Monday, February 9, 2009

Milwaukee Yarn Shops

Very disappointing yesterday, but today Milwaukee redeemed itself.

Yesterday, I decided to take a trip to the local yarn shop while on vacation here, temporarily lifting the spending freeze. I stopped by the two shops I know about, Kro-Sha and Fiberwood Studios. It turns out that Kro-Sha is closed for good, and the other is closed on both Sundays and Mondays.

So today, I drove all the way out to Whitefish Bay, which is actually a suburb of Milwaukee, to go to Ruhama's. Good selection, good variety, and a very large store. I picked up 6 skeins of Cascade Eco Alpaca in black for a new cardigan for me (1320 yards). I probably only needed five, but get nervous when I'm buying for a sweater.

So, in February so far, I have added 2,724 yards to my stash, bringing the total way back up. So, the spending freeze is on again until Knitter's Connection.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Hello again!

I have been gone for a very long time, and I apologize if you were hoping to hear from me. In December and January, I had to take some time off from knitting and crocheting as I think I got burned out from all the Christmas presents I was working on. The work part? I didn't even finish most of them. They will, however, make very lovely gifts for next year!

I have some wonderful crochet news. Interweave Crochet has selected one of my designs to be published in their summer issue! I don't want to share any details just yet, as I have promised not to share any pictures or other information before the magazine in published. It was a relatively simple project, but it turned out beautifully and I am very proud of it. It's very exciting.

Projects? I have finished one that I am very excited about. Emily's little Pink and Purple striped sweater that had been on the needles since August 2007 was finally finished in December. I will share pictures soon, but our computer is fried and I haven't been able to download anything off our camera. I am thankful I made a size 2-3 year old, as it is still just a little big on her after all this time!

As for my stash, I continued my spending freeze throughout the holidays and only broke down this week to spend a gift certficate to the Yarn Market. I started out the month of February with 43,808 yards of yarn on hand. I am working on a couple things that should really knock down the totals this year. My goal is still 1,400 yards per month, though there have been very few months where I have come close to that. But, this is a new year!