65. Outside Window Dressing

Off for a jaunt around Granville Island, stopping at Maiwa to look at gorgeous hand painted fabric: 

The art of handweaving in Bengal is ancient. Cotton fabrics were exported to Roman and Chinese empires and Ptolemy mentions the region in his writings. The hot, humid climate of the Ganges delta inspired artisans to produce the most diaphanous fabrics possible. These would be worn in layers and were capable of catching even the slightest breeze.  

Maiwa also has a shop full of hand dyed wools, books on wool and fabric dyes.  We spent a fair bit of time going through the books, looking at the items that could be knit from these amazing wools.

From there we walked through the Granville Island Market, taking in the sites of food and more crafts, people eating, children crying, and as we left there, seagulls screaming for crumbs of food. 

Then, on to visit BC Potters Guild and Crafthouse. BC Potters Guild, having a background in pottery it is one of my “go to” stores, I can’t resist.. A small heart shaped bowl, seemed over priced and I asked the clerk if this was a pricing error, she indicated no, the potters price the items themselves. 
For such a plain item, the amount seemed out of sync with the rest of the pottery. Maybe I was comparing it to the prices I charged, which are now outdated.  

Leaving there, we went to Crafthouse which is a shop/gallery that sells fine crafts, and as we hadn't been in there for a while we were intrigued by the Japanese style purses and bags, bejewelled mirrors and unusual pottery that reminded one of things that live in the ocean!  

As my friend had an item to pick up at Just in Stitches, we decided to visit Ten Thousand Villages afterward, which has items crafted in third world countries, such as pottery that was well priced and my friend bought a jar of organic decaf coffee.  

Before leaving, I took a few photos of Granville Island and the Ten Thousand Villages window with the ivy crawling up and around it.  This turned out to be my Photo of the Day. And the end of our journey to Granville Island.