So you can obviously tell that this is not my month end report. I have to admit that I totally fell off the wagon since (hey) yarn crawl.....
I hooked up with my friends Janet and Letty and we hit the road....
First was my local yarn store, the Needlecraft Cottage at the beach and they were also hosting the Yarnover Truck.
Only 5 people can be in the truck at the same time so we had to wait our turn.
Next up was a nice drive up the coast to Encinitas so I was able to finally visit The Black Sheep.
This store was overwhelming in stash and they had demonstrations, free tassel making and yarn tastings. What store has a whole wall of Noro?
A quick stop for lunch at the D Street Grill for a pepper jack cheese burger and off we went to Common Threads.
Our next stop was Yarning for You in San Marcos and they were super fun. We posed for some photos and then did some shopping.
I purchased some Zen Yarn Garden sock yarn and a couple of needles holders.
With a stopover at Starbucks to load up on refreshments, we hit the final stop on the tour - The Grove.
At every stop along the way, we got our passport stamped and the girls turned theirs in at the end of the day.
My plan is to go back to the Needlecraft Cottage and pick up some yarn for my new sweater and hopefully win one of the cool baskets.
All in all a pretty good day but tiring. Who knew that yarn shopping would be exhausting?
I spend most of my time visiting Val working on my Judy Niemeyer quilt. I am working on the Glacier Star.
Sandy was able to spend a day with me helping me set up my sections and provide me with a refresher course on paper piecing.
I was able to work up the middle sections which consists of 8 pieces. I brought home the extension fabric so I can spend my time at home cutting up the fabric so when I head back to Colorado, I can just sew.
I also was able to go to a quilt store and check out a quilt that I will be making for Tyler called I Spy.
Val bought a box of squares to choose from so all I need to do is find some framing fabric.
I was lucky to have two meals for my birthday. One was lunch with the Miller clan and we had cold cuts, salad, and cake. It was great to see everyone and catchup.
Nancy brought this great flower bouquet from her garden and gave some cards with her photography.
Val and I had dinner at Bonefish Grill for my actual birthday and dinner was great.
We shared the bang bang shrimp.
I had lobster for dinner and Val had fish and raviolis.
We were treated with chocolate dipped strawberries with real whipped cream.
No trip is complete without stopping by for some yarn shopping. We attempted to hit My Sister's Knits but they were closed so we stopped by the new location for Your Daily Fiber.
They are currently in a cute two-story house with a great fire place at the entrance.
They still need some curb appeal but the shop was cool.
Various rooms with yarn and a few rooms with tables for hanging out and a room with looms and spinning wheels.
Lambspun was crowded as usual and there were quite a few people weaving on the floor looms.
Val bought me a bag for my birthday and it is cute and convenient. It is from Baskets from Cambodia.
I also bought a couple skeins of yarn for a Stephen West shawl that I want to knit.
We also had lunch at the Back Porch and I had a wrap while Val had breakfast. We tried a bunch of the hot sauces as well.
When I arrived in Colorado, there was an abundance of tomatoes.
One type called Purple Cherokee heirloom tomatoes were grown by Susie.
We had multiple meals of caprese salad.
I had started knitting a pair of socks for Val after I last visited her. She originally wanted a hat but the yarn we bought was not right so I substituted a pair of socks instead.
I knit up most of the sock but did not finish them since I wanted to see how long she wanted them up her leg so when I got to Colorado, I had her try them on for her to decide.
She felt it was just about right so I added a bit of ribbing to finish the socks and here they are on her feet.
We then went yarn shopping and she bought a ball of Schoppel Zauberball at Your Daily Fiber.
I bought it home and separated the ball into to two even parts and started knitting a new pair of socks.
I am using the star toe which she likes and increased to 60 stitches in the round per sock on US 1 needles. The color runs are pretty long so the socks will definitely not match. I can't wait to see what the color run will look like when they are done.
This might be a trend as Sandy gave me a pair of socks for my birthday and they don't match.
I spent week two in Colorado but I took this sweater with me to work on. I was able to finish the increase stitches of the body
I then started the separation for the fronts and back.
I received my third spindle offering from the Malcolm Fielding spindle club and it is so light and pretty. Of course, it spins forever.
I can wait to start a project on this.
It is a baby pu yok where the whorl is select queensland rosewood burl laminated in two layers with a whorl decoration of queensland figured mulga underneath. The shaft is made in dymondwood (laminated oak) and has a sterling silver spinning top.
