Roadtrip to Charleston, South Carolina

Earlier this month my husband and I took a road trip to Charleston, South Carolina, to catch a few more sunny and warm days.  Apart from enjoying the area for its weather and scenic views of pristine beaches and dolphins swimming nearby I -as always- checked out the nearby yarn stores and found two which I especially enjoyed.
KNITS is right in the heart of Charleston which can be overrun by students depending on the time of day; although a local insisted that it is not a college town, but rather a tourist town.  Anyway, we got to the store on our second attempt when the roads were a bit quieter.  "Knits" is a gem of a shop.  From the outside it looks small, but once you get inside you walk through room after room of yarns.  The rooms have cozy seating areas where you can sit and relax and look through patterns or knit for a while.  As for the yarns there is an awesome selection and I saw an old friend of mine, an almost  local yarn, "The Copper Corgi"  which I had watched being spun in Savannah, Georgia, earlier this year and used to make my daughter-in- law's shawl

shawl project on ravelry

 The staff id very friendly at "Knits" and if you are especially lucky you may have the resident dog waiting on you:

click link to see project on ravelry

I ended up buying a skein of Berroco superwash Vintage in a lovely subtly variegated color blue which I knitted up into fingerless gloves for my hubby.  I am never disappointed with Berroco yarns and this one is no exception.  I also bought another set of needletips in US size 4 for my knitpicks set since one of the acrylic tips had broken when I knitted my husband's socks.  Knitpicks did send me replacement tips free of charge (great customer service!) but I thought it may be good to have another spare set; this one is "blonde".

On our last day I also went to It's a Stitch of Charleston and had plenty of time to browse while my husband went fishing.  This store is big and bright and carries not only yarns, but also everything you need for needlepoint.  I understand that one of the owners is not only a master knitter, but also a master of embroidery.  I was very lucky to get there just when they were holding their annual sale. The prices of yarns were 75% off, some 50%.  I ended up with some yarn I was intrigued with because of its fiber content...80% milk !...really ?! 80% milk and 20% cotton!  Really, I can't wait to work with this yarn.  It is "Creamy Kollage" and at $5.06/ skein there was no reason not to try it.

 

I am thinking to knit a striped version of the sideways "Chinook" shawl and I am curious to see how this yarn knits up.

 I also bought a lovely grey yarn by Louet, another of my favorite yarns.  I will be using this as the main colorin the Fake Isle hat pattern (which is free on ravelry) I am planning to make for my son's Father-in- Law.  

 Last, but not least I bought these two yarns to make fingerless gloves for my daughter-in-law.  Blue is her favorite color and I thought the metal silver yarn will add some sparkle around the cuff.

After my purchases (so many savings! :) I sat and knitted for a while chatting with other customers in the store.  A nice big table and chairs positioned in an area with excellent lighting just beacons you to sit and linger.  I understand that is where they have classes, too.