The secret is to have a plan

My SO and I spent a week or so in Massachusetts in the very recent past. The primary intent was to visit family, but we also wanted a bit of a vacation, so spent a couple of days in Springfield. While planning our very loose itinerary, I realized we would be within spitting distance of Webs in Northampton. And they are celebrating their 40th anniversary with a sale. Ruh roh!

First, I set a yarn budget, then created a project list, then spent an inordinate amount of time online, scoping out the sale items and tentatively selecting colors. Otherwise, I knew I would be overwhelmed with the sheer volume of choices available and either buy one of everything or not a single skein.

A subset of all the yarn available.

I pictured Webs being a giant warehouse, but the warehouse itself is separate from the store. Yarn is arranged by weight, which helped me avoid the sock yarn. (I have enough sock yarn to last me several years, plus Simply Socks is located in my hometown, so no need to visit those aisles.) They also have books and buttons, so my SO selected buttons for his Fibonacci vest and I was able to confirm the number needed by referencing Knit One Below.

These look black but are actually dark green.

One project I have in mind is a Danish-styled tunic sweater for cross country skiing, for myself. Other than wanting worsted weight yarn, my only criteria was the color, which had to be the perfect shade of red. I found it, and while I was not specifically looking for Superwash, that was a bonus.

Cascade 220 Superwash in the perfect shade of red

Another project idea is a sweater of my own design. I had already selected the yarn and color, so just needed to locate it in the store. Alas, there was not a sweater's worth there, but the helpful staff offered to find it in the warehouse and ship it to me free. It arrived home before I did.

Cascade 220 Heathers, in 'Cordovan'.

I knew I wanted Superwash for a sweater for my granddaughter, but did not know which color until I spotted this one.

Cascade 220 Superwash, in periwinkle

And then, because I like to have a selection of spare winter hats for visitors, I picked out some single skeins for that.

Plymouth Encore, in gray, hunter orange, and brown.

Some of my sweater projects are going to be knit in the round, and since I am rather round, I added some long circular needles to my purchase. (FYI: buttons and needles fall outside the yarn budget. Just saying.) The selection in US7 and US8 sizes was meager - very picked over - which is why one of those sets is "cubics".

Knitters Pride Nova circular needles.

And then we got the hell out of there. I had planned to visit another yarn store, over the border in Connecticut, because it features locally hand-dyed yarns, but I was out of money plus I probably would have selected fingering weight yarns in single skein doses, just right for MORE socks. All in all, I am very proud of myself for sticking to my budget. Different yarns are on sale in May at Webs, if you dare look at the website.

Black Swamp Spinner's Guild Market Day

When we stepped into the building at the fairgrounds in Bowling Green, OH, I was nearly overcome by wool fumes. Or so I thought. Later on I realized that wooly-headed feeling was actually from the handmade scented soap near the door. That did not detract from my excitement, though. Yarn! I barely knew where to start.

I meant to do some homework beforehand and find patterns from my pattern stash that are in need of yarn, but neglected to do so. That left me reluctant to pick out a sweater's worth of skeins. But sock yarn doesn't count as stash enhancement, does it? I found some semi-solids and could not make up my mind over which color, so I bought all three that were whispering my name.



These were at a bargain price because they are the first attempts at hand-dyeing of the woman whose name I neglected to get. She is planning to offer them online, though, so keep an eye out for YarnDaze.com.

When I go to fiber fests, I like to buy something unusual, so I picked up this skein of Sea Silk by Hand Maiden.



It's 70% silk, 30% Seacell. Seacell is developed by Smartfiber and they make a lot of claims about this fiber, including that it will enhance one's feeling of well-being. We'll see about that! The yarn came with a scarf pattern, and it will look great with a deep purple summer shift of mine.

Other items I picked up:



I can't seem to locate my little pair of Fiskars, so I bought these from a vendor selling re-enactment do-dads. (I can't find the sheet listing the vendors - sorry!)

Wooden buttons from the same vendor.



Pewter buttons from the same vendor. I'm starting a button collection.



There was also a lot of roving and homespun and spindles and dyes and pattern books, etc. I fought off the temptation to invest in some spinning supplies because, although we watched the demos, I just don't quite get how it works. I think there is a spinning guild here too, so I will have to try to hook up with them so someone can teach me one-on-one. Besides, with summer coming (yes, it is - really!) I'm a little hesitant about taking on one more activity.

While we were in Bowling Green, we decided to check out the LYS's but it was not to be. Both the Loving Traditions Yarn Shoppe and Kathy's Quality Yarns are no longer in business. I had found these two stores through Google and one is still listed at KnitMap, so I guess the lesson learned here is to call ahead. Not that we begrudged seeing downtown Bowling Green - it looks like a lovely town - but we might have made other plans if we had known.

Knowing I would be gone most of the day today, I took yesterday off to do my usual Saturday chores. But now I can't shake the feeling I should be going to work tomorrow. Time to chill with some knitting.