Here we are my friends, in drizzly Newfoundland, where yesterday’s sock picture was taken from near the overlook at Cuckold’s Cove, in Quidi Vidi (say “kitty vitty”) Newfoundland. (That’s Cape Spear in the distance. More about that another day.) Several clever knitters will be mailed a skein of sock yarn, since the magic words “Cuckold’s Cove” appeared several times in the comments. (I’ll email the winners when I’ve got a minute tomorrow.)
We are indeed (as another knitter guessed) in Old Joe’s backyard, more or less, since Joe’s parents split their time between Newfoundland and Toronto and we’re lucky enough to be able to enjoy their home here as base camp for a weeks vacation in what’s home for my Joe (Young Joe.)
Today we began our grand adventure, traipsing about St. John’s. Megan is really taken with the brightly coloured old row houses, and I was really taken with how taken she was, so I took pictures of Megan taking pictures of row houses.
The girls really were delighted, exclaiming each time they spotted another particularly bright one. A yellow house with purple trim and a bright pink door just about put them both into a fit of sheer joy. We went to The Rooms, which is a beautiful, beautiful museum here. It’s a gorgeous place, full of traditional Newfoundland things and art and animals.
The animals (we discussed it) are all dead.
Joe and Sam felt badly about that in the case of this eagle.
We were all relieved in the case of the giant squid though.
This is Meg looking it over. The thing was massive. Huge. Palaeolithic sort of enormous. They grow up to 18 metres, but this one was a rather reassuring 6m (that’s 18 ft.) Dudes. Gross.
There were whale parts:
and some very keen, very old sail makers needle sets, but I didn’t get a picture. It’s a fantastic place, and the price of admission (only $20 for a family) included this wonderful view of The Narrows and St. John’s harbour.
You will note the weather is still of a questionable nature, though it doesn’t take long here to get the hang. By the afternoon, when it was just gray and cold rather than cold and raining, we were all stomping about the downtown admiring fishing boats and saying “Didn’t it turn out to be lovely?”. My hair was huge. I think it’s the mist.
I think some of you have heard me talk about NONIA before, it’s the Newfoundland Outport Nursing Industrial Association, and it’s the only health care system in the world built on knitting. (You can read more if you click here.) We went by there this afternoon, and I poked around a wee bit.
I learned something interesting while I was there. See Joe’s arm?
Joe’s pointing at at many fine and sturdy pairs of good wool socks, most all knit from Briggs and Little wool, near as I could tell, and he was enchanted with them. Kept saying “Look at those! Those are good socks! Those are grand socks. Oh, yes. Those are socks that really know what a sock should be.” If I’d have known that worsted weight socks would thrill the man so much, I could have been churning out his sock supply a lot faster than I have been. Buddy’s got big feet.
There were sweaters and beautiful notecards I always buy there… and it was a lovely afternoon.
A lovely day really. Tomorrow is Regatta Day here in St. John’s, provided it doesn’t rain. It’s a provincial holiday (one of the only ones in the world that moves to the next day if the weather doesn’t co-operate) and we’re very excited. The Royal St. John’s Regatta is the oldest continuous sporting event in North America, and tomorrow 50 000 people will descend upon the shores of Quidi Vidi lake for a huge garden party the likes of which cannot be described. I will be there, and I’ll have a sock in progress.
Stand by.
I hope you have a lovely vacation. Let’s see some worsted weight sox.
Ah, Briggs and Little. We love that too. It’s a workhorse of a yarn that’ll keep your feet warm through the worst of the big hair days.
My hair gets gigantic in Newfoundland too. It’s a wild soul/wild hair thing. That’s my story.
I’d wish you a grand time at the Regatta, but that’s a given.
In the first photo, it looks like there is a tornado in the distance over Cape Spear! Enjoy your holiday.
It looks absolutely beautiful! Enjoy your time with your family.
Nursing + Knitting = The best of all possible worlds!
