Nosy Parker

Yarn Crawling

Last week it was that time of year again when knitters pile in cars and zip from yarn store to yarn store in the greater LA Area.   The knitters & I piled in the car Saturday and Sunday and had a very enjoyable weekend.

Alamitos Bay Yarn Company: Gorgeous yarns as usual.  I regretted not getting some yarn last year (or was it two?) and now it is mine at last. In a fun twist, another friend got two skeins of the same color at a different store.  It is the season of "Starry Night" inspired scarves, I see.

Malabrigo Mechita in "Ninfas"

The Dizzy Blonde selections this year were both fantastic (a red / black and a grey / black) and their yarn is lovely but I had to pass it up in favor of some natural colored alapaca I have been seeking.  This will be the contrast color for a double-knit scarf. The main color is a red/chestnut (also alpaca).

Yarn & Soul Superfine Sport "Taupe"

At Concepts in Yarn I scored 1500yd laceweight of a favorite brand on clearance for $5. I love that store - it is homey to me in that it is crammed full of wierd old yarns and patterns.   I may have to go someday just to hang out.  The ladies seem nice and they always have cookies on crawl day.  As for the yarn, it is enough yardage for an Evenstar.  There is a possibility I can overdye it as a gradient but then you know I love gray in its natural state as well.   

Lana borgosesia Cashwool

We also got a tip for a discount on lunch at a nice place next door. It was delicious and nutritious.  It is always a good time for scrambled eggs with spinach bacon and roasted potatoes. 

Had a little yarn accident at Twist - I got the blues. The blue yarns, that is. Airy triangular shawl coming to a knitting bag near me.  I love the bright blues of the merino yarn and we conferred with pretty much everyone in the store about the navy blue yarn (seen in the corner) and how well it would coordinate.  Gray would look nice too but I wanted a bright and not muted / saddened effect.  Possible plans include holding both yarns together consistently or intermittently or having solid and fluffy sections alternate. 

Manos del Uruguay Marina "Calypso"
Twist Mist navy blue

Went to The Knitting Tree for the first time and it definitely will need a revisit or three. Great vibe, beautiful yarn, wierd location but that was forgotten the moment I stepped inside. They had a designer there with patterns and samples and fell in love with her light pullover design C'est la Vie.  Of course I did not buy the yarn for that over the weekend but it is in my library.  

Day 2 (Sunday) was a day for inland yarnseeing.  Right out of the blocks I saw this at Phebie's and refused to leave without it.  They also had the fancy sheep patterned emery board I have been looking for and a few skeins of that discontinued cotton yarn I love.  Mental note: go back and snatch it up soon. No idea what project this will become but there are some lovely stoles in my Ravelry library.  I have admired Boxleaf Wrap for a long time and this is a nice muted colorway.

Fyberspates Gleem "Verdegris"

On we went and visited Make 1 Yarn Co, The Purlside (under new managment), Needles Hooks and Yarn (a bit strange but I found 1 mm crochet hook and yarn "tasted" some neat yarn with sequins), A Stitch in Time and finally, Abuelita's. A very nice woman was out front with a little "trunk show" of her yarns and patterns. I don't normally like inclusions in yarn but this blend seemed to have just the right balance of interest and subtlety.  Clearly it was blue faced leicester yarn day, as the skein above is also blended with that breed.

Cuppa Yarn Tweety "Killarney"

The inside of the shop was also nice and I was tempted by some locally made soap.  I settled for a brief chat with the staff and a half a biscuit.  That was the end of the road unless we wanted to continue to downtown LA.  A quick conference and we decided to call it a wrap.

I think I have enough yarn to keep me busy until Yarn Crawl 2017!

Home Improvement

I had a little extra money after working all the overtime in the world last month and chose to spend it on upgrading Beaker's home.  He went from this...

...which was cozy and he loved, but was frankly a tight fit.

To this!

It was the right price, an awesome color, gently used but pretty much all the parts are there.  I need to get a pin for the main door and one food door is wired shut due to a missing latch.  He has about triple the room and I can upgrade the nesting cockatiels into his old cage.  

Tomorrow I buy some more toys, perches & food dishes and then he will be in his new home tweet home.