Red Purl opens

Yippee! We have another new LYS! I went to check it out yesterday with my friend, Elizabeth. It's always more fun to do this with someone who understands your yarn addiction. LOL!

Red Purl is located in Niles, Michigan. Amy, the owner, is carrying higher end brands of yarn that other shops in our area don't have. Smart woman! You'll find Fleece Artist, Claudia Handpaints, Lobster Pot, a type of yarn from Estonia, handspun, etc.

I brought home a skein of Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in a luscious combination of greens, blues, and purples. I ask, how could I leave the store without this? It contains some of my favorite colors. My second purchase was a set of bamboo gull wing cable needles. I really needed these. I've been struggling with an old metal hook-style cable needle which I do not like. These are so much nicer.

Having heard Amy was looking for handspun yarn to sell, I took along some of my handspun to show her. She kept it all to sell! I was so pleased. :-) She asked for a few copies of my Cascading Leaves shawl pattern and if I would be interested in teaching a class on the shawl at her shop. What, me teach a class? Well...with both Elizabeth and Amy encouraging me, I might have to do it! :-) Now to figure out how to break it down into a class.

I've been working on charity projects lately. I finished 2 scarves for Scarves for the Heart last week. They've been mailed and received before the deadline. (Thanks, Shelly, for letting me know.) I sewed up another batch of kitty toys this morning and delivered them. I've finally found a volunteer to help me make toys for Pet Refuge, my local no-kill animal shelter.

Now, maybe I'll have some time to work on my own projects. My newest lace project is all charted out and ready to hit the needles to see how it works. It's a design I played around with several months ago but never pursued. I'm thinking about knitting the first one as a scarf and then upsizing it to a stole complete with a lace edging. I haven't found the right lace edging yet.