost on them.

Anyway, I met an awesome knitter, Danielle, while I was there. She and I went to the afterparty where she convinced me to go on the yarn crawl the next day. I'm so glad she did!

We started at The Naked Sheep at around 11am.This is a cute little yarn shop on Queen Street. I did end up making a purchase there, but I think I'll hold off on showing you the haul until I'm done.

Next we went to Americo.This was definitely a unique shop. Everything in it was handspun yarn from Argentina (I think it was Argentina at least). I thought it was all very beautiful, but I don't think I'd shop there regularly because if I want handspun, well, I spin it myself!As you can see, the inside was very nice and the knitters were everywhere taking pictures (like myself!)

Moving on... Next we went to Romni Wools.... Oh...My....God.... I really can't explain this yarn shop in words.... I must let the wall of Rowan speak for me.Keep in mind that this is just one wall.... there were many, many walls and several rooms, all packed to the gills with yarn. It was overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time!

After quite a while, the knitters were rounded up and we headed to Lettuce Knit to take a break in Kensington Market for lunch. This by far, is the cutest yarn shop I've ever seen.They set up chairs for us to take a break and knit outside. We definitely needed a break at this point. I think we were high on wool fumes by then so some fresh air did us some good.

Our final stop on this journey was Alterknit, the cafe/yarn shop. Brilliant!This is where we all wound down. Drank some coffee or tea in my case, chatted, fondled more yarn and said our goodbyes. Before leaving though, Stephanie modeled the sock I finished that day.... on her hand... why not?If you're wondering, her shirt said Wool Pig. Gotta love it.

So the haul... it was not as large as most, after all, I am not making any money at the moment so I had to keep my senses about me.There are two balls of Rowan Country which is destined to be a thin scarf or hat. Four balls of angora, on sale at Romni for $5.00 a ball! Sweet! Two skeins of Nature's Palette for some socks, and the other two things are self explanatory.

There you have it. Now you have the yarn crawl from my perspective. Perhaps before I leave this weekend to go back up to Toronto I'll post again, only this time there'll be less yarn and more animals!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now you can show off your sock and say "The Yarn Harlot wore this sock!"

Don't do that with people that don't knit, tho. OK?

Katy said...

Sounds like a fabulous weekend to me!
I have had the pleasure of spending time with Stephanie and she is such a fun person. I'm dying to see Lettuce Knit, but I'll have to live vicariously through you. ;) Hope your internship is going well.

Anonymous said...

What fun, you lucky duck! =)

Webbies said...

To be in the right city at the right time...sounds wonderful! I will be interested to see what you do with the angora!

LisaB said...

Oh..my...gosh...I am completely drooling at that wall of Rowan. Pure heaven! I have a similar experience like that in a store in Scotland. So much Rowan goodness.

Looks like you had a great time! And the Yarn Harlot wore your sock on her hand. Neato!

Anonymous said...

Actually, that's not the post I've been waiting for. I'm waiting for the one with the photos of zoo critters. Haven't been to the TO zoo in ages, but would like to go again sometime.

Bye the way. A belated welcome to Canada. I hope the denizens of Southern Ontario are good to you and that you thoroughly enjoy yourself while there.

And if you like Italian food, get yourself to a restaurant/bakery called Grano. It's one of my favourite Toronto restaurants. It's on the east side of Yonge St. just south of Eglington a bit. The restaurants are the one thing I've missed since leaving there.

The Anonymous

Knittripps said...

Wow! What a great experience!

Anonymous said...

I hope you like the Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls book as much as I do- I've knit several from it. Make sure you check for errata first- there were a couple of goofs in mine (that may have been corrected if yours is a subsequent edition).

It is a dream of mine to go on a yarn crawl somewhere with more than 2 yarn shops and Walmart. Sounds like you had a great time!

Anonymous said...

The pictures tell a great story. Glad you had so much fun with the Harlot. Love you yarn acquisitions. The wall of Rowan is such a tease. I feel like I need to go there!

Anonymous said...

Hey Erin,

I don't have your email address (how did I neglect to get that?) so I hope you read your comments!

It was awesome meeting you. If possible, I hope we can meet up again next time I'm in TO (maybe another knit night at Lettuce?).

The big news is that I have convinced dh to drive us all down to Rhinebeck this year! I'm already looking at workshops and drooling. Whee, only 4 months or so to go!

Talk to you soon,

Dani

Cathy said...

Awesome! I wish there cute yarn shops like that around here :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a marvelous time! I'm so jealous. Love all that beautiful yarn :)