Allons-y: A DC Yarn Adventure

Lyndsay with her awesome new yarn + bag!

Allons-y = French for "Let's go" and favorite phrase of my favorite Doctor (#10, played by David Tennant). Also technically, we were in Alexandria, VA and not DC but we used the DC Metro and were mere miles away from our Nation's Capitol, so basically DC (plus "VA Yarn Adventure" does not sound as epic). I found out several months ago that a somewhat local yarn store was one of the flagship stores selling a particular brand of American yarn that Lyndsay likes by a designer that we both like. We discussed the idea of a faux knit-along where we both knit patterns of his with his yarn. Further contemplation on my part determined that it would be possible to travel the 1+ hour trip via public transportation and thus not keep the barely-one-month-old Noah in a car seat for prolonged periods of time. And so the trip was planned! My Christmas present to Lyndsay would be her tickets on said public transportation (as well as yummy lunch at 5 Guys across the street from the shop) so that all she would have to pay for was yarn. She got me some absolutely delicious sock yarn (I imagine because she remembered prior conversations about my desire to actually knit a pair of socks) that I need to take pictures of because it is a stunning shade of "Jeanne Pink" and should match my hat and mittens quite well!

My new yarn + bag!

As it would turn out, unpaid maternity leave is not conducive to buying massive amounts of yarn for large projects that are not Christmas presents for anyone but myself, thus my purchase for our faux knit-along would have to wait until another day. I did have it in the budget for some chunky yarn for a shawl that's knit with large needles for a more instant-gratification project (and that's coming along nicely, again pictures are forthcoming). I purchased two hanks, which turned out to be a good thing, because the initial yarn I was planning on buying was not in stock. My cardigan has waited this long (it was seriously summer the last time I worked on it) so it can stand to wait a while longer. The trip ended up being way longer than I had planned for, and I felt guilty for taking Lyndsay away from her family for so long, but the yarn store was amazing and completely worth the trip! Next time, though, we'll be driving. Despite the distance, Fibre Space is way better than my local yarn store (only about 15min from my house and less than 10in from work) both in selection of yarn and stock.