mmm, cotton candy

i bought a new yarn at ac moore this weekend that i’m absolutely in love with. it’s a super-soft synthetic angora that looks like cotton candy, but hot pink. (did i ever mention that pink is my favorite color?) and, to top it off, it doesn’t seem to shed.

i started making a hat, but i want a whole wardrobe made from this yarn: matching mittens, scarf, legwarmers, etc. etc. i didn’t take a picture, i’ll just post a photo of the hat when it is done.

also, this weekend i found out some good news for vegan knitters in takoma park! i was just saying that takoma park needed a yarn store, and voila! yesterday when i was walking by a gift shop called “now and then,” i saw a basket of yarn in their window. the sign said that starting in october they will be holding knitting classes and selling yarn (in addition to selling funky gifts and cards as always). it specifically mentioned bamboo, soy silk, hemp, and organic cotton -- everything i want most! it didn’t say anything about wool. wouldn’t it be awesome if they only sold vegan yarn? either way, clearly they are focusing on vegan yarns. i can’t wait to check it out! just one more reason to love takoma park.

for those who have never been to takoma park, you should visit. the easiest way to describe it is that it’s like living in mayberry, if mayberry were racially and ethnically diverse, populated by hippies, artists, activists and other assorted liberals, and located within spitting distance of a major city. i could go on forever talking about everything i love about takoma park, but one of the biggest things has to be our little “old town” downtown area. you can see the store now and then in the background of this photo of old town taken during our annual street festival.

old town takoma is a vegan paradise, small town style. from our house we can walk to a variety of vegan friendly shops and restaurants, including a pizza place that serves (and delivers) vegan soy cheese pizza, a food co-op (where we buy most of our groceries), a boutique pet supply store (where we buy our vegan doggie biscuits), a few great consignment/vintage stores, a coffee shop serving fair trade coffee and vegan café food, an independent video store, a bead store, a middle eastern/falafel restaurant, and a diner-style restaurant with tons of vegan food (my favorite items are the ginger-tofu focaccia sandwich, asparagus and tofu brown rice fried rice, and vegan buckwheat pancakes and fakin’ bacon for weekend brunch). unfortunately, the used bookstore recently closed, which makes the good news that vegan yarn is coming to takoma all the more welcome.

if any vegan knitters want to come visit, i’d be happy to show you around dc and takoma park. then, we can go to savory, and i’ll buy you a piece of vegan chocolate cake and a fair trade coffee while we relax on the couches and knit.