Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Stashin'

I've done quite a bit of stash busting this last year and have really been wanting some new and beautiful yarns. So, the timing was perfect when our Stitch N Bitch group decided to plan a "Yarn Crawl".

We met up early on a Saturday morning and piled into two cars to head out on our adventure. It was a cold and cloudy day and we went through some pretty heavy rain on our way toward the Los Angeles area. Since we don't get weather like that very often, it added a little more excitement to our day. We visited four yarn shops that I had never been to. And, I found some pretty fabulous yarns that had to come home with me!

Most of my new yarn came from my favorite store of the day, "Twist", in Manhattan Beach. I loved just about every yarn they had, the staff were wonderfully friendly and helpful, and they had lots of comfy seating. Right after I walked in the door, the gasps of "ooohs" and "wowwws" began and didn't stop. Even though the shop is small, they had LOTS of beautiful yarn...more, to me, than many large shops. I was in yarn heaven! I will definitely go back to this store and maybe very soon. It's worth the hour and half drive (one way)!

I may be a little behind the times when it comes to Malabrigo yarn. I've seen it a lot on Ravelry and heard people talking about it but I honestly don't remember ever seeing it in the shops I've visited. Twist has a LOT of it. Now, I know what all the buzz is about. Their yarn is beyond gorgeous! It's also super soft and affordably priced. I bought two skeins of this Malabrigo lace yarn in the colorway, "Nostalgia". I think I have a pattern picked out for these beauties! They are 100% baby merino wool, have 470 yards in each skein, and they only cost $8.80 each!


This is the first yarn I saw when I walked in the door of Twist. The colors are sooooo pretty! The cranberry, purple and green colors are so wonderful together! It was hanging on a dress form with a shawl that had been knitted with the same yarn. It was such a wonderful shawl that I may attempt to knit the same one. It's called "Herbivore" and it's available on Ravelry for $6. Although, rumor has it that the pattern used to be free. What's up with that?! The yarn is sock weight, superwash merino and has 440 yards in the skein. It was only $18.40.


I also got this one at Twist. See how much I love this store?! I couldn't resist the variegated cranberry and berry like colors. Beautiful! It's another Malabrigo yarn called "Arroyo" and the colorway is "Jupiter". It's also a superwash merino, sock weight yarn with 335 yards in the skein. It was only $18.40.


One of the shops we visited was "Unwind" in Burbank. It was a bright, airy store with pretty yarns, fun notions, a couple of seating areas, and friendly staff. I found this yummy, pumpkin colored yarn in their clearance area. It's Berroco Vintage DK and it's 288 yards were only $3.75. What a deal!


We visited two other stores that day. One was "Wild Fiber" in Santa Monica. I love this store! It's crammed full of beautiful yarns. There are so many choices that it's almost overwhelming. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that day that I had to have. Although, their large selection of Koigu was very tempting!

The last shop we visited was "Yarn Lady" in Lake Forest. It's a large store with several large tables and seating areas to work at and lots of yarn choices. However, it was our last stop and I was shopped out for the day. I'm pretty sure I'll be popping back there for a visit someday. In fact, I wish I lived local to this shop because they have a spin night each week and a weaving night once a month! How cool is that?!

A couple days earlier, I made a trip to Riverside for my mom's knee surgery. On the way to the hospital, I made a stop at "Knitting with Sandra" and found a yarn I had to have. I'm not usually drawn to greens but this variegated green fingering yarn is so pretty! It's from a company I'd never heard of, "Hazel Knits". The yarn is called "Piquant Lite" hand painted fingering yarn. The colorway is "Woodland". It's 90% superwash merino and 10% nylon. There are 400 yards in the skein. It was a little pricier than my other yarns at $26. These pictures don't accurately show how gorgeous the greens are. But, trust me, they're pretty!


I wanted to try my hand at knitting more lace and I had a certain look in mind of what I wanted to make. I searched through patterns on Ravelry for days before deciding on the "Strangling Vine Lace Scarf" pattern. There are a lot of pretty examples by other Ravelers and the pattern is free. So far, so good. It's actually very easy to knit. So much so that I think I'll be able to work on this while chatting with others or maybe even watching TV. It doesn't look like much now but when it's finished and blocked, I think it will be beautiful.



I'll be spending most of tomorrow with my parents for my mom's follow up doctor appointments for her knee replacement. I imagine I'll be getting a lot of knitting time tomorrow!

8 comments:

roxie said...

Oh what fabulous fun! (I love Manhattan Beach. when we visit my husband's family, we always wind up up having a meal there.) Your stash-enhancement is magnificent. I especially love that first skein!

Best of luck to your mom. Hope the healing goes quickly and with no problems.

Sandra said...

Love your new yarns. And buying green yarn (my favourite colour) at a shop called Knitting with Sandra, just made my day! (even if it was the most expensive...)

Cindie said...

Wow - some great finds on your yarn crawl. Can't wait to see what they all become - love the scarf and yarn you've already started.

RodPrjónar said...

I loooooove going to yarn shops! The problem is that I can never leave them with my hands empty! It is sooo dangerous!

I love the yarns you bought! Amazing colors!

I am looking forward to seeing what beautiful things you will make with it!

judith said...

Mmmm, those are yummy looking, especially the Arroyo. Can't wait to see what you create with that one.

Benita said...

What a fun day! And I love your Woodland yarn. It would have drawn my eye immediately, but I'm partial to greens. And that lace scarf is showing it off nicely. It looks all shadey like being inside the woods.

Vicki Boster said...

Such gorgeous yarns!! Just seeing the pictures gets me so excited- the colors are fabulous! Yarn crawls are SO much fun!! You came home with some great goodies!!

Love seeing the pictures!
Vicki

KarenB said...

You found some gorgeous yarn! I really need to visit Twist next time I go to the apartment. Our apartment is in Redondo Beach which is right NEXT TO Manhattan Beach. What have I been doing? Well, at least, not spending money on more yarn. ;-)