Knit Nest & I finished something!

Hi Knitters,
Well, I am taking you back to Key West today to share the little knit shop we found there. First though, I have to share another message I received from Rose at Cakewalk Yarns. Apparently, you all love the Cherry Blossom colorway as much as I do but I also have noticed other colorways flying out of Rose's shop. I have wanted the Smirk colorway in sock yarn for a long time. I saw it pop up in the shop and came back a short while later to purchase it and it was gone! I'll keep my eye out for the next batch. The other colorway/yarn I have been eyeing is called Brooklyn in the worsted weight, that could make a fun knit, too.

Anyway, you can see that I am still not over Cakewalk Yarns yet. Click here for her Etsy shop! Here is Rose's message from last Monday where she is thanking me but really she should be thanking all of you for ordering.

Another even BIGGER Thank You

Sent at 3:13 PM April 15, 2012

Hi Susan!

Whew!! I had to send my husband out for more printer toner so I could keep churning out mailing labels….the orders just keep coming! Let’s just say, your readers are loving your Cherry Blossom socks.

I want to thank you again for being so kind to share your socks & the yarns in your stash with your readers. I’m very grateful for your kind words & your willingness to help along a little business like mine. Its true, knitters ARE nice.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! -- Rose

Now onto to the tropical yarn shop adventure. I didn't even think about finding a yarn shop on our trip to Key West but we stumbled upon the sign in the photo above. Then I had to check it out with TC in hand.

To get to the shop you had to climb some steps where there was a raised row of shops. The shop is called Knit Nest. TC and I asked the owner, Curtis Noon, for permission to take photos. He was very friendly and didn't mind a bit.

The spacious shop had these black shelves with the yarn organized by color. It was pretty and an interesting way to sort through the yarns.

The pattern rack shown here contains the owner's patterns I believe. He was knitting while we were in the shop and from what I gathered he creates a lot of shawls and accessories.

There was some interesting yarn in the shop including this multi-colored hank of yarn. This is actually a kit to make the Bias Shawl. This one big hank is 600 yards of separate skeins creatively put together.

There were different colorways for the kit. I guess you get the pattern included when you purchase the yarn. I didn't see the actual shawl or pattern but I like the idea of this kit.

There was a lot of art yarn and novelty yarn including quite a bit of sequins and beads and fringe but along with that there was plenty of wool, alpaca and even sock yarn.  The art yarns totally make sense in this climate. You would never wear a full-on wool sweater here but light shawls and scarves with sparkle would be perfect year round.

These adorable handmade bags propped up on a ledge caught my eye.

TC enjoyed browsing around. She is one who really enjoys sparkly yarns (hence the sequin butterfly on the back of her shirt) so she was in the right place. We had lots of fun and spent a good chunk of time perusing the shelves.

I ended up bringing home this sweet gray and yellow bag, one of my favorite color combinations. Is this Amy Butler fabric? I recognize it but can't quite place it. I love this new project bag so much. I also picked up a gorgeous hank of variegated green Colinette Jitterbug as a gift for Miss Molly. TC and I debated a long time on what to get her until we found the perfect skein. I don't have a photo of that one since Miss Molly already has her yarn.

I love the inside of the bag and the sturdiness of the sides and the straps. It sits open so well. It is beautifully and meticulously made. I think it could hold a shawl, scarf, baby project, socks... you could fill this one up with a medium-sized project for sure.

The bag is made by Noreen Emmel from Stewartstown, PA. She doesn't have a website listed on the tag but her email is: nwemmel@yahoo.com. You could email her if you are interested in a bag or contact the Knit Nest in Key West.

For the Knit Nest here is the contact information:
Click here for the website!
Knit Nest
Owner: Curtis Noon
218 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida, 33040
Phone: 305.295.7565
Email: info@nestkeywest.com

Knit Nest was a fun little knitterly discovery. While we were in the shop there was a group of British ladies perusing the yarns. They were really fun and quite chatty and kept the owner busy. I think they came off a cruise ship and headed straight for the yarn shop, which I admire. They were into the baby knits mainly.

I was going to post about the Knit Nest yesterday but I became completely obsessed with finishing the project you see above. The project is the Piper's Journey shawl, designed by the lovely Paula of the Knitting Pipeline, knit in the completely endearing sweetness of Quince & Co.'s Chickadee (even the yarn name is sweeter than sweet). I used the Icelandic colorway, a pretty heathered gray.

I kept kidding myself that I was almost done with the applied lace edging when I really wasn't even close to being done. I was maybe a quarter or an eighth of the way through when I picked it up later on Sunday. Really I had the entire edging to complete. It took me hours to finish the edging on Sunday and Monday but I was on a mission to finish. I could not put it down and I enjoyed every stitch along the way. I was so excited to bind off yesterday, I can't even tell you.

I will have lots more about the Piper's Journey coming up, including blocking and final product photos. It is one of the best projects I have ever knit. You may just want one for yourself.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone.
best, susie