Wish I could be there to enjoy! Can’t, of course, :..( but love enjoying vicariously! 😉
Thanks for taking us on your vacation with you!
Keep having grand fun. We just went to Texas (105 degrees F – don’t know what that is in Celsius, but I don’t think the number is as high!), so rainy and a bit chilly sounds refreshing!
Oh, I hope you will take a picture of the rowing action! I used to row in college and miss it so. It’s always nice to see others rowing and spectators enjoying it.
I love the bright, colorful row houses too! Thanks for sharing!
Do I get credit for recognizing Cape Spear yesterday? Have a great time and don’t forget ice cream at Moo Moos.
Since I am never likely to visit that part of the world,I really enjoyed your description and pictures.Thank you for sharing your holiday, and I’m looking forward to the Regatta. Is Newfoundland in America? – not Canada? – you referred to it as “North America”. My geography is sketchy, quite obviously! (I’m many thousnads of miles away, in a different hemisphere).
WOW! Sounds like a lovely holiday! I, too, get excited when my kids get into stuff. It’s so FUN to see what interests them!
hope you have a wonderful vacation.
the pictures are just great!! make me want to move there.! and I live in florida.
where it is hotter than hot
D’oh, of course it was Cape Spear! I’ve even been there. How could anyone not be taken with the row houses, I ask you? Or with Briggs & Little. I lurrrrve it, even though I just finished a sweater with it and picked out a bale of hay from it in the process. mmm. wool.
That looks like a fabulous place to spend some time! Have a great time with your family and enjoy the regatta. We’ll be waiting to see some worsted weight sock pictures.
Quick! Sneak back to the shop and buy a grey XXL gansey. Bet they have one that’s finished. Nobody will ever know.
HI you may like to go check this site out. They are busy examining this as I write.
Cheers
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/TePapa/English/CollectionsAndResearch/CollectionAreas/NaturalEnvironment/Molluscs/ColossalSquid/ColossalSquidGallery.htm
I’m enjoying your vacation. Maybe if I turn down the thermostat really, really far, I can pretend I’m there, too. We’re supposed to get a break in the heat tomorrow. After about three weeks of over 100 F every day, tomorrow isn’t supposed to get out of the 90s! Yeah! (All it takes is a minor sub-hurricane level storm!)
I had to check out Briggs & Little before commenting. I love following your links to visit all the wonderful stores, designers, etc, that you talk about. I’ve gathered sooooo much great info that way. I’m still working my way through Twisted on-line magazine that you mentioned the other day. WOW! What a great site!
Cuckold’s Cove! There must be a very interesting story behind that name.
I hope you make Joe some fabulous worsted weight socks. They’ll be quick, compared to your others!
Oh holy crap, I’m happy right now.
I was reading this post, and I just looked at Robb (the future husband, and father of Lucy, whose smile you enjoyed at WEBS), and said “I know where we can go for a honeymoon!” (this has been a topic of significant argument in our household).
He looks at me in that way that men look at women when women start talking about weddings.
“Newfoundland. It’s beautiful, there’s ocean for me, and no sun for you!”
He rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it,” he says.
That’s more than he’s said for anywhere else. Please don’t disabuse me of the no-sun notion if I’m wrong. 🙂
Hooray!
This is *exactly* why I always say when I’m Queen I shall make Newfoundland the center of the universe.
Ahhh the joys of worsted wt socks! When I needed to knit a pair of Alpine socks to go with the Lederhosen I made my Joe in less than a week I turned to worsted wt yarn. You can see a photo here http://stringativity.blogspot.com/2007/09/4-days-til-oktoberfest.html
Hmmm I wonder if a link will post in comments. :o)
Are you going to George St. to check out the music? Last summer, I brought some knitting. My sister and cousins frowned; I knit, and had to answer many questions.
I love those brightly coloured old row houses! how cool!
with that weather & scenery if you didnt say where you were i would have said you could be in Scotland *lol*
I can’t be the only one totally amazed by your daughters’ wearing long sleeves in the pictures. It was 97 degrees here today. What i wouldn’t give for a little long sleeve weather.
