More Yarn Please

I dropped in again on La Lana Wools today. My DH has decided he'd rather get sick than ski so I was left to my own devices. After a scenic drive along with some photo taking I decided to swing back by the yarn shop. Too little yarn is not a good thing...figured I would add one of the solids to the handpainted from yesterday. I selected a gold skein of worsted weight yarn dyed with marigolds...the color was also called "marigold". Not exactly sure what I'm planning to do, but I'm going to be work the marigold in with the handpainted tsarina from yesterday. Mmmm....maybe a lacy sort of wrap? I'm off to look through Ravelry and see what I can come up with.

A Visit to a Yarn Shop

My first visit to a yarn shop while on our extended trip. After skiing a few days we took a break from the slopes & went exploring around Taos. I had been told about a yarn shop in town so we headed there this afternoon. La Lana Wools is a beautiful shop full of more handspun yarns than I have ever seen. All have been dyed using only natural dyes from plants found in the Southwest...marigolds, Navaho Tea, & lupine for instance along with some exotics like indigo. Only one person was manning the shop while we visited. She said that the shop"manufactures" all of the yarn from the moment they acquire the roving, to the spinning, and hand dying process. I cannot imagine how many hands have been involved in the whole process from sheep to shop.

It was a bit overwhelming to visit such a shop with the huge selection of colors & types of yarn. I ended up with 2 skeins of their Forever Random Fines in sport weight (100% Romney wool) in 'deep sea indigo" which has been dyed in indigo, purple, green. I'm thinking I'll use this for a beret of some kind since I have a tad over 230 yards.

The other yarn was from their Forever Random Worsted collection what was described as "obverse double dyed 60% Romney wool/40% Yearling". I chose 2 skeins in a color called"tzarina'. The tzarina colors are amazing...dyed bayeta red with madder, gold, indigo, green and lavender. I only bought the 2 skeins and must decided what to do with only 140 yards of this beauty. I can only imagine what a sweater would look like in this yarn...but price does come into play and I'm just starting this adventure.

What is It?

Well it’s been more than enough time since my last post so time to post something.Anything is better than nothing at this point. Right? I’ve been “on the road” since mid-January so I’ve taken my knitting on the road so to speak. As we drove on interstates…lost track of how many…I knitted away on baby sample blocks. I ended up with 8 squares of seafoam and 8 squares of chocolate brown. I had hoped to have it all done by the time we got to Austin for our visit with the great nephews, ages 3 and 2 ½ months. The squares were done by the time we left San Antonio, but not the “putting it all together” part which was a bit disappointing. I had wanted to have it done so I could leave it with them. At least I have a lot more interstate travel ahead so it will be done soon…mailed rather than personal delivery will just have to do in this case.

While in San Antonio my BIL’s wife, “K” gave me several yarns she had bought when they had lived in Italy over 20 years ago. She was taught how to knit while they lived there & had went shopping right before heading back stateside. ”K” said that you could go to the local mills and buy yarn by the POUND!Can you imagine that…bags & bags all sold by the pound. Anyway as she was showing me her stash she offered me several different yarns. Now I have to figure out what I have actually added to the stash…100% wool? Mohair? Cashmere? Now I need a good way to determine how much & what weight of yarn I now have…being on the road make that a bit more difficult.

Knitting From the Road

Our trip is underway and so is a bit of knitting. I've started a baby blanket for my DH's niece...2 squares down & 10 or so more to go. I have not decided just how large this blanket will end up. My two choices are a 4 x 4 square blanket or a bit smaller rectangular one that is 3 x 4. Either way I'm planning on using 2 colors of Red Heart's Soft Yarn for the main body...seafoam & chocolate as well as some off white for the edging and borders. I must say that the yarn has a soft feel & so far hasn't been too bad knitting up. I usually hate acrylic yarns, but figured his mom would rather not hand wash a baby blanket.

My first square is the state of Texas...home state of the new arrival. Now if I could only find the link to post...

