ISLAND Book Tour // Recap

Shannon and I are back from our mini book tour of the Mainland and Sunshine Coast and it's taken me all week to recover and get caught up with work. This post is a little later than I had intended but I couldn't let the week come to an end without posting my recap of this wonderful weekend! You'll have to bear with me, Shannon took so many great photos, it was difficult to chose. 

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U R B A N   Y A R N S

 { Wine & Sushi }

 { Nikkibikki and her amazing Red Heart dreads!!! }

{ the ever so fabulous duo behind Knit Social - Amanda & Fiona }

{ Kynna & I in our matching Raes }

Our first stop was at Urban Yarns on Friday night. If you are a regular reader you know that this is one of my favorite shops to visit. Anina, Jan, and all the staff at Urban Yarns made sure that we kicked off our tour with a bang! There was sushi and wine, and lots of gorgeous yarn to pet, there was even a draw for a skein of Madtosh! Now that's my kind of party! 

It was so great to have a chance to chat and meet new people, I loved seeing so many familiar faces, each visit to Urban Yarns trumps the last! Thank you ladies for throwing such a fabulous party!!!

8 8   S T I T C H E S

{ Sue & Carlys } 

{ Friends from my old Langley Knit Night - Fedoska and Jen } 

 { ...a new friend Rachel! }

 { These were gluten free if you can believe it! }

{ Melissa of Sweet Fiber Yarns and Carlys wearing the Oatmeal Pullover }

On Saturday we hit the road to Langley to visit 88 Stitches. I loved this stop! It was my first time meeting Sue, the owner, and her talented daughter Melissa, of Sweet Fiber Yarns - they were both so warm and welcoming and made us feel right at home. When people started rolling in, it was more of the same. Everyone was so incredibly warm and friendly, I can see why people love this shop so much. There were even knitters that came all the way from Chilliwack. I loved meeting so many new people and getting to chat with so many of you!

Diane (I really hope I have your name right - come after me if I don't!) was so sweet, she came all the way from Chilliwack and brought gluten free cupcakes for US on HER birthday! ...complete with polka dot napkins!!! ...I want the recipe! They were DELISH! Sue and Melissa spoiled us too, we each came home with a bag full of yarn!!!

Thank you for welcoming us into your store ladies, we enjoyed every minute of it!

B A A A D   A N N A ' S

 { Island Decor }

{ check out this spread made by Anna herself - she's amazing! }

 { Caitlin, Shannon, Sylvia, and Anna }

After 88 Stitches we drove back to Vancouver to hit up Baaad Anna's. This event was Fun - with a capital F!!! 

I first met Anna and her staff at Knit City and loved them all, there are some memorable personalities residing at Baaad Anna's! So it was especially fun to meet again on their turf. This shop is so welcoming and the diversity of the knitters that frequent this store is awesome. There were so many new faces and Shannon and I connected with so many knitters, we wanted to take them all home to knit with us! There were also lots of familiar faces and people we'd met from other events, it was fantastic! And Anna truly outdid herself, there was so much thought put into all of the details, from the table top decorations to the amazing spread of homemade treats, everything was well thought out and in keeping with the Island vibe. 

We had so much fun we didn't want to leave!

...we'll be back Baaad Anna's!

U N W I N D 

{ Janna's Mom came wearing the Arbutus Janna had knit for her! } 

Sunday involved 3 ferries, that's right, THREE! For our last stop on the tour we walked on to the Langdale ferry and were met by local yarn store owner Kim Fenton. She took us the scenic route back to her shop in Gibsons and boy am I grateful. I've never seen the Sunshine Coast and to me, it felt like I was back on the Island, or better yet, on one of the smaller islands. It had all of the charm you would expect from a coastal town and I could tell it had a rich and vibrant creative community just from passing through. 

I loved Kim's shop, it was so open and spacious, and I loved all the white space! The pace of the event matched the pace of island life and it was a nice break to have people trickle in one by one rather than all at once. There was even down time to chat and knit! So fantastic! ...there was also a pressie waiting for me when I arrived - thank you Raincity Knits!

I met so many kind knitters and even saw a familiar face or two!

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I hope this wrap up post wasn't too long, I was truly overwhelmed by the attendance at each of these events and the amount of positive feedback there was for the book - it's hard not to go on and on about it. 

Thank you Urban Yarns, 88 Stitches, Baaad Anna's, and Unwind for hosting us in your shops and throwing such incredible parties! Each time we packed up I was filled with the overwhelming feeling that this was the best stop yet - each store unique and special and so worth visiting.

And to all of the lovely knitters we met or reconnected with, thank you for coming and showing your support and for all of the love - I'm completely overwhelmed.

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I tried really hard to document the entire trip in real time complete with geo-tags so that even those who couldn't be there, could be there virtually by following along. Here are the shots from my Instagram feed in chronological order...

...I actually stole this collage idea from Shannon, I thought it would be fun if I posted mine too, to compare our two different perspectives on the same trip. Here is a link to her Instagram feed.

Check out her awesome recap of the event over at luvinthemommyhood.com.

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...and have an amazing weekend!