We're on a fantastic fiber voyage cooked up by Kristi of the domestic sphere and what fun it's been so far! I'm glad you all have managed to find your way here, despite our group of travellers having broken up for a few weeks there. The bus has completed its Atlantic crossing (from Kerrie's tour in London) and is ready to make a few knitty stops in the Boston area. This should be a two-day tour, so I hope you packed enough!

Setting the scene
Today the bus will be stopping in downtown Boston and Cambridge. I've found some lovely photos out in the web just in case you want to look out the bus window. Most of the links here (like the one above) will take you to photographs taken by Cris Pedregal Martin. You can check out all of his Boston pics directly here if you like.

We'll start our voyage right downtown on the Boston Common, one of the oldest public parks in the country. The Common is beautiful this time of year. We can see Boston's official Christmas tree (donated every year to the city by the lovely folks in Nova Scotia as thanks for Boston's relief effort following the Halifax Explosion in 1917). And a bit further we can see the artists preparing the ice sculptures for Boston's First Night celebration.

We make our way towards the theater district to our first knitty stop of the day: Windsor Button. This place is legendary (and I'm ashamed to admit that I've never actually been inside!). Certainly, if you ever need a button, this is the place to go, but I hear that they also have a good selection of supplies for all kinds of needlework, including knitting. Let's run inside, get warm and take a peek!

Cambridge bound
We should be able to pop into the subway right around the corner. The "T" as we like to call it was the first subway system in North America, dating back to 1897. We're on our way across the Charles River to Cambridge, home to M.I.T., Harvard and some great knit-spots. Let's ride out to Harvard Square first. If you like, you can take a quick tour of Harvard University or visit some shops and then we'll get right down to the the knitty gritty.

Here in the middle of Harvard Square we can visit Woolcott & Co., an absolute must for knitters north of the city. It's quite a small shop but it's chock full o' great stuff. As we go through the door we can look at all the photos of customers and their projects along the wall on our right. On our left is a great collection of books, from Alice Starmore to Elizabeth Zimmerman and anything else you've ever heard of. They have rows and rows of luxury yarns all around to whet your appetite. And as long as you don't have to have any contact with any of the staff, you could really enjoy yourself here. I'll wait out by the bus though!

It's getting late, so we should move along to our last stop for the day. Just a couple miles away in Porter Square, we can visit Mind's Eye Yarns, a wonderful little shop for knitters and spinners. In addition to selling yarn, spinning fibers, spinning wheels and supplies, Lucy also hosts weekly knitting and spinning groups in her homey store. Check out the pictures that Amy (of knitting with bitter-girl) took of the place!

Wow, what a great day! Be sure to come back to catch the bus tomorrow for the second part of our tour: my neck of the woods & beyond.