Mission Accomplished

As planned, yesterday morning I called my LYS to see if they had Felted Tweed in the "Clover" colourway.  They didn't have it and told me to try Romni. Romni is way downtown and then a good way west relative to where we live. But after enduring the red scarf nightmare on Saturday I was counting on getting that Felted Tweed yesterday whatever happened. Plus there was snow in the forecast every day through the end of the week which would make travelling there that much more messy and potentially time consuming so after calling Romni to make sure they had the yarn and having them put the last 9 balls of "Clover" aside for me,  I thought, I'd just do as I was told and "go to Romni" right then and there. (Darling Daughter strongly supported the idea as it coincided with her needing to go downtown to school. There's nothing like door to door service!)

Once on west Queen Street West I put two and a half hours on my meter (a half hour more than I thought I'd need) and let my red stilettos carry me along dry sidewalks - this winter that's a bit of novelty - to the massive cavern of yarny potential that is Toronto's Romni Wools.

The next two and a half hours are a bit of a blur - yes I did need that extra half hour after all -every minute was a pleasure, made possible by the genuinely enthusiastic staff.

The first order of business, the Felted Tweed was already taken care of. Tightly wrapped and packaged with my name on it, right at the check out, I didn't have to spend a minute worrying about gathering that up. Slick!

Upon arriving I grabbed a basket and headed for the end wall of the store - 15 feet or more high and 30 something feet long, I think the whole end wall is solid worsted weight wool yarn. Cascade 220, Ella Rae Classic, Nature Spun Worsted, Shepherd Classic are the ones I remember being there. As for colours, surely there are dozens and dozens. I thought I needed to stay with one brand of yarn so I neatly pulled colours of Ella Rae. With this first round of selections made things weren't looking inspired in my basket.  Recognizing this I guess I let out a sigh but that's when the Cavalry came riding to my rescue. I don't know the woman's name who helped me but she must have spent over an hour pulling colours with me. Where I have enthusiasm she clearly had a knack for colour. In fact I can't even seem to capture the colours in a photo never mind select them! (Trust me though, they really do look fabulous together - I can't wait to start swatching!)

Checking the final selections outside in natural light, made the prospect of undertaking this knit, all that much more exciting.

But I wasn't even finished shopping! Next it was on to choosing something for "Vivian" - pure wool with a bit of sheen and good stitch definition was what I was looking for - preferably in a colour with a bit of a modern feel. At first I had my eye on a steely blue but I've been knitting with so much grey and blue for the last while I really wanted something different. I also wanted "Vivian" to look good in spring and autumn. Ultimately I decided on 8 balls of Moda Dea Washable Wool in the "Maize" colourway. Its has a bit more grey and brown in it than this picture infers. It'll look great with everything but especially white, brown and chocolaty purples and plums.

After running that woman ragged, she had to excuse herself for lunch, I started working with other staff to organize some needles (I finally bought some Addi's) and notions and of course check that "Clover" in natural light to just absolutely finalize that choice.

Minutes later I was picking my way back along Queen Street with no less than 3 bags bulging with yarn and a big smile on my face - probably not a cool look on uber cool Queen!

I spent the evening cataloguing and organizing and scheming my plan of attack for my new cache of goodies while racing to finish the last sock with (now no more)gauge issues.

Thank you Romni for a lovely afternoon!