What To Do in Bellevue at Vogue Knitting Live

Hello:

You might have heard that Vogue Knitting Live is coming to Bellevue, WA, my home town.  You might have heard this from ME, as I am very proud and excited that we are hosting the first Vogue Knitting Live in the Pacific Northwest.

You might be thinking, "f1bercat, I know a bit about Seattle, but nothing about Bellevue".

You might be asking, "f1bercat, when I am at Vogue Knitting Live, where will I eat?"

You might be wondering, "f1bercat, what is there to do in Bellevue?"

Well,  think, ask, and wonder no more.  Over the next few days, I hope to give visitors to Bellevue some ideas of what my lovely little city has to offer.

First off, Geography.  Know that Seattle sits between 2 great bodies of water, Puget Sound on the West, and Lake Washington on the East.

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If you continue going east, over one of the 2 floating bridges (the 90 or the 520) to the east side (get it?  EASTSIDE?) of Lake Washington, you will be in Bellevue.

Right away, I have some advice.  First of all, if you are flying in to our airport, Seatac, you will not be crossing one of the bridges, you will be driving around the southern part of Lake Washington on the 405 Freeway.  This freeway will take you right through the edge of downtown Bellevue.  But, if you do plan to cross Lake Washington while you are here, take the southern floating bridge, the 90.  It is bigger, has an alternating car pool or high occupancy lane, and is free.  The 520 Bridge is in the process of being ...  remodeled... so there is currently a toll for crossing it.

Vogue Knitting Live is taking place at 2 locations in downtown Bellevue, the Hyatt Regency Hotel,

 and the Meydenbauer Convention Center.

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These 2 places are less than a mile apart, and the city is relatively flat there.  Believe me, you don't want to be walking a mile on my side of the city (the Eastside) where the hills are quite steep.   The Hyatt is on the corner of NE 8th Street.  This is right across the street from 2 shopping areas called The Bellevue Collection.  The big one on the west side of NE 8th St. is Bellevue Square, and the smaller one on the east side of NE 8th St. is Lincoln Square.  There is a movie theater, stores, and lots of places to eat, as well as a bowling alley.

If you were sad that you won't have time to get to Seattle to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum at the Seattle Center, stop by Lincoln Square, at the Bellevue Collection and see the beautiful Chihuly instillation in the lobby.

 The Hyatt is linked to Lincoln Square by an aerial walkway,

And Lincoln Square and Bell Square (as we locals call it) are also linked by an aerial walkway.

The parking at the Meydenbauer is not cheap.  On weekends you can often park right across the street at the Bellevue City Hall for free.  But, the parking at Bell Square is free.  So, that is one place you might park.  Lincoln Square sometimes charges for parking, so I would try Bell Square first.

Right behind the Meydenbauyer is The Bravern.  This building has Microsoft Offices ( it is not the ginormous Microsoft Campus) as well as a really nice steak restaurant (a bit expensive), and other shops. They offer complimentary 6 hour parking with validation at one of the restaurants or shops; no purchase is required.

There is little to no street parking in Bellevue.  Be warned.  There are some spots at Downtown Park.

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That would be about a 1.5 mile walk to the Meydenbauer Convention Center.  One good thing about parking at Downtown Park is that there are some great shops and restaurants on Old Main right next to the park, and, if you parked there, you would not have to walk far to get to your car.

In between the Meydenbauer and Old Main is Quiltworks Northwest and Beads and Beyond.


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This is my favorite place to shop for beads for my knitting.  It is a quick 1/2 mile walk from the Meydenbauer, and a nice place to stop on your way to Old Main Street.

They have tons and tons of beautiful beads.

they have charms,

they have buttons,

they have glass and porcelain buttons from the Czech Republic.  They also have fabric.  After all, it is QUILTworks Northwest.

When I stopped by last week to take some photographs for this post, they gave me a link for a coupon for Vogue Knitting Live Participants.  Let's hope I am able to put the link up correctly, but you can print it out and bring it in for 15% off of their regularly priced merchandise.  You will be tempted.  Believe me.

Tomorrow I will write more about Old Main Street, and the shops and restaurants you can find there.

One little piece of shameless self-promotion.  If you want a great souvenir of your trip, and especially if you plan to actually go into Seattle and visit the famous Pike Place Market,  you might want to pick up my picture book, Salt and Pepper at the Pike Place Market.

If you see me at Vogue Knitting Live (I will be there every day volunteering and knitting with my Eastside Stitchers Buddies), I would be happy to autograph it for you.  You can get the book from Amazon or at the Market in the bookstore on the 2nd level.

I might be working on the next round for Sock Madness (if it is posted by then), or on the new socks for my husband, Doc, that I am currently designing. I hope to call them, Braveheart Socks.  More on these later.

That's it for now.  Hope to see you next weekend.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with Vogue Knitting Live in my own backyard