Canadians celebrated what we generally call the May Long Weekend on May 19-21. It means most banks, schools and businesses other than those who do retail selling were closed. Some in the States call it Canada's version of Memorial Weekend, but that is not quite right. It originated to commemorate Queen Victoria's birthday, which is actually May 24. (She ruled the UK from 1837 to 1901, BTW.) Like most modern celebrations rather than hold the holiday on the proper day of the week we opt to hold it on the Monday that falls before May 24. And like the States' Memorial Weekend, it too marks the start of summer.
Paul and I decided to make it a four-day weekend and headed south like many of our fellow Canadians to Seattle. However, there was a bit of knitting business I did as we drove down. As I was noodling around all my favorite knitting websites I found an events section that announced the following: May 17-20 LYS Tour - Destination Yarn 2012, Puget Sound. I clicked on the website and found there were 21 local yarn shops in the Pacific Northwest, all along the I-5 corridor, opening their doors longer than normal so I could shop in (Freudian slip if I ever saw one, so I'll leave it as I wrote it) and look around. For this I would get a free pattern, different at each shop, and 10% off the corresponding yarn to make the pattern, if I chose to buy during the tour.
This was marketed as a Yarn Crawl. I just wish I could duplicate the laugh my son, Dack, had about the term Yarn Crawl. He was truly tickled by the fact there was such a thing. I'm putting words in his mouth, but my guess is his familiarity with a Crawl most likely includes Pubs, so a Yarn Crawl would be nothing like that experience which I believe contributed to his amusement. Once he stopped laughing I was able to tell him the Crawl ran from Birch Bay on the north end of I-5 all the way to Renton south of Seattle. Lucky for me Paul was happy to sit in the car and read as I shopped in two locations, one in Mt. Vernon, located in an old jail, and another in Everett. Each shop has it own special things going on and I really enjoyed looking around. But alas, I knew I would be stopping/shopping on Monday in the mother of all LYS in my region so I held my spending to a bare minimum.
During the weekend we had fun in Seattle, taking in a play, movie, Verdi concert and a wine tasting tour plus we ate some fine meals too. And lest you think I slowed down on the knitting, here's an update on that second Gramps sweater. Don't look too closely, the buttons aren't sewn on, the loose threads need to be woven into the garment and it needs a good blocking, otherwise it is done! All I need is an hour and it too will be fully complete.
So on Monday, I gave Paul a break from having to wait for me at yarn shops and headed to Little Knits in West Seattle alone. The shop is located on a retail street and has a rather unassuming store front. And like all the other yarn shops I have visited it was displaying lovely quality yarns. The big difference was their prices. Brand name yarns at Little Knits can be 50% to 70% less than you find it priced elsewhere. A colleague of mine told me about their website and that if you spent $125 they'd ship for free, even into Canada. (Their shipping free policy for CA is now $250.) But I'm old fashion, I like to look and feel yarn I'm going to work with so I decided to visit in person. (Besides the website is a bit clunky to use. Some technical help from a web designer could really improve the browsing capacity of their site.)
In an hour and one half I found enough yarn for 2 adult sweaters, one baby sweater and a pair of socks. No, I wouldn't have gotten free shipping to Canada, but I did put a dent in my wallet. Knowing I'd have to declare all purchases at the border over $400, I did keep myself in check.
Carlie, I know you will soon be leaving us for bigger and better things, but thanks for putting me on to Little Knits. My creativity thanks you profusely; my budget, well it has other less complimentary things to wish you. I tend to listen to my creativity almost always, so thank you very much. I will be finding my way to Little Knits whenever I need that special yarn at a great price.
Paul and I decided to make it a four-day weekend and headed south like many of our fellow Canadians to Seattle. However, there was a bit of knitting business I did as we drove down. As I was noodling around all my favorite knitting websites I found an events section that announced the following: May 17-20 LYS Tour - Destination Yarn 2012, Puget Sound. I clicked on the website and found there were 21 local yarn shops in the Pacific Northwest, all along the I-5 corridor, opening their doors longer than normal so I could shop in (Freudian slip if I ever saw one, so I'll leave it as I wrote it) and look around. For this I would get a free pattern, different at each shop, and 10% off the corresponding yarn to make the pattern, if I chose to buy during the tour.
This was marketed as a Yarn Crawl. I just wish I could duplicate the laugh my son, Dack, had about the term Yarn Crawl. He was truly tickled by the fact there was such a thing. I'm putting words in his mouth, but my guess is his familiarity with a Crawl most likely includes Pubs, so a Yarn Crawl would be nothing like that experience which I believe contributed to his amusement. Once he stopped laughing I was able to tell him the Crawl ran from Birch Bay on the north end of I-5 all the way to Renton south of Seattle. Lucky for me Paul was happy to sit in the car and read as I shopped in two locations, one in Mt. Vernon, located in an old jail, and another in Everett. Each shop has it own special things going on and I really enjoyed looking around. But alas, I knew I would be stopping/shopping on Monday in the mother of all LYS in my region so I held my spending to a bare minimum.
During the weekend we had fun in Seattle, taking in a play, movie, Verdi concert and a wine tasting tour plus we ate some fine meals too. And lest you think I slowed down on the knitting, here's an update on that second Gramps sweater. Don't look too closely, the buttons aren't sewn on, the loose threads need to be woven into the garment and it needs a good blocking, otherwise it is done! All I need is an hour and it too will be fully complete.
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| Girl's Gramps version 2.0 almost done |
In an hour and one half I found enough yarn for 2 adult sweaters, one baby sweater and a pair of socks. No, I wouldn't have gotten free shipping to Canada, but I did put a dent in my wallet. Knowing I'd have to declare all purchases at the border over $400, I did keep myself in check.
Carlie, I know you will soon be leaving us for bigger and better things, but thanks for putting me on to Little Knits. My creativity thanks you profusely; my budget, well it has other less complimentary things to wish you. I tend to listen to my creativity almost always, so thank you very much. I will be finding my way to Little Knits whenever I need that special yarn at a great price.
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