Tinsmith's Wife Anniversary

Last Friday was the second anniversary of my favorite yarn shop The Tinsmith's Wife out in Comfort. If you have been following my blog for a while you know how much I love going there. The owner Wendy is the best as far as I am concerned, not to mention her amazing parents Susan and Bill. They are kind, sweet, and all around good hearted. They are just wonderful and I really wanted to find some way to let them know it.

So I decided to give them a little gift in honor of their celebration. I had drawn this little sheep knitting (shown above) a bit ago and it just seemed perfect, so after framing it, my lovely mom and I set off on Friday to give it to them in person. Along the way there we got a flat tire, and a very nice old cowboy stopped to help us put on the spare (many thanks Brad!).
Once arriving I gave them my gift and I was so excited to see that they liked it!
Many hugs were shared and happy tears. It was a very happy moment. They then hung up the picture on the wall, right away! It was so touching.

( This picture is of Wendy and I laughing; and you can even see my picture hanging in the background, photographed by Susan)

Then after all that, Wendy did something extraordinary for me that really touched me even more. She gave me a gift in return. Can you believe I teared up again? It was their special anniversary pattern and hand dyed yarn, that even came with the beads!

The pattern is for a shawl called Eurybia by Melissa Goodale from Stick Chick Knits. The yarn that accompanies it is this deep shade of beautiful green that I really can't wait to work on! It was hand dyed by Hazel Knits in the Emerald City colorway.
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The cup is the perfect size too, and a lovely shade of blue, just the right size for my cups of tea.

Then after all that Wendy did a post on her blog about it which really made my day, be sure to visit her blog and website for her shop.

Thank you Tinsmith's Wife!

This is a moment in my life that I will always cherish. Your generosity is outstanding. I'm so glad I got to be apart of your special and momentous celebration.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You mean a great deal to me too :)

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean

Yarn Crawl 2010

So one word to describe the Yarn Crawl this year is--fun! It was a blast, really. My mom, Kaitlyn, Jessica and I planned it a little bit differently this year, separating up the shops into different days. Last year we did everything on one day... a little too much looking back. The first shop we went to was Nan's Needle works in Horseshoe Bay. We hadn't been to it before and I was really surprised how nice it was. The shop was located in a business center on the second floor but was worth the search. I found the most beautiful yarn that the owner, Cari Kojak, dyes herself. It is 100% silk and I don't know if I've ever been so smitten with a yarn right from the get go before. It's soft, oh so soft, and I just love the colors.

All in all I went to nine shops!

This years passport and bag were bright orange! Of course that made me very happy.

I really think this years free yarn was so great. I seemed to be drawn to the same colors though, as you can tell, greens, blues, and purples.

I got several great free patterns to accompany the yarn but somehow forgot to photograph them. Drat!

I visited Hill Country Weavers, Gauge, Nan's Needle Works, The Tinsmith's Wife, Rosewood Yarns, Yarnivore, Yarn Barn, Stonehill Spinning, and the Knitting Nest. I really treasured going by my favorite store in Comfort, The Tinsmith's Wife.

This is the second thing I bought this year: orange Silky Alpaca lace yarn from Classic Elite. I got it at Rosewood Yarns in Boerne.

I only bought four skeins this year! How's that for self-restraint?!? :)

Honestly, I almost didn't do the crawl this year, since I am making a huge effort to save more and more. So far it has been good, and I have been avoiding going to places I know will tempt me to spend, but this was the first time in a long time I have splurged a little.

I know I said this would be posted last Monday, but I spent the last week looking all over the house for a mysteriously misplaced camera cord that ended up being hidden under one of my quilts. No idea how it got there...

I just now found it last night.

So it is albeit late :)

Forgive me?

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean

Yarn Crawl 2010+ Lake House Adventure

Last weekend two very joyous occasions happened. The first was a little family vacation, and the second was the Best Little Yarn Crawl in Texas. It was my second year in a row, if you recall, doing the crawl and boy this year was a blast as well!
The trip began on Friday when my mom, dad, Michael and I went on our merry way up to our families lake house.
We did some fishing, and overall just spent time together. In the cabin, I did some reading and worked on various drawings. We separated out time for the yarn crawl, all in all I went to nine shops all over the hill country.

I will tell you some more about what exactly happened on the crawl tomorrow.
Can't wait!
This lake was just so pretty.

I might have taken a 'few' photos of it. :)

We sat on the benches together and my mom scrap booked, my sister's read magazines and I knitted for a bit.

It was very pleasant.

I found several good free books at the local V.A. thrift store that I read a bit.

Here's my brother in the early morning light getting ready for the day!
Sipping some hot cocoa, of course.These are some views from the road, there are still so many wildflowers out and about. It really brightens up the roads.

All in all a splendid trip, one worth remembering.

Did you do anything fun on Columbus day Weekend?

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean

Austin Here We Come

A while ago we (Jessica, Kaitlyn, my Mom, and I) went to Austin for a Yarn Sale at Hill Country Weavers. While driving we saw these signs that had been yarn bombed! :) I was pretty excited! In fact I made sure we turned around so I could take pictures of it.

I love how bright and homey the yarn looks against the gray concrete. Of course I love the granny squares!
See the chevron in the orange/yellow/black!

Ah, Austin you make me happy.

We also stopped by this bookstore we like to frequent called Book People.

Luckily at the Yarn Sale it wasn't raining like it was last year. I got so many good deals on great yarn. More pictures on the yarn I got to follow...I can't wait to show you.

Thanks so much for taking me mom!

Kaitlyn has once again got me addicted to another song. This one is from Imogen Heap, called First Train Home. Know any good songs you could recommend?

More to come soon!

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean
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Yarn Crawl Fun

Last weekend my sister Kaitlyn, my mom, and I all piled into the car and drove through the Texas Hill Country for the 2009 Yarn Crawl. It was my first time going to it and I am so glad I did! It was a total blast. The company was the best anyone could wish for, and the ride was full of laughter and fun. I loved going to all the shops, and it was really interesting to see the ones I had never been to before. I got a free gift at each one of the shops we stopped at, and had my yarn crawl passport stamped. I really enjoyed this part of it because alot of the shops gave yarn and a patterns too! I love free gifts...Don't you? It was great. I got lots of yarn and goodies including two japanese craft books I have been wanting for some time, which I will show in another post. I am so excited!

The photos above were taken by my sister Kaitlyn.