a whole lotta hunka hunka

the hubs and i spent part of our summer holiday at Collingwood's annual Elvis Festival, The biggest tribute artist festival in the world! and what a blast we had! The other part was spent in search of..... yarn! Two of my most favourite things rolled into one. We've only been to the festival once (last year) and we were truly blown away. We are big "E" fans. Well perhaps not big enough to have made it to Graceland (yet), but big all the same. And it ain't all about his gorgeous mug and humble demenour, it's about the music, it's about the love, it's about the gingerbread cookies.....

Our first stop on the rock and roll train was Barrie where we were amazed by the humungeous Knitters Baazar! Mucho thanks to the hubs for googling it up and getting us there before closing time! Jeepers, I musta spent about a katrillion dollars! I found stuff for me ma and me gran and even for the gal i'm secret palling...and yeah, a few things for moi! we worked up quite an appetite and ended up at the Rock and Roll Diner. The art was fenomenal! here are just some of our faves...

This groovy little diner was attached to a mall. Silly moi, I had left my measuring tape at home and talked the hubs into having a peak at the Zellers next door. Who needs a Zellers when there's a Lewiscraf just a few doors down! They were sold out of measuring tape, but they still had loads of yarn. yes! more for the growing stash. and something for sista! shhh...
The next morning I woke up to find that i had been bitten by some evil bug all up my left arm, hand and right ankle, but that wasn't gonna stop us...we headed for Collingwood and the much anticipated Festival where we stumbled on to yet more yarn in a cute little craft store. Here we picked up some sock yarn for the hubs. it's about time he had a decent pair of socks, non? We shall call them The Elvis Socks of Love.

The day was spectacular. We caught a great set from one of our favourite Tribute Artists, David Stewart. He graced first place in the Non-Professional Concert Years catagory last year. Not only can he carry a tune like The King, but he's from Ireland! now, how cool is that!?


and then while enjoying a delicious Gingerbread King Cookie....

i ran into these cool cats, uh, i mean dogs, just by the stage door...

Jumpsuit Molly

Jumpsuit Oswald

unfortunatley we started to get wigged out about the bug bites. As the day progressed the swelling got worse. We kept marking it with a pen to see how it was spreading. and spread it did. we spoke with both a pharmacist and a paramedic, both advised I see a doctor. dang! and so we spent saturday night in Collingwood Hospital's Emergency room where i was told, six hours later, that i was (and still am) allergic to insect bites. really, you don't say?! there was nothing they could do but prescribe some antibiotics (which i never took - yuck!). the swelling went down, the itching subsided...and i was able to finish these babies! not all was lost.

sockettes in Lana Grossa Cotton Fantasy

the next day was spent relaxing at Wasaga Beach, enjoying a few cold ones...
and then back to Collingwood for some dinner and drinks with the King...

and then...the moment we'd all been waiting for...the Grand Finals!!! what a spectacular show! Elvis after Elvis after Elvis...the competitions take place over 3 days, where artists wow the judges in eight categories: Junior Youth; Senior Youth; Non- Professional and the big honcho: Professional. These categories are also broken down in divisions of Early Years and Concert Years. So the night ranges from Big Blazer & Baggy Pants Elvis to Leather Clad Elvis to Karate Jumpsuit Elvis and back again! Heaven on earth, i must say! see more Elvis Fest pics here



and here's the stash...some of it didnt' make it into this pic, i gifted before blogging...c'est la vie...but, ain't it delish.....