To start the day I must say that today is the official day I became a mother! I was 21 years old when Miss Zoe came into this world. On this day I "got it" what parenting meant, I caught on what my parents must have sacrificed to make me a happy kid. What a difference my world was going to be now that she was finally here. WOW! I am a mother on this very day for 6 years now, still it feels like only yesterday I was still pregnant and reading all the books to become a good mother and boy did I read them all. I was so scared, what if... but hey, each and every day we learn together, she learns about life and I learn about making it a bright one through her eyes.
Now onto my review of a few of the Toronto yarn shops, I do go back to Romni a second time, so in total I was six times in a yarn store on our vacations. We walked and used public transportation all around the downtown area, so it was nice to get to the yarn stores via TTC. We were lucky that we had great weather too, that helped us wanting to walk even more each day. :)
Romni Wools, this is my official stop each time I go to Toronto. How can I pass up a store that has just about everything I have only seen online before!? They had just the pattern I was needing, then newly arrived yarn in a great colourway, also they carry staple yarns that we don't have around here that I just love. Once again I had a great time with the helpful staff. I went there twice on this trip and closed the store both times, can I help it not wanting to leave?
Lettuce Knits, I bought so much in the store that I simply bought a cloth bag to carry my buys when I left. LOL! I went on the night of a stitch&bitch meeting and the knitters are so friendly in their group. I am SO jealous that they meet once a week. I could really see myself join them each week and talk about poutine. teehee! A few even remembered both Carl and I from meeting us back in October. Megan was really warm and welcoming as usual, Penelope was cute as can be hangin' in her baby trekker. Funny thing is my little Zoe is actually a Zoe Penelope so that was neat and we used to log her around in the baby trekker all through her baby/toddlerhood. This store has a great diversity of niiiiiice yarns and patterns, also great accessories which I got too. :)
Knit-O-Matic, a new store to visit on my list of yarn stores. It had Zara half-priced, need I say more? LOL! They also had a great variety in Koigu yarn and many yarns that I had never had the chance to feel before. This store has S&B meetings also. On our way to this store we got 'lost', well actually I noticed on the subway map that we were on our way to St.Clair station but then there's also St.Clair West. Oye! Luckily strangers notice when I seem lost and readily offer help to the nice tourists. We took two more subways and finally got off at the correct place. Who could have predicted that it was going to that 2 buses, two streetcars and another bus to make it to the next store though? Let me tell you, it's a good thing we were having such a good time sightseeing. LOL!
Naked Sheep, first I must say that I really like this store, even with the presence of Charlie. Now Charlie was a tad hyper when we came in and he sure seemed welcoming, I just thought he was a tad just bit BIG! He is just a few months old but boy is this dog big. LOL! I now know for a fact that I am scared of big dogs, he sure tried to make me fall for him though. Even had his paw on my shoe and insisted I throw him his ball. I'm sorry it was all about yarn for me, I did find a great kids patterns book. This store has S&B meetings also.
Knit Cafe, after walking more than two hours, this place was great to stop, have a Pressé (you have to try the ginger and lemongrass drink!) and sit! Having been on their website I knew Mister Pig (still nameless but they are working on it) would be there to great us, indeed he did sit in the front window. The owner was very nice to us and we had a great time looking at all the yarn. I also found the everyday cardigan pattern and got to scratch off one more item from my long "to buy" list. Next time I stop there I'm stocking up on the Cascade Quattro though. The cafe offers weekly meetings, knitting and crochet classes, sure wished I could have learn to crochet too.
Ok, so from my point of view Toronto is a great city to live in especially for knitters! They have weekly meetings in at least four stores, I love that. :) Also all the stores offer knitting and other fiber related classes to expand your knowledge and talent. If there were knitting camps in Toronto I would be the 1st one to sign up. On my TO camp I'd be taking a class at each store and have a special rebate on that day, hey it's my dream! I would get a chance to meet many friendly knitters/bloggers and I would have a blast. Carl would show off by knitting or maybe doing a bit of crochet and he'd talk with some boys about spinning. HA! I resisted, I didn't bring back a spinning wheel on the train, why? Because I actually never tried spinning and was afraid I wouldn't succeed, next time I don't make any promises though, even Carl is curious about spinning! Wouldn't we make a great couple? He spins and she knits! ;)
Other odd places we went by are 7eleven, Red Lobster, Taco Bell and the University of Toronto bookstore where I got a great new zippered sweatshirt. I feel so smart in it too. LOL! The restaurants and all the yarn, books, patterns, etc. I bought while in Toronto are all items I can not find locally so these were really needs more than wants, right? I had came prepared and had a great big list of things to buy, I only got a few extras but some very worth it, can you repeat SWIFT after me? :)
This ends my lovely vacation in Toronto!