The squid! So cool! When/if in London, go see their squid, too, at the Natural History Museum. It’s in the same room as some of Charles Darwin’s actual specimens.
Looking forward to seeing some grand socks.
Did Joe get a haircut? He used to have long hair, correct?
Just curious.
To those (like me) who are lacking in our Canadian History what is the special significance of Newfoundland? It looks gorgeous. It has knitters, nice people and beautiful houses. And what more?
I love St. John’s – makes me homesick for the year I spent renting one of the little houses glued onto the cliffs in the Battery neighbourhoud – I’d sip coffee at my kitchen table and watch the storms roll in, or the icebergs drift through the narrows. I had an apartment overlooking Quidi Vidi for a couple of months, but I loved the Battery best. (Also I feel dumb now, because of course I should know where the picture was taken… I spent many happy hours hiking the area with my puppy.)
Thanks for the virtual tour. I loved it! Newfoundland is a really wonderful place. Hope you have a grand vacation.
Newfoundland!…I need to go there (it’s a long way from Alberta). The austere beauty of the place. I was just reading about Trinity, Nfld today.
Briggs & Little worsted gray & ivory ‘threaded’ is THE guys’ sock yarn. (i need to post a photog’) It makes amazing ragg-wool-type socks. Navy or Deep Olive with cream heels and toes are pretty classic too.
happy vacation!
1. Congrats to the winners. Dang it.
2. The row houses ARE cute. And Meg was cute to be taken with them. And you’re cute to be taken with Meg’s being taken.
3. It wasn’t the mist making your hair go all out. It was that your blood alcohol level was too low. Next time, try some good beers, and just see if your hair doesn’t behave better.
4. Worsted weight socks? Do you have any idea how many fewer stitches you would have to knit if you made Joe’s socks out of worsted weight instead of sock yarn? It hurts just to think. So much time. Good thing you like him.
5. Glad to see you’re having such a great vacation. Thanks for taking the time to keep your fans updated.
Cool! I got Qiddi Vidi, but not the Cuckhold part. Oh well. Do I get any points for my heart breaking every time I think of you being there and not me?
Speaking of NONIA, we bought an unbelievable hooked wall hanging at NONIA when we were there in 1999.
Ah, gotta love summer in Newfoundland, where 23 degrees is a heat wave. I could totally live there – I’d do it in a heartbeat. Jim’s got family land in Salmonaire on St. Mary’s Bay – we could build a knitting retreat…
Sounds like you’re having a delightful time; NONIA looks like a great shopping opportunity that supports an even greater cause. And I’m with your girls on those brightly colored houses: I’d also have fits of joy with a whole street of cheerful houses like that.
Be sure to hit one of those lively pubs in St. John’s with the Irish Descendents or another Irish type band. I’ve never had so much fun in a pub as there! I got a kick out of Joe’s comments about the socks. Newfoundland has to have the nicest people I have ever met. Looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure.
Newfoundland. On my list of places I need to visit. It was even before I read your first essay in KnitLit Two and realized that Newfoundlanders are like Northern Minnesotans in their attitudes towards winter. One embraces arctic wind chills — by getting out there and skating in it, by God!
And one must support nurses and knitting. That is such a cool story.
Worsted weight socks? You’ve been together how long, and he only shares this now? I think he might get a few more pairs as a result (after a certain amount of grief is given).
My parents lost one of us at the regatta every year. Cotton candy and the jumping castle! Good memories.
The bittersweet Newfie joke:
How can you tell a Newfie in heaven?
He’s the one who wants to go home.
And it’s so desperately true. I miss it.
Ok I don’t usually comment but I must admit to being vastly, vastly amused by Joe’s reaction to worsted weight socks. I hope you don’t mind but there is a really good chance of those exact words ending up on a t-shirt over a picture of hand-made socks.
