The Elegant Ewe and new projects

It has been awhile since I posted. The time just seems to slip away, huh? Last Sunday, I drove up to The Elegant Ewe in Concord. I had a friend with me who is a new knitter, I have been teaching her to knit for 5 months or so. It is one of my very favorite stores. Needless to say she was overwhelmed with their selection. I remember feeling the same way when I first discovered the store. We were in the store for over two and a half hours. Now, as mot of you know I am participating in the Yarn Focus Challenge. We do however get one free day a month to shop. Rebekah would be so proud of me! I came out of the store with a pair of needles , one pattern and one skein of novelty yarn for a felted bag. I have been making some progress in my stash. It feels really good to use up what I have. I almost faltered when I came to the bin of sock yarn. There sat mounds of my beloved Mountain Colors "Bearfoot". In another slot heaps of Trekking XXL. I have some of both marinating in my stash...So I sadly turned away. I picked up another Two Old Bags pattern. It is for the "Body Hugging Flat Purses". I love their line of bag patterns. They are always unusual shapes and styles. The picture of the bag hanging outside is the flat bag. It was a very easy knit. I did have a felting disaster. I used some Brown Sheep Naturespun on this bag. I have never used it to felt with before. The handle and part of the bag felted upon itself. I had quite a time cutting and pulling to try to salvage the bag. I am not that crazy with the wobbly shape up top. I think I will pass this along to one of my small nieces. I am going to make another one using my favorite Plymouth "Galway". I have been wanting to cast on a new pair of socks. Yesterday I started the Pomatomus socks from Knitty. I fiddled about three inches of the sock. The yarn overs were driving me crazy at the beginning of the needles. I decided to frog them and find something easier on the nerves. You really have to be in the right frame of mind for intricate patterns. Today I started Simply Lovely Lace Socks from the new Spring Interweave Knits. This is a nice simple sock. I am using some Cherry Tree Hill Yarn in the Winterberry colorway. It has been tucked in the bottom of the stash for two years now. Well...... I guess that is all that is new with me. I am going to close for now and turn on the "West Wing". It is one of my favorite shows and will be coming to an end soon. Happy Knitting everyone.