I'm spinning each planet with a different art yarn technique. So far I have Mercury, Venus, Pluto and Uranus spun up. I'll post pics when they're all finished. I decided to spin these because I needed a little break from all the tedium of fine, even singles I'd been spinning and that last core spun skein didn't quite meet my need for fun. On to other things...
Last Saturday Krystn and I went to the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival just to have a relaxing day away from our lives. The festival was much smaller than last year, and the wares were a bit lack luster in my informed opinion. There was very little spinning fiber available, and the yarn selection leaned heavily towards novelty yarn and pre-packaged kits. While novelty yarns certainly have their place in the knitting world, I would also like to see some unique vendors with products that aren't necessarily going to be available at an online superstore. There were a few interesting vendors carrying pretty yarns and notions, but overall I found the experience rather disappointing- especially considering that I drove halfway across the state and paid a rather excessive entry fee to attend! I did manage to find a beautiful, squishy skein of TARDIS blue worsted weight SW merino at the Shady Side Farm booth and have since knit an adorable TARDIS nook cozy for Brad.
Fear not, dear reader, as the sadness of the festival was quickly replaced with merriment as we met the spectacular Steven Ambrose for lunch at a cute little veg-friendly cafe called Quiet Storm. The food was great and the company was brilliantly engaging, as always. We discussed knitting, dinner party preparations, and the pleasantly unexpected success of the recent I <3 Knitting event. It was a great time all around.
From the cafe we headed to Natural Stitches, Pittsburgh's answer to; Where can you find a great yarn shop in the city? While this is Steven's place of employment, I swear to FSM that I did not allow that to impact my judgment of the shop in any way. What follows is a completely honest and impartial review, so read on.
I have seen the inside of many a yarnery in my day, and I really must say this is how a yarn shop should operate. The entire staff greeted us warmly upon entry, and gave us a quick run down on how the yarns were organized. Did you hear that local yarn stores? I said organized! That's right, those crazies at NS actually have their yarn sorted by weight and displayed in easily accessible cubes that don't make a chore of skein shopping.
There were a number of content looking patrons knitting away on some truly spectacular projects while sitting on comfy looking furniture in a well-lit social area near the front of the store. The staff were pleasant, helpful and ridiculously funny, not to mention knowledgeable about their products and services. I felt very welcome and wished I had saved my entry fee from the festival to spend on more malabrigo at NS. Oh, did I forget to mention the huge selection of mmmmmaaalabrigo? You had me at Twist, but the Rios and Silky Merino were a lovely bonus;)
They also have, I shit you not, a whole wall of Cascade 220 in spectral order! It was truly a wonder to behold! I may have drooled just a little, but I slyly dabbed it away on my collar.
All in all, I'd say Natural Stitches is definitively the best overall yarn store I've ever visited, and I'm looking forward to another trip soon!
In other, completely unrelated news, I am now the proud but befuddled owner of a Schacht 20" table loom. As soon as I figure out how to warp this bitch I'll post a pic of my new (free!) loom.
In closing I have a quick question for all ten of my regular readers; how do you feel about seeing pics of my knitting projects? Yes, bring it on, all fiber is good fiber or no I'm not really all that interested in what you do with yarn after you spin it. Your honest feedback matters my lovelies.
