Much to my surprise, a year has passed since the last Rose City Yarn Crawl, and therefore it is the season to lace up my witchy boots, agonize over which hand knits to sport, and set out on the town with my crafty coconspirator, Alexis.  

I know these aren't roses in the glass, I asked for the rose mimosa and they were out.  So here is a lavender and orchid mimosa that, while less symbolically nice for signifying the start of this adventure, was ultra delicious.  I'm not going to a look a gift mimosa in the bloom.  

If you're not familiar with Rose City Yarn Crawl, I will happily explain (and if you already know, you can send your loving thoughts to those that have yet to experience such a wonderful time).

The Rose City Yarn Crawl is a 4 day event in which the yarn stores of the Greater Portland Metro Area are represented on a passport.  Each place has a drawing of their own that you can enter when you visit and put your name in the proverbial hat, and if you get stamps from all of the shops that are participating you are entered to win the fabulous Rose City Yarn Crawl prizes themselves.  In total, there are 75 prizes, if you don't count the gift of having such an incredible event to go to.  The Crawl is the first weekend of March and goes from Thursday-Sunday, and this year had 11 participating shops.  

Gallery Yarns from Knit Purl

My first blood of Saturday was this wonderful and deliciously soft alpaca yarn from Knit Purl.  This yarn also now smells like several different colognes and perfumes as I have thrust it upon anyone that looks like they need a bit of extra scrumptious softness in their lives.  I'm not complaining though, they got to experience some lovely yarn and it's a miracle it doesn't smell like the floor.  Winding this soft and slick yarn proved to be a challenge, as it would launch itself off the ball winder if I went any faster than a snail's romantic stroll in the park.   

Despite my flinging yarn wildly, the crawl was remarkably relaxed this year.  Yes, the stores were stretching at the seams to let in all of these avid crafters, but it was like being in a house with a huge family.  There were few stores that Alexis and I went into that we didn't get complimented on our knit wear.  There was near endless positivity and excitement just to be there participating.  Granted, we spotted a person here and there that acted prickly- but we can just hope the yarn will warm their heart if the people haven't already.

In our journeys we also stopped by Knotty Lamb of Forest Grove, OR (a personal favourite of mine).  One would think that 11 shops would include every store in the area, but sadly Knotty Lamb is too far out of Portland to be included in the Yarn Crawl.  Instead, they hosted a massive sale on all of their yarn along with a raffle for their own prizes, rewarding anyone willing to come the extra distance to make the shop part of the crawling.  

Witching Hour from Knotty Lamb

Before I could even blink, Alexis and I had gone to every shop and submitted our passports to Starlight Knitting Society.  This Crawl went by quick and if it hadn't been for my crafty partner in crime and the amazing people still around me (including meeting the positively stellar individuals of Indie Knits), I would have felt a little sad.  I don't go out a whole lot anymore, health hasn't been in the best place for it, and so it was a tad bittersweet to realize the crawl was already over.  That my crafty community at large, this huge family, would be apart until the next event.  

Lucky for me, Alexis called upon her endlessly magical ways, and handed me the call to action I needed.  As can be seen below, there is a Lunar Phase Mystery Knitalong by Larissa Brown that we're just in time to prepare for.  I knew it was perfect just from the logo (few themes get me like moons and stars).  Always surround yourself with inspiring and lovely enablers.  

Alexis discovering the Mystery Knitalong also made me realize that even if it's not the Crawl, or one of the many other fiber events we go to, I always have my crafty family.  My mother and I talk projects often (especially considering she's lovely enough to read my blog- hi mum!), I'm still friends with my spinning group that I grew up with that I find endlessly inspiring, and I happened to become friends with this remarkable human being that's to the right of me in the photo below.  We became friends at first through luck and chance, and close friends through talking and crafting.  

If you're looking for more craftiness, and want to read a blog that's charming and well written, Alexis has her own place on the internet at https://alexis-findingmyknitch.blogspot.com/ .  Because we definitely all need more of a crafty family wherever we are.

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.

Sometimes strange and beautiful things can exist right beside you without you ever noticing.  They live and play just as you do, while you are none-the-wiser to their existence.  Then one wondrous day they are made known to you, by either a more observant friend,  a social media page, or just by pure chance.

That being said, how did I not know about the Rose City Yarn Crawl till just now?

In case you're not from the region, the Rose City Yarn Crawl is a collection of shops that participate in something that is like a bar crawl, but instead of getting boozy, you get cozy.  

In addition to getting the yarn equivalent of tipsy, you also collect stamps at each participating shop on your "passport" in hopes of winning one of the many prizes.

This year 13 shops around the Greater Portland area were participating in this magical event, and a good friend of mine suggested that we tackle it together.  

Our first night we took on three shops in as many hours, and I was extremely well-behaved in that I only bought one thing -- this beautiful skein from Black Sheep.

The second day we had a far busier schedule.  My dear companion skillfully crafted a map for our adventure, and this day required us to visit 7 shops spread out through Greater Portland.  

Cloaked in my angora cowl and hand-knitted socks, we ventured out.

Caught up in all of the wonder and fun, I was a little less well-behaved and it all started with this ragamuffin of a skein that LITERALLY had my name on it (and it was alpaca).

If that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

As you can see, the first skein created a pattern for the rest of the day's colour palette.  I also had to get a bag from Starlight Knitting Society, because with a name like that I can't help but be madly in love with whatever they do.

Believe it or not, we got through all seven shops with time to spare, and ended up having a nice little lunch so we could relish the day's delights and strategize for the next day and its three remaining shops.

One of the best parts was that all day the angora cowl attracted eyes everywhere we went.  I happily let people pet the cuddly wonder.

Sunday came, the last three shops went quicker than we would have thought, and before we knew it we were handing in the completed passports.  

Neither my dear friend nor I won any of the prizes, even though there were over 80 and we totally deserved them ;)

The picture below is all I got at the crawl, and I'm excited to show you what it becomes as soon as I figure it out myself.

Ultimately we got the best thing out of the crawl --  A fun weekend with kindred spirits and new treasures, with memories that are worth cherishing for the rest of our lives.  I met people I may have not normally met, was reminded that young crafters do have a welcome place in the crafting community (as well as so many other people of all ages, genders, walks of life, and interests).  I was able to chat with fun and innovative people that will inspire me to create more in the months to come, and at the end of the day I can't wait for next year.

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.