Lost Weekend
We weren’t drinking, but we were knitting…and eating…and watching an eclectic assortment of Colin Firth movies. And we do mean eclectic and we do mean Colin Firth — all Colin, most of the time ;). Let’s just say that Mr. Darcy has a checkered film past — some good, some only watchable for the close ups.
When we could pry ourselves away from the DVDs we checked out the local yarn stores. We started off at Fibre Space (and returned later to the scene of the crime) and hit many a store after that. On Monday, having run out of films, we made a quick trip to Mount Vernon to stroll through the gorgeous scenery and learn more about our first president. Susan had been there before but said it felt new again. That’s what happens when you have no memory!
On one of our visits to Fibre Space, the store was hosting a trunk show for the glorious hand dyed yarns of Miss Babs. This picture shows us with “Miss Babs herself. She allowed us to drape her in her wares — I think it is because we helped her reach her retirement goal!!
Here’s Susan’s yarn (Sally bought the Smooch colored silk for Susan as a belated birthday present 🙂 ). The yarn on the left is called Tierno, Baby Alpaca and Silk, in the color ‘Beach Glass.’ The pink is100% mulberry silk in laceweight (1250 yards!).
Sally’s yarn from Miss Babs was also (big surprise) a color from the pink family. It’s silk lace weight in the color Shiraz.
Sally also picked up a sweater’s worth of a fingering weight yarn called Canopy (alpaca, merino, and bamboo) in Sarsaparilla (with accent colors in Canopy and some other yarns) for a project she’s wanted to undertake for a long time. More on that once it’s been started, but here’s a preview of the yarn colors.
We checked out a great new shop called Looped Yarn Works just off Dupont Circle. This bright, airy, cutely decorated shop has cozy nooks in which to knit and lots of very nice yarn! Sally took a few photos with her iPhone, most of which were blurry, but here’s one.
On Sunday we made an emergency needle run to Knit and Stitch — in Bethesda, MD. The people could not have been nicer. When we got there we noticed a treasure trove of Hanne Falkenberg kits. Upon further inspection, we realized that they had a Hanne F. trunk show in progress!! Woo Hoo! We were able to try on several great designs: Gloria and Plisse to name a couple. The Gloria Jacket is one of the most flattering designs we have seen. It looked good on both of us even with our size disparity.
Before the weekend started, we each received our copies of the new (and improved?) Aran Knitting, AND yarn for the newest design straight from the source herself.
Now, back to knitting!
Oh envy! You have got the yarn for that Starmore cardigan! I’ll be interested to see what mods you need to make to the pattern. It certainly looked great on Alice herself.
Comment by Shandy — September 24, 2010 @ 1:59 pm
Is he, perhaps, the most handsome man alive?
Comment by jess — September 24, 2010 @ 2:43 pm
Is it me, or is there a resemblance between the Traveling Sweater and Gloria? I am so excited that I will get to see two Starmore sweaters. I LOVE that pattern. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Comment by Ruth — September 24, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
What a delicious weekend! Beautiful color choices. And Colin. Thanks for sharing with us.
Comment by Pam — September 24, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
yarn and colin, it’s almost too much. “the king’s speech” comes out the day after thanksgiving, counting the days.
Comment by Hilary — September 24, 2010 @ 4:32 pm
OK – that settles it – I have to go visit my son, he just got a new job in Bethesda – he lives a short bike ride away.
Comment by Connie — September 24, 2010 @ 5:25 pm
How lucky to come upon not one but two fantastic trunk shows! Love your Starmore kits.
Comment by Beverly — September 24, 2010 @ 6:22 pm
It was so fun to see you both at FibreSpace on Saturday. That was quite a combination – Miss Babs AND The Rainey Sisters. It was nice to put a face on the second half of this great sister act.
Comment by Trudy — September 24, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
It don’t much better than that – all of it – especially Colin.
Comment by Terri — September 24, 2010 @ 10:02 pm
I love Fibre Space…and I only live about a mile and a half from there. Too bad I’m not aware enough to have tuned in to your visit, Susan…might have been able to join you there. In any case, I’m glad you had fun…and maybe I’ll hook up with Sally sometime!
Comment by twinsetjan — September 24, 2010 @ 11:12 pm
It sounds like it was all just perfect. Love, love the Starmore kits. Both of them have gorgeous colors.
Comment by 2muchfun — September 25, 2010 @ 6:42 am
Bliss………..
Comment by BarbOutsideBoston — September 25, 2010 @ 8:44 am
Colin fans, be on the lookout for “The King’s Speech” which is coming out this fall. It won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and is fabulous. Also, he’s just as lovely in person (though I was at the back of the theatre, his loveliness was still quite evident).
Comment by Anne — September 25, 2010 @ 10:50 am
How wonderful! Sister-time, knitting, gorgeous yarns. And Colin, of course! 🙂
Comment by Kym — September 25, 2010 @ 11:19 am
Knitting AND Colin???? SWOOONNNN!!! Ladies! Really!? LOL!
Comment by Arline — September 25, 2010 @ 1:03 pm
Gosh, you were in MY territory and I missed you! Loved the pictures, though, and quite puzzled that I don’t remember seeing “Gloria” at Knit + Stitch. Am planning on knitting “Solo” one day. In the meantime, three cheers for sisterhood!
Comment by Chloe — September 26, 2010 @ 4:29 pm
OMG – Colin Firth and knitting? It doesn’t get any better than that! 🙂
Comment by Kathy — September 26, 2010 @ 11:03 pm
I am looking forward to the projects that arise out that laceweight! Not to mention the Aran’s in your (our) future. I’m so glad the weekend was wonderful!
Comment by twinsetellen — September 27, 2010 @ 7:37 am
I have enjoyed your blog for many months (years now maybe?) – in a family of knitting sisters I can relate on several levels and your work is so amazing – but Colin Firth? OMG – no WONDER I like you girls – checking out the site here at work today and those pictures of CF…I had to stop and take a deep breath. We relate on more levels than I thought!!!
Comment by Mary Fern — September 27, 2010 @ 2:50 pm