Sunday, November 29, 2009

Yarn Shopping in New Jersey: Part One

Pagewood Yarns for a pair of socks and a small shawl
Koigu yarn for the drop stitch shawl

Part One: Since I visited two stores in NJ this weekend, I will do a post on each visit. Today's is about the shop in Princeton.

Spent a really nice Thanksgiving weekend in New Jersey visiting with family and friends. A tradition started about 6 years ago is the annual Saturday-after-Thanksgiving trek to Princeton for lunch, shopping, people watching, and looking at the gorgeous greenery/white lights/red ribbons that decorate the shops and downtown. There were no carolers on the corner this year, but we have seen/heard them in years goneby. This year there were four beautifully decorated horse-drawn buggies parading through town.

Since my really good friend Roberta moved from Central PA to the South almost 2 years ago we have added a wonderful element to the Princeton trip. Roberta travels to the central NJ town from either her brother's or sister's homes in PA/NYC and we spend the afternoon together. This year a large amount of time was spent in the Pins and Needles yarn shop.

We decided to do a two-person "knitalong" and chose a "Drop Stitch Wrap" complete with a ruffled edge. Absolutely adorable. However, we just can't leave well enough alone...we made a slight variation to the pattern by shortening the length. The wrap is knitted lengthwise, on size 3 or 4 needles, from Koigu. But, it is designed to be 90-inches long. Since Roberta and I are neither one over 5-feet tall, a 90-inch wrap is unnecessary. We opted for a 60-inch length which means less yarn needed to be purchased and it won't take as long to knit...a win-win!

I also purchased two skeins of Pagewood Farms sock yarn. Love the stuff. One will be used for socks and the other will most likely be knitted into "Ishbel" which is designed by Ysolda, a young and very talented Swedish knitwear designer. At this point I cannot decide which skein will be used for which project. Will see how the spirit moves me when I get that far.
To be continued....











Friday, November 20, 2009

Patches 8/2/98-11/20/09


My sweet cuddlebug is gone. The constipation proved too much and her body could no longer work the way it should. She tried so hard at the vet office but it just didn't happen. Surgery would have been a very temporary "fix" and she again would have been in pain. I didn't want a colon rupture when I was away working. Patches would have been in so much pain. I would have never forgiven myself. Rest in peace my love. You are now with your Golden brothers. I will love you all always.