Sunday in New York

Sunday I went to the special preview for blog, podcast and newsletter subscribers of the new Lion Brand Yarn Studio in Manhattan. Actually we were on our way to Brooklyn for my mother’s birthday and I made my husband stop. It opened at noon and by 11:45 there was already a line of excited and friendly knitters. The store was lovely and sold everything you would need. I loved the wall where you could sample Lion Brand yarn. The store is in a great location with a lot of other shopping nearby. It is always good to see another yarn store opening up.

Stocking Up

A lot of people I know are becoming grandparents so I decided to stockpile some baby gifts. I’m not finished yet but I have three sweaters so far. Two are Easy Baby Cardigans by Diane Soucy and one is the EZ's Surplice Baby Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann in Vogue Knitting spring/summer 2007. All were fun and fast to make. Notice the NY Mets colors. One baby is going to be a boy and I know his grandfather is a big fan.
I am also doing a lot of spinning. I don’t know if just constant practice will make my yarn look any better, but I am trying to do a little every day. Here is the first that I would actually consider yarn. As you can see, it is very uneven and pretty chunky. I’ve done some more since this and it is still chunky and uneven. The first batch seemed under spun so I think I overcompensated and the new stuff is very tightly spun. I’m going to try to knit something with it. One thing, I love doing it. It is so amazing to see this fluffy stuff become real yarn. I have to try to make it a little thinner though because all this is so bulky. Also, I am going through a lot of roving. I guess I won’t use so much with thinner yarn.