Regular readers have probably noticed that Fresh Purls is a dog-friendly yarn shop. On Wednesday, we were delighted to host a new friend, Bogey, a curious and cheerful rescue Lab. 
After thoroughly exploring the shop, Bogey couldn't quite figure out how we knew he had been sniffing around in the waste baskets. It's a mystery! 
Amanda opened the shop on Monday night at 6:30 wondering if anyone would show up. There hadn't been much time to get the word out to our customers about the new Monday knit night. She mentally calculated how long she would stick around if no one came by, and started working on the pattern for her earflap hat by knitting it up in a super-soft and scrunchy Araucania Tocanao.
She didn't have to wait long, though. First to arrive was Liz, a novice knitter who had unraveled her first attempt at knitting a garter-stitch scarf (it looked more like lace) and was determined to try again. 
A knock at the back door ushered in Polly, who was working on her Reversible Cable Wrap in Rowan Cocoon. There seemed to be an equivalent amount of knitting and unknitting going on with that project, as the rows refused to be counted stay counted.
Finally, Emily held down one corner of the table as she worked up a pretty green shade of Rowan Handknit Cotton into a geometric pullover. The conversation ranged over books, movies, current events and even a little professional networking. 
The competitive spirit seemed to be lacking in our customers this year -- we didn't see too many vying for the costume contest prize, though plenty of you came and hung out with us in civilian dress and that was fun, too.
Becky brought in her Lady Eleanor entrelac shawl (out of that excellent book Scarf Style), knitted in Noro Iro. Words cannot do it justice, but WOW! ...just, Wow. The natural color repeats in the Iro beautifully fit the design of the shawl. This is Becky's first entrelac project (!!); she worked on it off-and-on for about two months. She had never done knotted fringe before and wound up working on the finishing at the shop, which allowed us to be the first to see the completed shawl, and capture these photos! 
Knotted fringe is tricky, though not really difficult. There's a rhythm to it, and after finishing the second end, Becky went back and unknotted & re-knotted the first end. Your blogista could learn a lesson from Becky about being patient with her finishing! Anybody else have to fight the impulse to rush through those last steps in a project? 
Sherry, Ellen and Amanda took a road trip to Hartford, CT on Saturday to gorge themselves on all things YARN at Stitches East '09. (Some of you already know about this because they saw you there!) They visited every booth, and it seems like they felt and admired every skein of yarn. It was hard to decide what to buy (well, except for Sherry, who bought everything). Amanda, as befits a college student on a budget, shopped thoughtfully. But everyone has their weakness and Amanda's asserted itself at the Habu booth. 
They all loved the Windy Valley Muskox booth, but Sherry had the courage to actually buy their exquisite fibers. She got 5 balls of the softest lavender Suri and a pattern for a lacey top. Her other finds, pictured right, included lots of terrific beads from a vendor called Twisted Sistah, vibrant pink alpaca for a shawl, a pretty scarf kit in Koigu and Kid Silk Haze, a moebius neckwrap kit in graduated shades of blue hand-dyed...and that's not all. Some of the vendors were already sold out of kits on Saturday, so Sherry's got more coming later in the mail. Christmas will be early this year.
Ellen resisted buying yarn and instead brought home a set of blocking boards, wires and t-pins. If better technology is the answer, she has no more excuses for careless blocking!
