Exploring Vancouver BC - Three Bags Full

Anyone following me on Instagram and Facebook will be well aware from all the pics I've been posting that I've just spent nine days in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

It's been an incredible trip and I've so much to share I'll have to break it down over two or three blog posts.  For those who love wool as much as I do this is the post for you!!!

A short #3 bus journey from the Downtown Vancouver waterfront up Main Street to 28th Street drops you off at the door of Three Bags Full yarn store.  I headed up there one-day last week intending to stay a while then take a walk on to a fabric shop I'd heard about.

Well, I fell in love with the store, forgot my previous plans and sat on this gorgeous sofa for the next four hours knitting and chatting with staff and other customers.

I couldn't resist taking lots of pics (with permission) to share with you and wait till you see all the scrumptious yarn and fabulous colours.

This is the view as you walk in the store...

...on the right there's some fab accessories/notions, locally sourced hand turned bodkin cases, needles and more

and did you spot the incredible baskets in the front window and displayed around the store?

These Baba Tree African baskets are ethically made by the weavers of Bolgatanga, northern Ghana, you can read more about them here.  In store prices start at CAN $22 and this little beauty just had to come home with me (as did the wool you can see in it but more about that later!).

Alongside the baskets you might also have spotted this Noro yarn

and Elisa, who works in the store, is busy knitting some of it up as a table runner.

I think she's going to felt it for this inviting 'sit and knit at me' table in the centre of the store

and she's already created this felted sample that's also on display.

More shelves of Noro on the left, I tried not to notice them too much, it's one of my favourite yarns and I've already got lots in my stash!

I know many of you love Koigu sock yarn - check out this wall full of it.

And more sock yarn by Franziska Uhl, hand dyed in Germany

If you're looking for a little Canadian something to take home how about this Prairie Wool?

More scrumptious colour on the centre table - if I remember rightly this is Bhada wool from the Netherlands - perfect for wet and dry felting -

 alongside this Kid Silk Haze from Rowan

I'm crazy for this wool having used it several years ago in the Ghost colourway to make this Kim Hargreaves designed 'Down' jumper.

  More eye candy

and then I spotted this particular wall of wool...

 

...how I love these soft colours

it's Lopi Lettlopi from Iceland.

I just couldn't resist and when Elisa showed me it knitted up in a Nordic Wind shawl I knew I had to replicate it - the pattern by cabinfour is available to purchase here on Ravelry and those five balls of wool are all mine!

Update at February 2016:

I've made my own Nordic Wind Shawl now - you can read more about it here.

 For good measure here's a couple more pics of the walls

and then the notions section right by where I settled up for my purchases.

I think I was very restrained, don't you?!!!

Elisa and May, who were working in the store the day I visited, were so welcoming and helpful and we've already become Ravelry friends; I just wish I lived closer and could pop back regularly.

For full details of everything Three Bags Full has in store and online you can visit their website here.  Their classes page is here and they're also on Instagram, Facebook, and Ravelry and their blog is a great follow, full of eye candy.

Three Bags Full Knit Shop

4458 Main Street, Vancouver, BC

If you love yarn and are visiting Vancouver I highly recommend you take a trip out to this wonderful store, I'm so glad I did - Chris :D

Read my second Exploring Vancouver post The Cloth Shop and my third about my Sea To Sky Highway Road Trip by clicking the images below:

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Clicking on an image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)

 

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

One Lovely Blog Award

It's a long time since I particpated in a blog award but I've decided to just go with this one and post it without too much thought - not a week long planning and writing process, just hit the new blog post button and type.

Here goes:

I've been nominated by Helen @Till We Quilt Again, a bloggy friend of many years but we still haven't met in person.  Well we sort of did once, she dropped by The City Quilter and recognised me but I was in the middle of a Bernina sale and she didn't like to interrupt and say 'hi'; I so wish she had!!!   Back in March she drove pretty much past my apartment on her way to North New Jersey with another bloggy friend Nini of Nini & The Sea but I couldn't meet up with them as I was on a trip back to England :(  Now this bit's bizarre, Nini's blog sharing daughter, Chelsey is a member of my NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild but I've never met her - how on earth does that happen?!!!

I'm to list 7 things people might not know about me and here they are:

1:  I've only been quilting three and a half years though I've been sewing for over 40 - I can vouch for it being a pretty painless and easy transition!

This is my first quilt, it now lives in St Andrews, Scotland with my beautiful daughter, Flicky, and that's the view from my roof garden - you can see all of my work since 2012 here.

2: I play guitar, have done since I was 12 but left my guitars in storage in England so my husband, Simon, surprised me with a trip to a Manhattan guitar store on my 50th birthday and bought me a Martin guitar.  It's the same model we bought for our son Jack years ago for his 21st birthday and boy did I covet it, sadly it may be the same model but it just doesn't play the same, maybe other guitar players will appreciate what I mean? :'(

3: Though I fly frequently, I hate flying.  Five years ago, after crying for 8 hours crossing the Atlantic and the air steward suggesting I got myself a sleeping tablet for future flights, I booked myself on a Virgin Flying Without Fear course in the UK.  It changed my life.  I'm still not a flying fan, but now I understand the science of how planes fly (a revelation in itself) and I love to help other reluctant flyers with helpful info - my own flying mantra is "turbulence is uncomfortable but not dangerous - it can even get you there quicker!"

Virgin offers the most amazing Flying Without Fear courses but I think these are still in the UK only.  If you're interested in knowing more but aren't able to attend a course I highly recommend the Virgin Flying Without Fear team's book 'Flying Without Fear' - just reading that alone can change your life too or you can follow them on their blog.

4:  I'm gluten intolerant and insulin resistant and on 2 January 2015 I was diagnosed with hyper (over active) thyroid disease.  I'm now taking anti-thyroid medication and have experienced the terrible uncontrollable weight gain that goes with it which is causing me great distress and means you won't see me in many photos for some time if I can help it :(  It's been quite a journey since January including a severe swing into hypo (under active) thyroidism for a spell but they tell me life will be better than ever once everything's stabilised, I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

I said I was going to make this a really quick post but I'm already struggling to think of things to share and I've been at this for over an hour!!!  To speed things up here's a couple of things I think I've mentioned before:

5:  Back in England I had my own interior design company and I was priviliged to design the homes of two of the founding members of the IMDb website.

6:  Chris is my middle name - it's a family tradition to be known by your middle name and nothing at all to do with not liking my first name.

7:  My favourite NYC restaurant is La Zie - but don't tell everyone, it's my best kept secret ;D

Now I'm supposed to nominate my top 10 must read blogs but given I currently follow 279 it could take me some time to whittle them down.  Instead I'm going to get a bit of shut eye as I'm doing a Doodle Piecing class in the morning with Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts, Seattle.

Hope you've enjoyed finding out a bit more about me, I need a cuppa now before bed!!!

Clicking on a image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)