I got back from vacation today, and when I stepped into the store, I felt disoriented--and not just from being away. We got in so many new fabrics and yarns while I was gone that I felt as if I had stepped into a new store.

We got in this beautiful fabric:


This luscious Asian print:
These happy Mexican fabrics:


Yarns? We got in our spring and summer yarns! Here are the cotton/rayons from Wool in the Woods (next to Crystal Palace's cotton chenille):



Here's one of my favorite new yarns, Joseph Galler organic cotton (and we also have some new Joseph Galler alpaca):


There is something that always hits me viscerally when I hold organic cotton in a way that doesn't happen for any other yarn. I can't explain the feeling, but if you are reading this, you work with fiber, so you probably understand what I mean.

I had been eagerly awaiting the publication of this book for months, and it was here when I got home! The new Happy Hooker crochet book from Debbie Stoller.....


...which must have, in some way, inspired Kim to crochet this incredible black-yarn-and-ribbon, stained-glass scarf:

(Not that she needs any kind of inspiration to crochet anything. She is a crocheting fiend!)

There is more that came in, but you have to come by the store to see it. (Hint: bamboo yarn from Classic Elite is peeking out from behind the above scarf.)

My vacation was wonderful, and the weather was perfect. One of the best parts was knitting in the train and car. I concentrated on my Olympic sweater, and here is the progress I made. It's actually starting to look like a sweater:


Will I finish it before the warm weather sets in? I have no idea, although I'm still feeling strangely focused and wanting to do only this sweater. I'm not used to focus in my knitting. Stay tuned.