North Shore Yarn Crawl

Part I: How to Prepare for a Yarn Crawl

• Save every dollar you can for two months leading up the crawl. Stop buying treats for the kids, look under the couch cushions for quarters, and maniacally clip coupons, pocketing the savings
• Print out Ravelry queue and relevant yarn information
• Analyze map, planning out most efficient route
  
• Assemble queue printout, crawl passport, and map in one place

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• Assemble assorted snacks and prizes to hand out to small children who will be dragged to too many stores in one day.

Part II: Go on Crawl

• Hit 5 stores in one day with two small children in tow.
• Bribe children at each store to behave by promising various snacks/treats/lunch*
• Regularly consult queue and budget and compare to stock at various shops.
• Repeatedly remind children not to run through various stores.
• Continually find gorgeous yarn that you love but cannot afford.
• Buy yarn and yarn related items, almost all related to the queue:

Purchases:

• Knitting Lace Triangles, by Evelyn Clark. Purchased at Cranberry Fiber Arts, and an item I was actively looking for on the crawl.
• Louet Euroflax purchased at Loom with a View, designated for a secret project
• Cascade Yarns Luna, purchased at Sit 'n Knit to knit Baby Girl a Tropical Lily
• Little Box of Knitted Gifts purchased at The Village Stitchery (for $2!!!). Impulse purchase.
• 3 skeins of purple Lyndon Hill purchased at Butterfly Knits to make a Fairy Tale Dress for baby girl. I also got the pink tape measure there as a gift with purchase.
• 1 skein of pink Lyndon Hill purchased at Toni Lee's Knitting Nook to make flowers for the Fairy Tale Dress
• 1 skein of Malabrigo lace purchased at Coveted Yarns, impulse buy.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my purchases, and I had a great time checking out all the stores. Now, I'm hoping that I've won one of the great raffle prizes!

Part III: Exhaustion

• Spend two days recovering from fiber overload
  

Part IV: Knit!

*Before you judge me on the bribery thing, cut me some slack. The kids are 4 and 2. One store, I just expect them to behave. 5 stores, one day, it's a little much. Believe me, they were SO good! Well worth the Fruit Loops, Cheez Its, Candy Store stop, and lunch at MacDonald's.