Just recently I had expressed an interest in knitting myself a nice fall sweater. I usually knit for Ziva, not myself, so I was hesitant at first to spend the money, because well, I'm quite a bit bigger than she is... I've knit myself exactly one sweater and I cheaped out and bought some acrylic yarn at A.C. Moore to make it. So this time around I decided I would treat myself to nice yarn too. I gave myself a $50 budget and the hubs drove me down to Purl Diva.
I had never been to Purl Diva before, I just googled 'yarn shops in maine' and I found it. OH MY GOODNESS. I adore this shop. Upon opening the door we were greeted by the owner (correct me if I'm wrong, k?) and while I began to browse, Ben and Ziva found a basket of toys stashed in a corner. =]
Ellen carries so much yarn in her shop and I was in no way dissapointed. I could've stayed there for hours and just hung out (however I don't think my husband or toddler would want to do that). She does host social knitting groups on Wednesdays and Sundays, though!
{So so so helpful is the fact that she has several popular ravelry patterns knit up and there for you to touch, look at and experience. I was super excited when I saw the sweater on the bottom left, because it's Shalom - the one I'm planning on making!}
{Quince&Co!}
I think I circled the store 3 times and touched everything before I went to Ellen and asked for help. =] What I'm hoping to achieve is a super comfy, favorite sweater that I grab often. I thought about knitting it out of Malabrigo because it's amazingly soft, but after talking it over with her, we decided it would pill too easily. Perhaps I'll knit myself some mittens or gloves with Malabrigo to replace the ones my mama made me when I was a teen that I set them too close to the wood stove to dry. ='[I had seen some Shalom's on Ravelry that had a yoke knit with Noro. I thought this looked super cool so I told her about it and she looked it up and helped me to determine how many skeins I'd need. In the end I decided that I would knit the yoke with Noro and the body with Cascade Ecological Wool.
All in all it was a great trip. I started to get all giggly with my bag of yarn on the ride home - it was like Christmas to me! ;] (Ps - my birthday is next month, people, need an idea? Purl Diva gift certificate?) If you're near Brunswick, you need to check her out! If you're looking for a shop that sells quality yarns, has amazing customer service, probably knows everything there is to know about yarn and knitting and keeps a cute doggy behind their counter than Purl Diva is for you! Happy weekend my friends!
**Disclaimer: I didn't get paid to write this review, it's just that yarn gets my all warm and fuzzy inside.**
**Also, today is Unplugged Saturday isn't it? My loves are still in bed so it's okay, right?? Riiiight...**
