Oh yeah, and there was a trip in there too

It seems like months but it was only three weeks ago that I went to Huntsville, Alabama for a race. There I was worried about it being cold and nasty and here I am where it's all of 31 degrees this bright December morning. Go figure.

I located the local yarn shop, Yarn Expressions, and after the expo on Friday we drove over to check it out. Located in a little strip mall, this was a very pleasant surprise. I did my little walk through, pausing here and there to fondle some particularly soft looking specimens. I hadn't planned on buying anything -- much. I'm only buying special things now, yarn I haven't seen anywhere else.
The first thing I saw that was new to me was this lovely soft alpaca; Alpaca with a Twist, Fino, lace weight 70% baby alpaca/30% silk; 875 yards. Although it isn't my colors (green with browns and white) it was the prettiest, softest thing. I've tried to swear off lace weight but I couldn't resist.

I hadn't seen any Malabrigo Lace before; 100% baby merino wool, ~470 yds in Vermillion. I don't know whether it was the color, the feel, or the Malabrigoness that made me buy this. Probably a bit of all of the above. Mmmmm, Malabrigo .....
I had read about Dream in Color yarn and was happy to finally see some. I bought one skein of Classy in Black Parade, worsted weight 100% superfine Australian merino superwash; very subtle blacks and browns and blues. I'm planning on both swatching and knitting a little scarf to see if I can tolerate it against my skin and then if it works out well, knit the Wonderful Wallaby, the pattern I bought in NY. It's about time I knit something challenging!I also couldn't resist one skein of their Smooshy in Gothic Rose; sock yarn, also 100% superfine Australian merino. The color doesn't show well here but it's beautiful. Yes, I bought it because it's called "Smooshy" and every great named yarn deserves a home in my house. That and the fact that it really is smooshy and soft.The shop was warm and welcoming and the women there were helpful and gracious and full of southern hospitality. My sis was looking for a new project and they assisted with looking for patterns and yarns. Oh! And they were having a big sale too! Added benefit of showing up when we did.

Meanwhile back at the home front, still working long days, not doing anything else right now. Except waiting for my little blue friend to arrive. Tomorrow?