How does a knitter sped the day before New Year's Eve? Why, yarn shopping, of course!
Nick and I were visiting my friend and her husband in Philadelphia to enjoy the delectable tastes of a modern Indian restaurant called Tashan. I should stop here to note that the food did not disappoint. Each couple split one of the larger entrees, while we all shared multiple smaller plates that were so good, you could kill for it (which we essentially did since it was all meat!) It's a fine dining experience right on Broad Street and worth a visit if you're in the area. End sidebar.
Anyway, I've mentioned in many earlier blog entries that my friend lives literally a block away from one of my favorite yarn shops, Loop. When Nick and I showed up (delayed by only 20 minutes on the Surekill), my friend and I decided to head to Loop while the boys stayed in and shared some beer. An ideal night in any crafter's book, if I do say so myself.
Now, Loop can be overwhelming because everything is so beautifully yummy. Their displays are organized, colorful, and represent my wet dream of a craft room (maybe someday). It's never easy to pick just one thing to buy, so I browsed for at least 20 minutes before resting my eyes on this mini skein bundle from Pepperberry Knits.
The bundle is actually their Lucy Fun Size Cowl Kit, 100% cashmere yarn that's currently only available to purchase through their partner stores (like Loop - convenient!) The bundle includes mini-skeins in various colors with enough yardage to complete a Lucy Cowl, whose most difficult feature will be the provisional cast-on. In other words, this is perfect potato-chip knitting with a gorgeous, luxury-yarn-induced end game.
Although there are several colorways to choose from, I selected Crazy Redhead. From my browsing on Ravelry, it looks like different versions of this colorway are available, so I just went with my favorite color combo (for example: you can purchase one combo that includes blue).
And because I can never have enough needle brands to experiment with, I also bought some Knitter's Pride Size 7 16" Dreamz fixed circulars. I didn't think I'd like them because their tips are relatively short for my preference, but I used them to knit up a custom order a couple days ago and loved the experience. They're smooth and light, making knitting fun and fast.
Hmm... I didn't think it would be possible to ramble on this much about one yarn purchase. I learn something new every day :)
Stay tuned for my Lucy Cowl once I'm finished with a couple KALs and my KnitCrate projects.