watch stephen knit: June 2010

I wanted to take the time to share photos from my East Coast Trip from the end of May to beginning of June.

I started out in Philadelphia to hang out at Craig's shop, Loop. It was beautiful and inspiring to say the least and my first time in Philly. They were even nice enough to roll out the red carpet for me.

I told Philly it was really unnecessary, but apparently they insist on treating all visiting knitters like royalty. :)

I taught a couple classes over the weekend and got to chat with knitters and some friends from Ravelry. I'm always inspired by the people and yarns I encounter on shop visits and this trip was no exception. I started swatching for a new design on the train ride up to Chicago from Urbana with my friend Sarah. I knit with Imperial Stock Ranch's bulky lopi yarn and ended up with a big wrap after one day.

That's the finished Lopi wrap soaking in my hotel bathtub. It's just a sketch/prototype, but it led to another idea when I found the perfect yarn in Craig's shop. You'll be seeing the final result (much different than the bath photo) later this Fall!

I made my way over to New York on the train and stayed with a couple friends in Brooklyn during the week. I enjoyed a couple free days to knit in Central Park, visit the Museum of Natural History, and experience the city with good friends. One highlight was digging through the order of Madelinetosh that arrived at Knitty City the day I taught my class. You just can't beat seeing all of Amy's gorgeous colorways in person!

I stayed with my friend Sean the following weekend in Boston where I met a nice Herbivore accompanied by a knitter at Stitch House Dorchester.

The next day was filled with more inspiration at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn in Salem, MA..

Here's a shot from Sean Riley of all the shawls laid out for my top down shawl workshop. I'm glad I still get to see and pet them all, even in summertime.

Courtney's shop is fantastic and there was a beautiful sample of the Boneyard Shawl knit up in Rowan Denim. I had to get 6 skeins from her to make my own. I started a Boneyard Shawl Summer KAL over on Ravelry too. I love my new cotton version, which will be perfect for cooler summer evenings.

I especially love how the Rowan Denim shrinks a bit and fades when you wash/dry it. It's surprisingly soft and light as well!

I finished the shawl at the tail end of my Boston adventure and snapped the photos at my last stop in Brunswick, ME.

Brunswick is one of the cutest towns I've been to and I was shocked by how generous and friendly everyone in the town was, definitely a much slower pace than New York. So, it was a perfect last stop before heading home.

I arrived early Wednesday morning on the bus and spent the day at Ellen's shop, Purl Diva. Purl Diva reminded me of home because the shop is in a beautifully converted house just like my LYS at home. I enjoyed meeting a whole bunch of knitters for the afternoon workshop

and an order of Madelinetosh came in just in time for all of us to admire the new Pashmina in addition to the sock and dk weights.

I walked away with a few skeins of Madtosh dk in the Stovepipe colorway, which became the prototype for another new design. Madelinetosh seemed to follow me around everywhere along the East Coast. If you ever need someone to sing the praises of Madelinetosh yarns, I would be more than happy to!

I had a fantastic trip, but was certainly thankful to be back home for a week before TNNA. I just flew back from TNNA in Columbus, OH and will share my experience along with several photos soon! In the meantime, here are a couple previews of my marvelous TNNA adventure!