Today was a craftful day. My husband has been working a lot lately, so he arranged to take the day off, and we used the time to drive up to Weston, MO. Sadly, one of my LYSs is closing soon, so of course I had to take advantage of the sale. And it was a great excuse to visit Weston. It’s a cute little town with about three blocks of unusual, unique, and locally owned shops. There are several quaint gift shops, but also antique shops, a hardware store, an Irish-themed store, an architectural salvage barn, a liquor market, and a jewelry store with a lovely resident dog. Plus it has the Weston Cafe, which we love. It’s not fancy: the chairs are lightweight black metal with the barest padding, the tables aren’t exactly level and covered with plain oilcloth. But the food is good and the service is better. We’ve gone with the kids to Weston maybe once every three months or so. But today our favorite waitress greeted us by asking where the kids were, and she even remembered my regular order. It was a refreshing change from the sterile anonymity of a bigger city.

But anyway, that wasn’t my main goal. My main goal was the yarn. Actually, my main goal was to pick up a mannequin head the owner was holding for me. I’m newer to the knitting business and I’ve found that things photograph and sell better if they’re displayed well. So now I’m the proud owner of a head.

I love that her neck is long and she’s got a hint of shoulder–I’ll be able to display cowls and scarves on her too!

I really wasn’t going to buy much yarn. (I’ll pause here for fellow yarn enthusiasts to stop laughing.) Seriously, I’d already ordered some from her website, and of course I didn’t *need* more yarn. But she had alpaca for 40% off! Gorgeous baby alpaca. No, I don’t know what it’s going to be. But it’s alpaca. It doesn’t matter.

Then I touched some Cascade superwash by accident, and was surprised by how soft it was. There were some great colors too. I grabbed three colors, trying to decide between them, and realized how well they went together. I picked a gray for a neutral and I think they’ll become a nifty striped bag.

I found some splurges too. This sweet green is a mix of mohair, wool and silk so it has a fuzzy halo and a soft touch.

The colors of this yarn caught me. I loved the deep tones, and when I touched it and felt the silk/merino blend, I was a goner. They’re actually a bit darker than they look in the pictures; they’re Magenta and Teal.

This last one might be my favorite. It was a lucky find, the last skein in the store, and it happened to be in the 60% off basket. It’s a cashmere/silk blend and it feels as luxurious as you’re imagining. I had no silk before today, and certainly no cashmere, so this skein thrilled me.

My arms were full, and by then I was waiting by the counter, trying to get out of there before finding more. It didn’t work. Right next to me were two skeins of Cascade Magnum, a fabulous super bulky yarn. One was red and one was this dark, vivid blue, almost a purple blue. Maybe indigo? Not sure. In any case, at 40% off it was coming home with me too.

You’d think that was enough, but I managed to throw in a pattern book, a couple of bamboo crochet hooks and a packet of cute green buttons before all was said and done. Thank goodness my husband is a crafter too (he plays with wood and tools and makes beautiful furniture, check out his blog here) so he understood the importance of getting high-quality supplies at more-than-reasonable prices. In fact, I would have bought much less if he hadn’t encouraged me to stock up. But I’m tickled with the additions to my stash, and now I’m off to knit!