Missouri yarn-ventures

Of *course* my mom and I plotted stops at several yarn shops on our trip -- would you expect anything less?

The first shop we went to was Simply Fibers in Springfield, Mo. (Links are going to take you to my mom's photos of the shops.) A little Maltese-Yorkie pup named Charlie greeted us when we walked in. He was one of the cutest pups I've ever seen - when he got going with running, his front legs just went straight and he looked like a marching soldier (for lack of a better description). I have a bias toward dogs in yarn shops (especially when they're small, non-shedding and well-behaved) -- so Charlie was a big hit. Kelle was working at the shop and she was just the bubbliest, nicest gal. She even logged on to Ravelry to friend each of us. (Kelle, if you see this, I hope your trip to Ireland was great!)

I bought two skeins of sock yarn, some Opal (because I'm a sucker for self-patterning yarns right now) and a tweedy purple-blue one by Hand Painted Knitting Yarns, dyed for the store.





That was our only yarn shop in southwest Missouri. We stopped at a fabric store for my mom in what felt like the middle of nowhere. The selection wasn't to my mom's liking, but the shop owner was really friendly and outgoing, so I bought some buttons for baby sweaters and that was about it.

Once we got back to the eastern side of the state, we visited Kirkwood Knittery in suburban St. Louis. They had a Memorial Day sale, yippee! Their selection was nice, and they had a nice-sized crowd there, too. One of the proprietors was very friendly and had a ton of questions for my mom about the college where she works (my mom was wearing a t-shirt from it). It's always nice to chat with people when you're on trips. I picked up some Jojoland Melody.





We stopped at Jackman's Fabrics, where my mom picked up some nice things. (Um, can you tell I'm not a quilter/sew-er? This description is a brief one, hee hee.) Then we checked into our hotel in St. Louis, had some yummy Mexican food and a margarita and called it a night.

On Sunday, we visited Knitty Couture in the Delmar neighborhood. This was a cool area, but boy was it a hot day. It was a really cute store ... I *almost* didn't buy anything, but ... at the last minute I spotted this merino-cashmere-nylon sock yarn. Something I've wanted to try for a long while. So I picked it up -- Spirit Trail Fiberworks Frija sock yarn in a deliciously scummy color called Vintage:



We weren't going to go to the last yarn shop on our list -- our feet were aching, we were hot and tired. But the GPS told us we were less than five miles from Knitorious. So off we went.

It was a nice-sized store with a TON of selection. I had a tough time deciding but in the end went with something outside my normal color choices -- this Dyeabolic Strong Arm sock.



And thus concludes my yarn adventures in St. Louis! I think it's time to hold myself accountable publicly and say that's it for yarn-buying and me for some time. I am so incredibly fortunate to have the yarn stash that I do, and I'm going to continue to knit from it as fast as I can. I plan to stay on this yarn diet until Sheep and Wool next year (barring gifts that require a specific yarn that I don't already own). We'll see how it goes ...

visiting Missouri

I'm home from Missouri! (Um, I've been home for a week.) The trip was fabulous -- it felt so luxurious to get to spend four days with my mama!

We visited the Arch (just the base of it -- rides to the top were sold out) ...



Best of all, we drove nearly four hours to Mansfield, Mo., to visit Rocky Ridge Farm, home to Laura Ingalls Wilder (for whom I am named)!



This was a trip my mom and I had talked about taking for many, many years. We talked about it as a high school graduation thing, but my dad lost his job around that time and it wasn't feasible. Then college came, and summer internships got in the way. Then I had a job. Then my granddad got sick last summer. But this year, we finally made it happen.



We both teared up when we walked into the museum and saw Pa's fiddle, which featured so prominently in all her books. They had Mary's nine-patch quilt, which she made before she grew ill (with scarlet fever, I think) and became blind. They had countless "artifacts" (for lack of a better word) from her lifetime, including one of the tablets on which she wrote "On the Shores of Silver Lake." We got to see the very desk she wrote some of the books on, in her study. The house was lovely and I wish we had the opportunity to freely walk around the house and/or take photos indoors. Ah well. I will remember our trip always!

Oh yeah ... I might've taught my mom to knit a sock, too ...



I am so proud!

(I'll be back soon with a yarn-y report.)

