Knitters, whether they be bloggers or not are just the best!  Thank you, Daisy, for setting up this meeting.  Although the border guards did not cooperate and poor Daisy and Linda were delayed for over two hours, we finally met up at the Wool Station in Bellingham.  I am happy to report that neither one appeared to be an axe murderer.  Although the day was cold and wet, the friendships forged were warm and fuzzy.  We spent some time getting to know each other and scoping out the great yarns at the Wool Station.  They have a large selection of Heirloom Yarns, and although I didn’t buy any yesterday, I do think I will have to give them a try.

After a brief stop for a little bakery style sustenance, we headed over to N.W. Handspun Yarns.  The name is a little bit of a misnomer because in addition to spinning supplies, they had a nice selection of commercial yarns as well, including Zephyr on cones!  I’ll have to remember that for future use.  We saved the best for last, though.  Apple Yarns is a fairly new store and I fell instantly in love!  Here is our happy group:

Left to right are Marsha, Li, me, Linda and Daisy.  Unfortunately Marsha, Linda and Daisy do not have blogs (yet!).  But Daisy and Linda have been to Rhinebeck, which caused Li and me to gaze upon them with awe.  They are from Ottowa, but were out visiting family in Vancouver and came down to meet us.  Somehow when meeting knitters it’s just like meeting old friends and we had instant rapport.

And, of course, stash enhancement happened (big time!).  Here’s my haul:

I found Smooshy by Dream in Color, in Visual Purple and Chinatown Apple colorways.  Apparently Chinatown Apples are brown.  There is also some lovely Schaefer Anne yarn, and two skeins of incredibly soft Avery Allison (in just my colors!) gifted to me by Daisy.  And the staff at Apple Yarns gave us all a free tote bag!  If you are anywhere near Bellingham, Washington, I highly recommend this shop.  If I were ever inclined to open a yarn shop (which I’m not), this is exactly what I would want.  I think all of us did our part to make sure that they stay in business!

You can see over to the left that the purple Smooshy jumped onto my needles without delay.  However, I’m not going to blog about it because my New Year’s resolution is to start on Christmas presents early.  However, since none of my giftees are on Ravelry, you can head on over there to check out what I’m working on.  Ok, just give me a few minutes to put it up.

Several commenters asked about the tote bag.  I wish it was an original pattern, but it is not.  You can purchase the pattern for The Professional Tote at The Creative Thimble. It is a not a quick and easy pattern, but is well worth the trouble.  It is quite sturdy and would make a great carry-on for travel.