Yarn and Stalking

Today was a very exciting day in Kelli's World O' Craftiness! I decided that a field trip was in order today, so that I could meet a crochet designer whose work I think is great, and who has done so much to modernize people's ideas of crochet.

Presenting.....

Drew Emborsky, the Crochet Dude!

(And short little me, in a sweater I made and could finally wear because it's cool out!)

Drew has a wonderful crochet design business that he blogs about, at http://blog.thecrochetdude.com/.

He was teaching a class and doing a meet & greet at a shop on the north side of Houston. And I stalked him. I've never gone out of my way to meet anyone before, but I figured I wouldn't have a chance to meet him again in all likelihood, so I had to take the Texas Longhorn by the...horns.

Anyway. Drew? I hope I didn't terrify you and I'm sorry if I talked nervously about myself the whole time. I was just excited (and yes, a bit nervous, which is funny because I normally don't get star struck, except that time Wayne Newton came through the restaurant where I was working when I was 17).

Drew is such a lovely person and we had a very nice chat about yarn and cats and traffic and such. So thanks, Drew! It was very nice meeting you.

And if any of you are planning to take up crochet, I recommend his great patterns (go to his site for more info).

The shop hosting him was Twisted Yarn (http://www.twistedyarnstexas.com/), a very pretty little shop with GORGEOUS yarn. Yes, I sniffed yarn, and No, I was not ashamed. They had some really nice stuff - it's a good thing I don't have room for a big stash in the RV, because I was really coveting this brightly colored Noro sock yarn. But I held off (although I still might accidentally drive by there again before we leave Houston to accidentally buy some, because...it might accidentally happen). This time, I bought yarn for a pair of socks for Mom for Christmas. This yarn is so super soft, I could just wrap it around my head and wear it all the time. :)

I highly recommend this shop to anyone traveling through (or living in) Houston! One of the owners, Eve, was so helpful with picking out yarn, and it has such a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. You could tell everyone who walked in felt so comfortable and welcome there. Also? Their samples were stunning - there was this teal & blue sock that was drool-worthy. Sigh.

On the way back to the house, I was high on craft-happy fumes and stopped by Hobby Lobby, because I have so much room for sewing supplies. Um...yeah.

I ended up getting more fabric than I originally intended, because hey! It was on sale! Isn't it fab? I'm going to make some knitting needle holders to sell out of this fabric. Unless I decide I can't live without it, and it ends up being some kind of weird mismatched patchwork dress. Which is possible. The other yarn is for other Christmas presents.

Anyway, so that was my extremely exciting day! Yay!! Hooray for celebrity stalkings and fabric shopping!

On a side note, wanna know two other weird things about Texas?

1) There is apparently no helmet law here. Isn't that INSANE?

2) Apparently there is a huge donut culture here. I've never in my life seen so many mom & pop donut shops! Craziness. Kolaches are also big here. I might have to go buy some donuts soon - must try out the local culture. When in Rome....

OH. And the Texan interest in sweets obviously goes a little further than in some other places. And explores all new territory too. The other day I drove past (wait for it...)

Nooky's Erotic Bakery.

Oh my.

Um...on that note....I think I'll head back to my sewing. The kitties are being so helpful! See? They're thinking of starting their own line of paw-sewn cat accessories. Maybe that'll help subsidize the cost of their food.