Everyone at home seems to be feeling better now! YAY! I'm glad too because we've all been sick for weeks now. I just returned yesterday from my trip to New Orleans to visit my husband. We had such a wonderful time. It was absolutely the best trip we've ever had I think. I took loads and loads of pictures of the hurricane damage. You can see them
here if you'd like.
Toby took me to not one but TWO yarn shops while we were down there. First I visited the
Bette Bornside Yarn Company. I had a lovely time visiting with Mrs. Bornside. She and I talked for a long time about how the hurricane had affected her and her business. She told me that she had lost at least 1 in 3 of her walk-in customers. She was such a lovely woman...very friendly and had lots of great suggestions. While I was there I purchased some yarns that I had never seen before at my LYS. I bought some Reynolds Utopia yarns for a blanket for Savannah. This is the softest acrylic yarn I've ever seen. Mrs. Bornside had a blanket made from this yarn that she had washed several times and it held up so well and was even softer after the washing. I also bought four skeins of Lopi yarn for a felted purse, and two skeins of Fortissima sock yarn. My LYS has the sock yarn, but I couldn't resist after seeing the sample she had worked up. Mrs. Bornside had a very interesting layout of her shop. The yarns were on display here by brand and color, but there was only one skein samples of each color. Some yarns were on display on hanging color cards. You just picked out what you wanted and she went to the back to collect your choices. I kind of liked this because I didn't feel overwhelmed by the yarns. There were lots to choose from, but there weren't thousands of skeins stuffed here and there. Here's a picture of the Bornside loot.
I also got to visit
The Quarter Stitch. Right now their website is just a picture of the owner's dog and their contact info. BUT they are located in the French Quarter about half a block down from Jackson Square. It was a very quaint little shop. The yarns were yummy and I saw lots of new things I'd never seen before like Galway, Malabrigo, and Koigu. There were yarns of all kinds here. Most of them were very unique...lots of frilly and hand dyed yarns. They carried Noro, Classic Elite, Trendsetter, and many others. This would be a great place to shop if you are really interested in trying new things with yarns. It's so easy to see the combinations that are possible by mixing yarns here. They also had an awesome display of Collinette yarns and their throws were magnificent. This shop also caters to Needlepoint. There was a massive display of needlepoint yarns. The Quarter Stitch also sells needles but they are not on display. They were in a really neat cupboard. I loved the atmosphere of this shop and the lady who was working that day was very friendly and I enjoyed visiting with her. She chatted freely as we shopped and seemed to go out of the way to make my husband feel welcomed. At the Quarter Stitch, I purchased 2 skeins of Koigu and 2 of Malabrigo. I've already started a hat and scarf set from the Malabrigo and it is sooooo soft. It's 100% Merino wool and hand-dyed. Here is a picture of the Quarter Stitch yarns:
