In York, ME

We made it to York yesterday. We are staying in the Harbor Crest house, which is part of the York Harbor Inn. The Harbor Crest house is about a half mile up the road from the main inn, so it feels like we are staying in our own house.

On the way down here from Camden, we stopped at a couple of great yarn shops. The first one was Pine Tree Yarns in Damariscotta. The shop is run by a very warm lady, Elaine Eskesen. From the moment I walked in, she made me feel like I was a regular customer there. Elaine sells the normal brands - Noro, Classic Elite, etc - but she also sells yarns that she dyed and yarns that are locally hand spun. During my exploration of her shop, I discovered a couple of books she had written (with patterns that she designed). One of the books, Silk Knits, just recently came out (I think in January). She also has another book, Dyeing to Knit, in which she details her dyeing techniques (and some new ones she up with while writing the book). She goes into a discussion about colors and the color wheel. Of course, I bought both of those books. She was generous enough to autograph them for me!

The second shop we stopped at was Halcyon Yarns in Bath. All I can say is a that this is a fiber artists dream. They have books about spinning, knitting, crocheting, weaving, color theory, animal husbandry. They have an extensive selection of knitting and crocheting notions. They have spinning wheels and spindles (not a huge selection of spindles, spindles none the less). They have needle felting supplies. They have all of the weaving supplies you could need - from looms to shuttles - to coned yarns. They have all of the standard brands of yarn, plus their own yarn and coned yarn. And, last but not least, they have a wide selection of fibers - natural and dyed. If you are a fiber artist and are in Bath, ME, this is a "should not miss" store. If you are not in Bath, ME, they do have a website - http://www.halcyonyarn.com/.

Today, we will be going to Portland Head Light, a few shops in and around Portland, and doing a little more sightseeing and picture taking!