Saturday’s Splurge!
On Saturday we had tickets to the matinee of Little Shop of Horrors at the Orpheum theater in downtown Minneapolis. Not too far away was a shop I had seen advertised in Spin-Off called Creative Fibers. So, we headed out a little early (which was a *very* good thing as we stayed mostly ahead of some really severe thunderstorms) and visited this shop.
I had chosen two fibers for spinning and was looking at the sock yarns while mom was getting help picking out some economy yarn for a baby blanket. She was done and was checking out and to my surprise dad not only bought mom’s yarn and new circular needles (I’m trying to convert her as I think she’ll have less trouble with dropping stitches if she uses circs and grandma’s eyesight isn’t well enough to pick up her stitches anymore if she drops some, but she knits Scottish with a needle resting on her thigh) but he bought the two fibers I had picked out. Mom accused him of paying me to come visit and he said it was for driving mom around and helping with getting groceries and cooking while I’m home…
Anyway, I picked out this Color Me Woop Top in “Earthy.” There is no indication of the wool type. I suspect it is probably a blend of some sort. It is 8 oz and the colors are right up my alley for fall weather which I know will be on it’s way before I know it, despite the 110+ degree temperatures in Colorado last week.
Then, they had a luscious blend of 70/20/10 Merino/Silk/Angora that I couldn’t resist. I got 4 oz thinking I’ll perhaps make a scarf from it. It feels wonderful against the skin! *drool.* Of course I think I will fall prey to letting it age until I feel I can do it justice though… But, then again perhaps not. I think it might work quite nicely on my new Cascade spindle…
I really wish there was some way to show you how soft this is!
Then, I bought myself some yarn. For more socks, of course…
I love the colors of these. It’ll be a bit more of a departure from my wardrobe, but won’t require me to buy new clothes to wear with it. Despite the difference both balls have matching dye lots. I’m suspecting one was wound in the other direction, so I’m probably going to want to ball these again on my ball winder whenever I’m ready to knit them.
Then, because of the novelty and the fact that this is a luxury yarn and dyed right in St. Paul, I had to buy these…
The colors remind me of the MN river valley in the fall. The fiber is Chineese Camel (and it’s softer as heck). It comes from Silk Road Northwoods in St. Paul. It was $14.00 per 170 yd skein *gulp* but I was really hoping to find something that I could not readily get at home in Colorado and this was just the ticket. 170 yds will be a bit scant for socks, though it is more of a sport weight. But, I think I should be able to still get a 5 inch cuff or so as long as I don’t use a highly textured stitch. It will probably be the perfect time to make my first toe-up socks :-) But this is the ultimate in souvenier yarn purchases :-)
Now that my sister is home, thus ends the fiber shopping. She would not enjoy driving around the countryside going to yarn and spinning shops, LOL! That’s why we squeezed it all into my first week home. That still leaves several shops to check out in the metro on my next visit home.
I’m also very excited to get mom knitting again. It means when she comes and visits (we’re giving her free airfare to CO at the time of her choice for her 50th birthday - ssshhhhhh) she can come to Stitch ‘n Bitch and meet all the people I’m talking about all the time, LOL!
I probably won’t be writing much more this last week since there will be no shopping. Though I should be finishing my first Flatiron Clog sock soon. I ran out of yarn and am about 2/3 of the way to the toe shaping. I’ll want to have a decent start on the second sock before (whether it is a new Socka sock or the mate to Flatiron) I fly home. I hate trying to start a sock on the airplane or in a movie vehicle of any kind.
All you SnB gals, I’m missing you! We really need to get together that first week of August so I don’t go through full withdrawl symptoms :-)
previous post: Friday’s Fiber Goodness… :: next post: 50, 50, 50!
