Sparkly!

I’m back from Las Vegas! Why was I there, other than Vacation Fun?

In the grand tradition of the Yarn Harlot, I present…

My engagement ring at Hoover Dam! Kevin asked Monday night at the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris. It’s a half scale Eiffel Tower, but the view is very nice and it was very romantic.

Oh, and I was wearing my newest shawl. It’s the center repeat from Shirley Paden’s shawl in the Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting. The pattern is a traditional shawl center called “Spider Webs, Spiders and Diamonds” from the Isle of Unst in the Shetland Islands. Sharon Miller in Heirloom Knitting says that it dates from the middle of the nineteeth century.

This shawl was my first attempt at knitting a lace pattern that is worked on every row. That means that rather than knitting or purling every other row, yarn overs and the decreases are worked every row. It makes for more delicate lace, I think.

Here is another view of the shawl. Well, mainly its a picture of me.

Kevin was sweet, and on Friday, we drove to the two yarn shops in Las Vegas – Gail Knits and Wooly Wonders. I was too shy to ask about taking pictures inside the stores, but I did snag a shot of the outside of Gail Knits. After all, how often do you find a yarn shop with your name in it?

Both yarn shops are fairly small, and in strip malls. Both shops primarily had cotton blends, although Wooly Wonders did have a bit more wool. Neither store had much in the way of sock yarn, although both had an excellent selection of books. I think Gail Knits had a larger selection, but Wooly Wonders did have weaving and spinning supplies. Gail Knits did have a few yarns on sale, but no sale section. Wooly Wonders also did not have a sales section, but they did have some lovely handspun natural alpaca. It was only 24.95 for half a pound, which was about 665 yards. I was very tempted, but it was sport/fingering weight and I hardly need another shawl.

At Gail Knits, I picked up a thank you gift for Barb, who looked after Katie while I was gone. I also bought the 1997 edition of Barbara Walker’s Mosaic Knitting for Dee, since they had it at retail price. If anyone else wants a copy, I know that they still have two copies. Wooly Wonders also had one copy.

For me, I picked up a super cute pair of chocolate chip knitting needles from Wooly Wonders. No, honestly, they are from Serendipity Designs – Knitche here in Illinois carries them as well. They are made from North American White Birch and their tops are made with polymer clay. The bunnies are from Knitche.

Wooly Wonders also had double pointed needles in size 00, 000 and 0000. I’d never seen them in a yarn shop before, so I snagged them. From Gail Knits, I picked up a Jaeger Handknits pamphlet – JB35.

Finally, I didn’t knit much on my trip, but I did manage to finish my sister’s birthday scarf. I’m going to wait to post a picture until she gets it. And, I might try submitting the pattern to MagKnits, but I’m not sure.