We’ve been at the Coastal Condo since Thursday. Have I ever told you how much I love it here??? I bet I have. I was especially excited about this trip. In January, I made three new friends from visiting Knit ‘N Purl; Vivian, Jane and Linda. Vivian is in Ohio right now but Jane and Linda were coming to the Coastal Condo for an afternoon of social knitting and show and tell. We were so excited. Friday night Linda called saying she was experiencing vertigo and wouldn’t be able to come. DISAPPOINTED! Jane suggested we go to Wilmington for a trunk show at a LYS called The Noble Thread. I had never been to The Noble Thread so was pretty excited. So now our day started earlier and became lunch, LYS, social knitting and show and tell. I was up for that but sad that Linda wouldn’t be coming. Jane picked me up at about 10:30 and off we went.

We arrived in the historic Wilmington, ate lunch then found one of the most adorable LYS I’ve ever been in.

A yard bombed bike! How cute is that!?!?! It gave me an idea for next year’s I-75 Yarn Crawl at Ann’s By Design. I just took a minute outside to get the feel of the shop. Small with a friendly environment, knitters knitting and amazing looking fiber. What are we waiting for! Let’s get inside.

OMG!!! Look at that Doodler! I always wanted to knit that and I think it might be called fearless. I don’t know what the lower wrap is but it looks challenging and, well, fearless. I should have asked what it was.

Just display after display of gorgeous yarn. Once again, I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. That is a common feeling I get in a LYS.

See what I mean? Dazzling beauty everywhere you look. It was about here I had a deja vu experience. I’d never been in The Noble Thread. Why did I feel I’d been here before? All of a sudden I got it. I felt like I was in Portland. The dying techniques were amazingly like those of the local dyers in Washington and Oregon. Then I saw it.

Knitted Wit! No wonder I felt like I was on the Jan and Linda Yarn Crawl! I told the amazingly helpful person working about PDX Carpet from Knitted Wit and she wants to carry it.

This area was filled with newly released yarn. I was afraid I would get the skeins wet from drooling. I bought some, but not all I wanted. Now let’s take a look at the damage.

This is Jane’s purchase from Makers Haven, the North Carolina hand dyed company who was having the trunk show. Her works is amazingly like the hand dyed yarn I saw in Portland. The colors were stunning.

This is my Makers Haven purchase and I know exactly what I want to do with it.

Celestarium is a wrap knitted in the round with the center beginning being the North Star. The constellations are displayed in beads. I haven’t had many opportunities to knit with beads so that is pretty exciting. The yarn is Midnight 8 and is shades of dark blue with a sparkley twist of silver. I think it is perfect.

I fell in love with the new Berroco Sesame. The colors are so beautiful, it was hard to pick one out. But I chose this subtle Roy G Biv.

Isn’t it beautiful?!?!? The thread that’s twisted around has a glow to it. In the sun, it is glorious. I have no idea what I’ll do with it but I have 5 balls so I can pretty much do anything I want. One of my favorite steps in the knitting process is matching the perfect yarn to the perfect pattern.

I purchased this Kauni to make a Parallax scarf, one of the goals of My Year of Fearless Knitting. I love the pattern but just haven’t found the perfect yarn. I never make do. I will wait until the perfect yarn comes along. This may not be perfect.

Remember Parallax? Jane and I had a fabulous time on our yarn tour. It was so good to see her. We went back to the Coastal Condo for social knitting and show and tell. That will need to be in part 2 since Dick and I are meeting friends for dinner in a little over 2 hours. Wait until you see the show and tell. You will be wowed.

I have learned one very important thing during My Year of Fearless Knitting. (Well, really two things). Fearless knitting is a huge commitment and it takes lots of time. But the second thing I learned is that I love it! Fearless knitting keeps my juices flowing. It keeps me excited and engaged. I just finished another fearless project. Here it is.

Do you remember this?

And this? Well, it became this.

Isn’t it beautiful?!?!?!?! This is Fan-Tastic a Kulabra Design by Natalia Moreva. I discovered the design at Earthfaire and the pattern on the Kulabra Design website. I immediately started Fan-Tastic. It was a challenge but that is what My Year Of Fearless Knitting is all about. Challenge, excitement, learning, stretching. Kulabra Designs gave me all that. While I was there I fell in love with many patterns and since this year is all about being fearless, I bought them all. Let me share some of the fabulous designs. You really better sit down if you’re not already. These are going to knock you off your feet.

This is definitely one of my next fearless projects as soon as I find the perfect yarn. With a design this fabulous, I am not going to “make do.” The yarn must sing to me.

I absolutely love this. Once again, the yarn must serve this amazing design.

The last two are Star and Sail. Not only are they magnificent, the customer service at Kulabra Designs is over the top. For some reason, iBooks lost about 8 months of my patterns. I always save patterns to iBooks. That way if I am some where with no WiFi, I still can access my patterns. Well, I was in a panic. How was I going to get all of my fearless Kulabra Designs patterns?!?!?! I emailed Kulabra Designs and told them my sad story. The next morning I had several emails waiting for me with my lost patterns. Not only is Natalia an amazing designer, she is a thoughtful, kind person. I will always be a loyal, adoring customer. I am a grateful knitter to have been reunited with my patterns. I am also grateful to have discovered a treasure trove of fearless patterns. I encourage you to visit Kulabra Designs and be prepared to be amazed.