Knit, Charleston, South Carolina

A couple of weeks ago, Hubby, Little Man and I took our first family trip that was just us and not to visit family.  We decided to go to Charleston, South Carolina, and stayed in the historic district.  It was beautiful and awesome to think about such an old city and all that had happened there...

Of course, I had to do a search and see if there was a knit shop in the area, then try to see how I could sneak in a trip.  Not too hard though, Hubby is very supportive of my hobby and Little Man always wants to make new friends.  I found "Knit" in the historic area on Wentworth Street and it was a very large shop. As with all shops it had its pros and cons.

First, what I loved about the shop.  They have a great sitting area, in the midst of patterns, so you can sit, work, chat or be inspired to create something new.  The yarn is a plenty, you can find yarns of any type, color, you dream.  The owner was on site the day I shopped, not sure if that is always the case, but it is nice to know who that is.  Prices seemed very good, on both patterns and yarn.  I walked out with a Classic Elite Yarns Gallery premiere book.  I also bought Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima yarn, one word, beautiful!!

Now, for what I wasn't so crazy about.  They don't wind your yarn, if you would like it wound (which is really necessary for some hanks of yarn if you don't want a huge knotted mess) they point you in the direction and you must do it yourself.  Kind of shocking since I was the only customer when I was checking out and the owner had another helpful salesperson working.  Plus, I hadn't used a yarn swift on my own before.  The owner set me up with two hanks on the swift which proceeded to get knotted in the midst of winding.  Ugghhh!!  Luckily the helpful salesperson was nearby and I asked for help before the mess got much worst.  She was also more helpful at getting me started on the next hank, one at a time.
Another downside was that, as much as I like dogs, there were 2 schnauzers on hand, so not the best situation for those with any animal allergies, like Hubby, who suffered through it, or those who don't want dog hair in their work.  Some ended up in my yarn when the salesgirl helped wind the mess.   (Hubby pointed it out later on, he pays attention to every detail.)

So, if I was in town I would go again, but I would probably pick a yarn that was in a nice ball and didn't require winding... or maybe someone will read this and decide winding yarn would be faster done by them and a nice service to offer to customers.  ;o)

Trying Crochet, Round by Round

This year I've decided to take on becoming a crocheter as well as a knitter! Perfect for me too since I like to have multiple projects going at once and you can only have so much on your needles.

Of course, I never pick easy things, so I'm working on the "Moorish Mosaic Afghan" first fromInterweave Crochet magazine. My afghan will be in purples blues and cream, and it varies in color as it is crocheted into the different shapes that make up the afghan. There are octagons, triangles and squares. Overall there will be 30 octagons, so I started there.

Check out these pictures of the making of one octagon round by round!