Yesterday was uber-geek day. First, I went birding at Big Lagoon State Park and then headed to Pensacola for some yarn shopping at Yarnside Gathering.
I have been to Yarnside before. Its about 35 minutes from our house on Ono. The gal who runs it is extremely nice and helpful. I have one gripe though that may sound weird. The lighting is terrible. They have overhead harsh fluorescent lights that do nothing for the yarn. The colors and textures are all gray blue and flat. I know its probably rented space but I am sure the landlord wouldn't mind an upgrade of the light fixtures. Even an addition of some halogen spots along with the fluorescents might help. My other very minor complaint is they did not have any silk yarn. None. In a yarn store in Florida. In the Spring. Yes, I know it's expensive stuff but its a very sale-able fiber for customers who live and knit in such a hot climate. At least for me, it is. But it's not right for me to make a fuss over it since I am not a regular customer.
Anyhow, I bought some Classic Elite Premiere to knit a shrug to wear with my Kentucky Derby dress. I wanted silk, but found this since they didn't have any. It's nice and soft and a bit shiny. It is made of tencel and cotton.
It looks like mathematical gymnastics will be required to get my shrug pattern down from a gauge of 24 sts x 34 rows in dk yarn, as written, to my worsted gauge of 20 sts x 24 rows. The stitch gauge is a piece of cake but the row gauge is a big pain in the ass.
Big Lagoon Park is awesome. Even though spring break is supposedly going on almost no one was there. They views are amazing, the beach is white sand, and the trails are extremely easy and likely good for birds. I didn't have much luck for the same reasons as yesterday and it was about 1030 in the morning.
Here is my list of new ones for the weekend:
Fish crow
Eastern blue bird
Clapper rail
Blue winged teal
Osprey (eating a fish)
Tufted titmouse
Black capped chickadee
Pileated woodpecker
White crowned sparrow
Ruby crowned Kinglet
I finished out the day by cruising over to Pirate's Cove and Shucker's at the Wharf for drinks. Steve's got the boat humming along so summer is already looking good. All of the dogs are back at the Cove. Whoever made a stink with the health department must have died or something because at least a half dozen dogs were relaxing on the deck while the band was playing and they have taken the doggy gates down. Perfect. I love drinking with dogs.
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