Fantasy Island
Forgive my infrequent posting to this blog...my trusty computer was fried by a lightening strike mid July and then I left for my yearly sojourn to visit my dad on Vancouver Island. In addition to looking forward to spending time with my father, BC has been basking in the sun regularly this summer whilst we here in Ontario have been enduring a summer that sucks beyond all reason. I was also extremely excited to be meeting up with two dear "comrades in yarns" on Salt Spring Island. We had planned a day of visiting with each other and haunting fibre shops - specifically Treenway Silks and Jane Stafford's studio.


On the appointed day, my father deposited me on foot at the ferry dock to revel in the sunbathed deck during the 20 minute voyage to Salt Spring. As I gazed over the railing at my destination - I felt the pull of the three things I was longing to see.

I had just treated myself to the Kowloon cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio. This pattern is a treat and working on it during the ferry ride was a pleasure. Gail picked me up at the ferry and we trekked over to the other ferry dock to collect Mel who'd come in from Vancouver. We had a lovely morning visiting over lattes and then located Treenway Silks. I was set on acquiring a beautiful silk scarf kit for weaving in blacks and ivories and they did have it in stock. We stopped for some lunch in town (it was a scorching hot day!) and then set off for Jane Stafford's weaving studio. We arrived about 2 hours before closing but Jane had stepped out to take a friend of hers to the ferry. Thank goodness we had Gail with us who whipped out her ace negotiating skills and convinced the woman minding the shop to let us in to "browse". Kid meet candy store! Looms in every corner and beautiful cottons, bamboos (looks just like silk) and books and toys galore. Since we took so long browsing, it happened that Jane arrived back from her errand and we spent another hour or so picking her (very substantial) brain about weaving. My bucket list includes going back to her studio for a workshop! What a wealth of information she is. I bought the yarns to make this Huck lace scarf from an old issue of Handwoven.


After a lovely dinner and glass or two of wine, it was time to take the ferry back to the island. We enlisted a fellow traveler to take a picture of the three of us. The ride back was wonderful complete with warm summer breezes, twinkling stars and beautiful scenery.




The rest of the trip was just as wonderful. We fished and caught some Spring Salmon. Nothing tastes like salmon cooked the day it's caught! I had a lovely Pinot Noir with it.



I did some knitting on the Kowloon cardigan and bought some beautiful Czech glass buttons in Victoria with a rose shade to complement the berry coloured Flaxen yarn. I'll post more about this project later. I'm loving it.



Before we could turn around twice it was time to go back to reality - and the rainy weather. My thought is to haul out these beautiful yarns, cook a piece of that lovely salmon and turn on the Ott light to approximate the BC sun the next time the dreary weather gets me down. Just maybe I can re create a little piece of my wonderful trip.