Yarn Heaven.

I couldn't go to Maryland this year - between the parental unit issues, the budget, and the work schedule, it just wasn't reasonable. Gas prices made driving considerably more expensive than last year, flying meant renting a car, then there's the hotel and food. I calculated that the trip would have cost a minimum of $1000, probably more like $1200, and I have too many other ways to spend the money. But after the weeks I've had lately and the weeks I see on the horizon (I'm still shuddering at the implications of being declared one of the smartest people in the company, and cringing at the many development agreements looming in my future) I needed a Treat.

So it was perfectly reasonable to allow myself a consolation day trip - a schlep to Leesburg to visit the new brick and mortar Chez Casuelle.

The shop is so new there is no sign, and I missed it and had to turn around and drive up the street very slowly, looking for the address. Sure enough, there was a narrow shop front with a colorful knitted sweater in the window - that must be the place. Parking on the street is limited, but there are free public lots scattered throughout the Leesburg Historic District and I had no trouble finding a spot nearby.

It was worth the drive. The Wall of Lorna's Laces was practically a religious experience - unfortunately a pricey one, because I discovered that I really loved a lot of colorways I'd more or less ignored online. I had passed over Watercolor online, but in person it grabbed me. I had to buy some Helen's Lace - I've decided it's time to try an "easy but hard for me" shawl, I"m not sure which one yet but I have a few in mind. (I know HOW to follow charts, I just resist it, but I'm conceding that anything I really want to make is going to involve a damn chart.) I'm not going to go nuts and do anything highly complicated, and with that colorway an elaborate lace would be lost anyway, but I want something special.

And that should have been it, because it's in the 90s now and I do not need to be working on anything wintery, like another Clapotis, even in my favorite colorway, Tuscany. I don't need it right now. It's not on the project list. Nope, nope, I tried to talk myself out of it and almost did, but the dye lot in stock was just so nice, not too orangey, not too dull - so 4 skeins of Tuscany sort of jumped off the wall into my hands. It will make a KILLER Clapotis. I almost can't wait to start it, but I will wait, I have things to finish. I did manage to stop there.

So I got out for less than $200, or as I prefer to think of it, less than 1/4 of the cost of going to MD even if I never set foot in any of the pricey vendors while there (and you know I would have), and I came out with an armload of Lorna's Laces. My urge to indulge has been satiated, I have lovely projects to amuse me for the rest of the summer, and I didn't burn any leave time from work.

Chez Casuelle is out of my way and not too many Saturdays allow themselves for an indulgence like this, so I'll probably be mostly an internet customer, but it was nice to meet Carla and delightful to just stand in front of all that luxurious fiber and bask in the glow. It's worth the trip if you are within striking distance of Leesburg, FL and have a thing for high end handpainted yarn. (I wish I didn't have a thing for high end handpainted yarn - damn you, Lorna's Laces!)

As you can tell from the website, Carla does not carry pastel acrylic yarn to make baby blankets for the grandkids, so it'll be interesting to see how the local market reacts to the brick and mortar store. I suspect she'll have a lot of converts to the Good Stuff, because until this shop arrived, "yarn shop" meant JoAnn's and Mal-Wart. She's going to be like the first Starbucks in an area where people have been resigned to buying coffee at the gas station - but I bet word of mouth will bring 'em in.

I drove past Renninger's Flea Market in Mt. Dora on my way home and had to resist turning in, but I was afraid that since I was already in a recklessly spendy mood I might go in for fresh produce and come out with a parrot, a ferret, and an antique chest for yarn storage. So I went to Target and bought the Preferred Kind of Dog Treats (the wrong kind and they look at you like you beat them) and came home to fondle my yarn. I am fighting the urge to jump in and start yet another shawl today. I have to finish the crocheted cotton shawl and get it out of the way.

I'm on the fence about the crocheted bag I whipped up without a pattern - I should have used an even smaller hook size and made it even tighter. I've gone a long way into it and yet, I may rip. It's just not doing it for me.

No possum sighting last night or this morning. I think it's living in the jasmine on the fence - I imagine it's a wonderfully secure place for a small possum to climb into and snooze during the day. I hope it moves on - it's cute as hell now but I don't need a full-grown possum staking out my yard as its stomping ground. That yard ain't big enough for him and the dogs - it'd be like a gang war every evening. Please move on, little possum.