my Irish love, Cork: knit life

Happy Tuesday! How are you doing? Are you taking time to check-in with yourself and give yourself the care, love, and attention you need? If not, it’s perfectly okay to set aside time for yourself to do whatever you want/need to do during ‘me time.’ Maybe your thing is yoga, meditation, running, paddle boarding, reading, tending to a pallet garden you built, sewing some pillowcases for your home decor, making a dress to match your homemade mask, paddle boarding, refurbishing furniture, or even playing animal crossing with family and friends, but whatever you want to do during your assigned ‘me time,’ make sure you’re doing it and giving yourself a break.

If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “my Irish love, Cork: hot chocolate” - you can click here to read about one of my favorite café experiences in the entire world! Otherwise, if you’re all caught up, buckle up or strap on in and let’s continue this journey together! We’re continuing our time in Cork, but this time, we’re heading to Vibes and Scribes!

What is Vibes and Scribes, you ask? Well, it is the cutest little arts and crafts store in Cork with a basement full of vibrant skeins, balls, and hanks of yarn! The first time I visited Vibes and Scribes was with one of my best friends from college when he came to visit over Thanksgiving. I gasped when we walked downstairs and our senses were inundated with color! I got a couple skeins of yarn that day in a very pretty blue color, but I did not get myself the beautiful orange creamsicle-like yarn I drooled over. This, dear reader, was a mistake. Upon subsequent returns to Vibes and Scribes (read: every time I visited Cork), I was unable to get that beautiful orange because I couldn’t find it ever again after that first visit. Trust me, I kick myself to this day about it!

Walking into Vibes and Scribes was like walking into a local arts and crafts store in your own hometown. The store felt instantly familiar with warm, friendly Irish greetings. The first floor included all types of craft supplies from painting to wood-carving, as well as all sorts of fabrics, feathers, and wooden block stencils. You felt adjacently creative by simply walking in the door. Walking down to the lower level, however, was, for me, like walking into the knit and crochet version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Floor-to-ceiling supplies of colorful yarn, projects on display, and books on various topics related to yarn lined every wall, inviting both novice and expert knitters alike to go ahead and treat themselves. It is a place I think about often, especially given I have a large basket of yarn sitting next to me as I type this blog post. I may not have ever found that beautiful orange yarn I so desperately wanted, but I have such a beautiful, picturesque memory of a store I loved so much - a memory full of beautiful colors, friendly faces, and gasps of delight.

Have you ever encountered a place that felt familiar to you even if you hadn’t been there before? Let me know! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been receiving a lot of really incredible stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe! Other people’s stories that I’ve gotten to read via e-mail, text, tweet, DM, etc. recently bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about whatever stories you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey together! Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have any restaurants/eateries/pubs/coffee shops/ice cream joints/theatres/lookout spots you would recommend in other countries or even in your current home town or city, I'm absolutely 100% all ears!! I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.

Sincerely,

Johny

P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of travel adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):