Yarn & Fabric Shopping Overload + 2 Cardigans in Progress

Don't look at me like that, it was a birthday yarn shopping emergency!

Part 1: A Tale of Two Yarn Sprees

I've been TRYING to be a good little stash-buster. The first two tops I made last month were from the stash, as were my TARDIS socks AND the denim Hummingbird skirt I've almost completed.

And I deliberately chose the Delancey cardigan I'm knitting now to use up some lovely DK-weight merino I'd had lying around for over five years. Here's a progress shot (it is SO fun to knit, you start with two triangles and then join them to get the chevron effect going:)

But last weekend while riding the Bolt Bus to Boston with my husband and daughter, I reached into my purse for the Delancey AND IT WAS GONE (left at the office, thankfully, and not at the bus stop!). That meant two five hour bus rides WASTED and LACKING IN CARDIGANS.

Worst of all, it meant NO KNITTING on my BIRTHDAY, which was the following day. My husband came to the rescue, and gamely agreed to take me yarn shopping as a present.

Which is how, on my 33rd birthday, I ended up desperately pawing through the shelves of the...

Hub Mills yarn store (see photo at top) at the Classic Elite yarns distribution center in Billerica, Massachusetts.

When I was learning to knit in high school, Hub Mills (located in a scenic canal-side factory in downtown Lowell) was my Local Yarn Store, but although the new Billerica location isn't as nice, the yarns are still soft, colorful and yummy, there are lovely samples on display and the staff are super-helpful and knowledgeable. I came away with:

• Yarn, needles and pattern to make a Baby Surprise Jacket for my niece-or-nephew to be. This is Classic Elite Liberty Wool, a super-soft machine washable variegated worsted yarn with lots of colors in each ball, ideal for baby clothes:
  

  I've made a Baby Surprise Jacket before for my daughter, so knew it would be a quick fun bus-ride-worthy project.

• Kim Hargreaves' Hearfelt: The Dark House Collection book of 21 patterns.
  

  The book title is a bit over the top, but the patterns (see Ravelry for all of them) are just stunning (SO MANY PEPLUMS), so I'm not going to get too worked up.

My husband (man knows what I like) also got me a gift certificate to a local yarn store for Mother's Day. So today I went to:

La Casita Yarn Shop Café in Brooklyn.

This tiny little store and café/bar is just blocks from my home. It's jam-packed with all kinds of beautiful yarns from budget to super-fancy-expensive, some of them tucked into cookie jars and little baskets just to find space.

I especially love that they are so kid-friendly and even have kids' knitting classes and a kids' summer knitting camp. (I say this because I've had some unfortunate experiences with staff in another local yarn store that I won't name who were really rude to me and my daughter even though she hadn't touched a single skein).

Anyway, after some deliberation I bought:

• Enough yarn for my NEXT cardigan, Cherry by Anna Bell.

  I decided to make a candy pink Cherry, with a coral for the body and a slightly brighter fuschia for the ribbing and belt. The yarns shown are Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, a mostly merino superwash wool blend with a hint of cashmere and silk, and Filatura di Crosa Zara, a soft merino superwash. (I'm going to knit it extra-small to combat the growth properties of superwash).

  

Part 2: Mood Print Madness

Oh, and the fabric. Yeah. So I already have quite a bit of knit fabric, but I have a lot of summer tops and dress plans, and I'm getting a little sick of just solids, stripes and polka dots. So last month I went on a printed knit binge at Mood and got:

• A lovely monochrome purple-and-white rose print rayon/lycra jersey:
  
• Pink and purple chevrons! (also rayon/lycra jersey):
  
  The print of pure color chaos... I'm thinking a sleeveless Jalie scarf-collar top (I know, AGAIN).

  

• Not to mention the Hummingbird-esque fabric I used for my second Hummingbird top:
  
• And for slight balance, some soft stretchy double-knit (or ponte?) RPL for a Bonny top:
  

Phew! Confession time over. I think I have a lot of stash-sewing in my future before I can justify setting foot in a yarn or fabric store any time soon...