I had no idea how long it would take me to get to the LYS holding the class, so I left straight from church and arrived about 90 minutes early. Oops. I found the store...
And started walking down the street in search of a coffee shop or something where I could have some breakfast and sit and knit at least until the store opened. I went about 1/2 mile down the road, then crossed and walked back about 3/4 of a mile before turning again and heading back to the store. Not a cup of coffee (nor a bathroom, sob) in sight.
Fortunately for everyone in class, the folks at Fancy Tiger were lovely and let me use their loo. The store is super cute, too.
They have tons of fantastic yarn. I was swimming in Madeline Tosh, Lorna's Laces and Malabrigo. They also had a fun display of undyed natural wools complete with pictures of the sheep from whence they came.
Needless to say, I had little trouble killing the hour I had left. I also had little trouble killing my budget.
I found the exact perfect quirky buttons for Snug (which is why you didn't get to see it last Friday), and now I can finish up the last bits and get it gifted.
And a skein of Tosh Sock in a gorgeous brown shade called "Twig". It's incredibly soft and so pretty. Love.
I also found a needle felting kit to make 2 little penguin ornaments,
because I was in the market for an extra hobby to kill some of this annoying free time I have on my hands. Yeah, right. Really, I bought it because it was too freaking cute to pass up, and I've always wanted to learn how to do needle felting.
Finally, it was time for the class. I wish I had more pictures of that part, but the room was pretty small and pretty full and I had parked my way-too-early self smack in the front... so pulling out the camera while Ysolda was talking seemed sort of awkward.
Suffice to say that she's just as brilliant as you'd expect and much friendlier and more charming than you'd dare to hope. There was lots of discussion on choosing (and substituting) yarn, swatching, calculating ease and altering patterns so that they actually fit you. All of the knitters in attendance (at least the ones at my table) were really fun and excited to be there, which was pretty cool.
Ysolda also travels with all of the sweaters from the book, so we got to spend some time trying all of them on. Bliss! They're all so gorgeous. The Lauriel on the rack was knit in exactly my size and in a yarn that made my heart stop. It was a dusty plum shade of Malabrigo, and I'll be emailing her assistant shortly to confirm the name of the colorway. And then, I think I'll buck my cheap-yarn-buying ways for once and order enough to knit myself exactly that sweater because it looked pretty freaking awesome on me.
After the class, she hung around to pose for pictures...
And sign books. How cool is that? Oh, and she loved my Angostura. See?
Best knitting day. Ever.
Glad you had such a good time, it sounds great :)
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing, glad you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteOmigosh, that penguin is adorable!! I would have been helpless to resist, too. Good for you for getting yourself "the good stuff" to make a sweater that you know will look great!
ReplyDeleteLucky, lucky you!
ReplyDelete"...because I was in the market for an extra hobby to kill some of this annoying free time I have on my hands..." YES, this is exactly the problem I have too, an excessive need to keep adding to the hobby list. I talked myself (again) out of getting a loom and learning to weave, but now I keep thinking about how fun it would be to take a class and improve my minimal photography skills. Must. Stop. Somewhere.
So glad you had an awesome time.
ReplyDeleteNo help from me re your growing hobby list -- I signed up for digital photography learning about two months ago.
Whatever interests you I say do it!!!!
I'm so thrilled to hear you had a great time! The penguin kit is super cute. I wouldn't have been able to walk past it.
ReplyDeleteSo happy that you had a good time. Ysolda sounds like a charming person. I LOVE those buttons! And the yarn! And the penguin kit!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a good time. That yarn shop would cause me to take out a second mortgage on the imaginary house I don't yet have a first mortgage on.
ReplyDeleteFree time? I think I remember something about that once. Maybe I dreamed about it one night.