Stitchin' on the #MetroYarnCrawl

Much like the "bar crawl" most are more familiar with, the #MetroYarnCrawl is the same concept - except with yarn - stretched over a week.  It's a yarn-shopping-a-thon across 12 local yarn shops in Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

I've shopped at several of the yarn shops and been wanting to get to a few others that I've heard or read about, so I figured I'd go now - while everything's 20% off with the cutes-y tote bag.  (Did you read my post about FREE tote bags and are thinking I'm going back on my word? Not really because I bought this one. Ha ha!)

Find this little shop in Bethesda MD

My first stop was Second Story Knits in Bethesda, Maryland.  I've shopped there before, back to when it was Knit Stitch Bliss (or something like that, I never could get the name right.)  I like this spot because they are nice to crocheters (you crocheters know what I mean.)  If you go - skip even trying to park in the small adjacent parking lot. You're more likely to hit the lottery than get a spot. Go across the street to the public lot behind the Women's Farmers Co-op (on Fridays - this parking lot has a few food trucks so you can get lunch, too.)  I met Ross, one of the owners, who was wearing a beautiful blue shawl and proudly let me know that she had also knit the gorgeous shawls that were hanging in the stairway leading up to the shop. "Second Story" - get it?  It's above a Starbucks and a restaurant.

While I was selecting yarn, Ross explained that mysterious concept of yards/meters per gram. You'd think as much as I buy yarn and stitch, I'd figured it out by now. But in summary - the more yardage/gram - the thinner and lighter the yarn. So if you are trying to switch the yarn in a pattern (as I was) and can't figure out if your chosen yarn is the right sport weight, fingering weight, chunky weight as called for in the pattern - check the yards/meters per gram and compare.

Okay, so let's get to the good stuff - what did I get?

My yarn picks: Pizzazz Pink Lady & Leaf Green tweed

I got 1 skein of a sparkly pink yarn - because I like pink and I like sparkle - yay! - "Pizzazz Pink Lady" from Crabapple Yarns.  It's a Merino, Nylon, and Stellina (the sparkly bits) blend, 437 yards.   There was a sample shawl hanging up in blue and it was really soft, and the sparkly parts weren't scratchy, so I went with it.

For a light summer sweater, I got 5 skeins of Leaf Green Geilsk Tweed, 100% wool.  I know, wool for the summer? The pattern calls for linen, but I really like the color and feel of this, so we'll see how it works out. If it feels too heavy, I'll wait until fall to put it on.

I also picked up the Summer 2015 Interweave Crochet. I had a subscription but let it go because for a while, I was getting bored of the patterns - it just wasn't a lot of stuff I was going to make. And also, I didn't have as much time to make big projects anyway, even if I did find something I liked. But this summer edition has some nice summer tops and dresses - even a wedding dress. Although I don't know that I'll make a whole dress - definitely not the wedding dress - I like a few tops and I think the dresses could be adapted into a top or skirt.

Thanks to Ross and Joanna (the other co-owner) for a nice visit. Sorry I missed the coffee and donuts, though (it was National Donut Day.) And I'll see you next time - maybe for a knitting lesson!

Join the conversation on Facebook: Just Piddlin' with Frances