Perhaps not surprisingly, we somehow managed to slip into a few yarn stores on our trip this past weekend. Imagine that.  Shocking I know.

Our first stop was the Cultured Purl in Erie, PA (what, it was on the way…more or less).  It was the first time I had seen Sweet Georgia yarns in a store.  Luckily, I have quite a bit of SG sitting around here, so I was able to grab something new.  I picked up two skeins of Filigran by Zitron in what seems to be collor 1603 (such an evocative name).  This is a single ply laceweight.  I haven’t the slightest idea what I’m going to do with it, so (just to be safe) I got two.  I’m calling it the next step on my quest to explore non-sock options.

Next was Wooly Minded in Corning, NY.  Somehow, through great self restraint, I managed not to buy any yarn.  Don’t worry, I bought needles instead.  I am always on the lookout for new needles.  I like my needles light weight, pointy, and stiff.  Plastic and wooden needles don’t work for me.  I had a bunch of KP needles, but they are a bit heavy and they tarnish badly when I use them.  My favorites are my Sig Arts, but they are a bit expensive (totally worth it, just hard to get as many sets as I like to have on hand).  Kollage square needles are a good alternative, though I find they sometimes start feeling a bit sharp on my fingers if I’ve been knitting a long time.  At Wooly Minded, I saw something new, stainless steel needles by Chiao Goo.  So far I know that they are light, fairly pointy, and pleasantly rigid.  I haven’t used them yet, but I’m planning on it and will report back when I do.

The final stop was Finger Lakes Fiber in Watkins Glen, NY.  I’d actually been here before, but they’ve moved since we were last in town.  The new space is lovely and very comfortable.  The selection was great.  I picked up two old favorites, Casbah by Handmaiden in what I think is the color Nova Scotia, and Nichole by Schaefer in the color Dian Fossey.  These are two of my go to sock yarns and I’m always happy to work with them again.

Not a bad little haul for a weekend trip!