New Kids in Town

Today's post is dedicated to some new arrivals. First, and most importantly, there's a new pug on the block. Some friends of my parents had been long awaiting offspring of Loki and Freyja, my parents' pug. But, when we found out Loki had fertility issues (technique and physiology both, sadly), they started to look elsewhere. Enter Guinness. She just came home last week, and we went to visit. This is also the first foray with my new digital camera, so bear with me.



And then, the yarn haul that has made my house it's home. About halfway through interviewing for residency, it occurred to me that the weary traveler might be made less weary by incorporating local yarn stores as a way to focus my tourist exploits in each stop. It would also be a nice benchmark for comparison of each location, were there not fabulous findings in every locale.

The pinky yellowy greeny woolly stuff is from Busy Hands in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the last stop on my tour. The wool is three skeins of Malabrigo in the Melilla colorway. It's beautiful and oh-so-soft. My only concern is that the strands appear to have felted together very, very slightly during the dying process. I don't think this will be a problem though. I will wax no further on the lusciousness of Malabrigo, as Alison has taken care of that lately. It goes nicely with my coat, and I'm not wearing hand-knit accessories right now (scandalous), so I think I'm going to use it to make My So Called Scarf, and a hat a mittens with the same stitch pattern, probably using Gifted as a guide for the mittens. I would like to knit the hat in the round, so I'll have to figure out how to alter the stitch pattern to do the same thing from one side. Otherwise, I'll have to knit flat and seam it.

In regards to Busy Hands...they had a lot of yarns I haven't seen in person before, which is what I like about visiting different LYS's. I chose this as my Ann Arbor yarn stop because it was easy to get to...right on Main Street in a little hall mall of boutiques of various sorts. If you google them you'll find lots of reviews. My impression is that they have lots of novelty yarn in about every shade, and then some very nice wools. They have a great selection of Lopi, for example. I found the woman there to be very helpful. I know she has a once-a-week class night where you pay a little bit and then just bring whatever project you're working on and get whatever help you need. I personally like this format. And she limits the class size so you'll get the attention you need. Flying Sheep was recommended to me as the LYS several times, but being on foot/bus in the middle of a blizzard kept me from seeking this one out.







The other skein is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Mountain Tango. It is 60% Superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon...100% gorgeous. The colors are what got me. It is 350 yards of sport to fingering weight yarn. I am considering either Branching Out, a feather and fan scarf, or fingerless mittens...maybe the ones from Holiday Knits. Any thoughts?

This skein was from Black Sheep in Salt Lake City. A very nice store. They have a wide selection of yarn and patterns. Their yarn selection spans the whole spectrum from lace to bulky. Almost all natural fibers; I don't remember them having much in the novelty department. They also have a lot of nice needles and accessories. I saw a lot of really beautiful yarn here; it was very hard to decide on something. They have all of the standards, plus some remarkable luxury yarn...cashmere, qiviut, etc. Also, as it's on 4th and S. Temple, it's very walkable from downtown. Everyone there was also extremely friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I've heard that Soul Spun in Salt Lake is also awesome, but once again, not as walkable.

I can't wait to knit up both of these yarns. Stay tuned for my Worcester MA haul as well. Let's hope Mrs. O has brought her Little House on the Prairie DVDs home for Christmas...we've got knitting to do!