wanna see the loot that i brought back from my weekend in vancouver?  you'll have to wait until the end of the post..tee hee....they are coming though...be patient.  all my new lovelies are tucked cozily inside this awesome tote that the fabulous jane richmond made for all of us gals for our trip.  love it - thanks again jane!
 

image via sarah

in the meantime i can't help but show you some of the wonderful and gorgeous shops we popped into on sunday.  we woke up early and headed out for a yummy breakfast at sophie's cosmic cafe in kitsilano and boy was it yummy.  we took up a booth and filled it with our knitting.  i seriously could have dined sans kids for the whole day...it was bliss :)  but the shops beckoned.  we had planned out which shops we wanted to hit up in the area but had some time to kill so like any sane person would do we headed to granville island.  a must see if you visit vancouver.  first up we popped into "maiwa".



can we say gorgeous?!!!!  oh wow!  this store had me hyperventilating on more than one occasion.  the yarns were stunning (they even had tanis fiber arts which jane scooped up that we had all been dying to feel).  seriously, if you are in the area and into anything to do with textiles it's a must see.


the shop has one whole wall dedicated to just dying.  i've had no interest in dying yarns but man this store makes me want to.  what i am interested in starting is block printing and i got more than a tad excited when i spotted this corner in the back of the shop!  hand carved printing blocks galore!!!!!  gorgeous!  i had to walk away more than twice because i couldn't breathe and decide and in the end i didn't buy any due to just not knowing which one i wanted. i really just wanted to bring all of them home...lol.  maiwa works to support the delicate craft of block printing with wooden carved blocks and boy does it show!  just gorgeous!  i will definitely be back to pick some up in the future!



we must have spent a good hour at least in this shop....i love the shot below of arika staring so longingly at the yarns.  it captures how we were all feeling in this awesome shop.  i felt so inspired and could have spent the whole day there rooting around finding goodie after goodie in all the nooks and crannies.  thank you maiwa...for allowing us to indulge for an hour in your beautiful shop.  you can find all things maiwa on their website where you can read more about them and their foundation that works hard to support worldwide artisans and help "fund practicing and re-emerging artisans in the craft sector".  They also have gorgeous hand carved buttons...and i mean drawers filled...big drawers...lol.  they host textile workshops, a symposium of international speakers and events and even sell items like handwoven shawls, embroidery, furniture, bedding, clothing and more in their other location on granville island.  yes...two shops :)  i heard there is even a library and a collection!

i love this shot of arika staring longingly at the yarn.

we left there feeling giddy and full of creative energy.  we just had to get a shot of our faces to capture the moment.  here's jane's pic of our crafting high! lol!

image via jane richmond

we quickly snapped a shot of ourselves and got the heck out of the rain....into a wonderland of awesomeness called "make".  wowsa.  it was like sending a kid into a candy store i tell ya.  all the inner goofs came out of us as we donned crazy hats, wielded umbrella swords, ohhh and ahhhed over buttons, handmade goodies, the shops rockin' decor and branding and the different things they had going on in this shop.  we definitely need something of this calibre on the island.



at make you can customize a whole whack of goodies in your creative repertoire such as embroidery, garment printing, laser engraving, and buttons.  they also have a wonderful shop filled with curated art and design.  the place just oozes inspiration and makes you want to get making!  check it out....




you can find all things make on their website here.  thanks for your hospitality make :)


next up we headed out to point grey to go pop in to urban yarns.  wow.  this is pretty much yarn heaven.  a wonderful collection of almost every yarn i have wanted to feel and see. there is not one ugly thing in this shop..lol..that sounds weird but trust me...some shops have one shelf of gorgeous and the rest is filled with so/so.  this shop is wall to wall gorgeous!!!


i literally could have spent all day just hanging out in there and fawning over all the yarns.  so. much. to. touch. and. see......



a big thank you to kynna and alexa for being so sweet and for allowing us to bombard the shop for at least an hour :)  we heart you ladies and we cannot wait to come back for a visit!!!  check out alexa's fab book if you're looking for some awesome kid/baby/family patterns - " 9 months of knitting" and if you are in vancouver make sure you stop by urban yarns...trust me...your wallet may not thank me but your knitting stash will!  you can find all things urban yarns online on their website.

we got so lost in all the yarn goodness we completely forgot to even plug our parking meter. thankfully the gods were on our side and we didn't get a ticket but after all this yarn shopping we needed some good ol' starbucks. we found the closest one, caffeinated and then had a smooth ride (literally no traffic) back out to the ferry to come home.  all went well if you don't count me having to sprint up about 6 flights of very steep ferry stairs to get to the ladies room before i peed myself..lol.  yes, having to pee when you are in the ferry lineup and have no time to go to the washroom before boarding is a bad thing....very bad.  this momma was in pain..lol. but i made it and we spent the rest of our weekend having a gorgeous boat ride home filled with yarn winding, knitting and ogling of all our goodies.

you ready to see what lovelies i picked up?  here ya go...

1 skein madeline tosh dk yarn in colorway glazed pecan from urban yarns

3 skeins malabrigo sock yarn in colorway 803- ochre from valley yarns

2 1/2 skeins of 100% baby alpaca from knitopia

grapefruit stitch markers from caliopes fibres

clover row counter from www.urbanyarns.ca

measuring tape ribbon from www.thesteamtrunk.com

i had so much fun and it truly was a much needed break to get away and spend some time doing something i love with some ladies i love.  thanks so much jane, rebecca, arika and sarah for being you :)  i cannot wait for the next trip!!!!  it also felt so good to come home to my babies and my hubby too.   i made sure to show them all my yarn goodies, but ya know, i just don't think i'll get the same response from them as I will you :)  so what do you think?   you likey?  don't you love the colors?  i couldn't resist picking up both malabrigo and madeline tosh. two yarns on my must knit list. what's on yours at the moment?