It took me a bit to get back into the groove of things after being away. Having one kiddo home for spring break sure put a damper into my work plans too. But now we're getting back into the routine of things again and I knew if I didn't post these soon I wouldn't get a chance to.
Jane and I had so much fun here I honestly begged the lovely owner Anna to let me be a virtual employee! It's yarn heaven in there and I came home with a nice loot! I cannot say enough about this shop. I was there for a few hours and still didn't get to see everything. It honestly is amazingly curated and filled with treasures! The decor is to die for and Anna has put the most special touches and style into this huge and airy store! I'm not joking when I say it's like walking into yarn heaven. It's that awesome. There is a fireplace to sit around and knit, a lovely back table area with stylish chairs and table lamps to knit and converse with friends plus an upstairs area for classes and more! It's bright, warm, friendly and oh so inviting! My fave purchase from Tolt was the AWESOME Tolt mug!!!! I have been using mine everyday! I got the white one! I also got one of the rockin' baskets you see all over the shop. It's so lovely and my yarn now has a happy home in it!!!
Thank you soooo much to Anna (for everything and for being so kind) and to all her lovely staff for making it such a special event for Jane and I. And thank you to everyone who drove out to attend - it was such a great group of women and we had so much fun the time flew by way too fast. And I can't forget to give a special thank you to Veronika from Yarn on the House for her lovely pressie! She's such a doll! And she has a new line of yarns just out called YOTH Yarns and let me tell you - she is one to watch! This yarn is STUNNING! I highly recommend you guys! I can't wait to wind mine up and start knitting with it! You can see it in the collage below. Her yarns can be purchased at Tolt right now and you can see her trunk show there as well!
So sit back, sip a coffee/tea and step inside Tolt Yarn and Wool with Jane and I! For more pics and to hear about the rest of my trip see below!
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| See that pic of me above? That's what happens when you are around too many yarn fumes! I was like a crazy kid in a candy store! |
Here's some of my fave shots from our weekend! We honestly had such a great time that we hardly have any pics! It's hard to take photos when you're having such a great time and getting to chat with so many awesome people! Vogue Knitting Live was great (I didn't buy much as we were so busy shopping was tricky) as was our stay at the Marriot Courtyard in Bellevue. Love that hotel. We honestly camped out in the lobby there on the last night till very late eating, drinking and of course knitting with all of our gals! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me! We always have fun in Bellevue and Seattle and it's so fun to get over to visit from Canada.
Jane and I like to travel to Seattle via the Coho ferry from Victoria and then we drive from Port Angeles to Bainbridge Island (home of Churchmouse Yarn and Teas!!!) and again, for the 2nd year in a row we were unable to go to this amazing shop due to our ferry transfer time! I swear we were almost in tears!!! All of the women from Churchmouse are so beyond lovely (they had a booth at VKL) and I even found out the owner is a long time family friend! What are the odds right! Such a fun experience! We were so happy to have gotten at least to chat with them during VKL. I could have hung out at their booth all day. And I don't have a picture, but Jared Flood (of Brooklyn Tweed) was there and I got to chat with him and of course, fawn and get flustered. He is such a huge inspiration to me that I honestly become speechless around him! Me - speechless! I know right! It's a miracle of epic proportions! I still have the ball bands he signed last year hanging on my inspiration board near my desk.
I also had another surreal experience meeting one of my favorite long time bloggers - Dottie Angel (aka Tif)! You can see a pic of her and I together in the bottom row, center of the collage above. Seriously, it was as her and I like to call a "serendipitous meeting". I heard she was working at Tolt Yarn and Wool Shop so when Jane and I arrived for our trunk show I was pretty much stalking the shop looking for her! I was beyond excited to get to meet her. But our paths were not meant to cross that night. But on Saturday at VKL while we did our signing at Stash Local I looked up and there she was!!! It was such a special and touching moment for me to be able to say in words to her how much her blog and writing meant to me. She was one of the reasons I even started blogging and I have been a loyal fan of hers ever since. She was so kind and like a kindred spirit! I could have chatted with her all day! It truly was so amazing to meet her! Thanks again Tif!
Another huge highlight for me was getting to finally meet Susan B. Anderson! Let me tell you - she is the sweetest woman ever! I just wanted to keep hugging her she is so patient, kind and nice. It was so fun to get to meet her and we were all looking forward to it! It definitely was a big highlight for our whole group to get to chat and meet her! She is such a huge inspiration and I'm a big fan of her work! Thanks for being so sweet Susan! I hope we can meet again!
I also got to meet Karen Templar from Fringe Association. If you see the pics above of my loot the bag with the yarn quote is Karen's and I also got a print of hers with the same quote to put in my office space. I'm a big fan of her blog and shop. She has a great eye and her aesthetic and taste is amazing! If you haven't visited her shop before go now! You won't be disappointed :) I could have spent all my moula at her booth but had to control myself...lol.
Our book signing at Stash Local was so fun and we got to meet so many wonderful people! We thank Sonia again for having us!!! We so appreciated the support Sonia!!! It was a blast and your booth was so lovely!!! She had so many gorgeous yarns on display I just kept stopping what I was doing and petting all the Hazel Knits yarn! We were also lucky enough to have the booth be right near Sincere Sheep (the yarn for Jane's Spate mitts from JOURNEY), Chicken Boots and Fringe Association! It was great fun to be around so many lovely ladies! I also got to pick up a gorgeous skein of yarn from Neighbourhood Fiber Co.! I've been wanting to try their yarns and their booth was amazing! It was very hard to just choose one!
Of course before we left Bellevue we had to hit up the mall and visit Anthropologie (my first time!!!), the Disney and Lego stores (for the kids) and eat a yummy lunch at the Cheesecake Factory! We then raced to Trader Joe's (we all LOVE Trader Joe's) to stock up on all of our faves and then raced to get over the border to catch our ferry. It was a long night home but we made it :) It's always so fun to go on these road trips but I'm also always happy to get home to my girlies and the hubs!
// Don't forget - if you would like to get to see Jane and I and visit our trunk show for JOURNEY and get your copy of JOURNEY signed make sure to pop by the lovely Beehive Wool Shop this weekend on Saturday from 12-4! We're officially launching JOURNEY in our home city! We can't wait and we hope to see you all there!
Have you gotten to meet a fave blogger of yours? Who's yarn are you currently coveting? Have you been to Tolt Yarn and Wool yet? Let's chat!