2012 Puget Sound LYS Crawl Day 1

2012.05.18 Black Bart Iris

I have been participating in the 21 shops in 4 days madness called the 2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour.

Day 1
Yesterday, I got home at about 9 pm and seriously, I was exhausted.  We only hit 4 stores.  But I was dead.

Well, I went to 5 stores because I snuck off to Serial Knitters in Kirkland Washington by myself first, right when it opened.

It's a wonderful shop, although it seems small, it has a terrific selection.








They are currently having an Abstract Fiber Trunk Show, and wow those yarns are yummy.

What's best about it is, this is my most "local" of LYS's and it is really great to be able to see the yarn in real life.  And touch it!



Allifer came over at about 2:30 pm and we headed across Lake Washington to meet up with GwenS.

Our first stop was So Much Yarn  in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, near the Pike Place Market.

I am writing this with the help of GwenS who took great notes.  (I was the driver).  So Much Yarn is upstairs and the space is small, but they have it packed with some wonderful yarns.  At every shop I asked the owners if they had anything that was unique to their shop.  Not every shop had an answer to that, but So Much Yarn did.  They carry a line of alpaca sock yarns from a local farm.  The yarns are all undyed, in the natural colors of the alpacas, some are blended, and they are named for each alpaca.  I had to buy a skein, knowing that I would be able to use it during the Solid Socks Challenge for Brown next year. They had a great mix of yarns at various prices, so you could find something really special, and still afford it.

Our second stop was The Knittery in Renton.

This is a well lit, open space, with a large selection of general workhorse yarns.

Our third stop was the Yarn Stash in Burien.


One of the fun things about the tour is that every shop has 2 featured patterns, and the yarn (the pattern can use 1 or 2 skeins) for the pattern on sale for 10% off.  Most of the patterns have been specially created for the Tour.  The pattern at the Yarn Stash this year is a pair of fingerless mitts, and is really nice.  It can be done with color work, or using texture instead of the 2nd color.  It was one of our favorite patterns.


The final stop for yesterday, was Seattle Yarn in West Seattle.



This shop was a delightful surprise.  It was much larger than expected, and had a really nice selection of both brands and prices.

A few of the stores had this sign in the window, Seattle Yarn did, and it was important to us because we had Allifer and Ellyol with us, both primarily crocheters (as well as me).




They had a huge button selection.

Gwen was particularly happy with their selection of Malabrigo and Madelinetosh.








I will try to get photos of today's excursion up tomorrow, etc.  But we are going to hit the northern most shops on the Tour, and it will be an absolutely crazy day.  I hope I have enough energy to blog.

Good night.  Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one growing yarn stash at a time!

Eastside Stitchers Meet and Stitch and Laugh at Crossroads

2012.04.18

Hello! f1beristas!

I ventured outside for the first time in almost 2 weeks to meet up with my knitting buddies in the Eastside Stitchers Group on Ravelry.  I am still coughing a bit, and have a headache, but I had to go to knitting group.  I just couldn't stand to miss it 2 weeks in a row.  So I posted in the group thread that I was still coughing a bit, but really wanted to come.  They were really accepting, so I headed out to Crossroads Mall for dinner and knitting, and lots and lots of laughter.

We were missing some of our regulars, MsWiz and Cleothyla were not there.  But we had a nice size group never the less.  So, who was seen stitching at Crossroads, and more importantly, what were they working on?

Chockelet was there with LOTS of show and tell.  She brought her finished lace scarf.  This is her very first blocking project.

Chockelet also brought some art yarn she had spun,

and also, a new lace scarf in Noro Yarn she was working on.

GwenS made it.  She had the most beautiful beaded cowl  The yarn is Malibrigo Lace, and I know I did not capture the true color.  She had her teeny tiny crochet hook with her to attach the beads as she knit.  I took about 4 photos trying to capture the color AND get the beads, but this was the best I could get.  Super beautiful work.

Colleen brought a finished baby blanket in mint green,

and a new baby blanket she was just starting in lavender.  Both have lovely stitch patterns.

Jenknotsed8 made it to about 7:30 pm before she started falling asleep at the table.  Jen comes after back to back shifts, but still manages to add quite a bit of laughter to our little group.  She was working on her very first set of 2-at-a-time Toe Up socks.  She complained that they seemed to be going slowly, and I had to laugh a bit.  Everyone says that the first time they make 2aaT.  It does go slowly!  But that is because you are knitting 2.

BrainLady and Allifer came in the later shift as usual.  One of the fun things about our group is that people come and go as their schedules dictate.  Some people get off work early, make it to Crossroads, and grab our table.  Others get off late and join us for the last hour or so.  Brain lady was working on a lacy knit top.

Allifer brought a Crochet top from the latest Interweave Crochet Magazine.







We stayed until 9 pm when the Mall started playing angry music at us to remind us that the MALL WAS CLOSING.

What was I knitting?  I brought my Red Hot Sweater for Lewk, about 3 more inches to go on those sleeves, and my last Snuggly Sock.  I made good progress on both.  As long as the pattern isn't too complicated, it is amazing how much knitting you can accomplish while chatting with your friends.

We discussed the upcoming Puget Sound LYS Tour (local yarn shop tour) which will happen May 17 - 20.  We are hoping to go as a group, and discussed who can drive, etc.  Chockelet had the map from the site, and had started planning out a route so that we could hit every shop on the tour.  It will be a really fun few days.

We also talked a bit about 2012 World Wide Knit in Public day.  I told the group that Eastside Knitters Guild plans to spend the day knitting at Crossroads, and I am sure that we will join them.  The mall will be full of knitters.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I'm feeling better and better and hope to be back on the bike next week.

Until then, stay well  And really, Allifer, SORRY I GAVE YOU AND A THE FLU.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one super sick daughter and her boyfriend at a time =(