sweetgeorgia

Destashing a bit…

A couple months ago, I had a bit of an [_oops_ moment](http://blog.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/archives/2005/02/double_trouble.html) when I bought duplicates of a Jaeger pattern book and some shade cards. I finally have gotten around to destashing and have posted them for sale on Ebay now. [Check it out...](http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfrppZ100QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQrdZ0QQsassZplanetfish)

These are just the books for now, but I’ll be listing some yarn too in the next few days! Must clear out some space in the yarn tub(s) for Fall stuff!

Roving roving roving…

Last Saturday, the DH was off at his brother’s bachelor party… _all day_. What to do to get your mind off all the colourful activities in which your DH might be participating at said bachelor party? Go shopping… _all day_.

####Penelope Fibre

I drove myself out to [Penelope Fibre](http://www.penelopefibre.com/) in South Surrey and Knitopia in White Rock. Penelope Fibre is a wonderful mother & daughter-run company that stocks fabulous fibres and equipment for spinners and weavers. If you want to visit them, call ahead, otherwise order off their lovely web site.

Here’s what I bought at Penelope’s:

* 1/2 lb Ashland Bay Trading Co. Merino in “Mojave” (red!)
* 1 lb New Zealand Merino (natural)
* 1 lb 50% Merino/50% Tencel Blend (natural)
* 1/4 lb Tussah Silk (natural honey colour)
* Spin Off back issues (Winter 2003, Summer 2004)

The natural coloured stuff is for dyeing, of course! The NZ Merino is SO fluffy and soft, I had to have it! And I wanted to try some different fibres, so that’s why I picked up the wool/tencel and silk. I’m thinking of dyeing the silk a solid colour and then plying it with some of the merino.

####Knitopia
Knitopia is a cute little shop just inside White Rock and is just _packed_ with stuff…some Dale, some Rowan, some Fleece Artist. A lot of the Rowan stuff was on sale, so I picked up a pack of Rowan 4-ply Soft (Smoke) for 50% off! Love it! I’m thinking about making the fair isle cardigan from Sarah Dallas’ Vintage Knits book…

I saw this beautiful baby pattern book: [Baby Knits from Dale of Norway](http://spinblessing.com/dale_baby_treasury.htm)… Such cute patterns but at $40, I left it on the shelf. Might get this next time I’m there!

####Knit Cafe
Ok, I’m bummed about this one. I actually took the time (40 minutes) to drive from White Rock to Langley (oh and I got lost along the way) to get to the Knit Cafe. I’ve heard raves about the Knit Cafe. They serve lattes and yarn… you can get ice cream there… whatever. You can’t get any of that if THEY ARE CLOSED!?!? Closed on a Saturday. Closed because of Victoria Day weekend. Whatever.

####On Order
After a particularly unpleasant experience of untangling a pile of energized singles, I ordered a niddy noddy online…and some other things. These are things I’m waiting for:

* Ashford Niddy Noddy
* Ashford Precision Lazy Kate
* Knit Picks Shine yarn for the argyle vest in “Special Knits”
* Knit Picks dye-your-own sock yarn
* Knit Picks Andean Silk in Sangria x 10 (I can’t remember why I ordered this. Oh god, that’s terrible. I think it’s for a Sitcom Chic.)
* Electric Bobbin Winder
* Bobbins
* Spin Off Back Issues x 6

Knitting, Tokyo and Cherry Blossoms

Hello from (the Apple Store in) Tokyo! Don’t you just love free internet access from demo G5 computers? Alison noticed that I haven’t posted for a few days and I just wanted to post a note to say that I am, in fact, still alive and knitting in Tokyo! We’re here for two weeks (back home by Saturday) visiting friends and family… I have lots of photos and will post them…soon!

Last night, we had dinner with friends (had *chicken* sashimi!) and walked through Ueno Park where people are still having their Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties… So many people… Good thing we went yesterday since it’s pouring rain today!

So far, outside of visiting Osaka, Kyoto, an onsen in Osaka, and various neighbourhoods in Tokyo, I’ve found a few of the yarn shops on Pinku’s list — La Droguerie in Ometosando, the Rowan/Jaeger shop in Ebisu (where they have actual knitted samples from the new Rowan mag!) and the Okadaya craft shop (4 floors of craft stuff). It doesn’t seem like anybody in Japan does any spinning, but they seem to like felting and crocheting. In fact, you can get little kits of wool roving to make tiny toy felted dogs — *so* cute. I bought a few bags of roving (that they use for felting) and am going to bring them home to spin…

Ok! Off to find some coffee now!