I almost left the West Coast with no yarn. I know! So crazy. I had intended to make a stop or two along the way, but the days just filled up and it never happened (neither did I find the new clogs I was looking for. Hmn...the search continues). Every stop I made, people were full of yarn store recommendations, hardly ever repeating the same shop. Which led me to believe that Portland, in particular, must have at least twenty awesome yarn shops!
Thankfully, I had a bit of flexibility on my very last day in Washington, and having just met the ladies of Tolt Yarn and Wool a few nights earlier, I knew that shop would save me from the horrors of arriving back home without any yarn from the West. What I didn't know about that visit, is that after a beautiful drive along the coast and through the country side, I'd be landing right in the middle of fiber heaven. Truly, the most beautiful yarn shop I've ever visited. Anna and her fabulous team have curated a great selection of yarn and patterns, and put it all together impeccably. If I didn't have a plane to catch that afternoon, I think I could have just curled right up into one of those comfy chairs and knit the day away surrounded by such prettiness and good people until they kicked me out. It was dreamy, indeed.
There, I was most assuredly saved from my no-fiber-trip path, and gathered a few treasures from Hazel Knits, Spincycle Yarns, and Snoqualmie Valley Yarn to bring home. On the day before I left for this trip, I had shipped out my nine shetland fleeces to the mill. A hefty task, but now the waiting begins for all of that to return - it'll likely be the end of summer before all that roving is in front of me for spinning. And in the meantime, I've got these new skeins of inspiration to get me going. Upon arriving home, after hugging my babies and peeking on my tomatoes, I set right to work on finding just the right project(s) for my new yarn (everything else on the list could wait, I thought!). I landed on something that's been in my queue for years - a Peasy - and settled on into home, with knitting needles in hand, and yarn from my travels. Ah...so good.