The people in your neighbourhood

Right after posting yesterday, I realized we had no cream or milk in the house, which meant no leisurely coffee before heading out the door. Instead, I woke Mr.Q up from his post-show coma, and we made a mad dash to the coffee shop in order to fortify ourselves for the morning at hand.

The coffee shop, fortunately, is only a block or so from the credit union...and just a few doors up from the new yarn store. Since our morning schedule had been thrown out of whack by the lack of at-home caffeination, a brief strategy session was held over our coffees. It didn't take long to arrive at the best solution: Mr.Q would deal with the banking on his own, leaving me free to check out Baaad Anna's.


Anna and the friend she had working with her (name forgotten! So sorry!) were warm and welcoming. The shop is wee, and some stock has yet to arrive...but it felt delightfully cozy already. It helped that Anna's family had come all the way from Calgary to be here for the opening, and they were quite busy stocking a table in the back with coffee and treats, running errands, and smiling at all and sundry. Definitely a good, friendly feeling!

I was quite restrained in my purchases, walking out with only 2 skeins of sock yarn:


The pink is "Orchid" and the blue is "Ocean Cove", both from Unwind Yarns, a young local dyer. I love the way she plays with colour...even pink!

I couldn't resist one other purchase, though, my first for Sis's November Nibling:


How cute is that?!

Then, tired from our exertions, Mr.Q (who had finished at the bank and was waiting patiently at the library across the street) made our way home, with the intention of going back to bed for a bit. Except that a certain Piggy called when we were about half a block away from our door, to tell me she & some pals were just heading over to Baaad Anna's, and did I want to come with?

Well...the arm-twisting wasn't really all that severe. She picked me up about 20 minutes later, and I went back for seconds. This time, the place was quite busy, including a group of 6 or 8 fellow Ravellers all stitching and bitching on the couch and chairs in the front window. Perfect! And a preview, I hope, for later expeditions.

Some yarn sort of came home with me out of that trip, as well...Some Yummy sock yarn, by Fibra Natura - I think in the "Grey Dawn" colourway:


The light outside this morning was not as clear as I'd hoped, so the colours are really not well-represented. Especially with regard to my last purchase, two skeins of Malabrigo lace in the "Azul Bolita" colourway (colour #80, about halfway down the page).


Because really, this stuff is electric-cobalt blue. Like someone irradiated Cookie Monster, sheared him, and made yarn out of his fur. It kind of jumps out at you and shouts "HI! I'm blue! Can you see me? I'm blue! I'M REALLY REALLY BLUE!"

(I'm pretty sure no muppets were harmed in the manufacture of this yarn.)

Then, we all went for coffee to re-fuel after the excitement. Good times! The Laughing Bean is a great, very knit-friendly little spot, and we're reconvening there today for our usual Sunday gathering.

And maybe we'll poke our heads in to Anna's and see how things went yesterday. You know, just to be neighbourly.

Off to make some breakfast, and maybe another cuppa. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a pic of Singe, who was busy supervising this morning's photography session in the back yard. (I just typed "back yarn." Knit much?) Such a helpful puss!