Road Trip....

Ive been busy planning my Spring knitting with a few new purchases. I know I have a ton of WIPs but there's something about Spring that calls a knitter to put a few designs into the queue. I've been meaning to start a real sweater but haven't found the right pattern until now. My friend Bruce fixed that problem with his new book, "Knits Men Want, The 10 Rules Every Woman Should Know Before Knitting for a Man". Bruce is an accomplished culinary author with 15 books already under his belt. For his knitting book, he designed the perfect mix of men's patterns and was fortunate to have Jared Flood of BrooklynTweed fame photograph all of the designs. His Ski Sweater is definitely my favorite and one that is making its way into my Spring queue. The book is lovely. It's a great read and turned out really well. Congratulations Bruce!

I also picked up Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. It's a classic lace knitting book that will serve this hobbyist for a lifetime. I'm especially enamoured by the Kimono pattern since it's definitely within my reach. It's knit in one piece and extremely straightforward in its design. Too often shawl construction is impossible to understand and a deal breaker for me but this design is perfectly balanced. If you want to see a photo of it, head over the amazing Eunny Jang's website for a few photos!

In the quest to find the right yarn for this shawl, I went on a road trip yesterday to Sarasota, Florida. It's about a 90 minute drive and I heard a new store opened there called, A Good Yarn. First off, I never felt more invited in any yarn store than this one. They opened last Fall and their customer service and friendly staff were amazing. Go there, spend money and tell Susan I sent you! The local yarn store is a critical part of our craft and too many of our purchases are being made online. The store experience is so sensory, I don't know what being a knitter will be like if stores continue to close. End soapbox.


I didn't find the silk/silk-blend I had in my mind's eye but I did find this amazing sock yarn from Three Irish Girls. This yarn is going to be my first pair of socks on the CSM. I'm getting better acquainted with the machine and soon (I use this term loosely) it will produce actual socks in this beautiful colorway.


My last find was my new notion case. It's made by a company called Knit Happy and it's the bomb. If you didn't know, I love boxes, cases and bags. It holds everything except my double-pointed needles. They're ten inchers but crochet hooks fit just fine and it folds up into a cute little box. I could have lived without the logo but hey, a little free advertising for a new company goes a long way. Go to their website and find a local store that sells it and buy it there! begin soapbox, end soapbox


Once you open it, it contains 4 wonderful compartments to hold all of your notions. All of the stuff in this photo came out of three containers to fit in this one, amazing case!

While I was in Sarasota, I had lunch at their park/marina in the downtown historic district. At least I think it was the downtown historic district. The grilled grouper was yummy and the weather, started out poorly & really windy but some time between the grouper and the coffee, the most amazing blue sky appeared for the remainder of the day!


Thanks Sarasota and the wonderful women at A Good Yarn!

And thanks everyone for the comments on the slippers! Such high praise for such a simple project, you're all the best! They were received last week and my niece has proclaimed them a perfect fit!