Yarn Therapy

What could be better than a little retail therapy? Not too much -- unless you combine that theapy with a great friend and a road trip! Julie and I hit the open road yesterday and headed to the wild hinterlands of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

We hit three stores, the most notable of which were Ruhama's (420 E. Silver Spring Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53127) and Mosaic Yarn Studio (1585 Ellinwood St., DesPlaines, IL, 60016). Ruhama's was an almost overwhelming experience -- probably the biggest yarn store I've been in to date. While they didn't have everything, they definitely had an awful lot. I picked up the Mandarin Petit (bottom left) and the Filatura di Crossa Porto Cervo in Jeans (top left)there, along with the Filatura Spring/Summer Collection 2003 book and Jade Starmore's A Collector's Item. At Mosaic, I found the Filatura Brilla, which is a beautiful luminescent slate grey (and I haven't been able to find it anywhere else) (center of the photo) and the white Galway (for my upcoming Kool-Aid dyeing experiment). (As an aside... there is a wonderful Prism Yarn trunk show at Mosaic... I'm in desperate need of some "Cool Stuff" now. I managed to avoid buying an Prism, but just barely -- Mosaic has it for probably the best prices I've seen in Chicagoland.)

What is all this stuff for? Tank tops! Not that I need three blue tank tops, but I'm in the mood for something quick and rewarding, which the 2 out of the three patterns should be.

This is probably the most challenging of the three projects -- the Woodstock camisole from Summer 2003 Interweave Knits -- I thought this would be a fun way to try out some lace work in a small project. The Mandarin is 100% Egyptian cotton and very soft.

This little tank (which I liked mostly because of the cable detail with the ribbing) is made from Filatura di Crossa Brilla (and the pattern is also a Filatura di Crossa pattern). Brilla is 42% cotton, 58% viscose and has incredible sheen that is hard to see in my picture, but which I think will ensure that the ribbing and cables stand out even in the dark color I picked. From a pure touch and feel perspective, it's my favorite yarn. I think this little tank will make perfect summer to fall wearing.

This is the top that I bought the pattern book for. Not practical, but I think it's very cute. I'm doing the top in the recommended colors of Porto Cervo in Jeans. It's 100% cotton and very soft to the touch.

I think this will be keeping me busy for a while -- and will probably leave me with enough blue tank tops to last me for a bit. In case it isn't obvious, I love blue. But I think it's going to make me look forward to the color relief in the bright red Karabella tank top I'm going to take on in a little while.

This trip, and Nanette's blog (and perhaps the cool weather that we're having) also inspired me to do something else... I started back in on the back of Malin... my long languishing Alice Starmore aran from In the Hebrides. After a full day of yarn stores, Julie and I spent a comfortable evening lounging in the hotel knitting and talking. Malin got most of my attention. After working a few rows, I got to wondering why I ever put it down...

Or maybe I just got myself 4 tank top projects...