The Loop & Leaf - Fine Yarns and Tea

Traveling thru Santa Barbara this past summer, I was able to take some time to explore yarn shops and found this gem in the downtown area.  Owner Celeste Varner has created a warm and inviting space to shop, chat and knit.  

The Loop and Leaf is located at 536 Brinkerhoff Ave., Santa Barbara. and the number there is 805-845-4696 in case you want to call for hours.  

The yarn shop is located in a wonderfully established neighborhood, in this sweet little house.  You can't miss it because of the knit wrapped tree in the front which gives it away.

I found all the ladies inside to be friendly and curious, and owner Celeste really knows her yarns and pattern books.  

And I really liked the comfortable knitting space for hanging out.  But what really caught my eye were the samples spread out throughout the place, like the felted bird below.  I liked the bird so much that I actually bought the book that the sample was made from.  It would make a fun new assignment.  

Another inspiration were the free form knitted hanging sculptures about the place like these two.  Done with the local driftwood and shells that wash up along the sand, I felt this too would be a terrific project for my 3rd year 3-d kids.  I found out that these works were created by Celeste's mother.  

So this shop along with Colors in Claremont are my two new favorite knit places to visit.

Danielle's First Road Trip

One of my fondest memories growing up was when my Aunt Elena trusted me enough at age 15 1/2 with only a learners permit, to drive her up the California coast from La Mirada all the way thru Big Sur to the Monterrey Peninsula and Pacific Grove. I really wanted that same wonderful experience for my daughter, Dani, who just got her permit, so over the Easter Break with our destination being Santa Barbara, she drove me up the coast in her very 1st car, a Jeep Liberty. Check out the mustard greens above, growing along the coast, gorgeous

Our first stop was in Camerillo at the outlet malls, of course :) to do some serious shopping (above), and then I told her about the cute beach town of Capenteria, so we stopped there as well and checked out the local shops and community art gallery. It's such a charming town with great little cottages everywhere (below).

Below is the Santa Barbara coastline looking towards Ventura.

After we checked into our hotel we had time for a walk along the beach. Unfortunately, some of their beaches are covered with oil lines. That's Dan below sitting on one.

Our hotel, The West Beach Inn (below) was directly across the street from the beach. It was clean and recently remodeled, and had a yummy continental breakfast. I would definitely recommend it.

Santa Barbara has a large homeless population and many of them hang around the pier and look for handouts. Below is a clever solution that many of them have come up with, to spread a blanket on the sand right under the pier and offer opportunities for various coin tosses (see below) like at carnivals and fairs.

My favorite homeless solution was this amazing sculpted mermaid. But I didn't have my purse with me and couldn't give the man any money, so he still grudgingly allowed me to take a picture of it.

The only bummer (besides me getting us turned around and a little bit lost, hee hee) was the last hour coming home. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour on the 10 Freeway. Other than that we had a blast! For EXTRA CREDIT: on a piece of paper with your name and period on it, tell me about your favorite road trip destination. If you've never been on one, tell me where you've always wanted to drive too.

Santa Barbara Coastline

This last weekend I traveled up to Santa Barbara, Ojai and Santa Maria in search of fiber and crafts stores, but made the mistake of thinking they would all be open on Sunday (Saturday no problem) Lesson learned, should have called first. Oh well, found several that made the trip worth while. :) Betty's Yarns in Santa Maria on Broadway and Battles as well as a wonderful quilt store in Old Town Orcutt, think it was called the Old Town Quilt Store on Clark St. In Ojai, so many wonderful shops on their main drag in the Arcade area. Primavera being a favorite, as well as Artful Living and Human Arts. Did I buy anything? Of course :) But the best part of the trip was the gorgeous weather on Sunday coming home and the fabulous views of the coast.

Extra Credit for my Beginning 2-d class only: on a blue piece of paper cut into the shape of a teardrop, write down your greatest fear involving the new drawing unit we are starting.