As promised, a follow up from the Shop Hop last week (complete with loot pictures!).
As I began documenting and taking pictures of everything I walked away with last week, I realized that I bought a little more than I originally thought. Here we go...
Besides the cute little passport pictured above, Shop Hop attendants also received a reusable tote bag filled with loot from local Michigan companies. Every store along the route provided 'hoppers' with a free pattern, written by the shop owner.
The first shop along our way was
Woven Art in East Lansing. Woven Art became one of my favorite yarn shops from the moment I first walked in back in January.
Here I purchased yarn for this cute little
Acorn Hat designed by
Meg Croft, and also a skein of Shepherd's Wool in baby blue (just in case Baby B turns out to be baby boy!).
I was getting ready to check out at Woven Art when I spotted the Dale of Norway books and decided to peruse a little more.
Naturally, being only two months away from the due date of my first child, I grabbed a baby book- what can I say? These days, it's instinct. On the first page of the booklet I just happened to find
this little beauty:
Seriously?! You cannot expect any soon-to-be-first-time-mother-with-baby-due-a-month-before-Christmas to pass this one up. Not this soon-to-be-mother at least- no way! The plan for this is to try to get it done between the time baby is born and Christmas. Should be interesting!
Next up was
Rae's Yarn Boutique in Lansing. Here I scooped a sweater stone and my first skein of Noro. I have neve worked with Noro, and honestly, have never really understood the appeal- but I think I may be starting to get it. Once
Jill introduced me to the
Spring Sock pattern, I figured it was worth a shot. Not sure when I will get around to knitting with it, but you can expect an unbiased review when I do. (You can also find some interesting footage of
Erica and I battling with giant knitting needles at
Rae's if you
click here.)
Our third stop was at a shop I've been wanting to go to for some time now, so I was excited to visit
Yarn Garden in Charlotte. Here I purchased the project bags seen above and also yarn to knit a new stocking for Christmas (yes, I will somehow have to fit this in along with the Dale of Norway...we'll see). The stocking pattern was the free pattern designed by shop owner
Lindsay Harmon.
Finally, as our time was running low, we made a stop back in Lansing at
Threadbear Fiber Arts Studio where I walked away with two booklets from
Classic Elite Yarn (not to mention my new
Lansing Cowl and Beret pattern, which happened to be the pattern given away upon receiving your fourth Shop Hop stamp).
If you happened to attend to CAYSC Annual Shop Hop and have pictures and/or a blog post to share- let me know, and I will link to them here:
Also, if you attended and received my new patterns, they are now posted on Ravelry for you to add as a WIP- find the
cowl here,
beret here.
