TTC Knitalong = Awesome

So the TTC Knitalong was this past saturday and it was awesome!! And I'm not just saying that because I was one of the organizers. It was a seriously great time and it wouldn't have happened without a lot of hard work and creative input from so many people. Thank you everyone who helped out and thank you everyone who came out!

I started my day heading for the subway and eastward from my central-west 'hood. I love taking these moving subway photos, they will never get old for me ;) Ironically it was the only subway ride I got that day, since my team's entire route was on streetcars, and mostly the Queen 501 car.

I was team captain along with Meredith (we're the ones in the awesome red t-shirts) for "Team East B" the coolest team of all (not that I'm biased). We got started at the Naked Sheep, where owner Lisa went all out and put on a spread that included a whole variety of tasty breakfast snacks, a piping hot carafe of coffee and baileys and amarretto to put in it. Yum! She also gave door prizes to absolutely everyone, ranging from cute prize packs of tape measure + soak, to store gift cards and travel mugs. All this on top of a generous discount and being super friendly to everyone. It was a great start to the day!

Next up we hit the Purple Purl, where even more delicious treats awaited along with Jen's special punch, grab bags for everyone that included a cute Purl tote, hot yarn calendars and some gorgous alpaca! And they raffled off a really amazing prize for each team -- think Vicuna laceweight, omg!

They also provided some suberb comic relief in the form of a new European yarn... what does that look like to you?

Between the amazing yarns at these two first stores there were already some bulging tote bags by the time we headed for our next stop in Kensington market!

It was then that we encountered TEAM A. It was like something out of West Side Story as we crossed paths on the way to Lettuce Knit.

Where we got some much needed relaxation time sitting on the porch and front patio, after enjoying some of the awesome new product and great discounts.

Next stop was Americo Original, a really one-of-a-kind yarn shop that stocks only beautiful, high-quality yarns imported from South America. We spent some more money and ooohed and aaahed over the luscious samples. Emily and Clara both enjoyed the visit :)

Our final stop was Romni, the queen of all Toronto yarn stores, where despite feeling like I shouldn't keep spending money I think we all just went a little crazy. It was the perfect place to end up and certainly the only yarn shop that could handle more than one team at a time (we ended up with about 60 participants spread over 4 teams, so even though we were pretty spaced out by the end it was still pretty busy!)

We ended at the Rivoli, where we filled the upstairs front with knitters (and got some distinctly odd looks from the bartenders and handful of other customers). Is that not a great crowd? It was a great spot to wrap up as everyone had a chance to grab some food and beverages while all the teams straggled in and the captains all met to confer.

We ended up with 15 prizes to give out, here you see the 4 winners of the Fierce! Knitwear prize for each team -- aren't they wearing some beautiful handknits? Some of the other prizes included Knitting WIN, Knitovation, Needs a Sherpa (a classic), Best Knitticism and more. The prizes included some great donations from all the LYSs that participated, including Village Yarns, Knitomatic, The Knit Cafe, Mary Maxim, The Yarn Boutique, Passionknit and all the stores listed already.

And it never would have happened without this amazing team. Than you so much Glenna, Lisa, Meredith, Sandi, Joyce, Yvette, Nadia & Sophie! We rock! Oh and super special thanks to my cousin Jay (Sandi's hubby), who rocked not just the logo design but hooked us up with a sweet deal on the shirts and tote bags too. All of which meant we got to enjoy cool swag and still donate a hefty portion of the proceeds to our chosen charity, Sistering.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I bought a lot of yarn? YUM!

(The full photo set is here and it was HARD to choose the best ones to share here. Definitely check them out, especially if you're looking for more soft-focus yarn porn)