After completely neglecting this scarf for sooo long, I am finally "into" it again. I am about half way through it. I really wanted to figure out a way to knit it as one piece, but have the leaves go in two diff directions... so that when worn the leaves would all go the same way. I asked my sock teacher last weekend... She had some ideas, I tried them, and... uh... NO. So it looks like two separate pieces grafted together it is!
Last Saturday Chris' mom, Mary called me up and said she would be in the East Bay & asked if I wanted to have lunch & hit some yarn stores, specifically the Alameda yarn shops. Oh yes, and maybe a bead store, which is not my thing, but I do enjoy ANY store with lots of bright & shiny stuff & tons of colors!! Bead stores fit that bill perfectly! So I say, "Hell Yes!!! Let's shop for yarn!" And shop for yarn we did.
We began at the yarn shop closest to my house, it shall remain nameless because my opinion of it is not so nice. I will say that it has an Italian name.... And there are only 2 yarn shops in Alameda... So you can probably figure it out unless you are just plain dumb, and in that case I wouldn't know you, or if I did, I wouldn't expect you to read my blog!
So we go to yarn shop #1. I have been there 2 or 3 times before, several months ago, when I was first learning to knit. Now the folks there are friendly enough, one grand-motherly woman is extremely sweet & helpful to new knitters who make silly mistakes, the store smells good, it's clean & organized, they even play nice music. Soooooo, what exactly IS my beef with this place, you may ask. The main reason is plain and simple, I do not like the yarn that they carry. The selection is pretty narrow. They have lots of the same yarn, in the same colors, and a very very narrow scope of colors it is. Literally 2 or 3 shelves will all have one kind, in one color! And they carry an awful lot of novelty yarn, and not just novelty yarn, but lots of tinsel-y glittery, eye-lashy yarn. It's like a Jo Anns or Michaels super store threw up in a real yarn store. My other beef, is that I tried to exchange a pair of needles, never used, never even taken out of the package, receipt still in perfect condition... They said that I have to talk to the owner to make any return or exchange!!! I have left numerous messages for her, & nothing! So I gave up months ago.
So onto yarn store #2, Yarn!, my fave. Mary was instantly impressed. LOTS of different textures, color palate's, & price points. I even found some ribbon yarn that doesn't make me cringe. I quite like the choo choo yarn, and I LOVE to say it! Chugga chugga chugaa-CHOO CHOO!! You get the idea. I love it so much, that I am afraid to knit it. So many novelty type yarns that look good in a ball, look sooooo bad knit up. I am thinking drop stitch scarf for this beautimous ribbon. Any other suggestions? Mary bought 10 or 12 skeins of purple mohair. It sure was a lot of purple mohair! Ahhhh, another satisfying trip to Yarn!
Titanium rose is spot on! Hi Erin!!
ReplyDeleteThe Choo Choo is great stuff. Don't be afraid, just KNIT it!
Your scarf looks great. I really love the color.
ReplyDeleteThe leaf scarf looks nice. The only thing I have heard from people is that they make the two sections then graft them together in the middle. Sometimes it is noticable, but they wear that part behind their necks and it's usually covered by the jacket collar.
ReplyDelete