Friday, April 30, 2010

TRAVELING WOMAN


Hi Friends - I have been away on two different business trips. Have missed reading all your blog posts so I have a lot of catching up to do.

 Last Friday I went to Savannah on business.  Since Savannah is one of my favorite places - I parlayed an overnight stay so I could visit my two of my favorite yarn shops.  Unwind is less than a year old - it is a GREAT shop.  I think it is a shared ownership but most of my contact is with co-owner Leigh who is just the nicest most accommodating person.  Here is a photo of their lovely facade
Here is two shots of the inside of their shop.  LOVELY!  and full of awesome yarn.  They also have a great class area and a full kitchen which is a seperate room in the back of the shop. 
Believe it or not - this is NOT all the yarn - there is another whole wall that I did not photograph - I never even made it out of this one area.  I only had limited time to spend at Unwind - I left Jody at the hotel and had to get back there to check out before noon.  Plus when we got up it was raining and messy so I decided that I would have to forego visiting Wild Fibre's new location down in the historic area.  Parking is such a pain down in that area and plus I did sufficient damage in Unwind and did not really need to be tempted to spend more money at WF. 

I scanned the yarn section quickly - I am looking for unusual things that I can not get at our LYS.  I zero'd in on some lovely Louisa Harding yarn I had not seen before called Willow Tweed.  Fortunately there was a lovely book from last fall called Little Cake that includes designs featuring that yarn.  It is a lovely blend of merino and alpaca with natural silk slubs - yummy! This color is called denim but it looks quite lavendar in this snap. 
 

The book is lovely - beautiful photography - unfortunately in my haste - I picked the wrong yarn for the design I had in mind and now I'm in a quandry about what I will do with this yarn.  Could be something not in this book at all.  Oh well - that's what happens when I have to make rush decisions. 

Another yarn that surprised me a lot was the new Debbie Bliss Amalfi - I typically don't care for summer yarns especially with lots of cotton or linen.  This yarn has gotten a lot of press and is in all the spring/summer mags - It has a very light twist which is going to make it difficult for some people to knit with as it will easily split however it was quite lovely and the color selection at Unwind was great.  I could not leave this yarn behind - it was reasonably priced and has a pattern book to support the yarn line.  I have already cast on a neat summery moss stitch jacket.  The color is a typical "mel" color - a very rich, bright gold with  lots of green - they call it maize.  I love it so far.

I can't believe I did not get a single photo of our lovely Saturday afternoon stop on St Simons Island.  Another of my favorite places - great spot for a day trip or weekend getaway.  I was miffed I had to leave Savannah without visiting Wild Fibre but a visit to the Stitchery of St Simons and lunch at a favorite spot called Gnat's Landing would ease my pain.  It was drizzly and gray and quite cool on the island but Gnat's was packed - I guess everyone had the same idea as we did.  This is a great locally owned place that we have frequented a lot over the years.  They have great seafood but the crabcake sandwich is a favorite of ours.  Can't pass on their fried green tomatoes either!  We moved on in search of the Stitchery after lunch - they had also moved to a new location last year.  I am so mad I did not get any photos of the new location but I didn't - just suffice to say it was packed with great yarn and needlepoint and should not be missed if you are in the area.  I knew I only had limited time here as Jody was waiting in the car and was getting Florida fever - SSI is about 1.5 hrs from our home and he has always been patient about my needlework shopping excursions but I know when to push and when not to. 

 I knew Bo would have the Manos Silk Blend that had been on my mental "must have" list for quite a while.  Just as I suspected she had several colorways to choose from and I only had to make a selection.



Isn't this gorgeous !!!!!!!  Wildflowers is the colorway and I am planning to use this for the Traveling Woman shawl.  DF Kris is just finishing up this lovely shawlette so I am anxious to get mine going.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This past Monday morning I left for Auburn Al on another business trip.  Home of Auburn University - Auburn is a beautiful little city.  The only issue with Auburn is that there is no needlework or yarn shops any where close at all.  There used to be a nice little shop in Opelika but it closed last year so no shopping opportunities of that sort while in town.  They do however have a nice Ravelry group that meets at the Books a Million weekly - I met up with them on Tues night and chatted and knitted a little so that was nice.
 
