Girls' Day with Heather

What a lovely day we had, me and my pal Heather.

We started by unloading a Subaru full of plants, from my garden to hers. (I had not counted the pots during loading, but I hear today that she transplanted 17 yesterday and has 7 more to go. Granted, some were tiny-barely more-than-seedlings, but still a heck of a lot of work to set out!)
After unloading and admiring her garden, we set out!

First stop was Yarns International. I receive e-mail notifications from this shop and was eager to see it first-hand. They have loads of nice stuff, but only a fair amount of non-animal fibers. We stayed not too long as we were both hungry and a cute little sushi place is in the same mini-mall.

YUM! Heath did the ordering for us which worked out great as I've never done sushi before, and we are both vegetarians. We started with surprisingly stout miso soup, then went to California Rolls, and another roll with asparagus. There was a neat side sauce of pungent horesradish to clear things up a bit.

Next, we went deeper into Bethesda and the home of Knit and Stitch = Bliss. Here's another shop that I have followed in the mags. It was quite large, with a quiet, private area for the requisite "back table" and the main shopping area was multi-level and laid out with plenty of room to browse. Here I came across a lovely new yarn:

The softness, and silkiness of this yarn is quite surprising particularly when you look at the fiber content: 100% Bamboo! Let me tell you that this is miles away from SWTC's bamboo -- a completely different (non)animal!

My one complaint about Knit and Stitch is that they plaster great big labels on the ball band, but after a bit of scraping, I can tell you that it comes from Plymouth Yarn Company's Italian Collection and is called "Royal Bamboo." No pattern in mind yet, but I am seeing a sleeveless summer shell with some detail. The roundness and sheen of the yarn should make for excellent stitch definition! I checked the color against both me and Heath, as I'm already sure whatever the finished product, it will be for one of us.

Here we took a tiny break from yarn stores. Did I tell you that Heather is not a knitter? How's that for a pal to schlep around with me?

OK, next we visited the Montgomery Farm Women's Cooperative Market which is a feast for all the senses, not to mention an interesting historic location. We bought herb plants and baklava and a tiny pie, but the pinnacle was a marble Budda statute for Heath (which she had been watching for some time).

After lugging the Budda back to the car, we traveled just a few short minutes into DC and the Chevy Chase Stitch DC. This is the newest of their 3 locations ... and I'm pretty sure the Capitol Hill location is LYS home to pal GG.

At last, this store had a particular item from my list -- Cascade Fixation!:

How's THAT for color? I've been watching as the Vegan Knitter worked this ribbed sock pattern from Anna at Finally Waking Up and, you know, it was time. I got started yesterday afternoon to make sure it will be a suitable travel project. More on that later.

Our last stop was just a few doors down. I don't remember the name, but it's a real old-time diner! We splurged on fabulous chocolate malts to end a perfect day.

Heather and I have been friends for 20+ years and have enjoyed lots of lunches and long phone talks and too-many-e-mails to count, and of course, Hen Parties, but this was the first long afternoon of just doing whatever struck us. . I can't understand why we waited so long.

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Last now, because it's been so damn long since I even mentioned Aran Rose, I want you to see that I am still working it! Here's the front ... up into the armholes. I have finished the decreases and will work straight until the neck bind-off. I still LOVE the Calmer! In my MerryLand, it is still quite cool, but I know it will be damned hot before I get this baby finished. So ... I'm setting my sights on fall!