Finally.....yarn stuff.

One aspect of my job is that it takes me to locations all over the state. On occasion I get lucky and there is actually a yarn store in the area that I'm visiting--AND it's open. The moon has to be in the right orbit for that to happen.

It happened last month in York, PA. I was in the area to do a faculty workshop, and a LYS, Uncommon Threads, had evening hours. Eureka!

After struggling in Harrisburg traffic for much too long, I checked into my hotel, dealt with the usual issues (e.g., my key cards (both) refused to work), then got into my car to try and find the shop. I had my mapquest map in hand, and it's not like the city of York, is all that huge. Well, the problem that presented itself was that there was a carnival at "the stadium" and the locals decided to close numerous roads around the stadium. Well, it took about 30 minutes to go 5 or so miles. When I finally found the place I realized I had stumbled into their weekly stitch and bitch. Though, frankly, these people were so lovely, there wasn't a lot of bitching going on. The owner Beth (Hi Beth!) was lovely and made me feel welcome. I must admit, though, I did feel a little out of place. I had knitting with me (duh), but didn't knit. Instead, I mostly admired the work of everyone else, and talked about the knitted beaded bracelet I was wearing. Beth, a woman after my own heart, has a "thing" for knitting with beads.

And because I never know what to do when faced with an embarrassment of gorgeous, yarny, riches, I just bought sock yarn. I wanted to buy Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock because I have never used it before, but the price on each of the skeins (which were tied together, presumably to make a pair) was $19.95! Yikes, thought I, that's too rich for me. I wish I had asked though. Of course, they meant that it was $19.95 for both skeins, not each. Duh. I can be an idiot. Really. Instead I bought this.



This is Pacapeds sock yarn (20/65/15, alpaca/merino/nylon). I had never heard of it before. It is incredibly soft and lovely. I had intended to make socks using this for both mother and mother-in-law, but I think I have to try it for myself. The luster you see in the photo is pretty accurate. It is quite lovely. So one of the lovely mothers will just have to make do with Socks that Rock. Yes, I know it's a sacrifice.


I also have this from Mountain Colors. I was at Stitch Your Art Out my LYS for a Norwegian Purl class and couldn't leave without this.




I've never used Mountain Colors sock yarn for socks. The last time I used it I knit a Clapotis for my mother-in-law. It turned out great. The other weird thing is that I'm not exactly a "green" fan, but this just grabbed me. I think this has Monkey written all over it.





And if you're wondering why I haven't mentioned colors....it's because NONE of these yarns have colors on them. Weird or what?

For now I'm still tooling along on my chevron sock and my hanging gardens stole--the slog of slogs, though I'm just dying to finish it.