Yarn Shopping in Greensboro, NC

This past week, I spent a few days in Greensboro with my hubby for his father's funeral. (The family is doing well, by the way.) While we were there, my hubby took me to some yarn shops in the area. I've been wanting to check them out for a long time, so this was a wonderful thing to do while we were there.



First, we went to "This & That", a nice little shop that carries yarn and supplies, as well as some nice clothing and accessories. The register is in the middle of the shop, and the shop is split down the middle for the two areas. Everything was displayed nicely, and the shop was clean and bright, with lots of sunshine coming in through the floor to ceiling windows at the front of the shop. The shop clerk was very friendly, and even took time to speak to my hubby. He was able to relax on the sofa as soon as we got there. He immediately started reading the book he brought. He knows I'm a slow yarn shopper.



I didn't have a lot of money to spend, but I found a great deal on some beautiful mohair. Just $7 a skein. This will make a nice remembrance scarf for my trip to Greensboro. I just love the color.





They had some beautiful shawl pins there, and I showed them to my hubby. (hint-hint)



Next, we went to "Stitch Point". On the way there, I told my hubby, "I bet this shop caters to needlepoint crafters." I was right. Most of their stock is for needlepoint and embroidery, but they did have a good selection of yarn and supplies at the back of the shop. My hubby sat at the teaching table at the front of the shop. Nothing in the shop jumped out at me with my limited budget. I did find a crochet hook I needed for doing edging on my knitted blankets, but I decided to wait on that. I told them goodbye and told them I'd come by at another time.



We were hungry by then, so we had something to eat and went to our hotel.



The next day, we went to "Gate City Yarns". I've been wanting to check out that shop for a long time, because they carry knitting and spinning supplies. This shop is in the heart of old downtown Greensboro, so it has a nice, eclectic feel. They even have a nice, gentle dog to greet you at the front door. My hubby went straight to the back, and relaxed on their comfy sofa. They have a small amount of stock, but they are all very good quality. Some good fiber, beautiful yarns, a few pretty wheels, and some nice patterns. There is plenty of floor room, so the shop feels open and comfortable - very homey. The clerk was very helpful and knowledgeable. I decided to buy a beautiful skein of Skacel Merino Lace. It will be perfect to make a lacy shawl for my sister-in-law.





When I was at the register, my hubby was asking all kinds of questions about spinning wheels, and the clerk was very kind to him. I asked her for the price of the one bag of soft merino wool I saw at the entrance. It was very reasonable ($5 for the bag), and my hubby agreed to buy it for me. He also paid for the Merino Lace yarn. What a great hubby! :D





I enjoyed my yarn shop crawl in Greensboro, and look forward to going again one day.

I Actually Finished Something!

Unbelievable.....I've actually finished knitting a project. It's been a while.

I've been working on this Oddball Shawl by myself for the past few months. Usually a group of us make these shawls for members of the forum that need our encouragement. But, I had to do this one on my own:


You see, our shawls are normally made with NICE sportweight or DK yarns. So, they are made with various yarns of many different fibers.

Recently, we wanted to send a shawl to a forum member that needed our encouragement. When I contacted her for her mailing address, she said that she is allergic to wool. I didn't have a single shawl I could give her. So, I just made this one by myself, using different acrylic yarns in my stash. I like the way it turned out. :)

I also have ANOTHER completed knitting project. It was finished last month, but I didn't have a photo. So, I grabbed my camera early this morning and took a quick shot. (See my sock in the photo? I didn't even take time to put on shoes. Ha!)


Oh....and pardon the dirty car carpet.
I need to take my little car in for an Auto Bell spa day. (tee-hee)

No Yarn Money!

I've been a busy knitter lately, trying to finish up all of our LARGE Oddball Blankets for charity. I've finished the two lapghans, and am still working on the five full-size blankets. Good thing I have air-conditioning! :D

I'll post photos of the two finished lapghans very soon.

I'm also busy making Oddball Shawls, and seaming together Many Colors squares to make more blankets. And our Oddball Orphan Blanket is almost ready to come to me to finish up as well.

And can you believe I had to nerve to start a NEW project for the leaders of the Oddball Blankets? Silly me.... But, the fun thing is that we are making blankets for ourselves. We are taking turns working on each other's personal oddball blanket. I just wanted us to each have a personal memento of our project. :)

On top of that, I should be finishing up some personal projects that have been going for a few years. Maybe one day, I'll actually be finished with all of them! HA!!!!!

I haven't been buying any yarn, because...well....I don't have any money. I quit my church job (organist), and my piano students are slim during the summer. So, that means I'm broke.

But, I'm still checking out the yarn bargains wherever I can find them. I can't afford the nice yarn shops, so I'm going to Michaels, AC Moore, and Hobby Lobby. I'm also going to Big Lots and Dollar Tree stores.

This week, I found some great deals on yarn at Dollar Tree.

I got 12 skeins of Red Heart Light & Lofty in a pretty color for $1 a skein!


And last night at a different Dollar Tree, my hubby got me 10 skeins of TLC Essentials in Red Plum. He's such a sweet hubby! :D


I'm still a yarn hoarder, even when I'm broke.

World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIP) in Charlotte

Yesterday, I actually had enough energy to go to the World Wide Knit in Public Day celebration at Books a Million in Cotswold Mall in Charlotte. It was fun! A lot of people came, and there were prizes given every half hour. Cool. :)

When I first got there, I took some photos of the group. In the first photo, you can see the table where I was getting set up in the lower right hand corner.


You can also see the representatives from the Charlotte Knitting Guild sitting outside on the patio in that photo.

Here's another shot of them:


Here are some more knitters inside the store:


When each person arrived, they would drop off skeins of yarn, and choose yarn for a trade.


After I got settled, one of the guild members gave me a slip of paper to sign up for the drawings, and I won in the very first drawing! :) I chose a large skein of sock yarn with a darning egg. I've been wanting a darning egg for a long time! This was my lucky day.


I had brought some of the Oddball Charity projects we've been working on, so that others could knit a row if they wanted. I worked on Oddball Shawls while I was there. Very relaxing.

One lady was kind enough to work a row on one of our large Oddball Blankets (#5). Her name was Amy...such a nice person.


Another sweet lady named Denise asked to work on one of our Oddball Baby Blankets. So nice! She knit over two inches!


There were a few other people that helped also, but I wasn't able to get their photo. Thank you all for your help on our charity projects!

While I was there, I received several skeins of yarn for our charity knitting. How wonderful!


I gave three skeins of yarn at the swap table, and got these three nice skeins of Lion Woolease in exchange. Yay! They will be perfect for a lapghan I'm making for myself right now!


I'm so glad I was able to go to the WWKIP Day. :D

Piano Recital and Beach Trip

I haven't done a lot of knitting lately, because I've been busy with a few other things. I did manage to knit a few rows each day, but nothing photo-worthy yet.

Here are my piano students that were able to attend our Spring recital this past weekend. They all did a wonderful job! (And yes....the adults are my students too!)


When the recital was over, my hubby and I packed up and spent a day at the beach! :)

Funkadelic Acrylic DPNs at Hobby Lobby

Cool!

I just found the coolest looking acrylic dpns at Hobby Lobby this week. Had to buy them!

Another Cushy Baby Blanket

This past week, I decided to make a quick gift for a friend that's having a baby soon. I grabbed a skein of Lion Brand Homespun, and two skeins of Bernat Baby Coordinates and made another Cushy Baby Blanket.

I had to change colors of Homespun yarn, to make sure I had enough, which gave it an interesting look.

So quick and fun. And CUSHY!! :D