Vancouver Yarn Crawl II

I was so blessed to go to Canada not once but TWICE in the past four months. This has never happened, and realistically will probably never happen again and I am so SO grateful to have had this chance. Of course, while there, I got up to plenty of yarn & fibre related activities, including visiting wonderful yarn stores and attending a fibre festival with my mom. It's so much fun to hunt out these special places on my travels and I'm so glad that my mom was willing to trek around with me to each of them. 

So at long last, today I want to share with you all about the yarn-y places I was able to visit on these last two most recent trips to Canada. Obviously, this is just a small number of the amazing places there are to visit in and around my hometown, but I'm very pleased that we managed to make it to so many! I'll start with the yarn stores and then move onto broader, more "fibre arts" related places. 

Of course, I was horrible at getting any photos, so below are some shots of the yarn I walked away with from each of these spots instead...well, some of it at least, haha! I'm planning a post soon on Canadian yarn, which will talk about a bunch of these in more detail, so stay tuned for that! 

Yarn:

Valley Yarn - Surrey
This was such an amazing yarn store- and one I'd never even heard of until my friend Natasha took me there while I was visiting over Christmas. It's tiny but packed (literally) floor to ceiling with delicious yarn. Lots of Madeline Tosh (some of which came home with me!), Hedgehog Fibers, The Fiber Company, Mineville Wool Project, and various other assorted wonders. Worth stopping by if you're anywhere near the area.

88 Stitches - Walnut Grove
I was so happy to return this Spring to 88 Stitches (first wrote about this shop here). My mom and I visited on Customer Appreciation day where there were door prizes and deals galore. They've got a great selection of sock yarn as well as plenty of Canadian hand dyed (hellooo Sweet Fiber!) and even some more rustic woolly wools to choose from. 

Three Bags Full- Vancouver
Stopped by this shop quickly while on Main Street with my sister over Christmas. I'd been to this shop before (and got the yarn for my Tamborine cardigan), and while they do have quite a nice selection, it seemed to me that they've started carrying a lot of the more expensive yarns and I couldn't find anything that was in my price point that really caught my eye. (The Woolfolk yarns are simply stunning though!)

Beehive Wool Shop- Victoria
So SO happy to have made it to this lovely gem of a yarn shop on Vancouver Island. I took Caleb on the ferry with my mom and siblings for a mini road trip to Victoria. We had such fun wandering and of course one of the highlights was stopping in here (pictured above). I just spent ages pondering what of the many MANY lovely yarns was going to come home with me. They've got plenty of rustic, sheepy wool (a weakness of mine...), including all the Brooklyn Tweed. We definitely picked up some of that, as well as some Hinterland Watershed and Ancient Arts sock yarn (yay Canadian yarn!)

Fibre Arts: 

Birkeland Bros. Wool - Abbotsford 
This was such a fun little shop to wander around. It's mostly a spinning store and they had wheels & tools and, of course fibre galore. But the coolest part was the giant carding machine they had in the front of the shop (and I mean GIANT). Although we didn't see it in action, it was so cool to get a peek at it up close and to read about it's history- how it made it to the West Coast and where it all was before that. Also if you DO stop in here, make sure you go to Old Hand coffee right around the corner! 

Maiwa Textiles- Vancouver
One of my favorite spots ever and an absolute gem right in the middle of Granville Island. This is a little fibre arts shop full of natural dyes, fabric, yarn, tools and books. I stop in here every time I'm in the area and always enjoy browsing. Over Christmas I picked up some undyed yarn to maybe try my hand at natural dying- we'll see how that goes!

Fibres West Festival- Cloverdale
My mom and I were so excited to learn that there was a fibre festival while I was in town. We took Caleb for the afternoon and it was a perfect early Spring sunny day. We so enjoyed wandering through the stalls, looking at all the local Canadian wool and fibre and making our thoughtful purchases. Such a highlight of my most recent trip for sure! 

