Lots of Saturday stuff to tell you. First, the weather is finally lovely–mid- to upper-eighties, no humidity to speak of. Actually pretty pleasant. (Take that as intended, as a compliment–I’m really not a “summer” person.) We took Chappy out for a walk this morning–his first in two weeks (yes, you heard me), and we all enjoyed that.

Then, Mom and I went out. We decided we’d scope out the new LYS, Nonna’s Yarn Cafe . . . you know, scout it out to make sure it’s twin-proof for Risa. (See, purely a charitable gesture, not any, um eagerness, to get in there to see the yarn or anything like that!) We didn’t know what time they opened and got there around The sign said 11:00. Okay, no problem, it IS still kind of early. We headed over to Starbucks for some refreshments, and walked back to the shop around 11:15. Hmm. Still closed. We peered through the window, a little disappointed, then walked back down the steps to the car. Just as I started the engine, two ladies walked up the stairs . . . saw us looking, and waved . . . well, gosh, we had to go in now!

So, we did. The shop, we found out, is run by two sisters, Josephine and Nickie, and is named for their mother, who taught both of them to crochet, knit, sew, and all sorts of crafty things, but who passed away just before they opened. The two of them are both dedicated crocheters, and only recent knitters. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but I think it explains the lack of much sock yarn. They had some nice yarns–Debbie Bliss, Gedifra, Noro, Berroco–and Nickie got very excited when she talked about having all these beautiful yarns to experiment with, and eager to add more and more yarns to the collection. (I believe it’s her intention to knit or crochet a sample of every yarn in the shop, and she sounded very excited about it, too.) There were novelty yarns but also some “classic” ones, which is a relief because, really, I don’t much like novelty yarn (grin). I like to show off my stitches, not the “fancy” stuff a yarn designer decided to throw into a yarn.

I would have liked to have seen a little more sock yarn, or a little more lace-weight yarns, and I didn’t see a single circular needle (unless there were some hiding in the basket of bamboo needles in the back), or “gadgets” like stitch markers, row counters, and the like, but all in all I thought it was a nice shop. Sunny, airy, clean (which is not something you can say about every yarn shop). The back half is a little coffee area with some very yummy looking desserts and biscotti. Could use some more books, but then, we all know I’m a biblioholic and want to see books just about everywhere I go. Tina said that the owners were very “normal,” which I take to be a compliment. I thought they were both very friendly and easy to talk to (though they seemed a little on the shocked and appalled side when I said I didn’t like crocheted sweaters–of course, Nickie was wearing one at the time, so it might not have been very tactful of me, but it was nice and I was speaking generally!). They also want to start doing get-together nights for crocheting and knitting, and get some lessons scheduled . . . although I wonder if they’ll be having advanced knitting classes, since Nickie is still a beginner at knitting.

Oh, and I did introduce myself as Chappy’s Mom after we’d been talking for a little while. If I’d hated the store or found them unfriendly, I probably wouldn’t have, but they were nice, and knew about my blog, so . . . I did! I also bought five skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in a gorgeous shade of red. Incredibly soft, and just a lovely color. I don’t know what I’ll make with it–maybe a scarf kind of thing for winter. Or a lacy shawl. Or . . . well, I don’t know yet, but whatever it is, it’s going to be soft.

Mom, Chappy and I sat outside on the deck for a while this afternoon, in the shade, with a breeze, and no humidity to speak of. Very nice indeed–at least, until my allergies started complaining. And when the mail came, guess what I got?

A box from my Secret Pal!

That’s two skeins of sport-weight yarn from furryarns.com in nice, pastel-y shades of pink and blue. I haven’t ordered from that site yet, but have been eyeing her hand-painted Zephyr for some time, so it’s nice to see some of her stuff in person!

There’s also some shea butter handcream in there, in a scent called “Rainy Afternoon,” a box of adorable, pear-shaped candles. Some lip balm.

And not one, not two, but three bags of goodies for my boy Chappy for his birthday. Isn’t that nice? He’s already had one of the special, frosted ones and has been looking for more ever since.

She also made me some stitch markers (her first attempt, she said!) and I think she’s doing a much better job at them than I am (grin). (I’m getting stuck on that whole wire-wrapping part–everything’s round. How are you supposed to hold one end of the wire still while the other end wraps? It’s a mystery.)\

All in all, a nice Saturday. And now we are all going to go to dinner at Stewarts (the root beer people)–one of the few places that still has car service so that you can bring your dog. Needless to say, it’s Chappy’s favorite restaurant.

Oh, and look at this site of baby hummingbird pictures. Pretty remarkable!

Dinner:

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Secret Saturday //