Seattle to Portland Yarn Crawl - Year Two

Saturday was a damp day. Thankfully it we were between wind systems and it was just a mist or periods of no rain. I carpooled in with Shelia and we met up with other carpoolers outside of the parking garage, passed out name tags and gave some to Cindy to share with others who planned to hang out at Starbucks in the Governor Hotel Lobby.

A few of us hopped on to MAX rode a few blocks down and picked up the Streetcar headed to Union Station. We arrived early enough to hand out name tags for waiting Portlanders. Then the Seattle people arrived and chaos ensued. ;-) They said hi to us, we got a copy of their handouts, they picked up their VooDoo Donut Bacon Maple Bars - if pre-ordered.

We opted to go to Dublin Bay first because Shelia had never been there before. Last year was my first time and I haven't been back since, not that they aren't a great store! Sara, Shelia and I all found prints that we came home with. Here's mine:

It's tiny at 3-1/2x5 inches, but its what I was willing to spend. I saw the little border collie in it and thought of Greta's Mellie. 

From Dublin Bay we stopped at Hot Lips for a slice of pizza and some free samples of their pop. I had a vegan slice with spinach, mushroom, tomatoes and onions. I didn't know about the broccoli and hazelnut with butternut squash sauce that a few others got. Shelia's was interesting with sliced pear and ham. We were thus fortified to head over to Cupcake Jones. Rachel had picked up a Starbuck's Red Velvet Cupcake so was on a mission to do a taste testing. I opted not to buy one, even though purchase of the Red Velvet cupcakes were having a portion of the proceeds go to Haitian Relief.

Since we had gotten the handout from Charisa that contained a coupon for a free Powell's bag, we *had* to swing by and get ours. They are the same size as the grocery bags that stores offer to reduce using plastic bags. It's a nice navy blue with green lettering. Mine is now with my other grocery bags ready to go back out to the car.

We had a further walk from Powell's to Saint Cupcake but it was worth the walk! Sara found a vegan cupcake for her son C with food allergies, so always a bonus. I spoiled Rachel's standard cupcake purchase with buying the last of the Red Velvet ones as well as a carrot cake. The frosting on both are great. I ate the Red Velvet one last night and need to eat the carrot cake one still.

We had a six block walk back east to pick up the Streetcar that would drop us off in front of Knit-Purl and Josephine's Dry Goods. On the way were a lot of Victorian style houses, these were the ones we saw first:

Rachel claimed the one on the far right. I liked a couple further down, but didn't get pictures of them unfortunately. I'll have to take Brandon for a walk to Saint Cupcake and take more pictures in the near future. ;-)

There was a trip into Knit-Purl where Sara and I picked up our store sample commissions. Sara's is a lacy shawl and I have a cowl in some luxurious silk/cashmere. I think some yarn was bought by others, but I didn't bring my store card so will have to wait until I return the cowl.

Rachel looking over her Red Velvet Cupcake purchases, can you tell which one came from Saint Cupcake?

We met up with Cindy, Duffy, Judy and Susan. Susan apparently had some of her yarn samples that she brought back from TNNA. She also found out this week that she'll have a booth at Madrona. If you're going check out her Abstract Fiber booth.

Dueling cameras with Duffy:

Rachel with cupcakes. Judy has her pretty Entrelac Noro Silk Garden (I think) wrap over her shoulder.

Cindy with her pretty wrap on the left, Susan and Tracy to the right.

Shelia helping a lady who happened to *not* be a yarn crawler get started on a scarf. The lady was staying at the hotel and saw all the knitters so brought her stuff down and got a little help getting started. Shelia's awesome that way.

From Starbucks we headed over to the Button Emporium. This was my first time in there and it was impressive the amount of trim and buttons they had in their little store. Rachel found some angelina in a corner too. Shelia found buttons to go with three sweaters she has yarn for. I only have one sweater started and not sure if I'm going with that pattern, so not really ready for buttons. It was still fun to look though!

Since I was in the button store, I lost track of time and missed the wedding I was supposed to be attending up at the zoo. Shelia was done by that time and not heading over to the next stop - Happy Knits, so she offered to drop me off at the zoo on her way home. I then waited in the drizzle for the wedding party to exit the zoo. We then headed over to the reception site.

There were a number of games of Jenga at the reception (they had games on the tables - we picked the table because of the game) and some food. Talked to the bride and groom and after some white cake with chocolate chips and fudge headed out. Brandon found the directions to head over to Kennedy School and met back up with Rachel, Owen and H, along with Angela and Sara. They were just about to get their dinner, so we had milkshakes and some tots. Got to see the special 'lava cake' that was all part of the J.R. Tolkein birthday celebration. By that time all the walking, sites, people and food caught up with me and I started to shutdown. Spaced out saying good night to Rachel, Sara and Angela and headed out to find the car and get us all home.