So there you have it- if you're interested, here's a post I did about my first Vancouver Yarn Crawl. And you can also read about the yarn shops I visited in Scotland here and my trip to Tolt Yarn & Wool here. 

Scotland Yarn Crawl

Today I'm excited to finally share with you a little bit more about the yarn shops that we visited on our trip to Scotland. One thing I really love about yarn tourism (is that a real term? I feel like it should be...) is how you end up visiting places you otherwise never would. I feel like we saw some less touristy areas of Edinburgh especially by visiting the neighborhoods where these yarn shops were. And of course, what could be more special than knitting with yarns brought home from an amazing trip? I can't wait to work on the projects I have planned for this yarn. I just know that I'll be reminded of all the best parts of our trip as I do.

One thing I want to say before I dive into this post is that I am aware that we missed some major places here. In case you are planning a trip to Scotland anytime soon, I wanted to make sure and mention a few places I would have loved to get to but that we just didn't have time for. In Edinburgh that's Be Inspired Fibers. On Skye I'd have loved to stop in at The Handspinner Having Fun in Broadford and both Dragonfly Studio and Island at the Edge. Some more reasons to return one day! 

Alrighty. That being said, here's what we DID see (the bold headings are links, if you want to find out more about any of these amazing shops):

Ginger Twist Studio (Edinburgh)

We walked out to this little shop on our first afternoon in Edinburgh. It's tiny but chock full of fun, vibrant yarns with a colorful & vintage-y feel. There was a great selection of hand dyed yarn (unique to the shop itself) as well as plenty of patterns from designers such as Claire Devine and Emily of Tin Can Knits. Jess, the owner was so sweet and helpful. She even recommended a great bakery just around the corner, which we headed to for coffee and a treat after we'd finished. 

what I got: one skein of hand dyed sock yarn (dyed by the owner herself) and a skein of West Yorkshire Spinners Blue Faced Leicester. The WYS yarn will hopefully become a pair of mittens. With the hand dyed yarn, I'm hoping to cast on the Winding Way socks by Emily Wessel of Tin Can Knits- they were inspired by Edinburgh Old Town.

Kathy's Knits (Edinburgh)

We almost skipped this spot, as I was feeling pretty beat by the second afternoon but in the end I am so SO glad we made it. Kathy's Knits is a lovely shop and so very different from Ginger Twist Studio. I would say that this store had a more classic (rustic..?) feel to it, though there's still plenty of color. Kathy herself was there to assist with all queries (she had just returned from Shetland Wool Week!) and she really had a great selection. There were English and Scottish yarns galore and patterns/books from well known designers such as Kate Davies and Ysolda Teaque. 

what I got: two skeins of New Lanark DK in a lovely tweedy green for the Woodland Tales mitts and two skeins of Blacker Yarns Tin II. The first was a planned purchase (I'm considering ordering more in different colors at some point) but the second was a total impulse buy. As soon as I saw these two gorgeous skeins I knew that they just had to come home with me. If you don't already know of this yarn, you can check it out here. Though I don't have any specific plans for it, I'm thinking a shawl, or perhaps a lovely two toned cowl (like this or this). 

Shilasdair (Isle of Skye)

Where to even start? What to say about this amazing yarn store... This was by far the most remote and enchanting yarn store I've ever been to. We drove down the road and to the bottom of the driveway and I literally felt like I had arrived at the end of the world. And then we walked in and the magic just continued- the walls were lined with lovely hand dyed yarns in such a vibrant mix of colors. Each skein was labeled, showing which plants had produced that color. In the back was a small room with a little more information on the dying process- there were books and posters detailing the color wheel offered at Shilasdair (and the dyestuffs used) as well as a video explaining more about the process. We had such a great time looking around and taking our time to carefully make our selections. 

what I got: one skein of Luxury DK dyed with Indigo & tansy to make matching hats for Waldi & Caleb, and some lovely sock yarn dyed with Marigold & onion skins which I'm sure will turn into a very lovely pair of socks. 

so there you have it. I must say, this post was a blast to write. Hopefully I'll have more yarn-related travels to share at some point but for now, if you're interested you can read about my Vancouver yarn crawl I went on with my mom last summer here. 

