Tuesday, November 16, 2004
New Orleans, Part 2
I am still trying to recover from my short conference trip to New Orleans. Really.But, very exciting, I received a call from the owner of the newly launched local yarn store yesterday and, believe it or not, I actually won a door prize from the opening! Yup. I never win anything, and I managed to win the lovely Lost Points Shawl, made from yarn from the South West Trading Company.
This yarn is really interesting--there is a bamboo based yarn (the ribbony looking purple) and a soy product novelty yarn in the kit. I'm looking forward to giving this a try, but it looks like I will put it aside as spring/summer knitting. I have a long list of heavier weight items to take care of first....
So, I did get to go to two yarn stores and a fun restaurant in my whirlwind conference stop in New Orleans. I'll blog about the first today. I went to the Quarter Stitch, which is right in the French Quarter. I must say that I was disappointed with the shop for a couple of reasons--it was very expensive, had a very small selection of yarns, and the one clerk was pretty snotty. Not my idea of a great time. But, the other clerk was very helpful and nice, so I picked up the supplies for two projects. I probably wouldn't have bought anything had I known what the next store had to offer, but I was afraid I would have nothing to show for my trip otherwise!
Here's my cute little package (a little mushed from airline security):
What's inside the fancy mardi gras wrap? Well, I bought some lovely Inca Alpca in green for the leaf scarf in Scarf Style:
The alpaca is SOOOO soft that I just stood there and patted it.
Then, I ended up with the Colinette (again--why do I keep buying this yarn? What is it about the stuff?)
I bought the Engima yarn book:
I decided the Granada jacket would be perfect for summer in Texas in an airconditioned building:
What color of their ribbon yarn did I pick?
That's Popsicle or Poppa sicle as my daughter says.
In the evening I headed over to Herbsaint for dinner. While the dinner was good, it wasn't spectacular, so I was a bit disappointed. The best part of the dinner was the steamed mussels with pommes frites. Yummy salty and garlicky. I enjoyed the Shrimp and Green Chile Grits Cakes with Tasso Cream Sauce--a perfect creamy mix with crunchy hot grits. The Homemade Spaghetti with Fried Poached Egg and Link's Panchetta (a signature dish) was disappointing. The Panchetta, in particular, was not cured well, tasting a bit off. I also had the Banan Brown Butter Tart with Fleur de sel caramel, which was just too sweet. The wine list was good, but I can't say that I would head back to the restaurant when there are so many other great restaurants in New Orleans.
Tomorrow I'll have pictures from the other yarn shop--Garden District Needlework shop and a definate must visit.
