I met up with my friend Alana, who you probably know as Nevernotknitting. We did a major Yarn Crawl, spanning a 24-hour period of fiber bliss. Happily, yarn stores in Portland stay open late. So on Thursday night we hit Dublin Bay, which was a beautiful store featuring lots of my favorite Rowan yarns.  Sadly, I didn’t get a photo inside the store. A blogger without a camera is, well, a space cadet I guess.

Next came one of my all-time favorite places on the planet – Knit Purl.

We stayed until closing at 9pm, hoping they’d just lock us in and let us browse and knit until they re-opened the next morning.

We saw so much yarn on Friday that I swear by the end of the day if someone had waved free cashmere in front of me, I would have missed it.

Here we are at the first stop, Twisted. Alana’s natural sense of style has her perfectly color coordinated with the sign.

The next store deserves a posting of its own, which I promise to get to another time. Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks is incredible – a large store with a deli in it (yarn AND food? oh my!), and its own line of hand dyed yarns. This “Socks Without Borders” afghan will be auctioned off at the Sock Summit to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

My trip home was… eventful. I adore taking Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Portland to my home in California. I get a sleeping compartment and for 24 hours I have my own little world of knitting, gorgeous scenery, and no distractions. This time, however, there was a freight train derailment ahead of us. Apparently when cars fall off the tracks, it puts a kink in the rails. They must have worked like mad to pick up the freight cars and put in new rails. I would loved to have watched that whole operation! Still, we were 11 hours late getting home.

And then when I did get home I found this guy who had decided to claim our terrace as his new residence. He ran away from home and walked a long way to find to find the area’s biggest pushovers.

I have to go buy alfalfa now…

The move has proven to be worth the temporary withdrawal symptoms. Tracy McKay, ower of the Scarlet Skein, turned a lovely space in downtown Paso Robles into knitters’ new home-away-from-home. Tracy’s knack for interior decorating makes the space colorful and welcoming.

 Check out the chandeliers. Are they not gorgeous?

Cozy seating areas are sprinkled throughout the store, while the brick wall lends historic ambience.

If you’re really lucky, you’ll be greeted by Abby the Fiber Dog. What she lacks in knitting skills she makes up for in cuteness and a sweet disposition. (She’s paid in hugs, surreptitious scraps and chewy toys.)

If you find yourself in the Central Coast area of California (that’s halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco along Highway 101), come check out the Scarlet Skein. You can catch a class, munch pizza while watching a movie during Chick Flick night, and find a gathering of  knitting friends. Oh yeah, you’ll find a great selection of yarn, too!

 I was thrilled to discover that this heavenly stash of Rowan yarns resides just up the coast from me, at Monarch Knitting & Quilts in Pacific Grove. It’s a good thing it’s a two hour drive from here. I’d just bring my blanket and move in if Joan would let me.

I love the way the colors in the store are arranged.

I guess we’re spoiled in California. When CAT and I were in this store she remarked on how little room there is in the New York yarn shops. Monarch has plenty of room to move around and is a feast for the eyes and imagination. I can’t wait to go back!

Here’s CAT working on her lovely fair isle tam, while I show off  Mary’s Garden Sock.

If there are any knitters out there who haven’t discovered the Let’s Knit2gether video podcast, you might like to check out the link here or on iTunes. CAT imparts her wealth of knitting knowledge with enthusaism and clarity. Her husband Eric is a professional in television and film production. Their combined talents make for quality videos that I enjoy watching over and over. I’ve learned so much from the podcasts, I bought the DVD compilations to have on hand as references.

Thanks, CAT, for so generously sharing your time, friendship and encouragement!

I made the trip in order to take two workshops from Jared Flood, who many of you know as brooklyntweed. I’ll tell you all about the workshops in a later post. But first I just have to sing the praises of the fantastic shop that put these workshops on.

Knit Purl is wonderful knit shop in downtown Portland. The staff is knowledgeable, kind and helpful. As you approach the shop’s door, the pretty colors invite you in…

Once inside, you’re surrounded by alluring displays of yarn. The selection is incredible, and I found several yarns I previously didn’t know I couldn’t live without. My newest Favorite Yarn Ever is Kauni. I fell in love with the suble shading from one color to the next. You’ll be seeing a LOT of Kauni in my future projects!

The shop is an inviting place to sit, knit and drink tea. You’re surrounded not only by gorgous yarns, but also by terrific sample pieces on display.

If you’re in the Portland area, I hope you’ll visit Knit Purl. If you want to see the yarn offerings in their online store, you can go to the Knit Purl website. Also, you might want to check out the wonderful newsletter put together by the talented Sara. The newsletter mentions some workshops that I’m sorely tempted to head back to Portland to take. How about learning sock techniques from Lucy Neatby? Sounds like a lot of fun! I definately need to clone myself so one of me can be here enjoying the deer and other wildlife and another of me can be in Portland taking all these great workshops.