Eastside Stitchers Get Ready for the Puget Sound LYS Tour

Tonight, at Crossroads Mall, the Eastside Stitchers met to knit, crochet and discuss the Puget Sound Local Yarn Shop Tour.

I am so excited.

21 shops in 4 days.  The toughest part of this is that we are trying to really do it in 3 days because people have to work.  The shops are having "extended hours" to accommodate all of the crowds, but still, I think they are closing way too early.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  First, who was at Crossroads and what were they stitching?

Ellyol, yes, our own Ellyol of the amazingly fun crochet amigurumi and hats, was KNITTING.  I kid you not.  She is giving it a try.  She is making a washcloth in a knit and purl pattern so she can practice the 2 fundamental stitches of knitting. Because she crochets, and holds and tensions the yarn in her left hand, I encouraged her to try the Continental method.  You can do it, Ellyol!  Even if you always enjoy crochet more, learning how to knit will just broaden your repertoire.

Colleen has made some real progress on her beautiful lavender lace baby blanket.  I am always amazed that Colleen can work on it at Stitching group.  I try to find relatively easy projects to bring on Wednesday nights, because I know I will get off count if my WIP is at all complicated, or involves counting.  But Colleen often brings these beautiful, complex works, and just plugs away.

GwenS is still working on her Color Affection Shawl.  I love the colors, and she is doing a beautiful job.  This is her first project with color.  The endless garter stitch is getting a bit dull, but the shawl certainly does not show it.  This pattern is very popular on Ravelry right now, and I think you can see why.  It will be beautiful.

Chockelet has joined the sock bandwagon.  She was working on a pair of 2-at-a-time socks in a pretty brown color.

Allifer was hooking her last placemat.  You might remember that we are giving these as a housewarming gift to my sister, K.  Allifer has been busy playing Diablo3 and not hooking... Get to Work, Allifer!









We missed our good buddies who could not come because of ... well life.  Hope all is well with every one of you, and that you will be able to make it to knitting next week.

The big topic of conversation tonight was the Puget Sound Local Yarn Shop Tour.  The tour starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday.  There are some sweet prizes, $500, $100, and so on, to spend a shop/shops of your choice.  The best part though, other than getting to spend tons of time with my knitting buddies, is that this tour is pushing me out the door and into 21 different LYS in the Puget Sound area.

Here is our tentative schedule:


Thursday:
18--So Much Yarn (Seattle)
15--The Knittery (Renton)
16--The Yarn Stash (Burien)
17--Seattle Yarn (W Seattle)
Friday:
7--PinchKnitter (Stanwood)
10--Great Yarns (Everett)
11--Main Street Yarns (Mill Creek)
12--The Fiber Gallery (N Seattle)
20--Tea Cozy Yarn (Ballard)
19--Bad Woman Yarn (U District)
Saturday:
1--Beach Basket Yarns & Gifts (Blaine)
3--Apple Yarns (Bellingham)
2--NW Handspun (Bellingham)
4--Knot Just Yarn (Burlington)
5--Wild Fibers (Mt. Vernon)
6--Anacross Stitch (Anacortes)
8--Coupeville Yarns (Coupeville)
9--Knitty Purls (Whidbey)
Sunday:
14--Serial Knitters (Kirkland)
13--Acorn St. Shop (U District)
21--Churchmouse (Bainbridge)

Saturday, especially will be absolutely crazy.  The most stitchers can attend that day, so we thought we would try to hit the northern shops since those are the ones we are least likely to know well.  We are meeting at 7:30 am, and heading up to almost the Canadian/US Border to be at Beach Basket Yarns and Gifts by the time it opens at 10:00 am.  We will wind our way south, across the Point Deception Pass onto Whidbey Island (the largest Island in the United States), ending on the island for dinner since the shops close at 6 pm, then ferry back to Everett, and drive back home.

I hope I see some of you on the tour.

I have made a list of the projects I know I will make next year (mostly 12 solid color socks), and I hope to buy yarn (on discount) for those projects.  I am really going to try not to go for shiny things, and just get the yarn I know I will use.  On the Saturday trip, we may be so pressed for time, that we will just have to run in and out of the stores getting our passports stamped.  However, we are hoping to get back north in maybe 3 weeks, and hit the stores we liked the most in a more leisurely fashion.  At the very least, we should get a "taste" of the individual shops.

That's all for now.  I need to get my rest.  I am Yarn Crawling Tomorrow!

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one stitching group at a time.

2012.15.16 B lack Bart Iris