I dropped in on Urban Yarns in  Vancouver BC this last weekend, being that we were visiting Jeff’s sister who lives very near.  I have not visited all that many yarn shops in my few travels, but those who know me, knew this visit was completely and totally necessary, so I was escorted to Urban Yarns, and found myself wandering about in a lovely yarn shop,  just a couple of blocks away from the home of my sister-in-law.

There I took in  the atmosphere of a true Vancouver Yarn Experience.   I got to see & touch yarns I’ve long been curious about as well,  such as New Hampshire-made Harrisville Designs “Watershed” , “Highland” and “Shetland” yarns and of those there was a lot!  The Harrisville Design yarns recently was on my hunting list, but when there at Urban Yarns my mind went totally blank and I had Yarn Shop Freeze !  After wading through some other mainstream yarn shop brands, the lasting thought  to ponder before I left was . . .  ‘which yarn is the single-most Vancouver Experience’ ?

I was led to rather large display brands of Vancouver hand-dyed yarns, many which I could have chosen, but the most of the most  that I would take home with me (even though it is to be found in my own LYS) was a very Vancouver yarn ~~~ Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Lace.   Not a thrifty purchase, not by a mile, but it was ‘hand-dyed’ only down the street, and sold right there at Urban Yarns, right there on Highland Boulevard.

I must regret one thing if not spending more money on more truly Vancouver yarns, and that is I did not have time or fore-thought to visit the place ‘just down the street’ where the Sweet Georgia Yarn people are busy hand-dying & skeining up their yarn.   However, Jeff did buy me a very luxurious gift of rabbity-soft 100g skein of Merino Silk Lace (omg, Jeff bought me yarn!)     Here it is, untwisted and sprawled across a late afternoon sun-beam . . .

With all of this ultra fine smokey grey silky yarn,   I am now on a mission of discovery of who and what a knitter becomes when introduced to such delicate stuff,  765 lavish yards of slate grey merino/silk  lace yarn ~~  which by the way, I will be winding off into a ball soon, by hand, with only the help of the backs of two chairs.  On to new lace horizons!!!