I went shopping over the weekend and that is usually quite a chore for me. To say that I generally do not enjoy shopping is a bit of an understatement. It would be like saying Feline Overlord is a little spoiled. When I was a teen my mom dropped me off at the mall with $300 and told me to buy some new clothes for the new school year. (I was a teen 25 years ago. Three hundred dollars would have actually bought me several outfits instead of a t-shirt and a pair of cargo pants like it would today.) Several hours later, when mom picked me up, I showed her my three new pairs of earrings and gave her back $285.

Hate shopping.

But this weekend I actually enjoyed myself and I actually found what I was looking for and I actually spent the money and I actually bought stuff. It was a special set of circumstances though. I was shopping for books and yarn.

Love shopping for books and yarn.

Barnes and Noble had this for me: 

I knew that they would. I’ve wanted a copy of Vogue Knitting for a while and it was time to get it. This is very much a knit-nerd kind of book. If you enjoy detailed comparisons between the “slip, slip, knit” stitch and the “slip stitch, knit, pass slipped stitch over” stitch then this is your kind of book. It’s a nice reference with concise written instructions and plenty of illustrations.

While this is not a book review post, I will say this:

• I recommend the book. Its goodie.
• If you don’t have Principles of Knitting, buy that one instead. POK is bigger, covers more ground, and costs less (I think). If you already own POK, and need to satisfy your book-buying addiction, buy Vogue Knitting.

Then I went be-bopping down to Hill Country Weavers, an Austin based LYS. They had this for me: 

I knew that they would. Before I even went I had decided I wanted Tosh Sock in a lavender-ish shade. I had thought maybe I would change my mind when I got there and get a spring-ish shade of green or maybe a peachy-tangerine. So I made sure to look at all her colors of course. Who am I kidding, I looked at all the hand dyed sock yarn in the store. I even spent some time walking around with a skein of Sweet Georgia. But in the end I bought exactly what I had planned to buy. (Its colorway Heuchera, #237, btw).

I did get a little side tracked while in the store though. I started straightening the shelves. It’s a compulsion, I can’t help myself, and don’t look at me like that. Plenty of other yarn addicts do it too. Customers had been mixing up the Tosh Sock with the Tosh Merino Light. Skeins needed to be re-twisted. I was just making it all pretty again but other customers thought I worked there and started asking me questions. I did politely decline to help the first two ladies with their purchases but the third lady was a sweet grandma who wanted to make Monster Pants for her grandson and I could not resist. Have you seen the Monster Pants patterns (yes, there is more than one)? I don’t have a toddler anywhere in my universe and I’ve considered making a pair. Which is why I was walking all around helping her pick out some yarn when the owner caught me.

Oops.

But the owner, her name is Suzanne, was very nice and pointed Grandma towards the Encore (which is the perfect yarn for making pants for a three year old boy). Then she told me that the maker of Bronotta Yarn had been in a few days ago. They were making plans and discussing prices and Suzanne said my latest FO, which was Baby Stuff in Kitchen Sink, was mentioned. I guess they pulled up pictures of it on the blog and looked at it as an example of how Bronotta Yarn works up. They must have worked out all the business details because very soon Bronatta yarns will be carried by Hill Country Weavers.

O/

I didn’t anything to do with this and I know it. Lol. Suzanne was just being sweet to let me think I had a part in it. I’m tickled enough to learn that a local hand dyer, whom I like, will be in yet another LYS.

Love shopping for yarn. And books.  Its so much better than shopping for clothes.

P.S. Hill Country Weavers does online orders. I don’t know if that means Bronotta will be available on-line now. But I know that Yarn Carnival, which is another Austin-based hand-dyer, is available online though their website so… maybe?