homey

oh, it’s good to be home, where i slept in my own bed last night and woke up to the sounds of birds and leaves rustling, instead of a hushed hotel atmosphere.

i have tons of things to share, starting from where i left you thursday morning, but i have to make it sort-of quick today; the surprise i hinted at in my last post did indeed come home with me and will be needing my attention soon.

but first, let me catch you up on some of the places i’ve been, yarns i’ve drooled over, and knitting that has progressed.

last thursday, lynne drove me to toronto for my gig at the purple purl and we had a little time beforehand to stop in at lettuce knit, another local yarn shop favorite i have long wanted to visit.

this adorable shop is bright and welcoming, with a delectable selection of pretty yarns, bags, and accessories (i missed seeing the beautiful enameled stitch markers at the counter before i checked out, darn it)

laura was in the house to show us around and help along an imminent yarn accident or two . . .

i found a skein of tanis laceweight in a color scheme i don’t have on hand. love. since we were to see laura in a couple of days at TNNA, we made it a short visit this time, but i definitely want to go back.

then it was on to the purple purl, where miko and jennifer were hosting a two-day teaching event. the shop is rich and warm with yarns of all types and colors

a busy coffee and sweets counter, loungy seating and lots of laughing knitters—it’s a real community hotspot

the shop has huge front windows that create a fishbowl effect, making it feel as of you are just an arm’s length from the street activity

i loved the feeling of being privy to the hustle bustle outside while cozily knitting or browsing yarns inside

they have a whole wall of yarns from tanis fiber arts, as well as numerable other brands, on shelves that extend to the ceiling and all around the perimeter.

jen and miko are on hand to help you find just the right temptations, heh.

i set up[ the trunk show in the afternoon so everyone could take breaks form their knitting to examine the pieces and ask questions; it’s always interesting for people to see the piece in person—they have so much more depth and detail than our camera can really show.

even i had some time to knit and worked along on the pink baby blanket. this shop is the best place to get knitting done—a great meetup destination with friends; you should go . . .

i actually got quite a bit done on this piece during the two days i was in toronto and traveling home. so much in fact, that i opted not to take it to TNNA for fear it would be too cumbersome

i’m on the second second; it’s getting noticeably big now, yay. everyone loves the way it feels—the fearless fibers MCN luxury certainly earns it name with yarn fondlers. and the color! i don’t know if i could’ve gotten through this last dreary week of weather without it.

anyway, back to the purple purl—we had an evening lace class and then the next day, a sweater fitness class, which was held in the art gallery next door to the shop

several participants decided to knit a sprössling sweater after seeing mine, which was a tremendous compliment. i think it went swimmingly well and everyone was so nice and so much fun; i hope i can visit again.

i flew out on thursday night and got home around midnight, where i visited with david for a couple of hours before falling into bed. the next morning i got up, rotated some stuff from the big suitcase to an overnight bag, and we took off for columbus and the TNNA trade show. i was so grateful that david came along—he drove and i knitted while we listened to a book. it was sheer heaven.

i brought along plenty of small projects, but decided to cast on for a new one in the car—a second run of the little shawlette i knit in sunshine yarns sunsilk last week.

i wanted to try it out in a larger size to see how much yarn it takes (or at least, that’s what i told myself, haha). i wish i’d had more of the sunsilk—i absolutely adored knitting with it—but since i didn’t, i found some briar rose sea pearl in my stash and decided to go with that.

once i got it on the needles, i pretty much ignored all my other projects all weekend. why?

well, this one is so easy to knit and tote along, i didn’t need the chart at all and it was flying along so quickly that i decided to just keep going. i knit on it during the evenings while we talked, and in the car on the way home and by the time i went to bed last night

i pretty much had a finished shawl. i’ll put the final touches on it in class today and then block it before the next post.

the sea pearl worked a treat in lieu of the original yarn with that beautiful stitch definition and sheen. i used the same needle size as i did for the original sunsilk yarn, and it worked great, but i could also have used a needle one size bigger for a slightly looser fabric.

the color is a knockout—a mysterious gray with watery blushes of other colors throughout. very, very dressy.

so remember i was saying i’d bring home a surprise on sunday?? well i did—and now i think i’ll turn my attention to it

cookie and janel are here! i’m so happy they’re visiting me in between TNNA and knitters connection. we’ve been talking all night and sampling goodies form the garden for meals. i love these guys . . .

and my class is arriving in just a few minutes too, so i need to close now.
i have lots, LOTS more to share, including amazing garden photos, but i’ll have to keep you waiting a little.

.to make up for it, how about some flowers?

not enough? want some more?

i can’t help being proud of our hydrangeas this year—they are stupendous.