My yarn-cation

Really, my vacation could be called a yarn-cation. When I packed my very full suitcase for our trip, I thought "how am I going to fit yarn in here, too?" But it all worked out somehow.

First LYS I visited was Tricoter in Seattle. I wanted to visit Tricoter because it's the only store in Seattle to carry Blue Moon Fiber Arts. We had to drive there from downtown but found it easily with the GPS. It was a very busy place - there must've been half a dozen knitters sitting around tables in the front, knitting and chatting away. But ... no one greeted me. I wandered around, looking for the Socks that Rock, which wasn't easy to spot because everything is arranged by color in the perimeter of the store - lovely to look at, but it makes finding a specific brand or weight of yarn a bit difficult. I made several loops of the perimeter, still didn't spot it, and was about to give up when I noticed some bins near the register that had sock yarn in it. Success! The prices were a bit higher than I expected but eventually a clerk came up to me and told me that everything in the store was 15% off because of the recession. Well, that's cool. Here's what I ended up with:

STR lightweight in Seal Rock:


STR lightweight in Tricoter:


STR lightweight in The Claw:


As I was browsing the sock yarn, I deduced from the conversation that one of the women sitting at the front and knitting actually worked there. But she didn't offer to help as I wandered around with a quizzical look on my face. And the knitters at tables made it hard to get to some of the yarn for sale. It takes a lot for me to be disappointed in a shopping experience (I always give the benefit of the doubt), but I have to say that the Yelp reviews for this store seem to be accurate. Normally, if I feel I've had poor customer service, I won't spend money at the business. But on vacation -- and at one of the few stores that carry my favorite brand of yarn -- I am not about to do that.

On the upside, I met a really nice Raveler and we talked about her Cotty socks in progress and pooling. I wish I had caught her name! I think she was in the Socks that Rock group, too ...

Later that day, I passed up the chance to go to So Much Yarn in Seattle **as we walked by the building.** That takes major restraint, doesn't it??



A few days later, I hit up Coastal Yarns in Cannon Beach, Oregon. They had a great selection of BMFA (including non-sock yarn) and I chatted with the shop owner, who has a sister in Virginia Beach. Small world!



I ended up getting these goodies:

STR lightweight in ST-1 (perhaps my favorite Socks that Rock purchase of the trip):


STR mediumweight in Plankton Ooze:


BMFA Icelandic (really chunky yarn) in Bejewelled:


This will become a Christmas gift hat for my brother's girlfriend. I'm hoping I can get two hats out of the skein, actually!

This brings me to my first yarny stop in Portland: Twisted. I walked in and couldn't believe my ears - my beloved Tom Waits was playing ever so quietly over the speakers! Between that, the copious amounts of sock yarn for sale and the general happy vacation mood I was in, I could've cried of happiness. They have couches and tea available, too. (If I lived in Portland, I think I'd never leave this store.)

The shop owner (I think her name was Shannon?) was really friendly as I browsed. They got a delivery as I browsed and were oohing and aahing, and they insisted I come take a look. It was two enormous boxes of Hazel Knits Artisan Sock.

Oh. my. gah. It was like yarn heaven. Each colorway was more vibrant than the next. I ended up buying three skeins:







From top: Jay Blue, Pacific, Purple Hazel.

I also got some stunning red Indigo Moon sock yarn (which comes from British Columbia):


I saw this emerald green yarn and immediately thought of socks for my green-loving mom:



And I got this Socks that Rock colorway I had been coveting - Alf-a:



Only after I picked up all that sock yarn did I even walk to the other side of the store. They had tons of Dream in Classy (including DiC Groovy, a chunkyweight version I had never seen before) but I just couldn't even think about buying more yarn considering my hands were already full with six skeins...

Oh, how I will wish forever that Twisted were my LYS. And that's all I have to say about that.

The next day, I ended up stopping at Knit/Purl, which was only a couple blocks from our hotel. I was only going to browse, and then I saw a wall of MadelineTosh sock yarn, and well, I went weak in the knees ...



That's MadTosh sock in Clematis.

Hand Maiden Cashbah in Masala:


I am thinking this would be a scrumptious Simple Yet Effective shawl. (Yes, I realize I already own two of these ...) The yarn is so soft I just can't bear the idea of putting it on my feet instead of around my neck.

