Yarn Crawl Recap

My name is Christina, and I am addicted to yarn and all things yarn-related...

Step One:  Check!

Okay, that was more fun than I can remember having in a long time, at least while the sun was still shining.

The shops were full of wonderful goodies and smiling faces, at least those shops that we managed to avoid visiting at the same time as those darn buses!

God bless those bus people, I hope they had fun, they seemed to be spending an awful lot of time in lines.

The Haul?

Witness:


The outermost edge from about 9:00 to 2:00 were some of the free swag from the shops for participating in the crawl.  Wee One had her own passport, so we doubled up on those.

No word on prizes, yet. I anticipate there will be an announcement sometime this week.  I actually hope to receive some sort of missive that the Atenti bag has my name on it.



I actually dropped a card with my name *in* it while we were in The Tinsmith's Wife.  On an aside, I met the Tinsmith, too.  He was very nice, if a bit startled, when I asked if he were, in fact, the Tinsmith.

As to the yarn, sigh, there was much yarn fondling, petting, and coveting.

My new favorite yarn is Classic Elite Waterlily.  It is an amazing aran weight that comes in a beautiful array of colors.  I wish I had a ball to show you, but as soon as I got home, I knit the one test skein I bought into swatches.  I can; however, share those:


The color is Lily Pad.  I cannot describe how lovely this is to knit with.  The swatches are soaking now.  I hope to discover this will be the perfect yarn for this pattern:


As I just ordered two sweaters' worth of it, it better be!!

At Old Oaks Ranch in Wimberley (I had no idea a yarn shop was so close to home!), I ran across a sweet skein of olivey colored yarn that looked a little camo to me.  It was called Army Girl.  As soon as a spied a bit of purple, a second skein called my name, she was called Grace's Hat.  She had a bit of olive green to her.  When I put them together, something magical happened, and I decided they could not be separated.


Pagewood Farms Chugiak in Army Girl and Grace's Hat.

I must have this thing for purple and olive.  At Yarnorama, Wee One bought me a skein of yarn for Christmas (I managed to sneak a photo before she wrapped it).  Fleece Artist in Sea Wool #127.


Our final stop was the Yarn Barn in San Antonio.  Well before I ever picked up knitting seriously, I was an avid needlepointer and cross-stitcher, so the Yarn Barn was a frequent haunt for many, many years.  When I walked in (after I had my passport stamped and turned it over to be entered for the prizes!), I found a skein of yarn appeared in my hand.


Ella Rae Lace Merino #117


Before I knew it, a second skein appeared.  Ella Rae Lace Merino #120.  Together they sang the shawl song.  #120 softly whispered it was the body and #117 chimed in with a rhythmic chorus of lace edging.  I was lost.  Obviously, they both came home with me.


It must have been the light in the building or that is was the end of the day and we had actually hit all nine of the yarn crawl shops because even though I had a faint feeling of familiarity, I brushed it aside, instead of checking my Ravelry stash on my phone.  That #120 seemed so very familiar to me...


After I got home, I confirmed that I had bought #120 in June of this year...then I destashed it in August.

A creature of habit, I found a photo of the old #120, taken in the same spot as the new #120.  Similar, yet different.  Call it sour grapes, if you must, but I think the darker tones of the new #120 are vastly superior to the old #120...besides, it matches the new #117 perfectly.

Unfortunately, that was not the only skein I duplicated.

What can I say, I like, what I like.

Wee One came up with a beautiful skein of Jitterbug sock yarn in Nocturne with which she requested a pair of socks.


Here was the skein languishing at home:


Perhaps she would like a hat or pair of mittens to match her socks?

Then, there was the Malabrigo Rios from the Knitting Nest...  In addition to two skeins in Archangel, I bought, again at Wee's request, a skein of Arco Iris, completely forgetting I had two skeins of the same at home.  However, while they carry the same name, they look very different:


Existing stash on the left and acquisition on the right.  No regrets, I love them all!

The Archangel is pretty handsome, too:


At the end of it all, Wee One and I arrived home to find a package from Madelinetosh!


Oh, yes!!

Madelinetosh 80/10/10 (wool/cashmere/nylon) Sport in Thoreau.

While there are a few ::coughcough:: more yarns purchased, I bought them primarily to test drive them in swatch form.  As I do so, I will share my findings.

Cheers for Yarn!!

Comments

LauraB said…
You are GOOD. I never saw you at a checkout counter!!

I tried my best to give every store a little of my $...I just was buried in yarn lust and couldn't decide.

Your haul is gorgeous!
Lolly said…
Nice haul! I'll say a prayer that you both win something. The Atenti bag is gorgeous. I've never had any Waterlily, but I know I've priced it and almost ordered some of it before. That Ella Rae Lace is nice - I actually bought a skein of it (blue & green) recently. I DO like some of those two-toned scarves/shawls. Yours will be beautiful! What are you planning for the Thoreau?

Looking forward to seeing your other skeins and hearing what you think of them.
Feisty said…
Hey Laura!

There were two of me, remember?

Hi Lolly!

Webs has that Waterlily marked down, but they don't have all the colors that The Tinsmith's Wife had.

I don't know about Thoreau, yet. I'm amassing quite a collection of Madtosh sport weight...

Have a great week!

Popular Posts