Mmmm, worsted wool socks are the best. Warm and cozy. When worn with your favorite pair of Birk clogs, toes will stay toasty warm.
It looks wonderful there! I have to ask – lots of big black dogs around?
careful, the squid looks like he’s just sleeping. =/
love the bright houses, they look so happy!
Worsted weight yarn is handy for big foot socks. My Joe is just a baby, but with size 9 and a half EEEE feet, at age 11, I am sure his feet will get much larger.
“kitty vitty” in which accent, though? 😀 Since I’m British, I pronounce my T sounds…! (So I read it ‘KiT-ee ViT-ee’)… or did you mean ‘Kiddy Viddy’ as all the americans around me would say? I have succeeded in confusing myself!
Also, I wanted to say… your blog is incredibly inspiring. I’ve not been knitting for very long, but reading through some of your archives has made me feel so adventurous and bold – I’ve even knitted (last week) my first pair of socks! (Worsted weight, incidentally. I am uncommonly proud of them. I did an improvised ‘happy sock dance’ at their completion, and now my husband thinks I am quite mad!)
Have a wonderful holiday. I look forward to many more inspiring and witty posts by you. Thank you! 🙂
Am really looking forward to checking out that knitting/nursing site.
Beautiful and dark up there- how lovely. Am looking foward to seeing pics of the regatta!
LOL, figures about the hubby falling for worsted weight socks. Mine is the same way. I am enjoying vacationing vicariously through you.
oh – if you like that squid check this Colossal Squid out. It is currently being readied for display in our National Museum Te Papa. It is _humongous_ (sp?)
We even have “squidcam” so we can follow the process in all it’s glory – and a doco about it will be on Discovery channel on 31 Aug apparently.
best photo to give an idea of scale that I could find is in this post http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2008/06/23/does-my-mantle-look-big-in-this/
Imagine knitting socks for those tentacles *g*
I love those bright houses too 🙂
I knew it was Newfoundland. My heart ached when I saw the pic. Sigh. Enjoy every living second of it. Breathe deeply. Fortify yourself until you can return again.
i wish nonia’s site was working – the knitted goods look lovely.
Is it your influence or his just growing up in Canadian winters that has made him into a person that can appreciate a fine handknit sock?
What a great vacation! Reminds me of the vacations my family used to take when I was growing up–only more interesting. Or, it could be that I find those sorts of things more interesting now that I’m a grown up.
Did you stop by Woof Designs yet? I always end up there, buying spools of bright yarn that I don’t know what to do with when I get them home. They just sit there, looking pretty.
Looks like a lovely place, in spite of the weather!
I just have 2 words for you- pony tail. 🙂
I can relate.
Wow!! How beautiful!!! I think we should all come for a visit! 🙂
and will that sock in progress be a typical sock or a ‘sock that really knows what a sock should be’?
enjoy the Regatta
Damn your making me homesick. I always loved the Regetta when I was little. Hey you should check out the new yarn store. I can’t remember what it is called but it was far from downtown. Hamlin road I believe. Have a great time and hey there are so many whales around now that I am sure you can get a great sock and whale photo shoot happening.
Don’t forget to check out Devon House! And when you’re done there, walk down the street a bit and have a touton or two, or a fish cake or two at Classic Cafe! YUMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Oh, I’m totally with Megan on the colorful row houses. I’ve see the same type of thing in photos of Copenhagen, and when I went to Ireland. Love it! I can just imagine what it would look like inside, with a cozy kitchen and fireplace.
St. John’s looks great. Maybe I should consider it for a vacation in the near future…
“worsted weight socks”
To me, hearing that words form a big feet guy… the highlight of my vacation, I tell you!
