More Portland

We're back in town, but here are some more sights from our Portland trip.

My friend told me about this place - Pine State Biscuits.

Oh boy, it was good. Here's a pic of my biscuit BLT before I snarfed it down. Look at those tomatoes!

Then we went over to the Alberta Arts District to poke around. We found this store, Close Knit:

I didn't get anything, but look at all that yummy yarn.

I loved this - an old library filing system that they use to store their circular needles.

And isn't this a lovely spot for knitting or crocheting?

It was a gorgeous day, so sunny! Great for a walk up an down the main street.

CK had fun in this store called Trade Up. He almost left with a banjo!

And I found another store full of treasures, collagepdx.

Wall of stamps!

And oh look, someone found some more ice cream.

After a bit of a rest, we went back to Powells for more books.

And for dinner, we ended up at Deschutes Brewery, on a friend's recommendation.

Tasting flight! Beer! Mmm!

It was a great little getaway, we'll definitely be back to Portland. 

Yellow brick yarn

Here's the yarn I picked up last week when I went to So Much Yarn:

I listened to a podcast while I rolled it up into this:

I'm going to make myself a spring cowl scarf. The label calls this colour "gold," but I bought it because I've had this song stuck in my head for the last few weeks. It's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, done by Sara Bareilles. Man, I love her, and I love her take on this song. Here she is live on PBS American Voices. Amazing. 

Pike and yarn

Yesterday I blogged about me and Shawna's mini vacay over to Seattle. After seeing the show, eating, drinking and chilling in the hotel, we spent the next day at Pike Place Market.

It's a lot like Granville Island here in town - with so much to eat and smell and enjoy.

And the rain let up for us, we stayed dry all afternoon. Look at this lovely building! We passed by the original Starbucks and had some nice lunch on the water.

AND we visited So Much Yarn. It's a lovely shop, nice and central. The ladies inside were very friendly and helpful.

Walls of yarn, knitting needles and crochet hooks. I was in heaven!

This would be in my dream house: just shelves and shelves of yummy yarn.

They hold many classes in the store - wouldn't it be great to learn a new skill and have this for a view?

Shawna was not as excited as me. She had a mini snooze while I shopped. Ha! She's missing out on all the yarn!!

Shades of pink

When I was at The Loom last month I picked up some yarn from their sale baskets outside. I was thinking of making a blanket for a girlfriend who is expecting, but she's keeping the sex of the baby a secret. I think she is having a girl, so I got some yarn in shades of pink:

I just love the palette, especially the light grey. In fact, I pulled one ball apart to start making something, but then this happened, as it often does:

No worries, I'll just pop it on to the new love of my life, my wool winder!

Seven minutes later (yes, I timed it), I had a lovely wool cake to work with. In the past, it would have taken me hours to untangle that yarn mess. This took seven minutes!

Bamboletta Studio

I came across the Bamboletta Studio this past weekend when I was in Whippletree Junction. They make make amazing, one-of-a-kind dolls!

The studio was closed, but I snuck a peak in their window. What a creative workplace!

And look at this adorable doll's coat! This plus the Loom makes Whippletree Junction one of my favourite places on the island :)

The Loom again

Boy oh boy do I love the Loom. They are just the best. A humble little store that is busting at the seams with yarn.

I love this starched, 3D crocheted star.

Boxes and boxes of yarn = heaven.

And it's just a few paces away from the Bamboletta studio, more on that tomorrow...

Haul from the yarn store

I checked out the yarn store Unwind while we were away on our little getaway. Here's my haul:

Four lovely balls of this Viking wool/acrylic/nylon yarn, in fire engine red!

And they had a bunch of free pattern pamphlets that I scored. Who knows if I will make anything, but they are lovely!

Here is one of the hats I made from the yarn. The pattern is a variation on these two hats. They crocheted up very quickly and turned out nicely!

Local Yarn Store visit

When we went over to the Sunshine Coast, I popped in to their local yarn store, Unwind.

They have yarn, of course, and also a lot of roving. Look at those big fat spools of roving up on top of the shelves!

They had a nice big table for teaching people how to spin, knit and crochet.

And here is a lovely yarn bowl. I don't use these, I usually stick the ball of yarn in a paper bag on the floor, but they are so lovely.

Here is their business card, nestled on top of some of the rocks I collected at the beach. I like their company name - Unwind. A perfect description of our little getaway!

Happy

This makes me so happy! I didn't even buy anything, just popped in to ogle the lovely goods at Three Bags Full.

Back to The Loom

The last time I was on the island I went to my favourite yarn store, the Loom.

I wandered around back and there was a random bonfire going. It smelled great!

 And at the front of the store was this flyer advertising from the Handmade Hugs Society. Go read about the stuff they do, it's pretty cool! I hope I can help contribute in some way.

Udon Neckie

All done! I used this awesome yarn and was done in a couple of hours. So quick and easy, and very, very warm!

Ravelry'd here