Knit/Purl was a perfectly lovely store. They carried a bunch of fancier yarns - Tilli Thomas, Habu and oh yes they have a wall of Koigu. My purchases were wrapped in tissue paper and sealed with a Knit/Purl sticker - so opening them when I got back to Virginia felt like Christmas!

And that is my yarn-cation, in a blog post. I must admit that I feel rather spoiled (and a little guilty) talking about my yarn purchases on vacation. It is very unlike me to spend that much money in one fell swoop - on yarn or anything more important! But I budgeted for it, and I stayed within my budget, so I'm happy. And I don't think I'll be buying yarn for quite some time!

vacation in pictures (and a few words)

My trip to the Pacific Northwest was really, really lovely. I can't stress that enough. It was just what I needed. We spent time in Seattle first ... (click to embiggen the photos)







... before hitting up the Olympic Peninsula to visit Olympic National Park.







We did some hiking, saw animals (salmon and black-tail deer and starfish!) and spent lots of time reading and (in my case) knitting. Then we drove down the coast to a beachfront condo in Netarts, Oregon.







The beaches in Oregon (and Washington) are just magnificent. They're so wide and rocky and (at least the ones I saw) mostly devoid of homes.

We rounded out our trip in Portland, where I didn't use my camera as much. (Then again, we were there for only 30 hours.) We had breakfast with a friend who used to work with us, and she snapped a nice shot of us.



If you'd like to see more pictures, check out my album at Flickr.

There was plenty of knitting time on the plane and in the car (Josh did all the driving). I knit a sock and a half out of Socks that Rock mediumweight in County Clare before we returned home. I also knit the foot and gusset of my first toe-up sock.

I finished the County Clare socks soon after we returned:



This is the 10th pair of socks I've knit in 2009. I can't believe it! I plan on ending up with a minimum of 12 pairs knit in 2009: I'm making a pair of socks for my brother and dad for Christmas.

As for Christmas knitting this year? I'm making my mom, dad and brother each a pair of socks and my brother's girlfriend a hat. Mom's are done and I just finished the first sock in Dad's pair last night. I've cast on for its mate already. I'm knitting my Christmas socks out of Knit Picks Swish DK - it's a nice workhorse yarn. And that's it for Christmas knitting! I'm glad I don't have a ton of pressure to knit for many more people. I know my family will love whatever I make for them. I'm already plotting for next year to increase my sock production and knit each of them a pair of socks for their birthdays, too ...

I'll be back in a day or two with a post about my vacation yarn purchases. I got some really excellent yarn and I can't wait to tell you about it!

I had a blast in Ohio. I was there for less than 72 hours but it felt like I was there for a week. Perhaps because I spent all day Friday knitting and ended up with a sock?



STR mediumweight in Cockamamie, basic ribbed sock

I'm already past the heel of the second sock. I really love the fabric of STR mediumweight on US 2 needles.

I've also cast on for what I'm hoping will be my first shawl, Ishbel.



Yarn is what else but STR (Mustang Sally, lightweight).

I thought the cast-on was kind of tricky, and I'm not quite sure I did it right, but I'm just going with it.

Yesterday was my return to running after the Capital City Half Marathon last Saturday. I woke up early and ran 2.3 miles before going to the beach with my pal Steph.

Oh yeah, and as for how the race went, I'm disappointed because I didn't push myself as much as I'd have liked. I didn't feel as strong as I did six weeks ago at the Shamrock Half Marathon, and I know that's because I wasn't able to complete my long runs (thanks to my two untimely falls). But I know I'm going to focus on improving my speed this summer, despite the mugginess that's to come. No excuses for me this summer.

a new pair of socks

Hi, blogworld. I'm excited to show off the second pair of socks I've knitted for myself.



These are knit in Prism Merino Mia in the Tahoe colorway: US 2.5 needles made them really fly by (the first was knit in a two weeks, the second ... a bit, ahem, longer. Like a-month-and-two-weeks longer.) They're really soft and squishy, and I hope they hold up well with no nylon ... we shall see.

Of course, now that it's 90 degrees out, I have no need for wool socks! But I'm bringing them with me to Ohio for scuttling around my parents' new house. I am finally going to get to stay in their brand-new house, which they moved into in mid-January. I'm headed there this weekend to run a half marathon Saturday morning, which I'm very excited about, and to see them and my grandma (who is visiting from Pittsburgh) and see my mom's play and generally be an only child for just a couple nights.

