Pretty new yarn
Originally uploaded by wendymc

Our family took a little vacation over to Vancouver on the weekend. This is the second year we've done this, and it might become our yearly family vacation. We take in the zoo, aquarium, science world and ikea, plus some shopping and eating, of course. Kid-friendly, low stress, and relatively inexpensive. We may extend it from a 3 day weekend to a 4 day one next year, so we can spend some time on Granville Island.

One of the hilights of the trip for me was a trip to Urban Yarns, a nifty little yarn shop over there. Some gorgeous yarns, and good sales. I didn't need much yarn (have you SEEN my stash lately??) so I didn't buy much, but I couldn't leave a couple special purchases behind. The 2 lovely skeins in the photo above are Hacho by Mirasol Yarns which I'd never seen before. It's really soft and the colours are even richer than they look in the photo. This is destined to be a Baby Surprise Jacket - not the most traditional baby colours, but it should look nice, I think. Sadly I was 2 inches into the first attempt when I found a huge error and had to rip. Ah well, it's should be quick to knit back up again.

I also brought home this gorgeous Fleece Artist Merino:

Which will become some kinds of scarf or stole for the Daycare Silent Auction this winter.

All these lovely, wonderful yarns are making me eye some of my cheaper wools and acrylics more critically. I may have to find new homes for them, to make room for all this nice yarn that keeps following me home.

Finished Felting!

Finished Felting!
Originally uploaded by wendymc

Felty goodness! I finished up the felted hat for Argen. I knit up the brimmed hat from HandKnit Holidays, put an extra row on the brim, and obviously made it extra large pre-felting. (it covered my head and face) It felted up nice, but too small! I had to stretch it out a bit to fit my son's giant melon. He's put it on a few times now, but he's not sold on wearing it.

I also knit up a felted crown out of some leftover koolaid dyed wool I had. The pattern is here at the Fibre Pirate Blog. It knit up super fast, so I think I'l be making a few more - the neices and my kids will get them for Christmas, maybe. I dyed some wool blue and green for the next one, and I'm thinking about some beads or sequins I could sew on for extra pizazz.