My trip with Sparkly Baubles was a wonderful success. We tried to go to the new yarn store opening in Rochester, MN. Major bummer!!!  It does not open until next week. It is called Hank and Purls Creative Nook and Knittery.  It looks like it will be a great place for classes and to hang out and knit.  I hope we can make another day trip down there to check it out.  We then moved on to Stillwater, MN.  Where we went to Darn. Knit. {Anyway} Yarn store.  It was a nice little shop with lots of different yarn.  I was on a hunt for some sock weight and saw lots I really liked but did not find one the just jumped off the shelf and screamed PICK ME.  We had lunch at a little pub called Mad Capper Saloon and Eatery.  It had some great atmosphere. There was a bar with MN sports memorabilia, there were also hats or I guess you would call them "caps" all around.  My favorite was the little red Fez. There were other assorted items hanging from the ceiling, a boat, a bike, skis, all of these things sort of fit in the "sports bar" theme; what really intrigued  me was the wooden gnome sitting on a swing.  OK, this one we had to ask the waitress about!  My guess was someone brought it in and said "I have the perfect thing for the bar!"  The waitress told us one of the regulars, (you know, like Norm) came in with it one day and said "You have to put this up!"  Haaa I guessed it.

We left the quaint little town of Stillwater and headed over to Mahtomedi, MN. There we went to Lila and Claudine's Yarn and Gifts. It was the only place I took a photo cuz my phone was going dead and I forgot the rest of the day, OOPS.  This is a photo of the HUGE ball of yarn and knitting needles they have outside of the store.  They have just expanded and opened the upstairs of the shop as well. There were lots and lots of cool gadgets, wall hangings, bags, and of course two floors of yarn.  I found some great sparkly yarn in the "Bling Room" I can use in my holiday fibre scarves.  It was a little bit of a struggle to keep Sparkly Baubles on task in this place! She was distracted every time she turned around.  A few hours later we hit the road for home.  I got a little crocheting done in the car before it got too dark to see.