All of the planning and hard work finally paid off when we all went on the shop hop. What an exciting and fun day!

Here's Shelley, showing off this beautiful yarn.


Hmm...decisions, decisions. I know where the wild things are...they're in line!
Here's Norm searching for patterns in Cozy Ewe. I don't know about Ewe, but I sure felt Cozy in this store!
This is Marta McCall. Marge of Wool 'N Wares had her come in to talk to us about her patterns. Chances are, if you've seen a cute bag design in Interweave Knits, she's designed it.
Our first stop was Cozy Ewe. Lindy surprised us and had made needle holders and a bag with tea in it for every person!

Our second stop was Wool 'N Wares. We had a surprise guest....Marta McCall! She is an incredible designer, and pretty photogenic, too! Marge had a table in the back with pastries, fruit, and cheese. It really was quite a treat!

The third stop was Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks. This store was huge! I really think you could probably find anything you were looking for here. Well, maybe not, but it was still very large.

The fourth place we visited was Yarn Garden. I loved their selection of sock yarns, it was large and varied.

Our fifth stop was The Naked Sheep Knit Shop. Cheryl and Brad had some goodies set up in the back, but sadly, I never got back there. I was too busy drooling over all of the Lorna's Laces they have!

Our last official store visit was Close Knit. Sally had some signed copies of One Skein by Leigh Radford on hand, and a gorgeous Karabella Gossamer wrap on display. I know this because I chose a chair next to it and people kept stopping to eye it, so I had the tag memorized. (psst...one skein Karabella Gossamer and size 17 needles) After shopping, they came on the bus and gave us the leftover coffee, lemonade, and doughnuts they had there for us. How unexpected and thoughtful! They also had the cutest napkins you've ever seen.

Then back to Cozy Ewe for yarn winding. Thank you so much to Lindy, who let me set up my winder on a shelf. As I was winding, all of the balls of yarn that were displayed on the shelf kept falling off. I hope I was able to put them back correctly!

Just a note to those who weren't able to go due to our overwhelming response: We tried so hard to make it so that everyone who wanted to go, could. We just didn't have the room to put anyone on the bus we did have, or to get another bus. For the next shop hop make sure you get your registration in ASAP to be sure you can come with us on the trip.

Also, don't forget to use your coupon at Two Swans Yarns! Karen has some incredible deals, free shipping on orders over $25, and a rewards program! If you have any problems or have questions about her stock, just email her, she'd be more than happy to help you! Karen has supported the Shop Hop for two years in a row now, so let's show her some support in return. To use your coupon, when checking out, put in the coupon code TKGSHOPHOP[shop hopID here] For example, my shop hop ID is 1401. So, I'd put in TKGSHOPHOP1401. (and I did...I already ordered) Your shop hop ID is on the front of your passport. If you have any questions about your shop hop ID, or if you don't know your ID, please email me and I'll help you out.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, vendors, manufacturers, stockists and guild for helping us make this such a wonderful day. Without everyone pitching in, we couldn't have pulled it off. So, please accept a huge thank you from everyone who had the time of their lives!