Friday night I poked into a new yarn shop that I learned about from Shelly: Yarn Garden, 300 East Main Street, Anoka, MN 55303. They’ve been open for about two weeks - Friday was their opening with the ribbon cutting and all. (They’re open til 6pm on Fridays. I forgot the little card with the rest of their info at home, so I’ll post that later). It’s a small shop in a building that used to be a post office (I think) with lots of other cute shops (that were closed when I got there). Plenty of parking behind the building. They have a nice selection of yarn - I don’t remember seeing an over-abundance of the frou-frou yarns (the fun furs, etc). Lots of wool, mohair blends, etc. Anywho, if you’re in the area, go check it out. (If you’re on Main St by Riverdale in Coon Rapids, it’s about a 5-10 min drive from the Target/Michael’s/etc.)

onto the WIPs…
Eli’s sweater still has one sleeve. I finally started working on sleeve #2 on the bus ride this morning.
The socks-in-progress are giving me fits. I’ve finished the cuff on the first one and attempted the provisional cast-on (the crochet variety) late Friday night (when I should have been sleeping pre-feis). It was a big pain in the butt. I gave up after two attempts and went to bed. I also moved the stitches not being used onto some spare yarn in the hopes that getting the unused needle out of the way would make things easier on the next attempt. We’ll see how that goes.

and the new project:
Pumpkins! I decided to make it in the round, cuz well, knitting up 7 little pieces and sewing them together didn’t seem like too much fun. so in the round we go. I’m using some stitch markers from the swap I did ages ago (wow, those come in handy!). I started it last night and attempted to work on it while watching The Village. (ok, so I’m a bit behind on movies) Lesson learned: don’t try to count rows while watching a movie you’ve never seen before. at any rate, I rescued myself (aka stopped knitting til I could sort it out properly) before I missed an increase round. I’m about halfway thru the body of the pumpkin.

oh, and I also got my KnitPicks order this weekend: Bare Superwash, Bare Merino Sock, Size 8 Options tips and a 40″ cord. The Superwash is getting dyed for mittens, the Merino Sock is going to be self-stiped dyeing attempt #2 (let’s hope I’ve learned how to not tangle the giant skein this time), and I decided I wanted to test the needles before buying the whole set. so I chose size 8. the problem: nothing I’m knitting right now is on size 8s. I’m going nuts. I’m thinking I might start a new project just so I can use them.

in non-knitting news, the feis (dance competition) this weekend went well. until I was heading to my car. and I fell down a couple stairs between the skyway and parking ramp. ouch. I have bruises. it hurts when I move. thankfully, the bruise on my left ring finger is going away - my needle rests right there and knitting was a bit painful at times last night.

ETA: for Nancy and others who are curious, the pumpkin is being made from this, because there were a few weak spots (moths? in mothproof thrift shop wool? I dunno. but I don’t trust it on it’s own so think hope felting will make it more secure) with Paton’s Wool in Leaf Green that I bought from Michael’s after visiting the new shop, cuz it was on sale (and I’m feeling too lazy to dye the light green thrift shop yarn a more leafy shade).