Scotland Part Two: Isle of Skye

Of course, having shared last week about our time in Edinburgh, I wanted to make sure and post about the second part of our time in Scotland, which we spent on the Isle of Skye. 

We were so enchanted by this beautiful place and managed to explore quite a bit while we were there. We didn't get to everything on our lists, but we did pretty good for our first trip to the island- because, oh yes, we will have to go back some day. Here's what we managed to see this time around:

Eilean Donan Castle

Okay, so this isn't technically on the Isle of Skye. We passed it on the way in and stopped to get a closer look. As can be seen in the photo we were there in the late afternoon, when the sun was shining brilliantly, which made it challenging to get a good photo. It would have been an amazing place to watch the sunset, but we didn't want to dawdle too much, as we wanted to get Caleb (and our weary selves) settled in at our cottage.

Talisker Bay

Day One saw us heading SW and we started with a walk to Talisker Bay. This is one of the lesser known spots on Skye and I'm so glad we did enough reading beforehand to find out about it. After driving down through some very wild landscape, we parked our car just outside of Talisker farm and walked out to the ocean. The beach was stunning, with jagged cliffs (which you can kind of see in the first photo above) and a misty waterfall- very romantic. It wasn't busy at all, which really allowed us to enjoy the beauty of the spot fully. Plus there were fields of sheep all along the path, which was really fun to see. 

Talisker Distillery

After our walk, Caleb needed a pitstop and a little downtime so we stopped at the Distillery so Waldi could take a tour, while we hung out in the car. Thankfully, he was able to fit in a group right away (since he was alone) and he said the tour was interesting & informative and that the guide was very nice and told some great stories.

Fairy Pools

Our final stop of the day was at the Fairy Pools. This was by far the busiest trail we visited during our time on Skye, and for good reason. The walk in is very accessible and the pools are quite simply magical. There was quite a bit of wind, so we decided to go down separately, so one of us could stay with C. Waldi jumped into that pool in the photo there and convinced an American tourist to jump in as well. My crazy husband, haha! He said it was all kinds of worth it though- and the water wasn't even as cold as he had been expecting.

Quiraing 

The next morning, Waldi got up early and headed out to hike the Quirang. He drove out as the sun was rising and managed to make the full trail before too many people showed up. I'm pretty bummed to have missed this, but Caleb and I had a lovely, cozy morning at the cottage, eating porridge and listening to back episodes of the Woolful podcast, which was pretty great as well. 

Portree

Once Waldi got back, we headed into Portree, the biggest "city" on the island and just a few minute's drive from our cottage. We stopped in for a coffee and some cookies at Arriba cafe, which had lovely views of the harbor and very good coffee. I can't describe it exactly, but it just had that feel of an island coffee shop that I've experienced at home along the westcoast- very laid back but also completely warm and cozy.

Next, we headed out to walk the Scorrybreac circut- a trail that starts just out of the harbor and heads along the coast before cutting up and through the fields & woods back into town. Again, I am so glad we did this. We had the trail basically to ourselves (though we did see some cows) and it was perfectly easy to do with Caleb. We also had an amazing view of the Old Man of Storr (which Waldi later returned to hike), as the day was so clear. It was an absolutely perfect 90mins. 

Then it was back into Portree for a wander down to the harbor and through a few shops. We were hoping to stay for a seafood dinner, but none of the restaurants opened early enough for us, as we didn't want to be out too late with C. Still really enjoyed our time in this little town. 

Neist Point

On our last day, we woke up early and drove out to the westernmost point of Skye- Neist Point. I am so glad we decided to do this, as it was a real highlight for me. We were there early enough that not too many people had arrived yet, and we had a lot of fun exploring. We walked up from the parking lot to get a view of the lighthouse down below and then went down about halfway to the point. The green cliffs against the open ocean are just amazing. This was my first experience with the open Atlantic, and I must admit it's going to be hard to top. 

