Happy LYS Day 2019

Today is a high holy day for knitters:  Local Yarn Shop Day.  My enabler, I mean friend Cindy, and I spent the day visiting our favorites here in town.  The shops were packed and the credit cards were flying out of wallets..  Unfortunately, ours were among them.  I have a few more projects in the queue.

First stop was Knitting Temptations.  They were featuring Uneek yarns.  I fell in love with a shop sample of Butterfly/Papillon made out of fingering weight yarn.  These skeins jumped in the convenient shopping bag they gave as you walked into the shop.

I also found myself ogling this Uneek sock kit.  It is self-striping yarn in two balls to give you identical twin socks.

They gave out a free stitch stoppers as a free gift to anyone that visited.

Next stop was Yarn It & Haberdashery.  They had a WolfyWool trunk show.  I couldn't pass up a skein call Duck Hunt.  Someday these will be socks for Ed.  That is, if he promises to wear them.  Otherwise they'll be mine.

Casapinka offered a free pattern for the LYSs to give out with Baah yarn purchases.  It is called Magical Thinking.  I found these beautiful skeins to make a springy pullover shawl.  As the designer says, this is not a poncho.

614 Knit Studio was the next stop.  I got some tools there:  a sock ruler and some tags with instructions for German short rows and Brioche stitches.

Last stop was Sew to Speak.  This shop features fabric and yarn.  They had a model of Stone Point which I thought would be great for our upcoming cruise to Alaska.  A few skeins of Shepherd's Wool jumped on me and demanded to become that poncho.   (This pattern isn't embarrassed to be called a poncho.)

I hadn't intended to do that much damage to my credit card.  Cindy reminded me that it is a special day however.  Thank goodness it only comes once a year!!!

April Flowers

Spring has blossomed around here.  Our grass is green.  And needs its first cutting.  Birds are singing and starting to build nests.  Flowers are blooming.

I'm very excited that my star magnolia, upper right below, didn't get zapped by frost this year.  This is the third spring for this plant.  The prior two years weren't easy on it.  Just as it started to bloom, we had a killing frost.  This year it is absolutely gorgeous.  I'm glad it is happy.  I am too.  All of my spring flowers are extra pretty this year.

We are revitalizing the inside of the house too.  The family room and kitchen are being painted.  The shade on the left is the old color.  The picture below doesn't show the new color that well.  It actually matches closely with the tile around the fireplace.  Once we are done painting we are putting up a back splash in the kitchen.

Squeaks, aka Nora, is doing well.  She left me a little gift by my bedroom door the other day.  Thank goodness it wasn't a real mouse.

Did I mention the birthday gift Ed gave me?  It is a Namaste Train Case from Jimmy Bean Wools.  I love this case.  It is just big enough for a project and all the accessories that are needed.

The inside of the lid is cloth-covered metal so you can keep your pattern there with the cute little magnets that are provided.  Right now I'm keeping my Odyssey shawl in it.

I'm close to being finished.  I'm in the lace section of the last color.  We have some travelling to do today.  I may be able to get it close to finished. 

Last time I mentioned the cute stitch markers I got from Stunning String Studio.  I'm using a couple of the wine-themed ones on this shawl.   I can't tell you how much I love them!!

If you ever come across Stunning String at a yarn festival, be sure to check out all of their products.  They are incredible.