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Knit City

My activity levels outside the house have been picking up as my feet heal.  I have been able to downsize from the crutches to a walking stick.  Funny, Paul gave me this hiking stick for my birthday this year and it has certainly now come in handy; was it a premonition?

Yesterday Tena and I ventured to the Croatian Cultural Centre on Commercial Drive to attend Knit City.   This was a yarny extravaganza with tons of exhibitors and classes for the yarn enthusiast.  Our plan was to get there early and then go for lunch.  Apparently everyone else attending had about the same idea.  We stood in line to get in and then slowly snaked our way through the booths.  It seems many of us were carrying rather large bags, seemingly full of new found goodies.  It was so busy progress was slow, but then that suited my degree of speed perfectly.

Here's a photo of the entire event from the stage to give you a sense of the busyness:

Knit City on October 13 taken by Apple Yarns of Bellingham, WA

There were two booths in particular that we spent a great deal of time perusing.  First was SoulFibre

These are felted wool masks
Love the creativity shown here
If you've been following me on this blog, it would come as no surprise that this booth really caught my attention.  The creative force behind this work, Melissa, lives in Salmon Arm, BC.  If you want to see more and perhaps better photos of her work, check this out.  My singular purchase of the day was from this shop and it will show up later in the week.

We also spent time talking to Sylvia Olsen a writer, storyteller and knitter of the Cowichan sweater, a style of knitting developed by the Coast Salish.  (Note the dress Sylvia has on, it is knit from linen in that style.)  Her book, Working with Wool, documents how Coast Salish knitters developed their style of knitting almost 100 years ago, a style that turned into a world famous sweater and industry that made and saved their lives.


Sylvia on the left, intently discussing the Cowichan sweater with Tena

And oh my goodness, as I was about to post this I received a call~~I won one of the door prizes from yesterday!!  I will update about it along with my singular purchase later this week.  Wow, it was very good to get out yesterday.

P.S.  The door prize is a knitting bag, which is just perfect.  I was worried it might be yarn; something I have plenty of at the moment.  It is a Tom Bihn Swift bag.  There is a story behind this bag's design. Tom Bihn bag company worked with Knitty magazine to get input about the perfect knit bag; Swift was the result.  I snagged a $90 knitting bag for a $10 admission fee to get into Knit City.  Lucky me.  Check out this website to get the full story behind the bag.

My new knitting bag in just this colour too!

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