The Yarn Buying Continues!

I promised my dh that I am going on a yarn diet now that I am home from vacation. I have got to get my stash under control. But, yeah, I did buy some yarn on my travels! I visited three yarn shops and managed to find something to buy at each one.

First up, the Custom Shop in Kennebunk, Maine. I was able to spend about an hour in the shop because my dh went off to visit a used book store in another town. So I took my time and found 2 patterns that spoke to me and then chose yarn to go with them. The first pattern was the Kimono Vest from Cabin Fever that you can see in the picture. I decided to use Country Style DK yarn from Sirdar in two shades of lavender. The skeins are each 348 yards, which is really incredible yardage. I also picked up a skein of Plymouth Encore in a yellow and blue that just appealed to me, and a skein of Plymouth Dreambaby DK that I am already crocheting into a baby hat for a co-worker who is becoming a grandmother again early next year.

Finally, the second pattern I found at the Custom Shop was the Fuschia Lace Scarves from Fiber Trends. I decided to use a Frog Tree Pima Cotton and Silk blend which I had never seen before, and as you can see, I have already started the project. I can already tell that knitting a lace scarf is going to be a lot more doable than knitting a lace shawl!

The second shop I visited was the Yarn Sellar in York, Maine. I spent less time here, but it was a smaller shop. Very nice, but small. I still managed to find a skein of Cotton Chenille from Crystal Palace in raspberry, a skein of Cascade 220 in a green heather, and 5 skeins of Flash from Classic Elite in a red/blue marl. The skeins of Flash were in the sale bin, and I considered buying all of skeins in the bin, but there were too many! So I settled for 5 skeins, which is almost 500 yards. That should be enough yardage to make something, although I'm not sure what yet.

And then there was Patternworks. It is a beautiful store, and I had a lot of fun browsing through it. I found it interesting, though, that I found a number of yarns that aren't available in the catalog, but some of the things in the catalog that I was looking for weren't availabe in the store. So I wasn't able to buy the cobweb weight yarn I was looking for. I'll just have to buy it from the catalog (I know, some time in the future when the yarn diet is over!). I did find a few things to purchase none the less. From left to right in the picture: 3 skeins of Merino Gold in green from Knit One Crochet Too, which I think is going to become a crocheted scarf; a skein of Lacey Lambswool in natural that is just about the softest yarn I have ever touched; 3 skeins of Gems Baby Pearl from Louet Sales in a purple and white marl - this is a fingering weight yarn that I have no immediate plans for; and 2 more skeins of Cotton Chenille from Crystal Palace. The Lacey Lambswool seems to come from China, and I am going to take it in to my co-worker from Taiwan to see if she can translate the label for me. It is definitely lace weight yarn. That little skein is 825 yards, which should be enough for a small shawl. Also, just so you know, I am not that crazy about Cotton Chenille yarn. I bought three skeins of it because I am hoping to turn it into my next WhoDuKnit project. Finally, I bought the Addie Turbo circular needles in size 000, so I am ready to tackle a lace project, and a crochet pattern book from Tahki Stacy Charles.

Whew! Sorry about the long post, but I am just a little excited about all my new yarn!