Monday, September 27, 2010

SEPTEMBER SLIPS AWAY

I can't believe how long I've been trying to make a blog post.  I have been SO busy since I returned from vacation.  this trend actually started while I was on vacation and I had to cut short our last day to make a quick (not really since it was a 12 hr drive) trip back home to attend to a network issue.  Since I have been just trying to keep my head above water since returning from vacation - I don't have much "new stuff" to report on.

I did go to a great yarn shop while on vacation.  Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows how much I LOVE visiting yarn/needlework shops when I travel.  Well - I found a new shop in Maryville Tennessee before I left when I was researching whether there were any new shops that had popped up since I was in that area last year.  So I found The Knitting Nest owned by Antje Gillingham who is actually a famous sock knitter and has written two wonderful books on the subject.  Knitting Circles Around Socks and Knitting More Circles Around Socks is book number 2.  Sorry to say she was sold out of both books when I visited there.  To say this shop was beautiful is such an understatement.  It was gorgeous!  The floors were reclaimed barnwood - there was exposed brick on several walls and the back of her shop had an open balcony which had nice views of downtown Maryville.  Come and take a tour with me - I  have lots of photos to share with you.

Here is the charming downtown street and the beautiful brick exterior of the Knitting Nest.

Once inside - oh my goodness - what a wonderful layout on this shop - the space was gorgeous!

Here is a table full of Malabrigo

I'm not sure I even made it to this wall


  Such lovely colors and I loved the presentation.Here is my non-knitting mother making a purchase LOL and Jody and my dad were patient husbands just wandering around and pretending to be interested.

The shop was divided into areas of interest and this is the "sock " area - all her sock books and sock yarns were in this area.  There was a baby/children's area and so forth.  Yes I did find many things I wanted but I settled on a new Rowan book and yarn to do a lovely transitional jacket.  I have already started it so I will show a progress photo on that one soon.

I don't have a lot of other vacation photos to show you - I did not take tons of photos - since we vacation in this area of the Smokey Mountains every year - I just don't do a lot of photos any more.  We did however visit a new place - my folks knew of a great steak/bbq joint in Dandridge - it is a darling little town - so quaint - wish we had arrived sooner so we could have walked the streets and gone in some of the antique and gift shops.  As it were - my mom and I quickly hit one gift/antique shop which was housed in the upstairs back of the 100+ year old store where Smoky's Steaks and BBQ is located.  We got there a little early and were able to nab a seat on the porch which overlooked the downtown street and an interesting cemetery with graves dating back to the civil war.  I could have spent more time looking but darkness was catching us and I'm WAY too much a believer in ghosts to be walking around a place like that at dusk LOL. 
Here is another shot of the quaint downtown street - Oh - I want to live in a place like this !


Vacation 2010 is just a sweet memory now - seems like ages ago that we were sitting on that porch enjoying a blissful conversation and meal with my dear folks.

I have one last photo to show you of a shawlette that I made for DF Carol's upcoming birthday next month.  I am astounded with myself that I actually gave poor Carol her birthday gift in advance of her special day.  Every single year Carol gets her birthday present somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas but this year I wanted her to have this to enjoy on her annual pilgrimage home to NY state.  For the knitters out there - it started out to be Multnomah - a very popular pattern which has a feather and fan lace border - well - I did not like the way it was going and after putting in about 10 or 12 rows - I ended up pulling it all out and making it a MultMara shawlette.  Mara is one of my favorite patterns and I pictured one I completed in my last post for another friend.  Not only that - I have already started knitting another beautiful Mara for myself.  So here is Carols - it is knit with Dream in Color Classy which is a hand dyed yarn.  Color:  Chinatown Autumn I think it was called.


I hope this finds all of my friends in blog land enjoying fine fall weather.  Apparently Mother Nature forget to send any fall feelings way down south.  We are STILL having temps in the upper 80's - at least we might slip into the upper 60's at night.  No matter what - it is still better than 110 heat index that we had a month ago.
Thanks for visiting my blog and I appreciate your comments.

13 comments:

Jackie's Stitches said...

Your pictures of The Knitting Nest are wonderful! The floors are wonderful and it looks like there is plenty of room to move around the shop. Very nice!

Carol's shawl is wonderful! I'm glad you could repurpose the shawl that you didn't like into something so nice. The yarn is fantastic!

Rugs and Pugs said...

Mel ~
Good to hear from you! That knit shop is beautiful. I love the charm of old buildings!
Carol's shawl is a wonderful and congrats on getting it done early!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Margaret said...

Agh! I want to go to that shop! I just read on someone else's blog about the book Knitting Circles around Socks -- and you got to visit the author's shop! And it's gorgeous too! Thanks for the pics -- looks like you had a great vacation. Great present for your DF too.

Siobhán said...

Great job on the shawl, Mel! The knit shop looks like it was fantastic. I love quaint little towns like that... it just seems like life is a bit more simple when living in one, doesn't it?

Kim said...

Beautiful shop - what a lucky find. The owner certainly has a flair for design as the layout appears to be very inviting.

Nancy said...

The Knitting Nest looks like a fun place to visit for sure! All the yarns are so pretty.

Too bad you didn't have time to walk through the old cemetery. Probably some interesting tombstones to be found there.

I love the downtown shot. Places like that make you feel you stepped back in time a little.

Finally it has cooled down here, and it feels wonderful!

Katrina said...

Love the pictures of the Knitting Nest!!! Cute, cute, cute shop. And the shawl is just so pretty too.

beeinstitches said...

Was that shot of the MalaB table for ME??? Loved it. I will definitely have to go to THAT shop when I visit my TN friends - one who actually lives in Maryville!
Great job on re-purposing the Multnomah! And it's finished - weeooo! Sure that Carol will enjoy it.
Get some stitches in --- in-between work!

Deb said...

That shawl looks absolutely wonderful! And that knit store - OMG would I love to see that place. Loved all your pictures too. Isn't is a sad time when vacation has to end?

Susan said...

Thanks for the eye candy, Mel! Although I'll probably never be a true knitter, I do enjoy looking at all the yarns.

The street you showed looks a lot like the town where I grew up in Nebraska. Just one main street. Definitely a lot slower pace of life!

Karoline said...

The Knitting Nest looks gorgeous and Carols shawl is gorgeous

Jeanne said...

You're right Melody - it does take time to get photos ready and post an update. What a lovely knitting shop -that rainbow wall of yarn is just yummy. I love shops that put some work into creating an 'atmosphere'. You did a grand job on that shawl - congrats!

TeresaB said...

Ohhh, the next trip I take up that way I'm going to have to make The Knitting Nest a priority stop! Looks lovely.

I'm sure Carol loved her shawl, it's beautiful!