The Rediscovery of Socks and Sanity (mostly)

It’s here. Finally. Autumn. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love autumn, and everything that comes with it.

After what must be six months of flip-flop wearing, it’s time to break out the boots, and socks.
The kids are back in school and settling into a routine of early mornings and early bedtimes, snacks and homework, and of course, books. There is a certain magic to that moment in the day when I have the house to myself and my baby is snuggled up having his nap. And I can think. In quiet. This is when the sewing happens.

This past weekend found us in Victoria. It was the first time on the ferry for two of our children and they loved it. They especially loved getting up “in the middle of the night” (5:00 AM), and beginning our journey with the sun rising over the water.

Our first mission of the morning was hitting not one but two fabric shops and a yarn store. My husband has clearly decided to embrace the inevitable as he suggested we do this first. The first shop we found was “Avenue Fabric Studio“. I had heard about it from Allison Harris’s blog, Cluck Cluck Sew. She will be coming up to Victoria to do a weekend workshop, featuring her quilt pattern “Suburbs”. The shop is new, and the owner, Vivian, is absolutely charming. She opened her door early to me (I got there 40 minutes ahead of opening – craft shopping is one of the few times I am ever early), and upon hearing that my troops were out in the truck, went out and invited them in.

This is not a quilt shop, she explained. It’s a sewing studio, a community gathering point. It’s a place where people can come to sew by the hour on one of the shops many machines, to sit and stitch by hand, and where parents and children can learn crafts together. It’s genius. There are workshops and other amazing creative things going on in there. And, of course, there is fabric.

I found a wide assortment of lovely prints from various designers, all reasonably priced. I even got my hands on some lovely Anna Maria Horner Hand Painted Garden, and a Valorie Wells Wish fabric. It was an excellent start to the day.

Next up was Satin Moon. This was also fruitful. The sale section had some lovely modern fabrics that were clearly just waiting for me to find them.

We saved my traditional “Beehive Wool Shop” till after lunch and some wandering around the harbor. (There is only so much crafty shopping my family can handle at a stretch.)

I can honestly say that I have never seen a yarn store quite like the Beehive. It is a traditional stop for me on every trip to Victoria. I have never walked out empty handed, but am usually toting at least one new project, pattern, and a whole bevy of ideas. This time was no different. I came out with a stack of yarn, some for socks (the kids will be asking soon), and for a couple shawls/scarves. I think what makes this shop different is the fresh and new displays of projects and accompanying yarn. For some reason, my creative juices go haywire at the Beehive.

I could not stop thinking about this one pattern and was worried that if I didn’t go back, I’d never remember what it was. I ended up swinging by again on our last day to scoop up the name of a pattern of shawl (Color Affection) and the yarn that was clearly meant for it. I cannot wait to cast on. I’m valiantly trying to exercise a tiny bit of self-control and finish what’s on my needles first. But it’s something to look forward to.

Back at home now, and settled into the routine again, I’m desperately trying to finish my star quilt top. I have two rows left to seam together. This sounds easy but it is a series of starts and stops as you go in a y-seam pattern all down the joins. It takes quite a bit longer than a normal seam. But it will be so worth it. And quite honestly, y-seams no longer scare me.

I still have to figure out if I’m going to do a border or not before backing the quilt. Can’t wait to get to that part. Till then, this is where I’ll be…

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