I'm Back!

From my trip to the Northeast, that is... Well, I've been back, for a little over a week. Thought it be about time that I write about my trip! This was my first time traveling to New York without my parents and little brother, so I was a little nervous about it - but I'm glad I got a chance to venture out into the city on my own!!

I arrived in New York City Wednesday morning, about 9:00am EDT, after an overnight flight in. I took a little bit of a nap when I got to my grandparent's apartment, then spent the afternoon and evening catching up with them and just relaxing! The next day, I decided to explore a little bit of Manhattan. I walked up to the Starbucks on 78th and Lexington, got my SF vanilla latte and headed over a few blocks to Central Park. This was most fantastic! I got to sip my latte and knit and just enjoy the amazing-ness that is Central Park! I wandered through the park taking pictures, stopped to listen to some street musicians, had some Swedes ask me about the settings of their camera that was the same model as mine... except it was in their language, so, uh, I really couldn't help them... then meandered up 5th Ave to Rockefeller Center.

 

From there, I decided it was time to check out a yarn shop! So I hopped on the subway, made my way down to SoHo and visited a lovely little yarn shop called Purl SoHo. Very bright and trendy shop - they seemed to have a lot of merino wool and alpaca, some exotics, and some of the artsy novelty yarns. Very fun place. I purchased two skeins of 100% baby alpaca by Blue Sky Alpacas - sport weight in "Petal"' and "Cappuccino". I've already started knitting a lattice lace scarf with them :) I walked out of the shop without them wound, then got halfway down the block and decided to go back and have them wind up the skeins for me. When I was waiting for my yarn, I spotted a project I've seen on the Purl Bee: Whits Knits Colorblock Wand Warmers. I adore these hand warmers and would love to make them some time. Although, I would probably go for some kind of self-striping yarn in this same color combo, because buying all four colors of yarn would be a little spendy for me. Alas, I was so blessed to see those there at Purl SoHo. Upon leaving the shop, I realized I had a voice-mail from my grandmother asking where I was, so I made my way back up to their apartment on 73rd and Lexington, and spent the remainder of the afternoon/evening finishing up and blocking the scarf I knitted for my cousin! Got it finished just in time!

The next day, Friday, I rode the MegaBus up to Providence, Rhode Island to see my cousin who is a PhD student in the econ program at Brown University. She was organizing a folk concert featuring her good friend, Anthony da Costa and his friend, Anna Vogelzang. We had Thai food and spent the evening enjoying wonderful music. When we got back to her apartment for the night I presented her with her newly knitted scarf and she loved it and wore it the whole weekend! We spent our Saturday doing pilates, having gluten free pancakes & bacon (YUM!), walking around the Brown campus, shopping, and hanging out with her economist friends! What a delightful time! :) The next day, we tried to hit up brunch at this place in the hipster part of Providence known for their giant mimosas and awesome hashes. After waiting too long though, we decided to instead have brunch at an Italian deli. I then rode the bus back the NYC just in time to enjoy a scrumptious dinner with my grandparents, my aunt and another cousin of mine and her boyfriend.

Monday, I took the subway down to Brooklyn and spent the day with her on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, taking pictures of downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. We had lunch at a pub then did a little shopping, making it back to Manhattan just in time for dinner. The next morning was my last in New York and I spent it wandering around my grandparent's neighborhood. I went to a yarn shop called String that was just a few blocks south of their apartment between Park and Madison Ave. Very upscale, indeed :) They feature quite a lot of cashmere and cashmere blends. The staff was very helpful and it was fun to browse their fibers and their finished knitted projects. They offered free patterns with yarn purchase. I bought a small skein of merino/cashmere/nylon blend in "Shadow" - I think I will call them and order another skein or two, should be really fun yarn to work with! Once I got back to the apartment, it was time for me to make sure I had all my stuff together and flag a cab to LGA to catch my plane home.