In this latest installment of "what I did on my Mom's summer vacation" I bring you yarn. In addition to visiting a trail of fabric shops, we also ended up at some yarn shops. And really, who goes into a yarn shop and doesn't come out with a little something? I have yet to figure out that skill!
These first skeins technically weren't purchased while Mom was here, but I did get them at a place we visited our first day, Fengari in Half Moon bay. I happened upon Fengari recently while visiting HMB Main Street with Dave, and I am so glad I did. Once inside one wanders through a jumble of colorful yarns piled high and low, in corners and on shelves. The lovelies below are Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK. The color, alizarin, is a wonderful pinky purple with streaks of orange and blueish purple mixed in. I think it's going to look great as a Kir Royale.
On our jaunt over to 'Joann's across the Bay' Mom and I enjoyed walking through their large yarn section. Again, the local store just doesn't have much but this one has more colors and more yarn types. There was a range of Lion Brand yarns including a variety of their beautifully colored fisherman's wool. I was actually really happy to see that many brands are coming out with some high quality acrylic yarns. I love my Madtosh, but wool sometimes gets to me. The yarn below is Red Heart Unforgettable, one of their boutique acrylic yarns, and it is as soft as it looks! All of the color combinations they had were gorgeous, though variegated. It would be nice to see some solids one day. I'm not sure what I'll do with this yarn, but Mom got both me and her a couple skeins to experiment with.
No trip would be complete without a stop into Nine Rubies in San Mateo. We had fun walking around and looking at all the samples they had knit up and enjoying the orderly shelves of yarn. I'm going to figure out how to make it to a knit night there someday, though that might be hard on my wallet. I can't walk in there without coming out with something. Case in point: the top cake, Tosh Merino Light in Calligraphy, is a wonderful mix of blush, dove gray, and cream. I have decided I'm going to learn to make socks with it. The other two are Tosh DK in Terra and Whiskey Barrel. I've already started knitting them into a Hediye. Mom helped me pick out the colors. I had the brown in my hand and she suggested I branch out into colors I don't usually use (I was looking at greens and purples). The orange is going to make this a great Fall piece.
After picking up all of that yarn you'd hardly think I needed any more. But the King's Mountain Art Fair was this past weekend and of course we took Mom up the mountain to enjoy it. There's a great mixture of artisans at this event: jewelry, paintings, pottery, clothing, even a haberdashery! In addition to the booths with already-made items, there were a couple of folks who had yarn, much to my delight. I wasn't going to pick any up, but Dave actually mentioned how pretty the variegated skein was and asked if I wanted some. How could I refuse!? We picked out the second to go with it so I can make a larger piece with both of them. They are a merino/nylon blend and feel soft and springy to the touch. Can't wait to wind these up and work with them. I'll probably try a triangle wrap with stripes!
All together this is quite the stash infusion. I've been really good at using yarn from my stash for projects this past year so I do feel like I had some room for these. It also helps that I've tried sticking to picking out a project, or at least a type of project, when I get the yarn rather than just buying willy nilly. That said, keep an eye out for these to start turning into projects soon!
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