Here are a couple of photos I shot from my hotel window of the historic AU campus.  Auburn was still all abloom with azaleas.  They were on their way out but still pretty - too bad my photo did not show the beautiful azaleas on the campus grounds.
I was home again for a couple of nights and am leaving again this afternoon for a weekend stay on St Augustine Beach.  I am taking lots of stitching and knitting projects and plan to mostly just sit and relax and stitch.

Next weekend will be busy as it is our annual rug guild hook in here in Jax and DF Karen is coming up to spend the weekend.  Look for lots of adventures in the next post!


15 comments:

Deb said...

Mel - you certainly mixed business with pleasure!! All your yard looks wonderful, but I especially love, love the Mano yarn. I've got some wonderful colors of their yarn in my stash and really should pull them out and make up the sweater.

I'm so envious that you're going to a rug hook in. I haven't had a bit of time to pick mine up again, and there was a hook-in out in Ann Arbor last week and I ended up not being able to go because of my nephew's confirmation! But I think through the summer I'm going to go to Kris' Thrums and Chums to get the hooking mojo back.

Glad to see a post from you with all your wool loveliness!

Melanie said...

Ahhhhh, that yarn shop looks DIVINE! And the colors on the Manos is too die for. (Or would that be to DYE for? Bad pun. lol)

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Boy, Mel! You have been a busy girl! You got some beautiful yarn - love the green and the multi colored yarn at the end of your post.

AU looks like a beautiful campus - love azaleas - my dad's yard is full of them!

Have fun at your rug hook event!!

Susan said...

Mel, if I were you, I think I would find reasons to get to Savannah often just to look at all the colors in Unwind. Hope you enjoy your weekend in St. Augustine!

Margaret said...

Boy, you sure have been traveling! I love how you manage to stop at good yarn stores during your business trips -- good for you! That Unwind looks luscious!! I love all the yarn you bought -- especially the Manos silk blend! I know that wasn't from Unwind, but boy, is it gorgeous!!! I want some! lol! The other yarns are spectacular too! Looking forward to seeing some of this knitted up. :D And to seeing your rug in pics!

You asked what I was using for Jane Atkinson -- it's AVAS silk. Love it!!

Laurie in Iowa said...

You have been on the road a lot. All the yarns look so luscious.. I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll make with your bounty.

Jackie's Stitches said...

You've been busy! I love all the acquisitions. I just bought yarn for Traveling Woman and so did Teresa. Maybe we should have a little KAL? I'm interested in seeing Kris's version too. Have a wonderful weekend in St. Augustine and I'll hope to see you soon!

Nancy said...

I have always wanted to go to Savannah! I love the inside of the yarn shop! Looks like so much fun.

Chelle (Dana) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chelle (Dana) said...

Duh, had a brain freeze there, so had to delete and start over. Sorry about that. LOL

What a great time shopping for yarn. We move back to the States in August and I can't wait to hit the yarn and stitching shops in person again. I love that Louisa Harding Tweed you got. It looks so yummy! Will have to watch to see what you decide to make with it.

I just ordered some yarn from Knitpicks in a tweed to make a sweater for DH. He wants it done before his Birthday in June. I'm a slow knitter, so probably won't make his deadline.

Hope you share pics of your rug hook-in. I started a small rug from one of Maggie Bonanomi's books.

Rugs and Pugs said...

Mel ~
You are quite the travel queen. It sounds like your trips revolve around yarn shops...lol! I'm not a knitter, but the yarns you purchased are lovely.
My niece is a graduate of Auburn!
Thanks for sharing and have a relaxing time at St. Augustine Beach.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Karoline said...

What a gorgeous shop, you got some lovely yarn.

Siobhán said...

Sounds like a lot of fun, Melody, mixed in with work. ;) I would LOVE to go to Savannah & St. Simon's Island. I've only read about them in books thus far. I also need to try some fried green tomatoes. The new additions to your yarn stash are SO pretty. My daughter has taken up knitting and has already informed me that she plans to stock up on knitting stash when we're next in the US. ;)

Bre said...

that shop looks absolutely marvelous!!! so jealous!

Michelle said...

OOoh such lovely yarn!! I can't wait to see what they turn into.