Sounds like you are all having a great time. So many bloggers are having their summer vacation! Me, being in the southern hemisphere, still enjoy sweater time, but sure like to live vicariously through your vacation posts!
ah big hair. I grew up in Brooklyn near a bay. As a teen I thought the answer was to have my hair straightened. HA! 6 hours of chemicals and pulling and big rollers and $$. Then during whatever date I had that night the hair just went back to normal. arghhhh Didn’t take me long to figure out I should spend my baby sitting money somewhere else.
Looks like a great vacation.
Please remind us in a week or so of NONIA again. Wanted to support them but their site is under construction.
Namaste from cool, breezy partly sunny upstate NY
I’m green with envy. It looks like a wonderful trip.
Ohmy, does that bring back memories! I spent many summers with my grandmother in Harbour Grace as a child, and most of the town made pilgrimage to Quidi Vidi for the Regatta.
Damn, I love Canada.
Oh, wonderful trip! Definitely a place on my ever expanding list of places to visit before I die. (Has been for a while.)
Lucky you!
Yes, I knew it would be a place where I wanted to be, wherever it was. It sounds glorious. Enjoy your vacation!
well hopefully we get the Regatta tomorrow – the tease of a day off, only to have to be at the office instead is just mean!
hope you’re enjoying your time here in newfoundland – sounds like you are. two years in and the bright coloured houses still make me smile too.
Ah Newfoundland, first contact with European settlers. I’m going there one day very soon. It will be an almost spiritual journey. L’Anse Au Meadows is on it northern tip.
And who among us would not love to have that wall of sweaters awaiting us in our closet. sigh.
Have you kissed a cod yet? I’m dying to go to Newfoundland soon.
I think I’m in love with Newfoundland. The pictures show me everything my Scottish soul loves: dank gray weather, lovely little villages by the sea, and KNITTING! And what a great name: New-found-land.
I think it’s my new-found-love. Have a great time and buy *tons* of yarn!
Beautiful row houses…their Southern US sisters are nicknamed Painted Ladies (Victorian non-row houses, but very similar colors).
Worsted weight socks…well, that is just about what my son absconded with (STR Heavyweight Jailhouse rock). Maybe they are macho man socks in that weight? It will certainly go alot faster.
NONIA tickles me silly. I LOVE it. I am a knitting school nurse, the home ec teacher who taught me to knit (continental too) in 1974 was a retired nurse and many other knitters I have been taught by and fallen across are nurses. Or maybe it should be many of the nurses I’ve met knit. Because they do.
NONIA’s web-site is also “coming soon” at the moment. Do we know what’s up with that?
Sounds like a lovely time is being had by all.;-)
HOW long have you been knitting socks for Joe and you just clued into this?? You must be lacking the lazy gene – I started my kids on these since they were so quick and rarely knit them anything else. They’re their hockey socks.
Want to go to Newfyland SOON.
Oohh… I’ll go to Newfoundland for the knitting…. wish they did mail order. Rats, darn phooey. I’d buy from NONIA if they’d let me. Wouldn’t we all!
I really had a good laugh over Joe and the socks. I fixed carrots for my husband 2 or 3 times a week the first 10 years we were married because I thought he loved them. One day he announces that he “really doesn’t care for carrots”. I asked him why he hadn’t spoken up before and he said he was just glad I cooked for him. Men!!!
what a wonderful trip! am very jealous 🙂
Oh Stephanie, I can’t even tell you how jealous I am of your glorious gallavanting. It looks so inviting to me…I have always been a cool weather girl, partial to cozy sweaters and jeans, hot coffee and rain. MM… It’s too hot here in Kelowna!!
I hope you have a wonderful time with your family, and I look forward to more pictures with bated breath!
STEPH, I was JUST there on Saturday!
WHOA.
Also, I found your book in the wild in Twillingate, at the Twillingate Museum of all places.
Also, three big skeins of B&L… that’s no longer there. 😉
Worsted weight socks! I always make these for my DH, and he just loves them. Every time I go to an unfamiliar yarn shop and tell someone I’ll be using this yarn for socks, they give me a blank stare … sometimes they mutter about not knowing anyone would use THIS yarn for SOCKS! A couple of times the socks have come out a bit larger than I had intended (I know, I know, gauge swatch!), but last winter, DH broke his leg, and guess what? All those beautiful oversized socks looked beautiful over his cast, and kept his exposed tootsies nice and warm!
