Can't Stop Knitting: To SPA and back

Yesterday it was iffy as to our trip up to Maine and SPA. Today dawned cloudy but the streets were clear and the trip was a go. Two of the Monday night gals and I headed up I95 to Freeport, Maine, home of LL Bean but to those of us who knit, the SPA weekend. We headed up to check out the vendors and then a few of the local Maine stores. It's always fun to see how many stores we can get to in a day!

This was my first visit to SPA and I'm sure that by only going for the day you don't get the full feel of the weekend. But it was fun to enter the hotel lobby and see knitters and spinners of all kinds dotting the area with their crafts. The knit garments being displayed on everyone were gorgeous and inspiring. Yarn and fiber was everywhere. We headed off to the vendor area and had fun shopping. Many local farms had their fiber for sale, some buttons, spinning and weaving equipment, you name it you could have probably found it there. I did some damage on some beautiful sock yarn and a pattern for a cardigan. I also got inspired to really make a shawl, the Wool Peddler's shawl from Folk Shawls. I saw one made up and it was oh so pretty. I even bought yarn for it but not at SPA. One of the local stores aided that purchase (pictures of goodies can be found at end of post, skip there if you want to oogle some pretty stuff). Once we made the rounds a few times and satisfied ourselves that we had seen what we wanted we were off.

Lunch was next, a lovely place on the river with yummy food and good company, what more could you ask for?

Moving on from lunch we went to two more shops, The Knitting Experience and Cafe. Nice shop with a friendly feel. Very nice yarn and if we hadn't eaten already, some nice goodies for the tummy. Alas nothing sparked my interest there. Next stop was Purl Diva, my favorite shop of the trip. The feel of this shop is so welcoming and just plain cool. You could sit down and start knitting like you'd been going there forever and feel entirely comfortable doing so. The owner was so pleasant and the fiber in the shop, oh, to die for. I could have stayed there all day. I did a little damage there, the yarn for the shawl called to me here! Sadly we had to leave but I know I'll be back, it's just that good!

Onward and we were at Halcyon. Lot's of fiber and fiber crafts. Lots of books. I picked up my copy of the Folk Shawls book here, cause I'm going to knit shawls, yes I am.

Our last stop was at Tess Yarns in Portland as we headed home. Unfortunately for us the store was closed until March. Sad because I think I would have done more damage here. Oh well, another trip for another day!

Weary we headed on home with the car filled with fibery goodness. The fumes were going to my head, oh wait, I think that may have been the delicious (and healthy) oatmeal cookies M brought along for the ride. In any case it was a fun day.

Check out the loot-

The goldish yarn is Fleece Artist Sea Wool for my shawl(Purl Diva purchase). The orange on top is Shibui sock yarn from SPA. The brown is Luster from Dye Dreams for my Monkey socks (without the purls) and the bottom orange is also from them, it's called Twinkle. Bought at SPA. Hiding in the back is my Folk Shawls book from Halcyon. Not bad for a day trip!

On the trip I worked on my Nutkin socks. I'm such a copycat, saw them in someone else's cue from my Monday night group and had to cast on. They are really fun and I think they look awesome in my Koigu, how about you?