Yesterday, my friend Veronica and I went to Isle Knits. It’s in the Century Tower building in downtown Honolulu, which is an office building, and it’s all the way up on the 14th floor. So it’s a little hard to find for the novice, luckily I had been there before so navigation was a breeze.
It’s a small space, but it’s chock full of good stuff. Once you walk in the yarn fumes hit you like a physical presence. I get a little delirious with just the memory. It’s easy to go overboard with impulsive buys in the store, which is why I went in with a Plan.
I had two specific projects I wanted to buy yarn for. The first was for Mr. Hedgehog and the second, was for the Rock Lobster Lock Bag*. From the top, going clockwise, we have Ella Rae Classic in Color No. 28 (Dark Purple) and Plymouth Boku in Color No. 1 for the Rock Lobster Bag.
Continuing on, we have more Ella Rae Classic in Color No. 104 and I’ll combine that with some eyelash yarn for Mr. Hedgehog.
What about those other two yarns? What about The Plan?
Well, while I was asking how the Ella Rae and the Plymouth Boku would felt together, Sue proceeded to show me a basket she had done in both those yarns. That basket just happened to be crammed with sock yarn.
I couldn’t just ignore the yarn. I’m not that strong.
So a couple of skeins of Artyarns Ultramerino4 in Color No. 108 came home with me too.
And that skinny skein? The wild one on the very bottom of the picture? Well that caught my eye just when I thought I was home free. You know, when you’re at the register and everything thing is getting tallied. You’ve gotten through the hard part of selecting what to buy and once you pay, all you have to do is waltz out the door.
But I think this is the moment when I’m most vulnerable because of those very reasons. There’s a basket full of sock yarn nearby that I can be strong-willed about, but on the opposite wall of the register there’s a delicious array of yarns to feast your eyes on as your waiting for Sue to write up your bill.
So there was this funky cord that didn’t look like yarn. So I investigated.
I was doing this for educational purposes. Really, this didn’t look like yarn, so it was okay to touch. Just a quick fondle and I was going to be done with it.
Work with me here.
It turns out that this is another fabulous Noro yarn called Daria. It’s 55% Cotton and 45% Rayon. It’s so tightly twisted it’s like cording.
See how shiny? And Sue showed me a gorgeous sample of a piece she was crocheting. How could I resist?
I’m going to crochet cellphone cozies for my mother and myself. That’s the revised Plan. Yeah. Revisions are a goodness and it’s good to be flexible in life.
When all was said and done, Veronica and I spent over an hour in the shop. We left floating high on yarn fumes and money well spent. I got a few more odds and ends that I’ll share in the coming days, but nothing as stupendous as the yarn itself.
Here’s Veronica clasping her booty in front of one of the walls of yarn at the store. Doesn’t she look blissed out on the yarn?
After we left the shop, we headed to Kahala Mall to meet some Aloha Knitters. The Mall was an absolute madhouse and we were only able to find Jen. I’m afraid we might have missed some people because it was so crowded.
There were no tables to be found in the central area of the food court, but we were able to snag a mini-table at the Starbucks. After awhile though, the noise and the crowd in there started to get on our collective nerves.
Amazingly enough though, Jen managed to hunt down a bigger table in the lovely open space of the mall. I truly admire her table-hunting skills. I have no idea how she spotted it in the mad rush that was the crowd, but I will be forever impressed by that one feat.
It was a terrific day and I hope we can do it again, minus the Mall Mob.
Before I go, I wanted to thank everyone for the support and sympathy over the nightstand nightmare. All is well now and I’m no long angsting over it. My hands recovered nicely within a couple of days thanks to the wonder drug known as Celebrex.
I also finished Clue 3 of the Mystery Stole 3 on Friday. I can’t believe how quickly each clue knits up. More on that later. :-)
*Page 49 in her Pattern Catalog
July 15th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
What beautiful yarns! And I love that cord/yarn – such deep colors. Glad the hands are feeling better. I’m really loving the MS3 knitting too – i’m halfway through clue 3 – it’s really going fast!
July 15th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
That yarn shop looks awesome. I can’t wait to see how the cellphone cozies work up in that corded type yarn. My LYS had Tilli Thomas purse kits with that type of yarn.
As for the hedgehog — oh my golly, could he BE any cuter?
July 15th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Tee Hee… It’s ME! Have I told you I’m a Yarn Ho and a HAM! :P So much fun darling! So much!
July 15th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
WOW I am so in envy!! You have to post pics of the projects in process! I can’t wait to see how it all comes to life in your hands!
July 15th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Great yarn booty! I’ve seen that Daria cord and have wondered about it…give me a review when you get your phone cozies worked up.
You are way ahead of me on MS3 this time…I’ve only done 20 rows. Somehow the weekend got away from me. (But the Pink Thing is only two or three pattern repeats from done, not counting the two rows of crochet on each short end). Woo hoo!
hugssssssssssssssssss
Meredith, Elvis and Wilhemina
July 15th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Sue’s good. Really good. I always walk in with A Plan and usually walk out with A Revised Plan or A Couple of New Plans. And she does it so sweetly. No hard sell, no hovering, just luscious displays for you to encounter every time you turn around, and yet more tucked into the spaces in between. She had a basket on the floor, full of delightful skeins, and I pointed to it in horror and said “Sue! That’s so dangerous! Someone could trip and have a yarn accident!”…which is kind of the idea, heh. You can’t even look *down* and not see yarn!
BTW, woman, you have my business card. If your hands are still aching, make an appointment. Will work for yarn/knitted items, y’know.
July 15th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
i’ve gotta go to isle knit someday – it looks like yarn heaven, and i spy lots of clover goodies! i’ve also got some noro daria which i had planned to use for little crochet coin purses….i’ve got it stashed somewhere….
July 16th, 2007 at 12:33 am
What a nice venture out over the weekend, and a nice haul, as well. Can’t wait to see how the projects turn out.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Sounds like a day and money well spent. Glad you found a good enabler, I mean yarn shop.
The Daria looks like it will crochet up into a good cell phone case. I saw bags in an antique shop this weekend that were crochet with a yarn that looked similar in texture and twist (but all in black.) I was really quite taken by the bags, though I need a purse like I need another hole in the head.
July 16th, 2007 at 1:20 am
It appears to me that you showed terrific restraint in the face of such temptation! I admire this. For my part, I am weak when it comes to yarn – especially the beautiful or unusual.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Yarn Crack. You could not possibly have resisted such bounty and I’m only suprprised you did not buy even more! Besides, the enjoyment of shopping for yarn with a friend is one of the best pleasures there is! I say, to the victor goes the spoils and you knit on girl!
July 16th, 2007 at 7:42 am
I remember that basket! I had to fight the urge to go digging around in the basket of sock yarn… I can’t wait to see your version of Mr. Hedgehog, the colors you chose look like a great combo!
July 16th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Your yarns are glorious and that Daria just leaves me speechless! Given that it’s Noro, I can just imagine how much it would cost to make anything of significant size with it and I am now in semi-mourning…
So when are we going to see phase III of the mystery shawl? Inquiring minds are…well…impatient :) Show!
July 17th, 2007 at 4:45 am
You purchased some gorgeous yarns! I have crocheted with Daria, it is pretty and shiny (just don’t rip it out). I like your cell phone cozy idea, I made small purses with mine. I especially like your Artyarns Ultramerino, it looks sooo soft. What a great day of shopping for you.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Cool! Another yarn store to check out! I’m one of those crocheters who has used acrylic yarn for years. Am just getting into animal and plant fibers, and I LOVE THEM!! What took me so long??