Another Jaunt to Jersey: A Yarn Crawl

My day started early with an 8 a.m. visit to the dentist. All is well and good; only problem with an existing filling, part of the back wall of my tooth decided to "jump ship" and though it's not giving me problems unless I bite down directly, I need to get it drilled out and replaced, God willing the rest of the tooth doesn't get destroyed, in which case I'll have to seriously rethink getting a crown. I've been so overstimulated there on that nerve, it's next to impossible for me to get numb enough for them to grind the tooth down to start the process.

Now onto a virtual tour of the yarn crawl!

1. We headed to Original Pancake House in Caldwell for a late breakfast.I had the "Dutch Baby" with some linx, and she had Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam.

2. I then took her by Italianissimo, as she was interested in seeing it, as it was used for the exterior shots of Artie Bucco's resto in Sopranos.

3. Then down the street to Essex County Airport, to ogle the place where JFK Jr. departed from on his fateful day. This is also the place where the WASband took me VIA a rented Piper Cub, for our second date, as the 94th Bomb Group Restaurant is located there, and they have valets to "park" your plane.

I gassed up the car, enjoying paying $1 less per gallon, paying $30ish rather than the $40ish I am used to paying for a tank-ful, and then we headed to Montclair...

4. We then headed to The Chocolate Path to pick up a few things for Valentine's Day. I can't say I was surprised by the $$$, but it is a shop that specializes in high end, not less than 60% chocolate solids, sometimes single location, chocolate. I bought myself a cam of Dark Obsession Chocolate Rose tea from MarieBelle as well as a packet of hot coco (same company). I also got three small boxes of New Tree Chocolate; 1. Dark chocolate/Black Currant/Cassis "Renew"; 2. Dark chocolate Mint/Menthe "Refresh"; 3. Dark chocolate Ginger "Sexy". Each box is 0.95 oz, and contains 3 pieces per.

From this point out, we were all on foot, and well within a two block radius.

5. Next up... finally... YARN. We stopped at Ellie's Knit 'N Rest (no link available) to check out her "alleged" blow out sales... 35% off, not what I would call "blow out" but hey... Ellie's is one of those OLD TIME yarn shops where you have to dig through dusty plastic covered bundles of skeins to find your "treasures." She had "some" Noro on sale (7.50 a skein... still... not a fabulous sale, but I got two in the cotton silk blend). But my true treasure were two remaining skeins of Sahara (a french import) in walnut brown... Camel & Merino mix. Once I touched it, I HAD TO HAVE IT. And these two skeins were no bargain either. The four skeins combined cost close to $47. But the skeins of Sahara were 1000 yards each, so they're kind of weighty. I bought the Saraha for myself, perhaps a cuddly shrug I'll design. Let's wait and see.

6. Then we walked three store fronts down (sadly Ellie's will be closing mid-June; I hope to return before then), to Modern Yarn, where I sat on their comfy couch, while my friend browsed. Found out they, too, have a group on Ravelry, which delighted me:) Ravelry really has made the world a lot smaller! I inquired about their Weavette looms they had on sale, tho they only had rectangular ones, and I wanted a square one. I guess I'll have to buy it online.

7. Then we went to the London Food Company for some "provisions." I was secretly hoping that they'd carry a particular type of tea of which I'm fond (a pineapple rooibos, which also happens to have some black tea in it too). I called them today in retrospect, and they're going to see about sourcing some for me, otherwise I'll have to go through a british website for it. I picked up a set of six silver plated tea spoons (with little teapots on the ends of the handles) for a special "tea" I'm planning. And I also picked up some Wrigley's Airwaves gum in cherry menthol, menthol & eucalyptus, and black mint, as well as a roll of fruit gums and a roll of Trebor extra strong peppermints. They were completely out of Smarties, but I hope if she is able to get the tea, when I return, I'll be picking up tea and Smarties. My friend got some potato scones, which then made me start thinking ahead to St. Pat's day, and I might attempt some potato boxties, with curried veggies in the center.

8. We then headed to Stix-n-Stitches, which is my favorite yarn shop I've been going to for a few years, which also helps me "keep one foot firmly in the Garden State." We all socialize on Ravelry, so they were expecting me to pop in. And I am glad I did.

Although after going to Ellie's I was putting myself on a "yarn diet," I have to go see my specialist on the 18th (a few days before my next payday) and wanted to keep to a budget of sorts. I was glad to pop in and shmooze a bit with everyone I've grown fond and familiar with, and Sheila ended up showing off a hook she recently got from Turn of the Century (which thrilled me, as I'm fond of their hooks), and then let me know she's got some monster sized hooks in the back As my friend mentioned, a hook isn't yarn, so buying it would be keeping to my "yarn diet," however my wallet said another thing, and I was hell bent on getting bigger hooks anyway:) So Sheila presented me with two "U" shaped hooks made by Jenkins . It appears as if the shaft is the diameter of a broom handle, so that makes me giddy. Of course I had to buy one, as I'm a self-admitted "Size Queen" when it comes to crochet hooks (despite my love of my Jimbo hook and my Addi hook, which have been my "go-to-hooks" as of late. I need to snap a picture of it, as I've got "hook acquisition disease."

9. After, we ended our jaunt to Cha Ma Gu Dao for some tea. It's got a huge assortment of loose leaf tea, and unfortunately for us, they were totally SWAMPED due to a tea tasting and other stuff going on to celebrate the New Year. All the chaos did not lend itself well to us sitting down for a leisurely cup of tea as well as the ability to take our time, sniffing canisters and possibly walk away with some loose leaf to take home. But I guess there's always a next time for that.

I then took a quick spin back to SnS to drop off my squares for Thom's afghan which I left in my car, and then we were headed back home.

After I dropped my friend off at home, I called in an order to my favorite resto, then did a lightning fast pass through the supermarket for a few items (which also included a bottle of Act Restoring Mouthwash... I love my dental hygienist, I promised her I'd get this), then back to the diner to pick up food for dinner, and then finally home.

I'm already planning my next trip to Montclair:)