Just a Nibble

My mini NYC Yarn Crawl was rather tame, and while I could have done major damage and enhanced my stash to bursting, I kept to my mindful goal of acquiring new yarn only for specific projects or to try something new (to me, that is).

Yes, this is the one new skein of yarn that I bought -- isn't it gorgeous?  I'll tell you what it is in a second but first, here's a quick review of my mini-yarn crawl experience.

My first stop was Knitty City and it was bustling and full of great energy, but sadly for me, it was also not well ventilated (aka hot!) and a bit dim for my liking.  One thing that I know about myself is that environment/atmosphere is really important to me.  I thrive on light and fresh air and, yes, I'll admit it, good organization.  Knitty City is chockfull of fabulous yarns -- you name it, they've got it -- but I don't do well in yarn shops that are too crowded with merchandise and/or people nor am I happy in yarn shops that are too dark.  Like I said, the energy was great and Pearl Chin, the owner, was welcoming.  I loved browsing through everything she has in stock, but as I was looking to buy only something completely new to me, I had a hard time finding that.  Maybe it was because the yarn crawl was going on but the yarns in stock were a bit mixed up and shoppers were handling the yarns in ways that made me cringe -- if you're handling yarn and upon putting it back on the shelf it falls to the floor, please pick it up and don't just leave it on the floor to get dirty or be trodden on ... please?

I left without buying anything, but I will visit the shop again to see if I can have a better experience. Next up was The Yarn Company where, like in Cheers, they know my name!  Tavy, the sister portion of the sister-brother partnership, is a warm and funny woman who welcomes every shopper with a huge smile.  We chatted about all sorts of things, and then I got down to business. After contemplating a few different choices (Jill Draper, Araucania, Briar Rose), I fell in love with a skein of Miss Babs Yowza and knew that this was the one!  Many of you have knit with Miss Babs, but I haven't yet and when I saw the Catherine color way, it was clear that it had to come home with me.  I've been dreaming of what I'll knit with this and am always open to suggestions.