Fat needles

Dreary weather has a way of fomenting impatience, and I have become extremely impatient for warmer weather. Hence yesterday I convinced H to drive us (and Lola) to Logee's Greenhouse in Danielson, Connecticut so that we could imagine ourselves in the tropics.

This hothouse citrus tree, planted in the 1930s, has grafted branches of ten different fruits.

One of the many camellias in bloom.

By the time we left Logee's I was feeling warmer and craving hot colors--deep pink and orange. I am sure this yen began when I witnessed Orla and Quentin's nuptials on V-day, as they both wore impressively tropical hues. In fact, ever since donating the Hip-Hop yarn worn by Orla, I had been ruminating on the several skeins of it that take up quite a bit of space in my stash room.

Fortunately we had lunch in the nearby town of Putnam, Connecticut, and parked quite near Woolworks, Ltd. We ate at a forgettable restaurant while Lola waited in the car. Afterwards, H returned to the car to walk Lola, while I sashayed into Woolworks.

Like most of Putnam's downtown businesses, it's harbored in an oddly renovated building of limited architectural merit. Inside, however, is a different story. This place is radiant with positive fiber energy! I found a warm, very replete LYS, with a serious collection of spinning wheels and a spinner-in-residence. The staffers were really congenial and charming, and gave me a good sense of the shop's array of yarns and notions. Unlike many LYS which seem to have only two skeins of any given yarn in any given color, and maybe one of the color you really want, Woolworks' shelves were fully stocked with yarns ranging from Reynolds and Sirdar to Cascade, Malabrigo, and very interesting local (CT) yarns, such as Corriedale worsted from Brown Farm of Scotland, CT, and  Fibers 4 Ewe sock yarn of merino, nylon, and milk fiber.

Also, I was thrilled to find a set of #13 dpns--wooden, no less!--and purchased them and a skein of Fibers4Ewe sock yarn forthwith. Contrary to what you may suspect from this odd juxtaposition of merchandise, the large needles are for knitting a hat with the Berocco Hip Hop yarn so fashionably worn by Orla on Valentine's Day.

Especially as I have been focused on socks for the last few months--they have become something of an obsession, actually--and have been working with size one and two dpns--my fingers have been thinking about the other end of the spectrum, as they have a somewhat polarized mentality (likely the result of so many years of piano practice). Having just begun this hat with chunky yarn and clunky needles, I can say that while it does knit up extremely fast, it is also deeply clumsy to knit with such oversized tools... So the benefits and disadvantages cancel each other, IMHO. As for the hat...we shall see what we think when it's over and done with. Orla and Ted have promised to model it.