A LYS find

What to do when the project you're working on is finished and you are away from your yarn stash and wips? Buy yarn, of course! Some internet surfing found me several local yarn stores in Louisville. We ended up going to Sofie's Fine Yarn Shoppe which was just around the corner from Dave's parents. 

The ladies in the store were super friendly, and there was a nice selection of yarns with lots of example projects knitted up to ooh and aah at. (Which we did pretty much at every piece.) To be honest, I got asked if I was finding everything all right a few too many times for this Yankee's taste, but better that than walking into a place where everyone is stone faced and intimidating, right? I do like to take my time and ruminate over my yarns, though. I finally settled on a couple of squishy skeins of Mini Mochi yarn in "Fandango" which has plenty of fuchsia, lavender, and gray blended together in a variegated yarn with slooooow color changes.   

When we all got back to the house that evening (after consuming some scrumptious barbecue for lunch) I cast on a Wingspan. Another garter stitch project! I saw this described on Ravelry as "potato chip knitting" and it certainly is. I think I may have overdone it because my hand has been a little on the stiff side lately... must knit in moderation! I'm taking advantage of these types of simple projects to work on my speed, but that might be a mistake with smaller needles and fingering weight yarn. 

Speaking of needles, those little green guys were also purchased at Sofie's. They are Knitter's Pride Dreamz and I love them. The cable is really flexible, the joins are smooth, and the needles get nice and supple as I knit with them. The wood started out a little rough from the package and grabbed the yarn a bit too much for my liking, but I soldiered through and now they are smooth and wonderful to knit with. Because, just the same as not having any yarn available, one must buy needles if you've got only one set of the incorrect size packed! Ah, travel knitting.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced