New Stuff!

So... I got back from my trip and all of this came home with me.

- two new yarns: Handmaiden Seasilk and Manos Del Uruguay wool

- two new fibers to try spinning. A 100% silk roving as well as a wool/tencel blend

- miscellaneous roving scraps for my new upcoming needle felting class

- needle felting needles and foam

- a new book "Knitted Babes" by Claire Garland

I had such a fun, relaxing vacation. One of the highlights was finding the coolest little yarn shop in Santa Barbara.

It is called The Loop and Leaf. (She sells tea too.)

It was unlike any yarn store I've been in. It was quaint, modern, artistic, yet cozy all at the same time! She had the awesomest selection of beautiful obscure yarns that are hard to find. I found that alot of the yarns in the shop were spun out of very unique fibers such as Camel, Yak, Seacell, Soy, and there was even an awesome stainless steel yarn!

Here is a picture of a swatch made out of the Stainless Steel yarn. Its manufactured by Habu and it is surprisingly soft. Celeste the owner showed me that when you squeeze the swatch it maintains its shape due to the memory of the stainless steel. Crazy stuff.

Celeste was kind enough to let me take a few shots to show off her beautiful space.

After walking around patting all of the beautiful things I finally settled on the Handmaiden SeaSilk because I have heard about this yarn for a long time and it has always appealed to me. I've read that as you wear the garment made from the yarn the Seacell which is a form of seaweed leeches skin softening nutrients into your skin. So of course that sealed the deal for me.

The store and all of the things in it were lovely. The owner was also lovely. Very kind and helpful. I definately recommend checking this store out if you are in the Santa Barbara area. The only problem I had about the shop is that the yarn there is just too wonderful. Afterwards when I went to knit on my "works in progress" with my so-called-nice-yarn, everything just looked and felt cheap. I think that The Loop and Leaf could potentially turn me into more of a yarn snob than I already am if I spent too much time there.

While I was gone I had big plans of doing lots and lots of knitting. I only got a few inches of Ava's red coat done, and one Felt Clog. That sucker sure is huge before felting!

When I got home I was so inspired by all my needle felting supplies that I had purchased so I immediately needle felted onto Ava's felt clogs that I had just finished. I think that they turned out pretty cute so I put them on display today at The Scarlet Skein. This was my first attempt to felt an item by hand. I don't recommend it. It was hard and it took forever!

My new knitting plan is to knit my other felt clog, knit a pair for my husband, and work on Ava's red coat on the side. I'm going to stick with those things at the moment because I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of my knitting projects. I hope to by next Wednesday (The next day I work) have all the felt clogs done and needle felted. Ready for display!

On the 15th is my first class I will be teaching with knitting 2 socks at the same time on 2 circulars. I am charging $35 for a 3 hour workshop and my workbook is included. If you are interested in this class you can check out class times and more information on the website.