Yarn Shops and Travel

We just returned from a trip – a cruise – where I got to visit multiple yarn shops!  It’s the first time I’ve been able to visit a yarn shop – let alone more than one – on a cruise!  I was ecstatic.

My only worry was having enough space in my suitcase to bring back a yarn haul!  

Knitting + Travel

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t knit while on vacation.  I’ll take my knitting on work conference trips, but vacations are meant to spend time with family.  There are times I really wish I had my knitting in hand while on vacation. This cruise was especially difficult because I ran into so many knitters!  And the yarn stores didn’t help, either.

But for our last two vacations,  I’ve stayed connected to my favorite craft by reading about it.  Last time, I read Clara Parke’s Knitlandia, which was fantastic.  And for this cruise, I finally got around to reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Yarn Harlot, which has been sitting on my shelf for way too long.

Cruising to Yarn Shops

There are not many yarn shops in the Caribbean.  And we’ve only taken two cruises that did not go to a tropical locale – Alaska and, now, New England/Canada.  While in Alaska, we were too busy for me to even hope to visit a yarn shop. But I did my research well before we left on our cruise to New England and Canada and I knew exactly where I wanted to go!

It was a bit surreal getting off a cruise ship and entering into a yarn shop.  But Matt was extremely supportive, perhaps thinking that yarn is a great souvenir because it’s more useful than a t-shirt or trinket.  

More to Come

In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking about all the fantastic shops I visited while on vacation.  And I’ll go into detail about my yarn haul, pictured up top. It did, indeed, all fit into my luggage, with some help from Matt.

With all the shops, I had one regret.  We were on a tour for our day in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which happened to be on a Sunday.  As you know, most stores open at noon on Sundays, including yarn shops. We had one stop before noon that day, in Mahone Bay – where Have a Yarn is located.  We walked by and took pictures of the Halloween decor outside (below) but, sadly, I couldn’t get back to the store once they opened.  

But I keep telling myself that missing one out of four shops on my list is not bad!  And I’ll get back to Mahone Bay someday!