Travelogue with Fireworks

I had a bit of a whirlwind trip home for Canada Day this past weekend. It was a fun time with most of the  family there. Sunday was spent on the beach and was capped off with a great fireworks display.

I left on Friday and crossed the border at Sarnia. I had read about a yarn shop there, so I did some research and found three that I could visit within a close area. The first was Heaven is Handmade on Christina Street. I really liked the selection, especially since they carried brands I don't see much in my LYS.

I took home a couple skeins of aran-weight washable wool for a project I'll talk about later:

I started swatching on the trip because I couldn't wait to try it out.

I also took home a skein of sock yarn dyed by a local woman. I'm developing a habit of picking up a skein of sock yarn when travelling!

The colours were gorgeous and I chose this green because I thought it would be a nice darker colourer to wear with jeans (without getting too dark to work with or to see a pattern). When you open it up:

you can see that the colours are fairly spotty or random so I don't expect it to stripe too much when knit. We'll see. It's merino with 20% cashmere and feels very soft and squishy.

The second shop was Feather Your Nest on Front Street. It was a nice shop split about 50/50 with home decorator items, with the yarn in the back. (And chocolate. I shouldn't forget that they sell Godiva chocolate there too.) I had first heard about it because they hosted Stephanie Pearl-McPhee recently and I considered going. They stocked a lot of yarn that I can get at my LYS (Lorna's, madelinetosh, Handmaiden). It's all great stuff, but not what I'm looking for on vacation.

I did find it interesting to recognize their shop samples. They had a Honey Cowl out of madelinetosh. Oh wow, I made one of those for a shop sample. And they also had a Color Affection Shawl, which I haven't made but recognized right away because I've thought long and hard about making it. It soared in popularity after Stephanie mentioned it on her blog.

The address for the third shop turned out to be an empty store front. :( No hattrick for me.

The following day, we went out to the "Blue Box," which is a second hand place. (A "blue box" being the municipal container that you use to put out your recyclables.) My sister found some yarn leftovers to use for her constant making of hats. I found some old plastic needles:

I enjoy them so much, and these will be nice additions to the ones I have from my grandmother's supply. I really liked finding the dpns; I didn't have any of them. I love the bright colours, and even if they were the cheapest of the cheap needles at the time, a few decades have bestowed on them value and worth.

Later on Saturday I attended a baby shower for my niece, and now I can reveal the little package I showed a few weeks ago. This:

contained all this:

Two receiving blankets ("spit" cloths) and two bibs. I couldn't believe it when I found this pink elephant fabric. (I always have my eyes out for elephant fabric but there's not a lot of nice options out there.) I actually resisted it the first time I saw it because I didn't think I had a use for it. Well, then I invented a use and went out and got some. The coordinating fabrics are part of what sold me on it. Pink argyle elephants! Come on, how could I resist that?

Here is a detail of each bib:

And Brooke opening her gift:

Here is another handmade gift:

One of my sisters likes to make play blankets from two pieces of flannel with satin trim. Very simple, but very cute. She's happy because the trim company has finally come out with some updated colours.

Later in the day, I went to visit a friend who built a new house over the last year. She and her family were out of town for the weekend, so I actually just visited the house! But they said I was welcome and I decided it was worth it because I didn't know when I would be home next and really wanted to see the new house. I had prepared a gift to leave as a house warming, but forgot it at my mom's. Complete bummer. I'll show you anyway:

It's the latest set of "walking dishcloths" that I finished right before leaving for the trip. I truly hope that it's the thought that counts, because it isn't worth mailing them! (Sorry, Y!)

Sunday was spent on the beach and in between food runs, trips to the shoreline and visits to the art tents, I knit on my latest socks:

I decided on the Harris Tweed pattern by Ali Green. I think the pattern is perfect with this yarn combination. I finished the first sock before I left, and took the second one to work on. I made some good time on it on Sunday.

Monday I got zero knitting done because I had to drive the whole way home. Next time I won't forget to pack the hubby so he can drive!!