Yarn Crawl!

Today I went on an awesome adventure with my stitch 'n' bitch friends. We decided to do a yarn crawl through some of Toronto's yarn stores.

We started at the Purple Purl, one of my favorites. It's near where I work and has yummy yarn, yummy food and a great area to sit and pull out a projects- not to mention it's incredibly crochet friendly and has a nice selection of books.

The other gals had snacks- I stole some of Sarah's delicious smore square. It was incredible and oh-so-sugary and something that I could far to easily make into a habit. I ended up walking out with two skeins of louet Riverstone in pink that was on sale. I'm gonna make another Stone Path Hat out of it. I made my best friend one in turquoise from the same yarn, and once I finish this I should have enough to make a third in stripes. I'm excited!
I also picked up a bamboo handled hook (ooh, I love it!) and Natural Crochet for Babies and Toddlers. I have a new nephew, and I am just dying to make him cute sweaters and things. I will probably make most of the stuff out of acrylic, because let's face it, babies are messy and washing machines are wonderful. The patterns are adorable though.

(At the coffee shop- my louet, my ella rae and my filatura with the knitted cup cozy!)

After lunch we went to the legendary Romni. I was looking for pretty laceweight to make a shawlette of some kind, and was tempted by so many. Some Malabrigo almost won me until I found the most amazing Ella Rae Lace Merino. The colourway is all pinky-purpley-blues and the skein was just amazing. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I had to take it home. I don't regret it in the least! I also picked up some Filatura Di Crosa Golden Line Nirvana. It's a lovely white laceweight I plan to use for the Romantic Wrap. Now I just have to see if I can find the pattern booklet. I can order it online, but I don't want to pay 7$ shipping for a 4$ booklet.

(The new yarn I adopted. Isn't it beautiful?)

We stopped briefly at Americo and then went to a coffee shop next to Lettuce Knit. My tea came in a glass with a little knitted cozy! It was too cute. After our rest, we continued on to Lettuce. The new store is really bright and lovely and charming. I was wavering- thinking about enough to make another shawlette but couldn't decide when my mother called me. I talk to her when I can, but it was something of a surprise to hear from her. We chatted a bit as I wandered around petting things and falling in love with various yummy yarns. Eventually I had to hang up so I could say goodbye to everyone and make my choices, and she told me she had news. I guess my parents decided to give some of what they inherited from my Grandmother's estate to my brothers and I. It's kind of amazing- it's not a gigantic amount of money, but being just out of college, it's more than I've had at once and it's pretty incredible.

Needless to say, I went and grabbed a few lovely skeins of yarn that had been tempting me- some beautiful sparkling Berrocco Flicker and a little skein of Lorna's Laces in an amazing yellows and oranges and pinks colourway. I know my Grandmother would approve! I can be sensible with most of it- helping my boyfriend to pay off his student loan is something I've been wishing I could do, and we need a new couch... but who could resist the temptation when you get that phone call in the middle of a yarn store. If that's not meant to be, then I don't know what is! I must admit- it's probably a good thing she didn't call while I was in Romni!

I am loving my new yarns. Generally I buy less expensive stuff and tend to work with acrylic. Don't get me wrong, I love my acrylic and it's my fibre of choice for a sweater. Laundry sucks, and having to handwash is not my favorite thing. But yummy yarns for smaller projects, stuff that doesn't need frequent washings? Yes please!

I also ordered a bunch of pattern books from Amazon I've been waiting to get my hands on. Everyday Crochet, Contemporary Crochet and Baby Blueprint Crochet. I can't wait to get my hands on them. They're such inspiring books.

This is what's on my hook now. Well, the one that's my priority now. Oh boy do I want to dig into my Ella Rae Lace... but not until I finish this sweater! It's a copy of a gorgeous knit sweater I saw on Ravelry, and this is the top. Once I block it, you'll be able to see a bit of a diamond pattern. The yarn for the top is Knitpicks Chroma in Galapagos- the bottom and accents are King Cole DK merino blend in black.

What a day! We finished it off by meeting up tonight for "Yarneoke". Singing loudly with a bunch of yarn nuts after a day of shopping is very satisfying, and there's nothing like ending a kareoke session with Ghostbusters!

Now I'm off to get in a few rows on that sweater before bed... I want this baby ready to wear Monday morning!