I know you are calling the weather questionable but those gray, murky-weather photos fill me with envy. I am not a native Californian and even after 15 years of living here, I can’t get used to the “clear, hot, sunny” summer routine of Northern California. We rarely see even one drop of rain from late April until early October. So yours looks like the perfect vacation to me!
Hope ya’ll have a wonderful time!
Welcome to St. John’s! You might love visiting the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, at 59 Duckworth Street, opposite the Hotel Newfoundland. They have a shop loaded with excellent local craft (pottery, wood, & textiles lots of knitting and felted items – knit/felted and wet-felted (the latter is what I do). There’s also a free gallery on the 2nd floor of the Craft Council with the current show: Annual Members’ Exhibit. Check it out! More info about the Craft Council at http://www.craftcouncil.nl.ca . I also recommend The Sprout restaurant – deliciously vegetarian, at 364 Duckworth. Enjoy your holiday!
Maybe the houses are so brightly-colored to compensate for the drizzle?
One of the things I love about reading your blog is learning about the wonderful places in Canada. Sadly, I know more about the history of obscure places around the world than I do about our lovely neighbor to the north. Have a good vacation, and hopefully the weather is cooperating for the regatta — it’s pouring here in Philly. . .
You gotta love any type of healthcare founded on knitting.
As Melinda, I’m wondering about the Nonia web site. Yeah, I can knit my own, but to purchase a couple of “little things” to support such a historic outfit! Oh, I can SO do that. Any idea when the site will be active?
Thanks and I hope you enjoy your stay. Here in north central Mass. it’s about 18-c (66F) and raining – probably just like you! 😀
Oh, oh, oh, OH! We have friends who moved to St.Johns in the spring, who live in one of those quaint row houses (not one of those pictured, but just a stone’s throw away), and we have been vicariously discovering the wonderfulness of Nfld through their eyes…We can’t wait to visit, but are afraid we might not come back! You’re not helping! (Don’t stop!)
(PS – did Joe cut his hair?)
People in dark wet places know how to paint their houses! Charming row houses! My parents live in a small town in a rainforest in Alaska. They too paint their houses bright beautiful colors to brighten up dreary days.
Want. To. Go. To. Newfoundland.
If you are looking for excellent live music while you are there, I highly recommend Great Big Sea! They are from the area, and their live shows are nothing short of amazing. High energy & really fun.
The areas you’ve posted pictures of look like such inspiring places for knitting. I can’t wait to see more! Hope you are having a fabulous time!
So Joe IS there and it IS home. I was more right than I guessed! Enjoy. I find myself wanting to come touch all that beautiful knitting.
My boyfriend is utterly delighted with worsted weight socks, too! He never wears the tiny fingering weight size-one-needle stranded socks I’ve knit him, but he wears through worsted weight in no time flat.
This is how you know these men are meant to be with knitters.
Oh man, has Megan ever seen the painted ladies in San Francisco? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_ladies) She would plotz!
-K
As fast as you knit, you could have a month’s worth of socks knit up for Joe in no time. I have to agree, worsted weight socks, knit cuff down, stockinette, with a slip stitch heel look just so… solid, dependable, and comfortable, Thanks for all the links in your post, I’m taking a little photo vacation this afternoon!
Isn’t it interesting and somewhat reassuring that no one has ever seen a giant squid alive? They live in very deep and dark and cold water and then they wash up on the shore, dead… this according to my 6 year old’s reading material and obsession with large oceanic creatures. Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten, the rest I learned reading to my kids. 🙂
Yea, for worsted weight socks! Wouldn’t it have been nice if he could have expressed himself so clearly years ago?!?! Men.