I'll be taking this sock on the plane with me:



It's STR mediumweight in Cockamamie. Since I took the photo, I've switched to from ribbing to stockinette and it's continued the crazy flashing. I'm just going with it - it's kind of crazy and out there but I'm digging it.

I won't be taking any time off work for a loooong while after this - I planned ahead to see how much I'd accrue by October, and I'm planning on taking off a week so Josh and I can go on vacation. He is pushing for Europe, I am pushing for Portland and Seattle. We shall see how the chips fall ... I love planning vacations!

50 lashes with a wet noodle ...

... for myself. Seriously, I hadn't logged into blogger since forever ago and discovered a handful of comments that needed to be moderated. The e-mails about them must've been deleted when I checked my e-mail after my trip to New York. Whoops. I've been neglectful of this poor little blog lately ... but it's about time for an update.

The trip to New York City was fabulous. We had overcast, spitting rainy weather on our ferry rides to and from Manhattan, which was quite moody. But while we were in the city, we had two lovely sunny days. I even got sunburned one morning! My complete set of pictures can be found here. We had great food everywhere we went (I wish I had been brave enough/competent enough with my camera to take some pictures of it): a huge pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli (the restaurant made famous by Sally's fake O in "When Harry Met Sally"), yummy pasta in Little Italy, scones from Josh's favorite cafe in Brooklyn Heights, and awesome steaks at Les Halles, Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. Seriously good food at a good price.

And now, about the yarny pursuits in the city ... the first store I went to was Seaport Yarn in the Financial District. This was literally around the corner from our hotel (and no, I didn't plan that!). I knew from reading online that it was on the fifth floor of a building, and I arrived right as the store opened. For some reason, the elevator didn't work, so I relucantly climbed four flights of dingy stairs (the things we do for yarn, huh?). I got there, huffing and puffing, and a English girl who worked at the shop let me in. It was cheerfully packed (but organized) - yarn everywhere, much of it in clear plastic bags. Knowing I was headed to several more yarn stores, I bought only this Noro Silk Garden Sock:



I had heard how pretty Purl was, and it definitely didn't disappoint. They had so ... much ... Koigu. I didn't even look at anything else. However, the store was so, so, tiny (seriously, maybe 15 feet wide), and with several other shoppers, I felt like I should hurry up and get outta there. I ended up with two skeins of this lovely Koigu:



Doesn't it look like a Monet painting? Sigh. I love it. The final store we visited (and god love Josh for seeking out these stores with me! he's the best) was Knitty City on the Upper West Side. (Yeah we really got around that day. Although we took the subway a lot, we must've walked seven or eight miles that day!) I think this might've been my favorite store. It was really roomy, had a 'waiting area' (where Josh sat down and started reading "Crochet for Dummies") and had the best selection of yarn I had seen. They had Madeline Tosh and Malabrigo Sock, neither of which I had seen at a store before. I wanted to get so many things, but I was really mindful of my money all weekend. So I ended up with something I really, really love:



two skeins of Malabrigo Sock in Solis. I have been thinking about this yarn since I bought it, no joke. I can't wait to wind it and cast on. But first, I am trying to finish my Clapotis. I'm nearly done with the first skein, so I'm about halfway there ...

Oh, one more unrelated note: If you're a fiber artist and you're interested in copyright/fair use issues, check out a post by Pam (Flint Knits), who tweaked Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater and came up with the February Lady Sweater. It's a thought-provoking post, and all I will say is this problem wouldn't exist if people just did the right thing. Le sigh.

I think I'm a beret person.

Ta da! My first beret. I really, really love it. Too bad I'm not keeping it. It's going to my friend Lori, who will look a bajillion times cuter in it as she wanders around Paris and Barcelona in a couple weeks. The Paris Marathon will be her first marathon, so I wanted to give her an extra special treat.



The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in Cuarzo. It took nearly a whole skein. US 7 needles for the body and US 6 for the ribbed edge.

This pattern - the One Day Beret - is my favorite kind of pattern - the recipe. Any yarn, any gauge. I foresee several of these in my future.

I haven't been spending money much lately, what with furlough days + fears for my job, but I treated myself to a Chevron Love Mitten kit from Vesper Yarn. (My kit doesn't have those exact colors, and I didn't get the green or rainbow kit, but I'm glad I'm breaking out of my mold with the Metropolis kit.

