spoooooky stashing

Scary how yarn just ends up in your stash, isn't it?? :) (Ok so that's a little bit of a stretch, but it's Halloween!) 

While we were away in Kentucky, I kept my eyes peeled for local yarn stores to visit. I was not disappointed! ReBelle in Lexington was a cute house jam packed with yarn in each of its little rooms. I would have loved to move in there and knit all the things. They also had a great selection of mugs, notions, and other fun items as well as many inspiration pieces knitted up to showcase the yarns. I purchased the yarn below, malabrigo arroyo in 'pleiades', for a hat I will be making to have one of my very own of something I saw knitted up in the store. A great way to get people to buy yarn, no? I'm also going to note here (so I don't forget the yarn) that they had a luxurious selection of Cascade Eco Plus wool that was SO SOFT. I didn't get any, but I sure wanted to. I did get a really squishy skein of lavender Cascade alpaca though. Couldn't put it down. 

The second place we found was in a cute little downtown on Main Street in LaGrange. Friends and Fiber is more of a typical storefront, also jam packed with a great selection of yarn. The thing I liked the best about this place was the gaggle of people in there knitting together. The shopkeeper let us know that there was a big group in there most days - it seemed like a great community. There were yarns I hadn't ever seen before in this shop, and a sale rack with epic markdowns. Those fuchsia skeins there were half off, alpaca, and sparkly - how could I not? And the variegated skein came off a stack of just fantastically vibrant sock yarns that were hand dyed in Turkey. I am going to have an epic pair of socks from that one. Last but not least, the pompom will be destined for the aforementioned hat. Navy poof on navy speckled fabric? Yes please.

I'm really happy to have found a couple of local yarn shops to frequent on our trips back to visit Dave's folks! I prefer to go to get yarn in person to shopping online. Not only does it make it easier to choose yarns since I like to feel textures and see colors in person, but it keeps alive the type of shop, craft, and creative community that I think every town needs. Three Bags Full is where I will go back to when I visit my folks, Uncommon Threads and Fengari are my local haunts here in California, and I always keep my eyes open whenever we travel to get a special fiber memento of the trip when I can. 

So, while it's "scary" that my stash is growing again... I'm supporting local shops and I'm certain I'm up to the challenge!