The city of yarn love...

This weekend, Mark and I traveled to Philadelphia to visit with this friend:



and her parents Matt and Melissa. By the way, the sweater in the photo is this one in action. We had a great time. We had cheesesteaks from Dalessandro's, walked around the city, and visited yarn shops. You see, Melissa is such a fabulous host that she arranged a trip here:



where they had a lot of this:



We also visited a new-ish shop in the area called The Main Skein. Sorry, no photo of that as it was raining pretty hard during our visit and I did not want to take the camera out of the bag. However, I did bring back a souvenir from The Main Skein:



That's Diakeito Diamussee Fine - a yarn I'd never seen before but instantly fell in love with. Does that colorway make you salivate or what? I know it did to me, so I think that this is destined to be a pair of socks in the very near future.

I was also an enabler. I bought Melissa a couple of skeins of Cascade 220 and some bamboo needles, and we had a little knitting lesson late on Saturday night. She's a natural knitter and was having a great time with it. Of course, I did some knitting myself, mostly in the car:



All in all, a relaxing weekend. In May we have a wedding to go to in New Jersey, so Mark and I will be spending a few days with friends there and in NYC. The friend that we are staying with can't get off work one of the days that we will be there (damn the man), though that gives me a day to do stuff on my own. I'm planning to go to the MoMA, since I've not yet seen the new building. Can anyone recommend some good NYC yarn shops (preferably any that are in the general vacinity of the MoMA that have great sock yarns) for me to drop in on while I am there?

Stitch and bitch reminder!

Stitch and bitch. Wednesday, April 19 from 7pm-whenever. The Cafe at Barnes & Noble, Waterworks location. Hope to see you there!

Surprise knit!

Pattern: Anthropologie-inspired Capelet by Julsey at Peony Knits
Yarn: JoAnn's Sensations Dolcetto, just over 2 balls
Mods: Not much. I made mine a little longer than the pattern called for.

Special thanks to amazing and prolific knitter Baigneuse for the inspiration for this one. I'd seen the pattern on Craftster some time ago and liked it, but it wasn't until I found Baigneuse's blog through the Tubey knitalong on Craftster and saw her version knit in Dolcetto that I decided to knit it. I have a ton of Dolcetto that I bought up when my local JoAnn's went out of business. This pattern is super quick and fun to knit. It's also very comfy - I wore it over a shift yesterday for an outing to one of our favorite restaurants, Point Brugge, and a visit to the Frick. Thanks to Julsey for a great pattern!

My Excellent Harlot Adventure

On Friday after work, I met Lori at Starbucks where she surprised me with some wonderful gifts from her recent trip to Portland and San Francisco. She gave me some lovely arts and crafts-style bookplates from the de Young Museum in San Francisco and this:



She knows I covet the Koigu, and there's a shop in Portland called Knit-Purl that has so many pretty colorways in stock. What a wonderful friend!

We left Starbucks and walked to Knit One, which was already jam-packed with people waiting to see the Yarn Harlot. Lori and I found some seats in the front windows and before long, the Harlot herself came out. While we couldn't really see her unless we ducked around and peered through a display, she did not disappoint. She's just as witty and funny in person as she is on her blog, and it is nice to now be able to put a voice with a face.

In addition to seeing Stephanie, I also got to see/meet some local bloggers. I met Yvonne for the first time:



and I saw Jane:



After Stephanie spoke, a line formed for her to sign books. My sock and Lori's newly purchased Cotton Glace surveyed the line (which you really can't see in this photo, but it was mighty long):



But it was late, and my stomach was growling fiercely, so I decided to forego having my book signed, and Lori and I went to dinner, which was excellent. Here's the closest I got to the Harlot, while on the way out the door:



All in all, it was a most excellent diversion for a Friday night, as I am usually asleep by 9pm most Fridays (I know I'm sad). Viva la Harlot!

Happy feet

Because socks can't make you feel fat and lumpy:





Pattern: Kristin's wonderful sock tutorial at www.cometosilver.com
Yarn: Knit Picks Sock Garden in Geranium

Love, love, love(!) these socks. The yarn is so yummy and soft and the colors are so happy. Kristin's tutorial is awesome for beginning sock knitters. I've cast on already for the husband's socks using the same recipe, and I will be working on the first sock of his pair tomorrow, while listening to the Yarn Harlot. Hope to see some of you there!

Oh yes, thank you again to all of you who made very nice comments about Tubey. I am very proud of my knitting job on it, so all is not lost. I feel a huge sense of accomplishment since it's the largest knit that I have so far managed to complete. Maybe I will feel better in it by the time it is cold enough to wear it again :)

It fits, kind of...

Thank you all for your nice comments on Tubey. It does fit, but on me, it's not so flattering:



Pattern: Tubey by Cassie Rovitti
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash Wool in Shane's Red
Mods: I combined two sizes, using the medium for the shrug part and the small for the body. I also knit a few rows of seed stitch for the sleeve cuffs instead of the purl row, because it was still awfully curly with that purl row.

I've gained some weight in the past few months (post-wedding bingeing), and I am now heavier than I've ever been, so I am pretty self-conscious about my body to begin with. This sweater does not really help matters. In short, it makes me feel lumpy and fat. Mark and I have been exercising, and unless I can get back down to my pre-wedding weight again by next fall, I don't really see much, if any, Tubey wearing in my future. I guess that's incentive to lose the weight, if nothing else!