Circumnavigating Lake Ontario

Early Tuesday morning, Marilyn and Poppy arrived at my place. Shortly after Jen1 arrived in her van and we all piled in to commence our long-awaited road trip to several crafty shops in NY State. We have waited over 2 years for this and were practically giddy with excitement to finally be able to visit Hobby House Needleworks in Pittsford, NY (a suburb of Rochester).

We picked up Yvonne in Burlington where she was waiting for us in the IKEA parking lot. After a visit to the IKEA washroom, the 5 of us piled into the van and headed for the border.

Yvonne, Poppy, and Marilyn

Geri (navigator) and Jen1 (intrepid driver)

Once we arrived at Hobby House Needleworks, we spent a couple of hours trying to take it all in. I purchased some #26 and #28 ballpoint tapestry needles. I had heard about them but had never seen them and wanted to try them out. I bought some more regular stitching needles and some thimble pads. I've been doing so much stitching lately my needle-pushing finger is peeling. 

Then I went next door to Hobby House Woolworks to pick up Barb's orders we were taking back for her (thus avoiding steep shipping charges). 

There, I purchased some fabric and had a good look at all the lovely hand-dyed felted wool and punch needle patterns. 

We worked up an appetite so decided to check into our hotel and have supper. We decided on Chili's as it was just around the corner from the hotel. Back at the hotel we got together in Jen1 and Yvonne's room to show each other what we purchased. 

The next morning, we arrived at Hobby Lobby for its opening at 9am. We then went back to Hobby House Needleworks and Woolworks to pick up stuff we realized we needed after seeing what each other had bought the day before. 

Somewhere in there we visited an unimpressive quilt shop and Barnes and Noble, too.

After lunch at Panera Bread we visited the JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts nearest to Pittsford then zoomed off to the Syracuse area to stay there for the night. I cleverly programmed the GPS for the wrong hotel but while there, we did see an Olive Garden where we thought we'd have dinner after checking into the correct hotel 15 minutes back the way we had come.

Traveling at this time of year creates opportunities for seeing spectacular leaf colours. This was the view out our hotel window as the sun finally came out. We all agreed, however, that the red leaves were more abundant on our drive in Canada.

Surprisingly the Comfort Inn in Liverpool NY wouldn't take cash - only plastic. Once we got checked in and into our rooms, we headed back to the Olive Garden 15 minutes away. Across the street was another JoAnn Fabrics which we visited after supper as it was open 'til 9. More purchases were made then  back to our hotel for more show and share.

The last morning (yesterday), we got up early to hit the Hobby Lobby at Destiny USA Mall in Syracuse when it opened at 9am as the quilt shop we wanted to visit wasn't opening 'til 10am. After those purchases, we headed deeper into Syracuse to Calico Gals. I bought some self-threading needles, and some Sue Daley English Paper Piecing paper templates and an EPP pattern.

We then headed north on I-81 to Watertown for yet another JoAnn Fabrics. A couple of folks hit the grocery store across the parking lot for coveted items not available in Canada (dark chocolate M&Ms, etc.). We met up at Applebees for our last meal together and to regain our strength for our last shopping spot, the Old Tattered Flag a few km NNW of Watertown. 

We had been to the previous location at the proprietor's home, but during COVID they moved into what formerly had been Gunn's Country Store and Quilt Shop. 

There, I purchased a little punch needle basket, a pattern, and a skein of Old Tattered Flag floss needed for the pattern. I decided to wait 'til I got home and check my Valdani floss inventory before purchasing any of the other 7 balls of floss that the pattern required.

On the way to the border, we all remembered we forgot to pick up Barb's order at the Old Tattered Flag. Jen1 turned us around and we went back to retrieve it. I also wanted to make sure she would get a refund for the $21 shipping on her $24 order. Back on the road, we made for the border, only 15 minutes away.

We had all taken care to distribute our receipts evenly to keep our total purchases under $580 US ($800CAD) which we were each allowed after being out of Canada for 48 hours. We stopped once more at the duty free shop and then with passports in hand, prepared for crossing back into Canada. There was no lineup at all so Jen1 rolled us all right up to the booth. I guess we all answered the questions correctly and were quickly permitted to re-enter Canada. 

The drive was windy and rainy but Jen1 capably and safely got us all back to my place. Marilyn retrieved her car from my driveway and drove Poppy home and Jen1 took Yvonne to the GO Train for her 2 hour ride to Aldershot where her husband would pick her up for the 1.5h drive back to their home.

With the drizzle we saw rainbows on 3 or 4 occasions. This one was particularly lovely as the sun distinctly brought out all the colours.

It was quite the whirlwind trip but we visited all the stores we had planned on and for the most part we bought everything we wanted and probably lots of stuff we didn't know we wanted until we saw it. 

Our route:

There was one wrinkle in the whole thing, Monday afternoon, Barb texted me that her husband tested positive for COVID that day. Rats! Barb and I were together at our weekly stitching group that morning. Her rapid test at that time was negative. I figured she had dodged a bullet and I had nothing to worry about. As we were on the highway back in Canada yesterday, she texted me that she had just tested positive. My heart sank as Skip and I had plans to go to the 50th Anniversary reunion of the school we had taught at. I tested myself last night - negative, and again tonight - negative. I have no symptoms (Barb did have symptoms starting on Wednesday). I'm going to test myself again tomorrow and again on Sunday morning. If I still test negative and have no symptoms, I will attend the staff brunch at the school and we'll proceed with our Texas holiday plans.

In the meantime, Skip and I have been sleeping and dining in separate rooms and I wear a mask any time I'm in the same room with him.

Tomorrow I need to mail some packages at the post office and then scurry home to make applesauce with the apples we bought last week at the farmer's market. I always leave them sit at room temperature for about a week before processing them. They're so much sweeter that way. I'll also take some pics of my haul and post them.

I was very impressed with the Hobby House Needleworks. The only suggestions I would have is to get better lighting and have more bins and baskets at eye level. All bins and baskets were down low and the lighting was poor to see them. The lighting in the Woolworks was much better. The Needleworks had a very impressive inventory of linen hand-dyed fabrics but Stitcher's Garden in Fayetteville NY (now closed) and Judy's Stitchery Nook in Harlingen TX (closing at the end of this month) had more impressive shop layouts and displays.

That being said, it was a fabulous trip with fabulous people. I'm very lucky to have such a group of like-minded people to do stuff with. 

We already have lots of stitcherly events planned for the next year. After being cooped up for 2 years because of the pandemic - I'm taking almost every opportunity that comes my way.