Back home… about shopping

We’re back home from our pilgrimage to the north (Indianapolis.)  I used to live there, but I still am always shocked by the temperature difference.  We’re in the 50s here, but it in the 20s/low 30s there with some sleet going on in the afternoon.  Growing up here, I always thought our winters were terrible, but now that I have known different winters I think ours are rather nice.

Marc came in 2nd place in the top division of his scrabble tournament (yay!)  Friday night I stayed at our hotel, because I wasn’t feeling well (we stayed at the Wingate by Westin, and it was an excellent value for a very clean, nice hotel.)  Saturday I dropped him off, and armed with my list of yarns I want to look at, I started shopping!

I went to Stitches and Scones first, which as it turned out was my favorite store of the day.  It’s to the north of Indy in Westfield, but it’s really not a bad drive.  They had an excellent mix of fancy yarns and basic yarns, and a really nice sale selection as well.  I was mostly looking for lace weight yarns, and they had the best selection.  I ended up buying some Zephyr wool/silk yarn to make Juno Regina.  Although it may look teal in the photo, it’s actually a darker spruce green.  I love it, and while you can buy zephyr locally I don’t recall this color.  I also got a little purple tape measure with the shop name on it, which I needed because Leon destroyed mine.

After I left the store, I did a little shopping around and went to the second stop.  Knit-stop is located on 82nd street, smack in between two large malls.  They have a lot of very high end yarns, including some I’d never seen before.  They also have a room of sweater yarn, and I was happy to see the entire Drops line for the first time.  I almost bought some silke-tweed, but decided it was too rough for my taste.  I didn’t buy anything here, but I recommend the visit.  They were very friendly, and I’m sure if I still lived in Indy I would visit often!

My final stop was the Massachusetts Avenue Knit shop downtown.  I was looking for Reynolds Whiskey, but they didn’t have the colors I was interested in.  I bought some needles, but nothing else.  I have a hard time shopping for yarn because I’m so slow to make decisions, and this store is pretty large.

Yarn stores can be arranged in so many ways – by brand, by color, by fiber, or by weight.  I personally have a preference for arranging by weight.  Fiber is ok, but I really don’t care for arranging by color or brand, because I find it too hard to find what I want and get overwhelmed.

Once back home (we drove through Bloomington) I was able to order some yarns, since I didn’t find what I wanted while we were out.  I ordered from knitpicks, which I haven’t done in awhile, but I wanted some more of their metal dpns, which I find I am totally in love with.  I bought Shadow, to make the orchid lace gloves below (from knitspot.)  Aren’t they so lovely and delicate?  I’m in a little bit of a lace mood lately.  I’m also going to make Colette from Telemark, because A. It’s really cheap and B. I don’t love the colors that Whiskey comes in.  I’m keeping the red/gray color scheme, but telemark has a nicer red for my coloring.  I also got some undyed gloss yarn to make the stole below, and red swish dk for the scarf, both from the Japanese book I just got.  I had forgotten how cheap knitpicks is!

I find the crochet patterns easier to understand than the Japanese knitting patterns.  This book has a glossary in the back that shows you step by step what each symbol means.  It took all my willpower not to make both of these ivory like the photos, but I don’t wear that much ivory.  The shawl will be lovely in ivory, while the scarf will look great with my many gray coats in red.

Did you see that Webs is selling slightly imperfect Lexie Barnes bags for half price?  I told Marc he is going to be giving me one for Christmas.  I ordered the superstar messenger bag in Baja (pink and black), and I promised to act very surprised in front of his family.  He’s not great at picking out gifts, so this way everyone is happy… some might think it unromantic, but I married him for who he is, not his gift giving ability!

Ah yes… my wips.  Emily is nearing completion, if I can just make myself finish.  I have half a sleeve, seaming, and the neckline to go.  I’m still worried about yarn amounts, but I may just make it!  I basted the other half of the body together to try on, and it fits fine.  The sleeves may be a tiny bit long, so if I have to I can reclaim some of that yarn, but I’m going to try not to.