While I was in Ft. Lauderdale on business this week, I made a crazy long quick stop into a local yarn store.  A basic Google search showed a couple of them in the area, and while I might normally have had to do something like flip a coin to make the choice, there was absolutely no way I could resist a place called Sheep Thrills.  I mean, really, that name is just ridiculously awesome.  It turned out to be both a great choice, and a horrible choice.  Great, because the people were lovely and the yarn selection was spectacular.  Horrible, because the yarn selection was spectacular.  I spent more than I should have and could easily have walked out with twice as much.  I’ll have to go there again someday when my bank account isn’t quite so pitiful.  Although they do offer online shopping…

I ended up with three hanks of lace weight, 100% tencel Prism yarn (bottom row), in Raspberry, Jasper, and Periwinkle.  Jasper, the burnt orange, isn’t a color I would typically choose, but it is just so pretty.  The yarn feels yummy soft, too.  I can’t wait to work something up with it.  All right, all right.  I admit it.  Mostly I just want to pet the yarn.

The blue and white (top row), is Bolt, and the pink and white is Ski Bunny.  Both are fingering weight, alpaca/merino blends from Apple Fiber Studio in Washington state.

The multi-colored yarn is a locally dyed, fingering weight merino blend called Purple Sunset.  The colors are based on the view the show owner has from her back yard.  They had a swatch worked up, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.  Now I just have to find the right pattern to do justice to the colors.

One of the neatest online yarn shops I’ve found is Ancient Arts Yarns in Canada.  They have lovely yarn in general (and the exchange rate helps a bit), but the best part is their Meow and Woof collections.  These are “hand-dyed yarns based on the unique and beautiful colours of dogs” (and cats).  The company also donates a portion of the proceeds to help abandoned and stray cats and dogs.  Cool, huh?

I finally broke down and purchase a few skeins, and they arrived today.  They’re all merino/silk blends in fingering weight.  From left to right, we have Tortoiseshell, Rose Tribute (okay, not one of the Meow or Woof yarns, but soooo pretty), German Shepherd (I know, you’re shocked), and Kitten Nose Pink.

There’s enough yardage of each that I should be able to make four really pretty scarves, I just have to find the right patterns to showcase the gorgeous colors.  And then I have to decide if I want to sell them or keep them for myself.  I bet I know a few folks who might be interested in having a scarf in German shepherd colors…