Today we return to regularly scheduled programming, and I will share knitting content. During my recent trip to visit the girl in Colorado, of course I had to visit a yarn store. But I didn’t keep it that simple. No, I went to FOUR yarn stores. When you’re 45 minutes away from Fort Collins, I think it’s just required that you make the pilgrimage. First, though, I drove to Wyoming. It was only an hour away and I’d never been, so it seemed fun. Well. Here’s downtown Cheyenne.
It was very Western and not a big town and seemed a little…dreary. I did find a small bookstore/record store that was fun, and I visited the one yarn store. She had a lot of great brands, beautiful yarns, gorgeous samples. She had a lot of everything really.
It was too much for me. Too cramped and crowded, there was no organization that I could find, yarn was just stacked on the floor, and I couldn’t find any prices. I did find a couple of pretty skeins, but it wasn’t the best yarn-shopping experience. However, I went from there to Fort Collins, where I visited My Sister Knits for the first time, and guys, it might be one of my very favorite yarn stores ever.
It’s in a beautiful residential neighborhood, in the carriage house behind a beautiful brick house, and you have to go through the white picket fence to get there. Then you hear the music as you walk past the chicken coop and you see a radio/speaker next to the coop, and you can’t tell me that it’s not there specifically for the chickens. Inside are two floors of the cutest, most charming shop, especially the second floor with the pitched roof and the big table right in the middle. The second floor had all the fingering weight/sock yarns, so that was where I spent most of my time. The women were friendly without being overbearing, the yarn selection was varied and amazing, and everything was clearly priced. They even had a dog, albeit a tiny one.
After that, I was just going to stop by The Loopy Ewe. But somehow I ended up navigating the car to Lambspun instead.
They had a huge shop, several rooms, with little nooks dedicated to spinning, needlework, and more. The yarn was spread throughout and it was fun to wander through and poke through the shelves, but I didn’t see a lot of great yarns calling my name. That might have been because I’d just been to two other yarn stores, but also I didn’t see a lot of indie dyers, which are my current obsession, and the sock yarn selection was pretty limited. I left there with just one skein.
From there I went to the Loopy Ewe, and that was my last stop for the day. I didn’t take any photos there, partly because I was tired but also because you don’t go there because it’s cute. It’s a nice shop, bright and well-lit, with lots of good seating areas, but you go there for the yarn selection. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t find a big selection of self-striping sock yarn, which is the one thing I really wanted from this adventure. Still, I came home with a fantastic assortment of treasures.
It’s more than I meant to buy, more than I should have bought, but man do I love it all! I was especially delighted to find the Ritual Dyes yarns at My Sister Knits, and saw their cool Knitter’s Backpack in person. Al least I was able to resist buying one of those! I did add to my pin collection though.
The Loopy Ewe pin is to replace the one the husband and girl bought for me last year that fell off my bag and got lost. The Ritual Dyes pin might be obvious, but it’s because I’m a Virgo. And I love to collect pins from the shops I visit, so of course I bought the one from My Sister Knits with their shop dog, Molly, on it.
Sigh. That was a fun little yarn crawl. Now I’m not buying any more yarn…until Knitting in the Heartland in April because I have zero willpower and am addicted to yarn. So the only thing I can do now is knit faster to use up as much yarn as I’m bringing in. On that note, I’m off to hopefully finish my Faded Boxy sweater today!
Don’t you love that stripe of pale purple? (That’s sarcasm, in case you missed it. Note to self: when doing fades, don’t use solids. Or use all solids. Either way, but don’t mix solids and speckles.) I don’t love it but I don’t hate it enough to frog back. Why I thought I’d love making an oversized sweater in fingering weight yarn, I’ll never understand, but I can’t back out now. The neckline currently looks like poo so I sure hope it looks better by the end, or else I’ll be forced to pick up some stitches to make a cleaner edge. There’s still plenty to knit on this, but I’m feeling a little more optimistic that it might someday get done.
Duncan is now seven weeks post surgery and doing really well. He wouldn’t stop licking his leg so I ordered some PJs online and discovered that dogs in PJs are the cutest thing ever. I might have to order more. Maybe three matching sets for all three dogs? He’ll go for his x-rays in about a week and with any luck get a green light for more activity. We’re all ready for that!
For someone who thought she didn’t like orange, I sure love it here, especially paired with the pink. The gray speckled yarn is Yarn Geek’s Super Geek yarn in Boxcar Gallery and I have enough to easily do another pair, especially if I do contrast cuff/toes again, and maybe make the leg a bit shorter. I’m thinking turquoise and lime green accents for the next pair! As soon as those were done, I went back to my older sock WIP and cranked out the rest of the first sock.
This is Knit Picks’ Hawthorne Fingering and I love both the kettle dyed color and the feel, a crisp, sturdy yarn perfect for socks. The blue is also Knit Picks but I’m not sure which, maybe Stroll. It feels thinner and softer, but also not as sturdy, so it’ll be interesting to see how the toes and heels perform.
Guys, it’s SO GOOD. It is full of amazing patterns, some replicas of things from the movies and some pieces inspired by them, but they’re all fantastic. The photography is gorgeous and there are little movie trivia tidbits scattered throughout and I kind of want to make everything!
Maybe it will calm down once I get the rest done. I sure hope so because I am NOT interested in frogging 22 miles of stockinette just to switch the order of the last two colors.
This is usually what happens: once I the end is in sight, I get super motivated, and I’ll probably work on this most of the weekend. Because once I get the body done, the sleeves are just like half sleeves anyway and won’t take much time at all. And maybe I can have a new sweater to wear before spring!
This is about 16 inches, and I need 19 before I split. That’s just one color section; I can do that. Or can I? Yesterday I did not work on my Faded Boxy. Instead I cast on a new worsted weight cowl, because those are my jam right now.
This is the 
Not everyone marks these days, the birthdays and death days of people they’ve lost. Maybe they think it prolongs the grieving process. It’s different for everyone but for me, I think of Dad often. I’m going to be sad about it sometimes regardless. And recognizing those days means they’re still important to me, and that Dad’s still a part of our family, even if just in this tiniest of ways. I like having this special day where I remember Dad fondly and with intent, and I allow myself to feel the loss a little bit. So, Happy Birthday, Dad. Wish you were here.
bonnyknits 