Canada Part 3 ~ Work in Progress Wednesday ~ Mahone Bay

One of my favorite days of our trip was the morning we drove to Mahone Bay, a beautiful, quaint, little maritime town about an hour from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The day was quite foggy as we started out. However, the beautiful trees along the way drew our attention--there were so many of them! Canada seemed full of dense forests of balsam firs. We found out that the area we were traveling through was known as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World. I could definitely believe it!

By lunchtime the fog had dissipated, and it was a beautifully sunny day. As you can see from the picture below, Mahone Bay is very quiet and scenic. I loved strolling through the town.

Here's a scene below that I could just sit and look at all afternoon...that is, if the cutesy shops weren't loudly calling my name.

Our excursion to this area was planned mainly because there's both a yarn shop and a quilt shop located here. And you know...quilters and knitters look for those "gotta go to that shop" sites when planning a vacation, right?

Below: Have a Yarn shop on Main Street in Mahone Bay.

This shop sold some colorful Linie 14 Cedro ribbon yarn that came home with me. You can also see on the counter a sample of a scarf made from the yarn to entice customers to purchase a skein--it worked!

Here's my work in progress so far. I've posted the pattern below.

The handcrafted birch needles were purchased in the shop also. They're size 9 mm Canadian which is size 13 in US sizes and were made by River John Needle Company. They've been finished with a fine wax coating, and I've enjoyed working with them.

On to the quilt shop...which was very colorful and inviting...but it was exactly that--a quilt shop with quilts for sale but no fabric for sale. I was disappointed, but Tom was probably thinking that it worked out just fine that way!

Later that same day we toured Peggy's Cove, which boasts a classic white and red lighthouse, took in another "quilt" shop in Tantallon, went on a dinner cruise that evening around Halifax Harbor, and fell into bed exhausted that night!

I hope you've enjoyed this brief tour of Mahone Bay. Oooh, what a fun day it was!

~Deb

Also in this series:

Canada Part 1 ~ Meeting Island Sparrow in Real Life!

Canada Part 2 ~ Bloomin' Tuesday, Halifax Public Gardens

Pattern for Ribbon Scarf

Materials: 2 balls Cedro ribbon (or equivalent), 9 mm needles (US 13), needle/thread for joining new ball and sewing in ends

Cast on 17 stitches and knit one row. Begin pattern:

Knit one  *yarn over needle (YO) knit 2 together (k2tog)* repeat from * to end of row.

Repeat this row (that is, knit one *YO k2tog*) over and over until all ribbon is used up or your scarf is long enough. 

Cast off.

Tips to help: If you want fringed ends, cut them before you use all of your ribbon. You will need approx 34 pieces 12" long each. These are doubled and put through the loops at each end of the scarf.

**To join ribbon overlap a small section and sew them together with thread and needle.

**Count your stitches frequently to make sure you are neither gaining nor losing stitches.

**Use less stitches for a narrower scarf and more for a wider one Just make sure that you use an uneven number of stitches.

Free Pattern from Have a Yarn, Mahone Bay, NS  ([email protected])

 

Comments

[Angelina Fracchiolla]

Dear Deb,
Oh how LOVELY...it sure looks like the Lord blessed you on your Vacation...it all just looks so peaceful...

Dear,
Hannah...I can't thank you enough for sharing our family with Miss Antoinette's family...what a blessing that is...especially while we are still here..I just emailed her and we look forward to fellowshiping with there family come SUNDAY...I will be sure to post about it and share that with you all..

Many Blessings
In Christ
Angelina

[Beverley]

Deb - My mother is a downeastener from River John, Nova Scotia. As a child I had several memorial visits to grandmother's home. Thanks for sharing your photos.
Bev in BC