More Weekend Adventures

I have to start this post by saying that Knit A Round, in Ann Arbor, MI is one of my all time favorite yarn stores. My mom knows now that any visit I make to Ann Arbor needs to include a trip to KAR. They have a very nice selection of Koigu, more flashy trashy yarns that you can shake a stick at, and a lot of great old standards, to boot. And they're incredibly friendly.

I wore Charlotte for the first time last Saturday because it was cool enough to get away with throwing a shawl over my little black T-shirt. Let me tell you right now that Charlotte is a shameless flirt and loves attention. And she was at her most audacious at Knit A Round. She got noticed from the moment I walked in the door and then she had to say hello to everyone. And she got lots of positive feed back.

From the picture it would look like I was pretty well behaved -- two skeins of Cascade 220 (for an idea I had for a felted item that I'd like to submit to Knitty), a beaded purse project, and the size 0000 double pointed needles for the purse(I got the crochet book at Barnes and Noble). But rest assured, I wasn't quite that good. I also ordered 7 skeins of Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK in Burgundy for the Elisabeth Lavold vest from the most recent Knitters. I just couldn't resist -- that vest looks like the right combination of interesting and uncomplicated for me to try to accomplish it this fall.

Of course, since I finished one project, I had to pick up a new one! I decided that I would start Karen Baumer's Multidirectional Scarf in Noro Silk Garden in colorway #87.

I'm not sure if there's enough wild color in that scarf for me. Actually, I am feeling very much back in the 80's -- Noro seems very into alternating pink and green in this colorway. If it wasn't so totally un-conservative, I'd say it needed a little alligator somewhere. This scarf is great mindless knitting -- it's all garter stitch, but since you have to pay attention to the short rowing, it seems a lot more interesting. I'm wondering how it would work out to alternate between a ribbon yarn and a chenille or a boucle. That's the other thing I love about simple but interesting patterns -- they call me back to do them again.

But what about my little Silk Garden sweater you ask? Certainly I didn't forget about it the whole trip, did I? No, I didn't. She got her edging and I found some buttons I like. The crochet edging needed a little blocking before she could make a proper introduction. Hopefully she'll make her debut tomorrow!