Monday, June 16, 2008

You can't knit with that!

During my trip to Philadelphia, me and my friend GM went to no less than 4 yarn stores. We both spent a lot of money on Yarn. There was one called A Garden of Yarn which advertised on the door that it was a "crochet-friendly yarn store." That amused me. There I got a bunch of wool/mohair blend skeins that were really colorful and pretty and were on sale for $3 each. There was also this bundle of white roving. It simply said "Roving for dyeing" and was $9.90. I petted it, and it was soft, and I wasn't sure what kind of fiber it was, so I asked the store-clerk. She was a cute little old lady and she had another cute little old lady friend. I'm not sure which of them said what, so I'll assign dialogue as I see fit, and we'll pretend it's accurate.

Me: What kind of wool is this?
OL1: You can't knit with that.
Me: I know. I spin. I have a wheel at home. But I was wondering what kind of fiber it is.
OL2: Let me look it up.
OL2 looks in her book...I think it's called "roving."

I gave up after that and decided that it was soft and might be alpaca, and it was a good deal even if I don't dye, and I would buy it. So I did.

There were also many Koigu mill ends at Rosie's Yarn Cellar for $0.24/gram. I initially thought this was a better deal than normal koigu, but it's actually the same price as a typical $12 50 gram skein. But the advantage is you can get different colors in small quantities. I bought some for a dice bag and for a pair of socks.

There was also Loop, which gives out really nice reusable shopping bags. I got three skeins of a laceweight silk/wool blend in royal blue for a shawl.

I'd post pictures, but right now my camera flash isn't in sync with the shutter, and my pictures end up dark unless they are taken in bright light. Thus I have to wait until daytime tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get pictures then.

Also I'm sad that I didn't get to participate in the international Knit In Public Day. It was Saturday and Saturday is Shabbat and thus I don't knit. Nor was I even in public for that matter (though that was a situational thing.) Maybe I should organize Jewish knitters for a much smaller Sabbath-Observant Knit In Public Day.

1 comment:

Sandy said...

Sounds like a wonderful and very successful shopping trip. Got a chuckle out of your dialoque with the two little ladies. lol

Can you explain (for us non_Jewish folks), why one can't knit on or during Shabath? You've peaked my interst.

Sandy