Three Yarn Shops and a Quilt Shop too

As I mentioned yesterday my sister had figured out that there were two yarn/needlework shops near Bethany Beach where we were staying last week. Because it was off season one of them, The Spinning Wheel, in Fenwick Island was only open on the Saturday and Monday that we were there. So we had to get there right away and as it turns out we went twice - on both Saturday and Monday. This is the shop where I got my Paton's Street Smart booklet, and a few other things.... Now I can copy the Yarn Harlot and make the Must Have Cardigan.

I've recently learned how to do punch needle embroidery and so I picked up a few kits and a book. And some knitting needles that I thought I would use during the week. It was for one of those projects that I, in my overly ambitious planning, brought along and didn't even touch - but now I have the needles for it!

The second shop was Sea Needles in Bethany Beach. By the way both shops were lovely. Sea needles was jam packed with stuff. It was here that I found the first of my "souvenir sock yarn." The store had sample socks done in these colorways and they were very cool. I'm sure that the Fortissima yarns are available to me locally but I hadn't seen these particular colors before and they'll make great socks - either by hand or sock machine. The baby book has some cute patterns that I better start soon. Couldn't resist - Abigail was right near and looking so cute herself!
I also picked up a 12" addi needle to try for socks. Hope it works. And Anchor brand crochet cotton is hard to find. I use it for tatting - and see the cool case for my tatting. My sister found the cute frog case at JoAnn's in the clearance bin when we got home so I shouldn't have bought it. Bummer.

I made my string bag for the sale at Stitches with Style while we were at Bethany Beach so that I'd be ready to go for Saturday's String Bag Sale. Amy had traded pattern revision skills for her string bag with her friend Jen so she was ready too! So as soon as Abigail was fed and ready we hopped in the car for some more serious shopping! By the way Abigail loves to shop too - as long as she's tucked into her sling. Amy had planned what she wanted and when we got to the store zeroed in on her yarn for the Pretty as a Peacock Shawl. I knew that I wanted Eco Wool for the Hemlock Ring Afghan and some more "souvenir" sock yarn. Alpaca and nylon sock yarn - I'm anxious to try it! I got some Tahki Classic Cotton too - Kelly, you should carry this stuff! My sister wants a scarf that we saw on display and she actually bought the Classic Worsted yarn. I'm not sure if I'm making the scarf or if Peter will be advanced enough with his knitting to tackle it. It's called Not a Celebrity Scarf and is a free pattern from the shop. It's very similar to the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf and uses a lot of short rows. Looks like a fun thing to knit. Hmmmm, maybe I should teach my sister to knit...

My sister doesn't knit but she quilts, scrapbooks, and cross stitches. So she was very patient with Amy and me while we spent looong periods of time in a yarn store. But we knew from Amy's friend Jen that there was a great quilt shop nearby. The Quilter's Hive was a nice store and I almost got out of there without buying anything. After all as the Compadre says I start quilts but never finish them. But my sister found packs of fabric that apparently had been kits and they were color coordinated already and they were only $5 each..... And then there was the bag pattern that my sister found that I had to have too. When I'll get to these I don't know.

Then of course the challenge was to stuff all this "stuff" that we bought into our suitcases for the trip home. Remember that Amy made 9 bears for the Mother Bear Project. She also had ordered some yarn for me from Knit Picks to make up enough for free shipping - you know I was coming out anyway and so I could just bring it home with me. We considered borrowing a suitcase from Amy that had originally been mine, but by using our expando capabilities and our great packing skillz we got it all in. Then came the great weigh in. Our suitcases were just under the 50 pound limit and we passed! I don't know what we'll do when the airlines limit us to just one suitcase each! I have to admit that I did look at some of the travelers that had light loads with envy. But I had fun admiring all my treasures when I got home. Now to practice some restraint in the face of Yarnover and Shepherd's Harvest. Ha, ha, ha!