On the way back we stopped at Cafe Lephin in Glendale for coffee and millionaire shortbread- yum! This was a really charming spot, selling local artwork, cards and other little treasures.

Stein Inn

From Neist Point we drove north towards Stein and Waternish. After a stop to buy some very special yarn (more on this later!) we had lunch at the Stein Inn. This was a perfectly cozy spot and we both enjoyed our meals immensely- seafood sandwiches with salad and crisps. There was a little gallery next door, which we popped into as well before heading out to our final stop of the day.  

Coral Beaches 

From Stein, we doubled back a bit and drove out to the coral beaches. The drive out here was really fun and took us past Dunvegan castle, which you get a great view of looking back after passing it. Then it was a short walk out to this lovely spot. It's quite funny to see something like this against the rest of the landscape, as you can see in the top photo of Waldi. We didn't spend long here, as we were pretty beat by this point but I'm so glad we stopped in for a visit. 

So there you have it- a quick overview of our time in Scotland. I'm working on putting together a post about the yarn shops we managed to visit and the yarns I picked up in case you aren't sick of seeing Scotland photos yet. 

This trip was wonderful and was basically brought to you by the letter W- wool, so much walking, a bit of whisky (for Waldi that is...), and we three Werwai's wandering around. We had such a great time!

Scotland Part One: Edinburgh

Today I'm super excited to share a little bit about our Scotland trip here on the blog. I've shared bits and pieces over on Instagram, but I thought it might be fun to share here about the different parts of our trip in a little more detail. Today is part one: Edinburgh. 

We spent two whirlwind days in the Scottish capital and throughly enjoyed ourselves. This was our first big trip with Caleb and though things were of course different with him along, we managed to do quite a few things by starting early in the morning and then heading back to our hotel by the mid to late afternoons. Here's what we got up to on those two days:

Edinburgh Castle 

This was quite impressive to see (specifically from below, walking up) and a great orientation point to start our wanderings from. We didn't actually go into the castle but we certainly enjoyed the views.

The Writers Museum

I had expected to enjoy this, but I was even more impressed than I thought. This lovely museum, tucked away in a close off the Royal Mile, in a small charming house is free to the public and showcases the work of three of Scotland's most famous writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. The exhibitions were quite interesting but even if you're not into literature, it's worth popping in just to wander through the house. 

Victoria Street

Of course, another author with a connection to this city is JK Rowling and we set off to visit a few Harry Potter themed spots throughout the morning. The first of these was Victoria Street, which is supposed to have inspired Diagon Alley. Whether it's true or not, this was a charming little street that was quite fun to meander down. 

Greyfriar's Kirk

Next we popped into the old graveyard, Greyfriar's Kirk. We meandered a bit through the paths, but what we had really come to find was Voldemort's grave- several of the gravestones here bear names that JK Rowling apparently borrowed for different characters in her books. One of these names is Tom Riddle. We met a very kind volunteer who kindly showed us where this grave was, as well as the graves of several other interesting historical figures.

Greyfriars Bobby

Another grave that can be found here is that of Greyfriars Bobby, a small dog who is said to have waited by his masters grave for many years after that master's death. He's got a pub and a little statue to mark his memory. This was a cute little story, and was fun to walk by, though I don't think I would have sought it out if we hadn't happened to be in the area. 

The Elephant House Cafe

Our final Harry Potter related stop of the trip. After all that walking these two Hufflepuffs needed a break, so we popped into this cafe, where JK Rowling wrote parts of the early Harry Potter books. We had coffee and a light lunch, and sat in the back, looking out at the castle in the distance. I will say, it was not as busy as I had been expecting and completely relaxing for both us and Caleb to hang out here. A really fun stop! 

