Gig Harbor Yarn Shop

Hey Knitters! I visited a new-to-me yarn shop! I dropped my mom (Susan) off at SeaTac and on my way back decided to have a bit of fun for myself. I picked up sushi and made a stop in Gig Harbor, a city across from Tacoma WA. 

Along with being on the waterfront, Gig Harbor has a beautiful yarn shop Rainy Day Yarns & Mercantile, which I was so happy to explore. 

Rainy Day definitely had a boutique vibe about it, faux crystal chandeliers, great lighting, and inspiring displays and samples. 

The range of yarns was great, lots of hand dyed, some from local dyers!, as well as more commercial brands. I felt that the range of yarn brands allowed for lot of different projects and budgets. 

Along with knit samples they also had crochet ones! I do judge a shop on whether they cater to both knit and crochet, there is no need to discriminate between knitters and crocheters. I hope that if you're in the area you make a stop in, definitely worth it to me! 

Book Review: Knitting Yarns

College burnt me out on reading, I was a history major so the majority of my schooling was reading, reading, and more reading. I became a very proficient skimmer and then once I graduated I was 100% burnt out. But, one of my best friends is a voracious reader and I knew I needed to up my game. 

This year my goal is to read 10 books. I'm right on track so far! So another knitting themed book has been added to the pile. Knitting Yarns edited by Ann Hood is an anthology of knitting essays written by writers who knit; and for me it was far from my favorite style. 

Each essay individually was entertaining and pertained to knitting but they were all so different within that theme that I felt the book was a bit disjointed. There were essays by people who had learned to knit as children, who taught their children how to knit, people who knit through grief, and even people who learned to knit for their dogs. 

With all of the different essay I would have preferred a little more of a timeline set up for the book, maybe the people who learned to knit as children, then as adults, then teaching their children, then ending with the one who knit through grief, similar to a life span? Whatever it was, the book was well written but for me, not well formatted. I would give the overall book a 3 out of 5. 

Ann Hood has another anthology of the same style and I do want to give it a try but I think I need a few more books in-between before I start it. My next book isn't a knitting themed book, I'm reading Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Olou, and I'm so looking forward to the education I'm about to receive. 

Comfy Cozy Shawl

My last few shawls have been in the color play direction, Comfy Cozy definitely lands in the comfort stitches and easy to memorize directions. Comfy Cozy is my newest shawl pattern and it's a top down triangle shawl that alternates broken rib sections with a few rows of garter. 

The broken rib is easy to memorize and makes distinct paths of knit stitches so it's easy to figure out what row you're on. The garter rows break up the sections for a fun and visual stitches sections. The broken rib is so squishy and makes Comfy Cozy the perfect accessory for cool weather. 

Comfy Cozy is an excellent design for a solid or tonal yarn in your stash but a multi-color option is great too! Comfy Cozy take approximately ~870 yards of fingering weight yarn, perfect for a two skein project. 

The yarn that was used for the sample is Greenwood Fiberworks Gold Dust, a merino, nylon, and stellina blend that is soft enough to wrap around my neck. I would suggest any fingering weight yarn you are comfortable wearing around your neck. I had testers knit the pattern in a solid and a lightly variegated so there are lots of options! 

Gnedward the Gnome

To start off with, this project just makes me giggle. I haven't knit too many stuffies before but this gnome subscription from JimmyBeans was just too delightful to pass up. Gnedward is knit with Madelinetosh yarns in the single ply fingering weight base and I used a US 1.5 needle to knit everything. The pattern suggested a small and large size needle but I didn't have a US 2 and wasn't interested in purchasing one. 

The pattern is designed by Sarah Schira from Imagined Landscapes designs and this is the first time I've knit one of her designs. Her pattern writing is so thorough and planed out; there were no questions on where to pick up and what part was coming next. 

Things were a bit tight because everything is worked on such small needles but not because of anything from the pattern. All the bits were easy to sew together and everything came out so cute. At the end of the six months I'll have a small village of knit gnomes. I've already started the second month! If you are interested in the pattern and aren't apart of the subscription I believe the Gnedward pattern should be available at the beginning of 2023:)

If you aren't a fan of sewing things together than I would say this pattern isn't for you. The hat bobbles and the nose are sewing on, as well as the arms, beard, and the feet. The body is picked up from the hat brim and is not sewn on. This pattern could easily be knit from your stash or your scraps! Only a few grams of each yarn is needed, maybe I'll be knitting some scrappy cousins next!