preciousowl

 

Do you ever make something that fits so perfectly, you just want to wear it everyday and never take it off?  Well this is it!

 

I first met Lindsey Fowler at the Indie Untangled event in Saugerties, NY last fall.  She autographed a copy of her Salt and Timber pattern book (published by Laine) for me.  I planned on knitting one of the patterns from that book first but while I was attending what I now know was my first and last Stitches ever (XRX just declared bankruptcy today) she released her Hotdish Cardigan pattern.  That gave me a great excuse to buy yarn and I ended up using Midwestern/IL-based 2 Guys Yarn Tweedy Toes.  It's their fingering weight 85% SW BFL/15% Donegal Nep yarn.  I used the Cuppa Cream colorway for the MC and Freshly and Road Hazard for the CC's.

 

One of the highlights of returning to Southern living is the realization that on a hot, sunny day, you can wet block a sweater outdoors in the sun and it dries in just a few hours!

I actually finished this sweater back in April but then life got in the way.  I knit size 6 of the pattern.  I went down a needle size and used US size 5 and 6's.

I bought multiple set of buttons to add to it but after wearing it around for a while, I now think it looks most flattering worn open and that it doesn't even need buttons.  This is Kristine and I on her birthday.  I am so glad we got to celebrate it together IRL in the Eastbay even though I no longer live in CA.

I've really had a lot going on within and outside of fiber arts.  I haven't had much time or energy for blogging but I do want to at least note that I discovered this super cute yarn store in DC the other day when I drove up to meet my former crochet student, Tiffany, for dinner at Dukem, my favorite Ethiopian restaurant.

This was my first time participating in the James River Yarn Crawl.

It kicked off last Friday and I celebrated with all of the regulars who attend the Friday morning sit stitch at Dances With Wool out in Midlothian.  It has really been an emotional and financial struggle since we moved, especially now that I am no longer working and teaching at a yarn store.  The group at DWW has been so kind and welcoming and just meeting up with them when I can has already brought me much newfound fellowship and peace of mind.

I was immediately drawn to this Sunshine colorway from the Red Stag Fibre trunk show.  I bought sweater quantity without a pattern but I'm sure I'll figure something out soon. I also bought a couple yarn crawl custom colorways.

I was LYS-famous for being the first customer of the day!

 

Then I headed over to Center of the Yarniverse which is actually geographically closer to our home.

Everything I bought was picked out by Xena but since it was Mother's Day weekend, it was simply a reaffirmation of the joy of being a mom who makes things for a kid who truly appreciates them.  Xena is posing with Laura, the lovely lady behind FXBG from Fredericksburg, VA.

 

On Saturday, Xena and I picked up Aaron's mom, Clarisse, down in Williamsburg.  She's a knitter and her husband, David, is a wood turner.  He's made me yarn bowls in the past and he also sells them at yarn stores around central VA.  First we stopped at Baa Baa Sheep in Norfolk where Kim Dyes Yarn was having a trunk show.  Connecting with her on IG and then meeting her IRL was very inspirational.  

She is also a Korean mom (of 2 boys) and she has been dyeing yarn for 13 years!  I bought 4 hanks of her gorgeous Shrimp Bisque DK colorway.

 

Our final stop was Yarn Matters in Williamsburg.  I was so excited to shoot a photo of Xena in their photo booth, I didn't realized the book she was holding was upside down.  A Yarn About a Tree is an adorable children's book.

There's one final store, The Yarn Club, in Virginia Beach, that I would need to visit to complete my JRYC passport.  Originally we were going to check it out yesterday but the weather wasn't great and now there's supposed to be extreme rainstorms today.  Tomorrow, if I wake up early enough and the weather is accommodating, I will drive down there but I really don't want to make the trek unless we can make an actual beach day out of it.  We'll see!