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If you have been following me along on my summer vacation-now-yarn-shop-tour, you’ll remember that I had started visiting local yarn shops and mini mills on Prince Edward Island (PEI).
The first attempt didn’t quite go as planned due to an overzealous two year old, but the visit was memorable and the shop fantastic (you can read the story here: https://richtexturescrochet.com/2017/08/06/three-kids-and-a-puppy-part-two/)
You’ll be happy to hear that the next two shop visits fared much better!
One of my favourite communities on PEI is called Belfast – originally because of a Presbyterian Church there called St. John’s Presbyterian Church. I had attended a few services there as a teenager, and we still like to visit when in PEI on holidays. The church is energetic and welcoming.
But after browsing through the Fibre Trail brochure, I discovered that Belfast also has TWO Mini Mills/yarn shops!! Even though I didn’t need the extra excuse to visit, I was not going to turn this one away!!
So we tucked the kids into the car and headed to Belfast, this time scheduling the shop visits in between a beach visit and a historical village. The kids would have a picnic lunch with my husband while I feasted on some of the most beautiful yarns I have ever beheld.
The first shop visit was to the Belfast Mini Mills which has a mill store and textile processing mill. While I didn’t get the chance to, they do offer tours of the mill.
But for me, I could have spent all day in the store! So much yarn!
All different fibres and colours, weights and Textures. Everything from super bulky roving yarns to fine silk yarns. Yarns spun from camel hair and even dog hair! I loved that each yarn had a story as you can see from the photo below.
They carried some unique handmade gifts, as well as some hooks and notions. I loved the Thrum mittens (yes they are knit, not Crochet!) – they are super soft, and probably the warmest knit mitten you will ever come across.
Before leaving, I couldn’t resist scooping up some of the Island Collection Yarn – a light worsted weight yarn that I am expecting with make a gorgeous island shawl.
From there we headed over to our next stop, a little shop and mill called Fleece & Harmony. When I first entered the shop, a conversation table and comfortable immediately caught my eye in the centre of the room. With patterns and magazine spread over the table top, it was so inviting! A coffee, a Crochet hook, some of their beautiful yarn (I’ll talk about in a second) and I would have been set for hours.
At the back of the room was a neat window into the mill, you could watch everything going on. The walls were lined with shelves holding a beautiful array of colors and fibres.
The photo above was my favourite wall – it just reminded me so much of the island. I selected some of the hand dyed wool from the lower left hand corner. The colours reminded me of my favourite beach on the Island. I discovered that the wool was specifically dyed to showcase a local artist’s artwork.
(Photo above) See what I mean about the beach? The yarn matches it perfectly!
So if you ever find yourself on Prince Edward Island and are following along the Fibre Trail, be sure to visit Belfast, you won’t be disappointed!
Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have the chance to visit any more of the PEI shops (a great reason to go back!!), but stay tuned! On our way back home through Nova Scotia, I found a couple of hidden gems there too!