I actually have some briggs and little fingering weight in the stash. Nabbed from my aunt when she moved into a retirement home. I wondered if it would be scratchy for socks…
Between you and my sister (who also splits her time between Toronto and St. John’s, btw, and keeps sending me gorgeous pictures) I am totally jealous. I must make the trip someday soon! I plan to use your reports on your trips (this one and the earlier one (was it in 2004?)for help in planning our trip. My husband (who was in St. John’s once for a conference and loved it) says someone told him that the houses are all painted a bright and different colour so that you can find yours when you came home at night from the pub! Enjoy your holiday!
Yeah, that’s the name I was trying to come up with when I called it something rhyming like that! It is the most gorgeous place from your past and present photos that I am making my husband take me there soon! I think he could drop me off and I could stay forever and be very content!
Sounds like the perfect vacation and fun is being had by all.
Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. The photos are wonderful and I feel as if I part of the family!
Wow, beautiful pics. I’m dying to get to Newfoundland some day – my grandparents were from there. Your pictures & stories make me want to go more.
thank you for the pictures. New Foundland is a place I haven’t been to yet – it is on the very top of the ‘must list’. The weather sounds wonderful. Pix of big hair?
I’ve been wanting to move to Newfoundland, the only place in the world I really want to travel to. ( preposition ending, bah!) I very much want a blue house just like the one in Meg’s picture. It is my dream!!! People think I’m weird, though.
Stephanie, are you getting a commission from the Canadian tourism bureau? You’re doing a better job of enticing me than the billboards advertising Canada currently in residence in the subway here in San Francisco!
Cool – think those row houses are right across the road from mine!
Glad to hear that you’ll be taking in the Regetta. They say the sun is supposed to come out by Friday….
Worsted weight socks are kind of the “thing” in Newfoundland. I guess traditionally the priority was for warmth and a quick knit. No time to fuss with fine yarn.
Have you checked out Wool Trends yet?
Oh look now you’ve gone and made me very homesick… I’ve been away for 25 years with not very many visits back of late – thought I didn’t care until I saw your pictures. Now I’m feeling blue and will have to work on another pair of thrumbed mitts to cheer myself up – I’m working on four pairs for the nice Quebec family that have billeted my son off and on most of this summer while he chases his bicycle racing dreams.
Hi Stephanie…the girls in the store told me you had been in yesterday, sorry I missed you. Our website will hopefully be up and running again in early September…it really needed an update. We do a lot of mail orders and make many custom orders so if any of your readers want to contact us they can reach us by e-mail at nonia@nf.aibn.com As you have seen we make socks, hats, mitts, sweaters etc. for infants to adults and have been doing it for 88 years now…we are still a non-profit cottage industry with approx. 200 home based knitters across the province. We bring NONIA handknits to Christmas Craft shows in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg (first time), Ottawa & Halifax in Nov./Dec. and would love to see any of your readers there.
Enjoy the rest of your vacation in Newfoundland and hopefully you’ll get a few warm days.
Sounds like a splendid day indeed. Newfoundland just got added to my list of places to travel to before I part the earth. Thanks for the inspiration!
Is recommending Great Big Sea to a Newfoundlander the North American equivalent of carrying coals to Newcastle?
Ah Briggs and Little. A great bastion of Canadian wooly virtue. *contented sigh*
I really enjoy the glimpses of Canada that I get from your posts. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hooray, hooray! Nothing like “mucking about” at work rather than working!
The mist is definitely what’s making your hair huge. When we get that out here on the Left Coast, we call that the “Pacific Facial”. It’s doing wonders for your skin!
NONIA is the greatest idea in the world! I should move to Canada.
Wait! Where’s the picture of the yellow house with pink and purple trim? Got to see it!
What a beautiful place. I wish I lived there. I could see myself in a brightly painted row house.
Someday we’ll take the ferry from Cape Breton to Newfoundland — it looks beautiful. In the eagle picture above, is that Joe with short hair? Wowza, what a change!
