Day Tripping to Charlottesville

Back in the summer several of my fellow Tuesday Night Knitters (TNK) took a 60 mile trip up Interstate 64 to Charlottesville, Virginia, for a day of yarn shopping, knitting and camaraderie.

The Downtown Mall is closed to motorized traffic leaving brick streets for pedestrians to stroll.  This is especially nice in great weather.  And we had such a day.  Low humidity, warm temperatures, lots of sunshine.

Our first stop (and the main reason for our trip) was The Needle Lady.  Lots of lovely fiber was on display in the shop window.  More fun yarn and accessories were inside.  Great samples were shown throughout the shop.

I'd really like to make this shawl.  Love the colors.  I was really tempted by this one and if I go back up there, I may cave and buy both the yarn and the pattern.

This one was striking and unusual.  Several of our group stopped to look at this one and comment.

 

TNK member Issy Thomas posed beside a very pretty green sweater sample.  Issy does love those greens.  She is one of our most accomplished knitters.  In fact, she was one of the knitters for Wendy Johnson's lace book,Wendy Knits Lace. 

Here I am with Jo and Deb inside of The Needle Lady.  I wish Cathy T (bonaircat on Ravelry) had told me to stand up straight and suck in my stomach and turn to a more flattering angle, but she didn't.  I'm thinking the camera adds at least 50 lbs.  By the way, all of these pictures were generously supplied by our trip photographer, Cathy T.  You'll see her in another picture. 

Jo and I may have won the unofficial prize that day for doing the most shopping. 

After shopping for yarn and needles (for those of us who didn't bring projects and had an immediate desire to join in the knitting fun) we decided we should have some lunch before doing any more shopping.

We ate at outdoors since the day was so nice.

Here are Issy, Cathy T (who briefly relinquished her camera so she could have her picture taken) and Linda enjoying drinks and waiting for their lunch to arrive.  We had a great waitress who stayed hopping the whole time.  I have immense respect for waitstaff since I would be an absolutely terrible waitress.  "What do you mean you don't want water?  I brought it, drink it."  I don't think I would get many tips.  Anyway, we had a wonderful waitress and very tasty food.

Here we are.  That's Janice, me (not looking too perky, am I?), Jo and Deb.  I really was having a great time. I think I was shopped out and *very* hungry at this point.  It had been a long morning.  And as we all know, I'm not a morning person. 

 

After lunch we strolled in a few of the shops and may have bought a few more things other than yarn.  I confess that I have a weakness for earrings.  Linda has a bag thing and found a perfect wallet and I believe a bracelet.  No pictures of these purchases, but there are pictures of some of the shops, both exteriors and interiors.

Loved the J. Fenton store.  They had some lovely items inside including unique jewelry, purses, quilts and toys.  Plus the giraffe outside is pretty darn cool, imo. 

The crowds had picked up after lunch and we went in and out of various shops.  I was lured by a bookstore as I struggle to carry my purchases.  Note to self:  bring a large tote bag for future trips.

This mosaic sofa was really interesting.  Typical of the art that you'll find along the mall. 

These earrings were gorgeous.  And I may have an in with the artist who crafted them.  Mary's designs are always so creative and colorful.  We're encouraging her to open an Etsy shop.  She also has cute, cute sheep and kitty pins.  A very talented artist for sure.

After we strolled and did our shopping, we found a nice round outside table, parked ourselves and our knitting and sat and did a lot of people-watching and a lot of knitting.

Sadly my Charlottesville shawl is still in progress.  But here's a picture of what I've knit so far.

The yarn and colors are beautiful.  And it's a super simple knit.  I need to get back to this, but so far Anne Hanson's Fall in Full Color club has been keeping me busy with knitting projects.

Linda is much better at finishing things than I am.  Here's her Stripe Study Shawl that she was working on while we sitting and knitting in the fresh air.  Love the colors.  Linda is another one of our prolific and accomplished knitters. 

We had a great day and I'm so glad I had the chance to go and bond with this great group of women. I so look forward to Tuesday nights and meeting with them from 7pm to 9pm across the James River.  They are funny, kind, supportive and interesting. 

I encourage you to find a group of similar knitters in your area.  And I hope you're as lucky as I have been with the Tuesday Night Knitters.
Kat