Friday, September 15, 2006

Back From Vacation ... with More for the Stash!

I'm back.... from a fairly well jam-packed vacation which included the NASCAR Busch & Nextel Cup races in Richmond, the Redskins opening game vs Minnesota in Maryland (complete with a Tomkat sighting!), a venture through the 10,000 square foot Yankee Candle store mini-city in Williamsburg (where I purchased "Frostie's Favorite" coffee which sounds like it will be a most delicious knitting companion this winter - a chocolate, butter rum and hazelnut blend - YUM-O!), a drive up and down and back again, darned one way roads Monument Avenue - a very cool and beautiful street (the old architecture in this area is gorgeous!), and what else....

... visits to not one, but two local yarn shops!!!!

Although I was hoping to find some locally spun or dyed yarns, neither shop I visited carried any, though they did have some other wonderful finds.

My first visit was to Knitting Sisters (don't you love their logo?) in Williamsburg - a great shop (plenty of space, nothing crammed in and loads of delicious yarns and notions) that I wish were closer to home! Even during early afternoon on a Tuesday, there were several shoppers in the store. I was greeted with loads of fall colors and amazing textures (they were pricing some new yarns from fall lines that they were literally just unpacking) ... and despite how busy they were, I was welcomed to the store within moments of entering. Trying to "be good" and maintain control, I picked up only a handful of goodies as seen here...

knitsis

The goods are... 2 hanks of Claudia Hand Painted Yarns from South Africa (100% merino wool, fingering weight) in "just plum" for a pair of socks; 2 balls of Crystal Palace's Kid Merino in "fall herbs" (not sure what for just yet, but I couldn't resist the colorway, perhaps one this lacey scarf); 1 skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "somerset" (not pictured here - I actually goofed and bought only one skein over the summer and have been hunting down a second to make a pair of socks; and my favorite budget crusher splurge, 1 hank of Colinette Tao 100% silk (yes, I said 100% silk!) in "venezia." I'm trying to hunt down an "open-y, skinny" scarf pattern for this since I'm too poor to buy 2 hanks -- if you have any suggestions, please do share!

My second stop was at
Got Yarn in Midlothian. She was actually having a semi-going out of business sale, as of today she will be an online store only (be sure to check it out - she promised below retail pricing now that she would not have retail store overhead). The shop was very small and a bit crammed, but with the 25 - 40% off sale, well worth the visit! My major disappointment was that Tootsie was not present when we visited (yes, I do realize that I may just be the only insane knitter who would show up at a yarn sale and be disappointed that a dog was not there!). Feast your eyes on the small stash I picked up...


gotyarn

The goods from this purchase are... 2 hanks of Classic Elite Inca Marl (100% Alpaca) in color "1195" (mixed blues and grey tones) - not sure what I'll do with it yet but it is SUPER soft and was 40% off; a ball of Berroco Suede in black also 40% off (not pictured - got it in case I needed something to combine with my 100% silk, though I'm leaning towards trying to find a pattern to keep it all silk); 2 hanks of Koigu KPPPM in color "P142" for a pair of socks - I've heard some of my sock knitting friends rave about Koigu and since it is a bit pricey I took the opportunity of getting this at 25% off and throwing it in the quickly growing sock yarn stash; and finally a hank of Lorna's Laces Sheperd worsted (100% superwash wool) in "Tuscany" for 40% off - I feel in love with this gorgeous, deep hues, a "fallish" colorway (even though I typically go for pinks, purples and blues). Here's a close up of it with our leaves that are beginning to change color...

lornas

Not sure what I'm using it for yet, perhaps socks (question for my "sock knittas" out there - is 1 hank of this enough for an adult pair -- I finally got it down that I need approx. 100 grams of fingering weight for adult socks, but of course this is heavier and I'm still a sock newbie, lol)?

I did take photos of the storefronts, but they are on the regular film camera, so those will be for later. I also haven't had time to download the digital pics yet, which include the Tomkat pics. Yes that's right, we spotted Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes at the Redskins game during the pregame warm-ups. They were standing right down in front of us, though we were up in the nosebleed seats so we'll see how the come out...

Time for dinner... and another weekend of racing - the Chase is ON at
NHIS this weekend... til next time, KNIT ON!

2 comments:

Gina House said...

AhHHH!! I'm SO jealous....your newest "stash babies" are so wonderful...each item better than the next. If you ever need a "stash sitter", I'M your gal!

Betty said...

I am using Colinette Tao right now to make the free pattern Dream Swatch scarf/head wrap by Wendy Bernard of http://knitandtonic.typepad.com/

:)

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