But aren’t the giant squids awesome! I mean seriously. One of the biggest ones is like… the length of those 18 wheel trucks. Seriously. Awesome. How long did it take humanity to make a massive, inefficient thingy that destroys the environment? And squids and most things that live in the sea are supposedly what humans evolved from. Nature is ahead of the game. Clearly. Which is why the squid is awesome. (Haha I got so off track.XD)
Is that Joe in the pictutres? Did he get a haircut? We get to see the girls’ new cuts…where’s Joe’s new haircut photo? It looks good from the back anyway!
Oh my gosh! What lovely pictures!
I was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but I haven’t been back since I was a newborn.
I’m happy to see that I was born in a place that has been so scenically-blessed.
I CANNOT wait to see more pictures of my birthplace.
I’m glad you’re having a lovely vacation!
I certainly hope the sock didn’t hear Joe’s comment.
That looks like such a beautiful place. I’m sitting here, day dreaming about going right now. You are such a lucky woman.
Ah, but will that sock in progress be worsted?
I love those row houses as well. Kind of reminds me of Wysocki’s prints. Lots of color.
Have fun tomorrow!
so many lovely sights
hopefully i will find pictures
of the regatta on the web some where
how do you keep from buying out
the store well onward my dear
I would love my hair to get huge, I have fine, straight blonde hair that goes way flat!
The row houses ARE really cute!
Worsted weight socks? Huh. Well, that would never have occurred to me. Seems kinda weird to me, but I guess I can see that someone might like them. Heck, you could probably knit a pair of those in about two minutes.
The humidity’s been a lot lower than normal here for this time of year. My hair is way less curly than usual. It’s starting to freak me out. Come on, rain already.
God bless men who appreciate handknits and worsted weight! Dear Himself bragged to his fellow quarry workers just this past winter about the socks made by moi, and how toasty his toes were. Size eleven feet. Oh, yeah. Worsted is good.
Cold and gray?! I’m so very jealous, it’s like one of the circles of hell here, I’ve just moved to New Mexico, about an hour from the US/Mexico border, and the sun is *relentless.* I’ll take cold, gray, with a beautiful view like that any day. ^_^
Did you by any chance wander by the harbour today where 5 young lads arrived to cut a ribbon having biked across Canada from Tofino BC this summer to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy–amazingly one of those young men has MD and not one to sit around and mope about it, he and his buddies organized this fund raising effort. You can read about their adventures @ movingmusclesride.ca–the July 17th post is sure to touch the heart of any Mum–read it and you’ll see what I mean… Enjoy your time in Newfoundland, a truly magical place!!
Cheers, Barbie O.
When I was a child I thought that Briggs & Little was the only brand of 100% wool yarn in existence.
(And the only yarn that was mostly wool plus a little nylon — yes, for socks.)
Janey
ooh, I am just getting caught up on your blog now and am psyched about your trip — we’re leaving for St John’s in a few days! Two weeks on ‘the Rock’, doing a driving tour with twin 5 year olds and a very patient husband who has agreed to make time for yarn shopping while doing all the driving….
If you will still be around next week, by all means drop me a line — crossoversdairy@yahoo.ca — maybe we Torontonians can meet up in NF somewhere for a drink and a knit 🙂
A great novel and read about Newfoundland: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston.
I, too, love the colorful rowhouses. Of course.
Worsted weight socks are just plain wonderful. I have tiny feet and I even sometimes go up to aran weight… they are so squishy and cushy underfoot.
It gets cold here, but colder where you live. Perfect. How nice to know that fat yarn is well-appreciated by your sweetie!! Full speed ahead.
your girls are really beautiful kids (young ladies, if they prefer)! my pal insists that if i would only go to newfoundland but once, then i would move it to the top of my “most favourite province list”, thereby ousting PEI. i’m not sure about that, but your pics and enthusiasm do make the idea enticing!
Your earlier post should read “… in all its glory …” (no apostrophe).