Let There be Light

An even better title could be "How to See to Knit in Dark Hotel Rooms". Why does management fail to put light bulbs in the lamps? An even bigger pet peeve are those lamps that have bulbs that are 40 watts or less. I hate those. I was planning on taking my own bulbs or even a lamp with us. Thanks to my dear husband he's manged to come through with 2 other options. Both came to me as Christmas presents...one made me laugh so hard I cried. Back when I first mentioned taking a knitting light on our trip he told me about a cap with built in LED lights under the brim. The idea was interesting, but I'm not fond of caps...not to mention flat hair & looking funny factor.

As we were shopping we came across a set of LED clip on lights. I mentioned that I liked them. They were compact enough to travel easily & could be clipped on the headboard or even set on a table. I wasn't sure how bright they'd be or how long the batteries would last, but so much better than his original hat idea. Maybe not as entertaining to those around me, but no one would be cracking up watching me knit.

The second options was totally unexpected although it was "hat inspired". My husband always finds something that I'm not expecting...always a surprise & most of the time I end up loving it. This time was no exception. He wanted me to have enough light & found a LED headlight with 3 different settings. I even have night vision in the form of red LED lights. When I opened this gift I must have laughed for 5 minutes non stop. I mean how funny would this thing look while I knit away? The picture in my head was hysterical. Then today as I was wandering around the internet looking for new patterns I went to check out Norah Gaughan's new pattern book. As I was reading through her blog I found this. I cannot wait to show him & let him know that his idea isn't quite as crazy as I first believed.

I took the light for a test knit Christmas night and it really is nice to knit with even in total darkness. I'm just not going to do so in public. Once again he comes through on a great idea.

The Nan Bag

Finished one more slipped stitch handbag based on the Little Slip bag. I've really enjoyed knitting these bags. Quick, simple, & looks complicated all at the same time...don't you just love a knitting project that looks complicated? It's felted and now drying so I made another self imposed deadline. By Wednesday it will be dry enough for me to finish attaching the handles and adding doodads to the fringe. Now I have nothing on the needles once again. Only some seaming left to do on a sweater and the New Year will be off to a brand new start of knitting projects.

Have I mentioned that it kind of drives me nuts when I don't have anything on the needles. It can be a stressful time trying to narrow down the choices of projects to cast on. What to pick first? Do you start with the yarn? Pattern? Mmmmm...I got to get started on choosing what to take on our trip. Really cannot take as much as I want because I'm sure I'll visit some yarn shops on the trip.

My Mom has asked me to knit her Mr. Greenjeans for her. She bought the yarn at Mosaic's big sale...Miss Priss in the Elena Piscopia colorway. So this one has made the cut...stay tuned for those other "must have" travel projects.

Nope, I have no new knitting to report today. Still knitting away on my SIL's felted handbag which should be done by Sunday. The good news is that I have another blog to yammer on about stuff...stuff other than knitting.

Since my DH has this grand adventure planned he wanted somewhere to post the goings on around us over the next few months...so that leads to another blog. It took a while for him to settle on it's name... fitting don't ya think? Looks empty at the moment, but in a week or so things will be popping up about our little excursions over the next few months. Expect lots of pictures...our last trip was well over 2000 shots. Yeah I know that's way too many, but he loves shooting with a digital camera for that very reason...lots of shots at no cost.

Don't you just love the New Year. I've posted every day...so far.

Changes for 2009

Already there will be changes in 2009 in this household. As of yesterday, my DH is now an officially retired person...does that make me "old" too? The next really big change will occur next Saturday when we embark on a trip that will cover several states in the heart or is it the teeth of winter. My knitting blog may become more of a travel blog. Can you just imagine the knitting I can do while on the road, stuck on the side of the road or holed up in some distant hotel room waiting on the weather to "clear".

The states that we are planning to visit...in no particular order...West Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, Montana, and then Tennessee. I know it's nuts to hit all of these states in the winter, but then we have always been a touch 'off in the head'. I'm hitting yarn stores throughout the South, Southwest, Great Pacific Northwest...you name it I'm gonna give it my best shot. I cannot imagine a more fitting memory from the trip...except for the several thousand pictures that will be taken. I promise to update my knitting as I go along.

Now I need to choose the projects and some "get me started yarn" to take along for the ride. Suggestions are appreciated!