Good morning, and happy Saturday! Are you looking forward to the warmer temps this weekend and next week? I know I am. We need some of this snow to melt so my poor dogs have somewhere to do their business. I tried clearing a small patch of the yard after the snowstorm that we had before last weekend, but the snowstorm on Sunday completely erased my hard work.
On Monday I had the pleasure of going to the Westminster dog show for my very first time. I took the train down early in the morning to arrive in time for the pharaoh hound breed judging early in the morning. There were quite a lot of pharaoh hounds entered, including my sweet Halo’s littermate sister who scored a nice Grand Champion Select win. I spent the rest of the day wandering around the bench areas visiting with various breeders and handlers and their dogs, and watching the breed competitions for several other breeds what I have an interest in, including whippets, afghan hounds, and our first love, Italian greyhounds. It was a long day, and a lot of walking around the piers where the individual breed competitions take place. I wish I could have stayed for the group competitions at Madison Square Garden later in the evening, but I had to get home at a reasonable hour so I could get some sleep and go to work the next day. Maybe next year I will be able to stay longer and see more.
Before I went back to Penn Station to catch my train home, I made time to visit the Lion Brand Studio store. I have always wanted to visit, but it seems like the only time I was in the city and had the free time was on a Saturday when they are closed. The shop was much smaller than I expected it to be, but there was a lot of great stuff to look at and touch. I didn’t see many of the trendy, funky yarns that you typically see in the big box craft stores, but they do have some of the higher end yarns that you typically won’t find in those big box stores.
I didn’t have much time to spend at the Lion Brand Studio before I had to go catch my train, and I didn’t take any pictures except for the store front. Once inside, my hands were to busy fondling yarns to take pictures, and I finally met a longtime Facebook friend who works there, so we were chatting quite a bit while I browsed. I don’t think I have ever walked out of a yarn shop empty handed, and this visit was no exception. I came home with a skein of sock yarn from the “Dyed By Darrin” line which is exclusive to the Lion Brand Studio store, some beautiful worsted weight merino, yak, and alpaca yarn, and a giant skein of blue and black variegated “Scarfie” which I plan to use in a project for another baby in my family who is due in just a few weeks.
On the train ride to and from the city I worked on my linen stitch scarf in my gradient handspun. With nothing else to do for two and half hours down and about the same back, I made good progress. I also made a few mistakes on one row. I either wrapped the wrong stitch, purled when I should have knit, or knit when I should have purled. I’m not sure. It’s easy to get thrown off when you’re as dead tired as I was. I decided to leave it though. On a smaller, simpler project I would have fixed it, but I justified leaving a mistake in my work because the rows were far too long for me to undo and pick back up on a somewhat bumpy train ride, and spot where the error is kind of a little reminder of the amazing time I had that day.
That’s all I have for today. Time to do a little spinning then get ready to head out to the gem and mineral show at the New York State Museum today. We will be meeting up with my brother and my nephew and making a little family outing of it, which I always enjoy. Next Saturday I will be going to the Golden Fleece Spinners and Weavers Guild’s annual winter spin in. I will have more details about that in another post soon so stay tuned!
Have a great weekend!
Aaron knits...and spins, and weaves. 