As previously mentioned, on Friday, September 28th, Mudder, Iain and I headed off to my new LYS (Gaspereau Valley Fibres). Sigh. What a wonderful place it is. It is truly a little piece of fibre heaven. The yarn shop is located on a farm so you get to enjoy animals (sheep, an alpaca, chickens, the ‘greeter’ dog…) on your walk inside. As before, the environment is comfortable and cosy and the owner just lovely. The selection of Fleece Artist and other hand painted and organic fibres is incredible. Yes, I found it hard to leave again.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. My Mudder, the knitter, is allergic to wool. Yes, you read that right. Allergic. To. Wool. She’s dedicated though. Mudder is a confirmed sock knitter and Patons' Kroy is her yarn of choice. Often, she has to take an allergy pill to do so. Neither of us considered the fact that we were walking into a natural fibre store and what that might do to her allergies. Unfortunately, it meant that she could only fondle one of the beautiful carved wooden tables for sale at the wool shop. To steel herself against illicit wool fondling and the eventual assault on her eyes and nose just by breathing in the lanolin enhanced air, she held Iain for me so that I could fondle to my heart’s content. Well, she held Iain and acted as a Newfoundland and Labrador tourist bureau representative for two other yarn shoppers visiting from Ontario. They haven’t been to Newfoundland and Labrador. Yet.
My main reason for heading down to Gaspereau Valley Fibres was to purchase yarn for the Queen of Hearts nursing sweater found in my Natural Knits for Babies and Moms book by Louisa Harding. Without going into too much personal detail, let’s just say I’ve recently received some good medical news and, whereas there may have been some question about me being able to continue nursing, some of those concerns have been alleviated. Knitting this nursing sweater is my treat for me on receipt of the good news. Gaspereau Valley Fibres has a lovely selection of Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton which is called for in the sweater. The natural colours are gorgeous. I, however, wanted a shade (Sage) that was only available in 3 or 4 skeins (I need seven) so I’m in wait for an upcoming order. To bide my time, the following fell into my yarn deprived little hands:
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK for a seasonal knit from Itty Bitty Hats for Iain.
I’m sure you can guess what season I’m talking about.
And these little delicious yarn cakes were wound for me from skeins at the store (I’m still working on a swift and ball winder for upcoming birthday and Christmas gifts - hint, hint to certain somebody’s who may be reading. Yes, I can admit it. I am shameless) are a real find.
This is work by the Fleece Artist. On sale. On sale because sometimes the Fleece Artist cleans out her closet and the stores closest to her (in other words, those in Nova Scotia who carry her fibre) sometimes receive ‘one off’ beauties like these. Can you imagine? I’ve moved to a place where I have access to the Fleece Artist’s closet! Have I mentioned recently that I’ve moved to a knitter’s equivalent of heaven on Earth? Is anybody interested in squatter’s rights in my basement?
This colourway is unique and won’t be found again. I might be so inspired as to come up with my own name for it. As these are a one shot deal kind of thing, they are not labelled. Each cake is comprised of a 200 metre, Fleece Artist DK weight 90% merino, 10% cashmere kind of lovely.
Swoon.
I’m intending on knitting a chevron patterned sweater from the Natural Knits book for Iain out of the yarn.
In other news, I have another FO…!
5 comments:
As the first commenter, do I get first dibs on the basement? I have seriously considered what it would take for me to move to Toronto, just to be nearer the fiber.
I'm glad to hear about your good news. I'm not a militant mom, but nursing my babies was one of the most rewarding and satisfying experiences of my life. I nursed each of them for over a year, and loved every minute of it.
Glad you can keep nursing, but sorry for whatever medical thing is/was going on. Pretty yarn stuff =) all gorgeous.
You busy, busy girl! The basement sounds lovely... do I have to compete with yarnhog to get it? I'm so glad to hear you've had good news on the nursing front! It is such a rewarding experience and I'm always saddened to hear of Mom's who have to stop before they are ready. NURSE ON ! I'm completely jealous of the yarn. I'm debating asking for a swift and ball winder for Christmas myself I figure I'm owed major knitting goodness this year since I did not get a single knit related present last year. Heathens..all of them...damn family LOL...this year I'm being much more vocal about my expectations!
Good news!! Nurse on and knit on a nursing sweater. At the rate I knit Laila would be 7 by the time it was finished.
I am in love with your yarn shop.
Can we have a little collective in your basement? Maybe a bunch of us can move down there and do housework and stuff in exchange for living that close to the yarn...hmmm...too bad I'm terrible at housework.
Post a Comment