It was the worst of times* (A Tale of Two Hops, Part 3).

Ok, that was a flat out lie. It was still the best of times, just with weather that was worse.  Saturday, April 15 the weather was very different from Friday, April 14, gray, rainy and mid-40 temperatures. We were a bigger group (6-7 all day long), so Brenda brought the big van. Brenda, Joy, Heather, Stephanie, Gloria and I headed out of the designated meeting location to the first shop in St. Louis Park at 9:50am. 

Even though she's not able to join us for the whole day, Ann met us at our first stop; Needle & Skein (Full Service Yarn Shop in St. Louis Park, MN | Needle & Skein (needleandskein.com).  The crochet pattern is called Oceanic Cowl. Dream in Color Yarn provided 2 possble colorways, both using the varigated "In the Depths" yarn, paired with either a tonal blue or coral.  I decided I would push my usual color boundaries and chose the coral. The samples in the store used the blue & varigated combo for their crochet patter and the coral & blue for the knit pattern.  It will be interesting to see how the coral looks in crochet.

We had to take a group photo before leaving, since Ann wouldn't be going with us for the rest of the trip.  Next up: Edina's Harriet & Alice. 

If you're not already familiar with the area, it can be a little tricky to find Harriet & Alice (harrietandalice.com), but it is certainly worth the effort.   The shop is chock-full of lush yarns, useful notions and handmade goods.  The crochet pattern for is the Pleasant Waves cowl with 2 different colorways, one in shades of purple the other in blue and gold.   I bet you can guess which color combo was the favorite. I completed my cowl recently and it turned out beautifully! I posted a picture on my Ravelry account and will be bringing it to show and tell in May.

From Edina, we headed to Roseville to pick up Bree, then to White Bear Lake, were we visited Sheepy Yarn Shoppe and went to Alleycat's Gourmet Sandwiches for lunch. Lunch was simply wonderful, although the statue of Jack Daniels in the restroom was a little off-putting (or hilarious, depending on your sensibilities). I was very disappointed in the yarn shop, as they didn't offer a crochet pattern.  The lack of crochet pattern and the gray, rainy day had an impact, because while it was a nice enough shop, I just couldn't make myself take pictures or make note of the custom yarn.

Nest stop on the hop was Knitting from the Heart (heartknits.com) in Woodbury.   Trippin' with Dixie Fiber Company dyed the lovely Searching for Sea Glass Yarn for the Knitting from the Heart for the hop.  The yarn is a beautiful blue green, some more green, some a little more blue-green, as you would expect with a hand-dyed yarn.  Unfortunately, they were sold out, but we were able to order yarn and when I checked on 4/27, there was still an option to order on their site, including the beads are optional with the "Searching for Sea Glass Crocheted Shoulder Cozy" pattern.   You have to love a pattern with beads! I guess you don't have to, but I do...ever since CTC introduced me to crocheting with beads, I've been hooked!

Knitting from the Heart is a beautiful shop, with luxurious yarns, and they host a diverse schedule of classes.  They also participate in the fall Progressive East End Project. PEEP involves a single pattern with each store offering a different custom colorway.

It's the second to the last shop, and truthfully, I am grateful that Darn Knit Anyway | Stillwater, MN, is not closer to my home. DKA is a personal favorite, for reasons that are very sentimental, my husband and I like to visit Stillwater's B&B's and we've stopped there together. 

The crochet pattern is called the "Just Keep Swimming Cowl".  The colorway School of Fish from Fiber Macgyver was inspired by a beautiful underwater photo of a school of fish.  While they were sold out, ordering was available and I heard a rumor that the yarn is available for pick up this weekend.  Of course, we had to get a group photo including the very silly, sea themed hats.   If you happen to be in the area, be sure to check out this treasure of shop with it's amazing maker's space. 

We drove through St. Paul, to drop off one hopper and headed to the last shop on the list, 3 Kittens Needle Arts | Mendota heights | St. Paul, MN.   I have to admit, by this time, even I was pretty shopped out.   I failed to take any pictures as I got caught up in the excitement of turning in my completed passport and collecting the pin to hold my collection of stitch markers. Fortunately, Gloria took a couple. 
Their crochet pattern, the Sea Anenome is a unique pattern combining the lace weight, Irish Moss yarn in Red Coral and a fingering weight yarn from Coos Bay in either Red Coral or the red/blue varigated Red Sea Anenome.   

On our way back to our own vehicles, we all agreed that we had a wonderful time and are looking forward to next year! I hope you decide to join us!

P.S. a couple of items I failed to mention - Muse 2320 in Hastings had 2 very fun gum dispensers filled with buttons and stitch markers - I had to get a handful of each.  

Knitting From the Heart was selling some fun necklaces that doubled as stitch marker holders, so I split my stitch markers (pictured below) between the necklace and pin. On the blue background below, Gloria's charms, pin and necklace are pictured.