Overnight Jacksonville Trip (Plus Yarn Shopping!)

My husband needed to go to Jacksonville, and luckily I was able to switch my day off so I could join him :) We drove up after I got off work last night and stayed at the Baymeadows Embassy Suites. It was a really nice hotel:

The atrium was really pretty, plus they had a great continental breakfast :) Justin had to do his thing while I checked us out and I had a few hours to meander around Jacksonville by myself. Since I didn't have any other set plans, I checked to see if there were any local yarn stores near our hotel before we left. How lucky was it that KnitWitz was only about 15 minutes away!

I have to admit, I was a little scared (isn't that ridiculous?) since my last experience with a small yarn shop did not go so well. I am happy to report that this shop was the polar opposite of my last adventure. It was such a lovely shop! Check out all that yarn :) Mmmmm... I got to squeeze the yarn to my hearts content, making my own way around the store and asking prices when I was curious. The shop workers were very helpful and nice. Beautiful yarn selection and nice people, what more could you ask for?!

This is my "I'm in an awesome yarn store!" face :) lol Slightly crazed but really excited. I had a very nice time getting to see all these high end yarns in person and getting to touch them. I've gotten pretty good at buying yarn online, but really nothing compares to the in person experience.

I went into the shop with no specific needs in mind. I just wanted to get at least one skein as a 'souvenir' from my few hours in Jacksonville. This Classic Elite Liberty Light Wool was a serious contender. It was so soft and light and the colors were deliciously vibrant. But when it came down to it, I just didn't know what I would do with it since it's a sport weight (most of the patterns I have that call for sport are for sweaters and I didn't want to spend quite that much), so I pressed on.

The last section I came to was full of various types of sock yarn. I started squeezing around and fell in love with Cascade Heritage Sock. Incidentally I do already have one skein of this in Como Blue, but I just liked it so much I had to grab this one :) This color is called burgundy and it's a beautiful deep color. I'm not sure yet if I want to make it into a shawl or a pair of socks, but once I do I know I will always remember where and when I got the yarn.

Even though I was only in Jacksonville for a couple of hours (in fact my husband called to say he was finished while I was in the yarn shop), I had a lot of fun and if I'm ever back in the area, I will definitely visit KnitWitz again :)