Vacation 2008 - Treasure Hunt

Without intruding on my family's vacation, I did manage to sneak in a fair amout of fiber adventures. All it took was a keen eye (which my obsessed mind readily provided). For example, while looking for lunch in downtown Ottawa I spied a Celtic shop selling these:

It was a good start, but these sweaters are all machine made. The prices reflect this, they'd be sinfully cheap if they were hand knit!

Coming home from our Parliment tour I managed to hit two yarn stores since they were both on our way to Rockland. The boys had bought a video game at HMV and so they were quite happy to stay in the car while I had a look around. The first store was Yarn Forward & Sew On, an tempting combo of yarn store and quilt shop.

It's a lovely shop, roomy and bright with helpful and friendly staff. There was a wide range of yarns available. Jim was struck by the alapaca blend sock yarn and commented that he thought it would be quite warm. So, I told him to pick a color for me to make him socks. Here's what he chose:

Bright, eh? I'm thinking that this would look gorgeous in some color work. Then I found some Lucy Neatby sock yarn and once I put my hands on it I HAD to have it. The price was rich, but I was powerless before this yarn. I didn't even stop to read the label. It wasn't until we were driving away and I was petting my pretty that I read the label and discovered that I had bought a cashmere blend yarn.

Yes, I had to knit it up right away. This is a Monkey, but it is soon to be ripped since there is no way it will fit me and there's also no way I will be giving this yarn to anyone else. It's all mine!!

Wool N' Things was also on the way home so we stopped there too. I wasn't going to spend money, just look. But the first thing I saw was this beauty:

It was lust at first sight. Then I picked it up. Egads! But you have to buy the Handmaiden or Fleece Artist you love when you find it because it's always different. Wool N' Time had some new sock yarns in from Regia. This one is furry:


And this one has little bobbles all over it:I think they are both just awful! I've heard rumors that Regia has discontinued their silk blend sock yarn. I can't believe they would replace a quality yarn like that for this junk. Bleh.

I also picked up some Tuffy and needles to teach my sister-in-law Cathy how to knit socks. Then, just at the cash register, they had this little gem which was an impulse purchase:
Laceweight soy-silk. Like I need more laceweight, but it was only $16. Curiosity killed the cat. Me-ow! Or do I look like the cat that swallowed the canary?

As you can see, Cathy was pretty happy learning to knit socks. She knows basic knitting, but this was her first time with DPNs and purling. She's a quick study!

As a last cap and glory to the trip, we stopped in at Half Price books in Oshua where I pored over their knitting section and there I had my magic moment. A copy of America Knits for $10. I've borrowed the hardcover from my local library several times and fell in love with this book. To find it new, and inexpensive was such a thrill! I bought it and One Skein Wonders.

These are my souvenirs of a fabulous trip!