Update Monday!…errrr Tuesday!

This has been a pretty productive week! I moved to my new apartment, I did one load of much needed laundry, read, visited several yarn stores, and even worked on some knitting!

So, let’s start at the very beginning…

Sampler Shawl
Things are still very tense between the Sampler Shawl and me (no pictures because the Sampler Shawl does not deserve pictures). I made a mistake and when I tried to fix it, I dropped a stitch and created a multiple level mistake. I have a feeling though, that after this issue is resolved, we will start getting along. Now that I realize that I need to pay more attention to the Sampler Shawl and I need to be wide-awake to work on him, I think our relationship can only grow in a more positive direction. I have also decided to rename him the Twizzler Shawl, because the color reminds my coworker of Twizzlers. I think this will also make the shawl happy. I live to serve, right?

BTW, I did buy yarn for lifelines, but I can’t use the lifelines until I fix my current mistakes.

Other Knitting Projects
I worked on the Feather and Fan Scarf and one of my dishcloths this weekend and made some much needed progress. It was refreshing to see that I can knit without making a thousand mistakes. I also feel really cool being able to knit the feather and fan scarf without a pattern in hand. I am so psyched to block this scarf. I love the fact that I can make a beautiful and whispy scarf with just one hank of yarn! I have it in my head that I need to have several balls of yarn to make anything, but as you can see from this scarf, one isn't the lonliest number, it can make a beautiful object!

I finished the knecklace. I am not completely happy with it, but it is growing on me, especially since my Mom sent me this picture. It is from a Les Miserables remake set in WWII. It is a knitted necklace! I can’t get over which is cooler, a knit necklace in a movie or my Mom sending me pictures of knitted necklaces!

No, I haven’t finished the tortoise, the socks, and any other number of projects I have mentioned however briefly on this blog. One of these days, I promise I will finish these objects. Maybe I should set a goal of the end of the summer, hmmm….

Yarn Crawl
E and I took a little trip to Boston this past Saturday to find yarn. Mind’s Eye Yarns was having a 25% off sale and we couldn’t resist. Mind’s Eye Yarns is a tiny store, but is quite lovely. The owner is very sweet and sells her own hand dyed yarn. She also has a good selection of roving, if you are a spinner. When I wasn’t getting blogged (not a bad picture if I do say so myself…shiny but not excessively...I am in picture #3 in the front), I picked up some Noro Kureyon (because I finally broke down) and some Crystal Palace Whisper (because it looks like fire!).

After Mind’s Eye Yarns, we hopped on over to Woolcott & Co. It was a decent sized store with a huge selection of XXL Trekking. The store also had size 000 circular needles! I can’t remember the length though. I didn’t get the warm and fuzzies there. The employees were doing their own thing and I was looking at the yarn. Trying to make a connection with one’s customers is a trait I really look for in any type of store. There are very few things that I need to buy from any one particular store, so I feel I am allowed to be picky and look for places with excellent customer service. I did pick up some dpns in size 4 that I “need” to fix my socks there though (I figured I wouldn’t remember again). I decided that I am going to frog Sock and start anew. The ribbing needs to be in size 4 and then I will go down a size for the rest of him.

Next on the Crawl was Windsor Button. Even though I rarely get the question, “Do you need any help?,” I really like Windsor Button. Part of the reason I like the place is that I feel I can approach an employee and they wouldn’t roll their eyes at me. What I also like about Windsor Button is that the Lion’s Brand is right next to the Rowan. There appears to be no yarn hierarchy there. I had to hold myself back, but I was on the verge of buying some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn.

After lunch, we headed over to Circles: The Knitting Salon. I LOVED Circles. First of all, it is right off the Green Street stop on the Orange Line. Second, it isn’t a store, it is a SALON! Third, the yarn and the owner are amazing. When I asked about some summertime patterns (for the great move to Florida), she told me to look around the store if I wanted and she would pull all the patterns she could find and leave them in the sitting room for me. Usually when I ask storeowners for patterns, they pull out a book or two and then go on their merry way. She took the time to get me several pattern books and binders. The yarn is organized by weight except in one section of the store, which is all from “local” farms. I use local loosely because I bought some Fleece Artist sock yarn (yes! Fleece Artist! I am a total yarn snob) and another handspun yarn from a farm in Wisconsin. There is also a little playroom if you want to bring your tots, a classroom, and a sitting room to knit, look through patterns, and chat with other knitters. Did I also mention that there are snacks, water, and tea? Yes, it is quite trendy, but it doesn’t have that oppressive trendy feel to it. There is also a good selection of knitting books and patterns. I definitely want to come back here before I leave New England. I picked up a pattern book, KidSilk Haze (for Birch), Fleece Artist sock yarn, and some handspun and dyed sock yarn.

E and I then made our way to Newbury Street and visited Newbury Yarns and Knit & Needlepoint. Not too much to report here. Knit & Needlepoint is a needlepoint store with some yarn. Newbury Yarn had some delicious specialty yarns (with the prices to prove it), but almost everything was organized by color. It wasn’t the most conducive environment for me.

Summer Reading Challenge
I finally got interested in The Lady in White by Wilkie Collins. I might have had to force my way through 300 pages, but I am now curious to see how the book will end. When I was in high school, I had to read The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (the first detective novel in the English language). I despised this book until I read about half the book and started to care about what happened to the stolen moonstone. SPOILER ALERT!!! I got interested in the book once you find out that the guy who stole it didn’t really mean to steal it and had been high on opium at the time. END OF SPOILER!!! I am hoping to finish the book this week and start something lighter and hopefully with a faster finishing time.

General Moving Fun
I moved into my sublet this week and I am trying to live an unpacked life while keeping my stuff packed. As you can assume, it is a trying situation. I have new and fabulous roommates for the summer. We are getting along famously, at least we have for the past two days that we have spent in each other’s company.

-SAK

Knitting Television:
Six Feet Under (Season Two, Disc One)
Something's Gotta Give
Runaway Bride
Friends
The Bourne Supremacy