Shopping Down East: Yarn (and Stuff)

During my visit in Winnipeg last month, Fuss and I - along with my buddy K - went on a yarn shopping ADVENTURE.  Because reasons.  (It's sadly a lot like fabric - you're never happy with what you have in your stash.)  Also, I'm a filthy enabler and am determined to get K* hooked on knitting.

I was actually pretty good (as in, my bank account didn't cry too much), and I was conscous that I still had fabric shopping to do.  But I did manage to get some lovely yarn.

Not quite as lovely as Fuss's haul though.  This is why she had the willpower to avoid being seduced by fabric at Mitchell's; she dropped a bank-cryingly large amount on some absolutely gorgeous yarns!

First we went to Ram Wools Yarn Coop, which my Grandma recommended.  Coming from the woman who introduced me to Mitchell's Fabrics, I knew we had to go.  This is a bright and cheerful, relatively large store - definitely bigger than the little yarn shop we had in Whitehorse - and it sent me into micro-fits of joy.  I was overwhelmed and entirely forgot everything that I'd planned to locate while there!  I touched everything, and was an extra pair of hands for the wool-allergic K (a great excuse to touch more yarn), but nearly walked out without buying any yarn.

I say yarn, because I came across Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Harmoney Needle Set, and I knew they were coming home with me.

So pretty!



And I say "nearly" because K managed to find this gorgeous little gem and (barely) twisted my arm into buying it.

Who's the filthy enabler now?!

Hilariously, this yarn matches my new needles perfectly.






We then walked over to Wolseley Wool, just down the road. This place was smack-dab in the middle of a residential area and is quite the gem.  I'm glad I don't live near it because I'd probably no longer have a home to call my own and would just push my stolen shopping cart full of all the yarn I bought instead of paying rent.  Hey, at least I'd be entertained!

Despite all of the luxurous yarn she had in the front, I'm a practical creature and found the 'workhorse' yarns in the back, including the Berroco Vintage.  I've heard so much about this yarn, and as soon as I touched it, I knew it too was coming home with me (I have zero willpower for soft pretty things).  I fussed around a bit, but fell instantly in love with this yellow sprinkled liberally with pink in a shade called Apricot, and knew it'd be a cardigan.  I'm still deciding on the pattern, but I think I'm going to make a Marion.  Right after I finish my Owls sweater. 

Which, sadly, is a post for another day.  I'm waiting for the tears of sweater-knitting pain to stop flowing before I write that one.

I now have more yarn than I know what to do with, and a great deal of it in quantities to make sweaters.  I'm officially declairing a moratorium on yarn buying until I finish at least one more sweater!


* K is the one I sent a care package to with some yarn and patterns, as well as the yarn experiment to test her wool allergy.  Before our shopping trip, she'd only determined that yes, she is allergic to 100% Peruvian wool, and that mohair is a Bad Idea.  That trip also prooved that 100% merino wool is also a bad idea, but blends aren't as bad (but not great, either).  Alpaca is looking promising though!  Also, we learned that too much time in a small yarn shop filled with wool will cause her to start having breathing problems.  Yikes.