yesterday i found it in me to brave the summer heat and visit the close knit circle, a local yarn shop. this was to be my very first visit to an actual yarn shop and not a massive craft store with a small yarn department [although, i haven't been to one of those in over a decade either], so i was a little nervous for some reason, haha. the shop was really beautiful, [i was even welcomed by this gorgeous dog!] and everyone there was very kind and helpful. i even got to feel a lot of gorgeous yarns i've only seen online, wonderful stuff.

next to wanting to finally go to a yarn shop, i paid tckc a visit because i was looking for a nice cotton to design some washcloths for father's day. that and some size 8 circulars, since i've been eyeing a few lovely patterns that i've been aching to make with my stash yarn. anyway, the yarn i decided on was this really pretty silver phoenix yarn by ella rae, i'm not sure if the sheen in any way affects absorbency or anything, but it was too pretty not to try out.

they were also kind enough to wind my yarn into a ball !

after knitting and measuring gauge, i found a knitting pattern generator and very steadily built a pattern from one of my sketches. after it was done it was printed and i got to work test-knitting it. a lot of changes need to be made with the pattern before i'm happy with it completely, but each step of the way has been enjoyable. instead of frogging this test-knit i might just bind off and admire it for the lesson it is and continue this design. designing little knits so far is a challenge that requires a lot of concentration and patience but it's something i definitely see myself doing more in the future.