Boston and Seattle Yarn Carnage!

After a brief (!) hiatus, I'm back. I've been in something of a knitting slump this summer, and really haven't done any knitting since June. I'm trying to pick it up again, and finish the two Death of the Moon cowls I have on the needles and maybe start a project for myself. I've been trying to cast on a Honey Cowl in Mad Tosh  Celadon, but I've managed to twist it both times I've done so. Might need to try different needles, since the cables in the circulars I'm currently using are rather twisted. Or maybe I can soak them in very hot water to relax them, at least long enough to cast on and start the process.

Last week I helped some friends move from Boston to Seattle for their retirement. We drove 3200 miles in four days (I'm still exhausted, a week after we arrived), and I had one day in Seattle to go yarn whoring. I also had some time in Boston to do the same, since I was there a few days before we left, and I managed to visit one of my all time favourite shops, Mind's Eye. I did not leave empty handed.

One of the two bison cows, with a calf each, we saw in North Dakota, at the Painted Canyon,
part of the Teddy Roosevelt State park. These beasties are HUGE!

At Mind's Eye, I got caught up with the owner and one of the employees, which was quite lovely. And I bought some Shibui Silk Cloud and some Shibui Rain to make a scarf, where you hold the two together and make something stunning, which is always the case with Shibui yarns.

Shibui Rain, 100% cotton

Shibui Silk Cloud, 60% Kid Mohair, 40% Silk

While I cannot remember the name of the pattern, it is a striped scarf, which knits the two yarns together for a length, then just the Silk Cloud, in stripes that get more and more narrow.

I had a $10 credit, and since I have no idea when I'll be back up in the Boston area, I got these two skeins of Blue Face Leicester, undyed. I love BFL, it's soft and warm and knits up nicely.

These two hanks from the UK, West Yorkshire Spinners, and going to make a lovely couple or three hats. There is no website, but there is a Facebook page one can visit. I've just liked and followed!

The knitting  group I used to attend no longer meets at the yarn store which hosted us for so many years, for reasons I won't go into here, but I did manage to meet up with them, at a local restaurant. They have a signature yarn, The Teal Gang, which is produced exclusively for them by an indie dyer.

See Janye Knit produces this 75% superwash merino 25% nylon yarn. I can't wait to knit with it. It was very kind of my Boston knitting group to give this yarn to me, and I so very much appreciate it.

The trip to Seattle was grueling, for several reasons. Three adults, two dogs, two cats, and three birds. Just unloading at each hotel took abut 30 minutes. And we had to sneak the cats and birds in, since most places that are labeled "pet friendly" are only dog friendly.But we managed. We got to Seattle on Friday night, and I had one day to hit the yarn stores. I didn't have much money, and our time constraints let us hit only two, The Artful Ewe in Port Gamble, and Rainy Day Yarns in Gig Harbor.

At the Artful Ewe, there were so many yarns I wanted to take home with me! I settled on four hanks, all hand dyed, all a blend of Merino, silk, and yak down (60%, 20%, 20%). I really wanted to take the whole store home with me, but settled on these:

 These will become a Death of the Moon shawl for someone, the purple and silver playing off against each other quite nicely.

These will also become a Death of the Moon shawl for a friend here in New Orleans. The colours are not quite as close as they look in this photo, the brown is a bit deeper and the green a bit more olive. I'm really looking forward to knitting these yarns. And the silk just makes them shimmer.

At Rainy Day Yarns, I told the nice lady that I wanted local dyers, local yarns, things that I couldn't get in New Orleans. She pointed out several sections, and I wanted to take them all home with me. I settled on three skeins. The first, Hula Hut Yarns, offered a wonderful selection. This one, Zelda, really appealed to me.

I have absolutely no idea what I'll make with it, but it's bright and funky. Maybe something for Brandon. I think he'd look good in this colour.

The owner of the shop also dyes yarn, and I got these two, Midnight in the Harbor and Tangerine. The Tangerine is more of a rich gold, and I'm thinking a shawl using the two skeins together.

The colours are very Hufflepuff, but when I got them, my friends and I had been talking about apiaries, and all I could think of was bumble bees and honey bees.

This was the extent of my yarn carnage. Not as bad as it could have been, and not as much as I had wished to bring home with me. But I'm really happy with all my selections.