Calton Hill

We continued being touristy in the afternoon and (after dashing undercover to wait out a quick rain shower) we headed up Calton Hill for some more views. It was lovely, especially on such a clear day and I would recommend heading up here- especially if you visit the city and are not able to make it up Arthur's Seat. 

Royal Mile & St Giles Cathedral

The next morning we headed down the Royal Mile, which is the street that runs from Edinburgh Castle all the way to Holyrood Palace. It's basically the old part of the city, with beautiful buildings and narrow alleyways (called closes) leading off it. We mailed a postcard to my family (in the British postbox because I'm into that sort of thing...) and stopped in at St Giles Cathedral. This was one of my very favorite cathedrals (and I've been to my fair share, including both St Paul's and the Dom in Cologne). I think this was partly to do with how the sunlight was shining through the stained glass- we'd never seen such a brightly lit (almost colorful) cathedral before.

Arthur's Seat

Once we got to the end of the Royal Mile we headed to Arthur's seat. We weren't too sure how this was going to be with Caleb, but we had a very warm day with little wind and so we headed up. We went up the path by the craigs and around to the back. We didn't actually make it up the highest part but the views were still stunning- how amazing that this is right in the middle of the city. 

Scottish tea house

To warm up after our hike, we stopped in at this cute tea house at the bottom of the Royal Mile for a cup of Scottish Breakfast tea and some scones with jam. This was the perfect pit stop, coming in from the fresh air to warm up and refuel in such a cozy place was just delightful. I especially loved how the place was decorated- so many of the items reminded me of the things my grandmother used to have. There was even a cross stitch map of the United Kingdom (which I meant to take a photo of but totally forgot...)


We did visit several other parts of the city in the afternoons- we made it to two yarn shops and into New Town for a late lunch at Jamie's Italian, though I didn't manage to get any photos there. I'll share more about the yarn shops in a separate post since this is already getting quite long, but there's a little recap of our (touristy) adventures in this city! 

a week with my sisters

this past week my sister & (soon-to-be) sister in law were here visiting Waldi & I (and Baby Werwai!) from Canada. It was an amazing fun-filled whirlwind week and today I wanted to share a few photos from our time together here on the blog. 

These last few weeks before our baby is born are quickly dwindling down and we're getting so excited to meet him. But we sure are enjoying our last few pre-baby adventures. I so loved having my sisters here for these precious days together- it's a time I know I'll look back often on. The part where they leave is always hard and all of yesterday I was thinking about them on their flight, landing home at the airport (the smell of Tim Hortons in the air...) and feeling so homesick. But I'm so thankful for every day we had together. Until next time girls! 

Here's a brief look at what we got up to in the last week!

 breakfast & pedicures in the Oberstadt (the old part of the city) to welcome them to town.

an impromptu photoshoot on the way to the movies...

on the Saturday I had a joint baby shower with a friend. So much decorating and so many delicious treats! I can't believe how special it turned out, and it was amazing to have so many of my friends & family there to celebrate our baby. 

 we spent the mornings leading up to the party decorating & baking, picking up fresh flowers from the market and re-arranging our entire apartment to accommodate all the guests. What an amazing feeling to have a house full of women to celebrate with us. It was quite simply overwhelming! 

I never could have pulled it off like this by myself so thanks girls for all your help! 

sunny Sunday afternoon walks while visiting some of the surrounding villages with friends.

 buying friendship bracelets & lunching at a favorite cafe 

 despite the not-always-cooperating weather we had to fit in a little sight seeing: the Elisabeth Kirche & Marburger Schloss are simply must-sees. 

 an amazing birthday breakfast of Dutch Babies cooked by Waldi, decorated by Beth and cleaned up by Abby...I didn't have to do a thing and felt so spoiled! 

goodbye dinner out with friends. delicious food & warm enough to sit outside! 

also:

this trip was basically brought to you by the letter B: birthdays, baby bumps, breakfasts, bakeries & Birkenstocks- both girls bought their first pair...

love you girls. come back and visit us soon! 

(photos are a mix taken by all three of us, plus Waldi)