Speaking of Metropolis ... I'm headed to New York City tomorrow! Josh and I are spending one night at a swank Hilton (God bless Expedia travel deals) and two nights with my best friend and her boyfriend at their place on the Upper East Side. I've mapped out several yarn stores I'd like to check out. And we have reservations at the restaurant of my chef-crush Anthony Bourdain. I think it's been since last May since we got outta town for a vacation, so I'm really looking forward to it.

more of a runner

One of the ways I've noticed I've become more of a runner is that long runs don't freak me out the way they did two years ago or even a year ago. I remember fastidiously planning out my meals for the two days prior to a long run, fearful that eating the wrong thing would send my stomach into a tizzy during my run. Now, I watch what I eat, of course, but I don't stress the same way. (Ironically, I think worrying might have caused some of those stomach woes.)

Nowadays I'm only really fastidiously planning for a 10-mile-or-longer run (like tomorrow). I used to toss and turn the night before six, seven, even eight-mile runs, worried about how it would go. Now, I'm in bed worrying about other things (job security, the state of journalism, blah blah blah). Running is such a relief these days - I can just get out there for a couple hours and focus on my body and training and forget about the state of my career. Some people use those long runs to work kinds of things out in their mind - and I used to - but now it's a welcome relief from the cloud I feel I'm constantly in these days.

I'm trying to look on the bright side despite my fretting - I've got good things looming on my calendar. My brother arrives for a visit in three weeks, and he's running the Shamrock 8K the day before my half marathon. I can't wait to see him. The week after that, my boyfriend and I are going to New York City to visit a friend of mine from college. We just decided to take an extra day for the trip and spend a night at a hotel. I got a great deal on a Hilton hotel near the World Trade Center site. So we'll have an extra day to ourselves to wander around the city. I can't wait.

I'm home from Georgia and I seem to have brought back a horrid sore throat with me. I was off yesterday for the Super Bowl (thanks to a generous co-worker who traded shifts with me) and called in sick today, something I hatehatehate to do. So I'm a little cranky, but I figured I'd make the most of my germ-y day at home and update the blog and find the energy to do a little knitting.



It was a really great visit. I am so proud of my brother and it was fun to get to spend so much time with him and see the place he's been living since October.

Of course there was lots of knitting time on the trip. I exhausted my first skein of Malabrigo (colorway: Pollen) in a garter-stitch scarf.



I didn't think to bring the second skein, so I also cast on for a Clapotis with some STR mediumweight and knit some more on my rainbow STR socks. I have a $50 gift certificate to Blue Moon burning a hole in my pocket and I might succumb to it soon, as it's my birthday in nine days and the lure of a yarny birthday gift to myself is hard to ignore.

And of course, last night was the Super Bowl and my Steelers won. I watched it - and freaked out especially in the last four minutes or so. I could be more excited about their awesome victory but I'm kind of stumbling around the house with a painful throat and that's taken over much of my attention. meh.

hello again.

I'm back from my second trip to Ohio in two weeks. It was a lovely visit, full of yummy homemade meals and well-received presents and football and knitting. Now I can reveal some knitted gifts!

First up, my mom's Old Shale scarf:







Rav link here.

I used a skein of Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. It took me about a month, off and on, to finish this beauty. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and the colors are to die for. Noro, I can't wait to knit with you again.

I also knit my mom a cowl out of Koigu. There was a scary moment where I ran short on yarn, but thanks to Ravelry, I bought some more from someone else. Rav link.



I made my dad and brother mittens in their respective alma mater's colors (blue and gold and red and gray). I think they liked them:



Here are the Rav links for each project.

I know mittens aren't as useful as gloves but I hope they get some use out of 'em. I also made the boys basic watchmen caps - no real pattern. My dad wore his the rest of the week, woohoo!



My family exchanges ornaments each year, and I couldn't find a good one for my brother, so I knitted him a wee sock out of Koigu scraps.



I got some yarn money to WEBS (already spent it!) and BMFA, a couple DVDs ("Wall-E" and "Sense and Sensibility"), money for new running shoes, and an awesome book from my brother. And, of course, my new camera from my honey.

Next post - a recap of my yarn purchases while in Ohio and a look back at my 2008 resolutions ...