all knitting all the time
seems it's all knitting all the time lately around here.
last weekend my darling husband was a darling husband and we ventured out together to 2 (new to me) knitting shops. they are both shops in chicago. we had sunday afternoon in front of us with nothing planned and he knows the city better than i do so he was happy to drive around and find them.
knitting shops always have couches, so he found a comfy spot to sit, but i still thought that was really rather nice of him to sit and wait. now if it was me, being dragged around to say...car shops or tool shops, or fishing shops i of course would bring my knitting and be entertained for hours.
the first shop we stop at was on the West Side of the city. Nina's was a tiny but very sophisticated shop. very Zen-like with beautiful, high-end yarns such as Rowan, Blue Sky, Manos, Habu, Alchemy and a newer brand that i had not yet touched Bee Sweet (soooo sweet). loved the shop. came home with the newer Debbie Bliss Home book and two skeins of Blue Sky cotton in a mustardy color, i'm halfway thru a herringbone pattern scarf. i just love those Blue Sky colors, it's hard to walk away from them.
the next shop was Loopy Yarns on the far South Side, and on the other side of the spectrum as far as decor and feel of a yarn shop. folksy, a bit cluttered, a little dog running around, lots of novelty yarns, but friendly and helpful. i found some yarn here for my Olympic Project. and the best thing about this shop is that it is on my driving path to the city everytime i go, just never knew it was there!
so for my Olympic Knitting i'm making the Showy Shrug!!!! it's in the new issue of Better Homes and Garden's Knit It. the only thing i liked about the one in the magazine is the shape. which means i like the pattern, i just don't like the yarn. and i can see past the yarn and see that this can be a really cute shrug. i hope!!!!the picture in the magazine shows it in a fall colored yarn but i'm doing a very light summer yarn and color. the yarn reminds me of something you would see at J.Jill.
the project is knit in one piece from cuff to cuff so i thought this would be do-able in the 16 days. not a very difficult patttern but the fact that i'm not home 5 of the 16 nights, i did take that into consideration. i've done a good size swatch (it was hard to stop there!) and it looks like everything's ready. i'm hoping to GO FOR THE GOLD!
