Monday, August 22, 2016

2016 Yarn Along the Rockies yarn crawl, Part I of III

I had told myself I wasn't going to do the yarn crawl this year (I have way too much yarn already) but I was sucked in again because I really feel like it's important to support our local shops (and it's just too darn fun to pass up).

So on Sunday, August 21 (day 2 of the crawl) I printed out a list of the Denver shops (9 of them), found a willing partner in crime and hit the road.

First up was Colorful Yarns (their Facebook site is more up to date than their blog). They just finished remodeling earlier this year and the new shop looks great! Lots of room and lots of yarn! I ended up with two balls of DMC's Top This! in the snowflake and owl.

I also got a "Sweet Little Nothing" shawl kit (yarn + beads + pattern)
And they were having a trunk show of Three Irish Girls yarn so some of that might have fallen into my bag.
(CW: Springvale DK, 270 yards)
And, of course, I picked up the yarn crawl bag. It was a much sturdier bag this year.

Next up, Blazing Star Ranch. This is one of those places I probably would never have gone if it weren't for the yarn crawl. It's tucked away inside a vacuum shop but don't let that fool you. She has lots of lovely handspun yarns, fiber, and spinning wheels as well as commercial yarns. I grabbed a blue and purple skein of the Abracadabra color changing yarn by HiKoo by Skacel. I had picked up the pink version at last year's yarn crawl and love the effect so I wanted to get the other two colors before this was all gone (you never know when they might discontinue it!). I think I will make the Trick or Treat Shawl out of it.

Back into the car to head to Wooden Spools. They had a really cute Colorado pillow kit which I decided would make a great Xmas gift so into the bag it went.
I also picked up a couple balls of Sunshine Coast By Queensland collection (CW flagstaff) for a baby surprise jacket (I can't believe I haven't knit one of those up yet).


Then I came across this super cool Single disk cat print by Schoppel-Wolle! Of course they had a sample sock knit up and it was too cool to pass up so that fell into the bag as well.
On to our next stop, Fancy Tiger Crafts. I picked up a couple of Geilsk Tweeds (in moss and copper) that were on clearance (can't pass up on 30% off)!
After all this yarn crawling we decided we needed some refreshment so we popped across the street to Sweet Action Ice Cream and had a scoop of Artisanal ice cream (along with some annoying hipster conversation - e.g., "I haven't been a vegan since I was, like, seven").

Next it was on to I Love Knitting. Their pattern was for a lovely cross stitch cowl knit up with one skein of Rasta by Malabrigo.
After that we went to Lambshoppe which was crazy busy so we just were in, got our stamp, and then off to Fabric Bliss where I found a lovely little "limited edition" colorway from the Lemonade Shop
They had a cute little shawl knit up but I forgot to ask what the pattern was so I'm not sure what I will end up making with it.

After 7 shops we were exhausted! And it was getting late so we decided 7 out of 9 was good and called it a day. I may do more crawling next weekend - I get a little obsessive about getting all the stamps! (and that's why I don't play Pokemon go).

Guess I better get knitting!








Sunday, August 7, 2016

Mini Retreat in Ft. Collins

On Saturday, August 6th, I hopped in my car and drove north to Ft. Collins for a day of knitting and fiber goodness at the We Knit Colorado retreat! I wasn't quite sure what to expect since this was their first event and I didn't know the organizer. The venue was Club Tico, a very nice community center building and perfect space for the retreat. The vendors had their lovely fiber and accessories  set up in one area of the large, open room and tables were set up in a circle for the participants. 

Here's a picture of all the fun stuff that was in our goodie bag!
 I knit up the cup cozy really quickly with the fun mini-skein and there was a pattern for the blue yarn


There were prize drawings during the day and at the end I won a lovely Alpaca headband from Pax Knits

I took the Houndstooth Double Knit Cowl with Melanie (Knit Stitch Yarn). There were a lot of stitches to  cast on so that took up the majority of the class time. I'm still pretty slow at it but I think it will be great when I'm done. This pattern will be another great Christmas gift knit to add to my repertoire.



Lunch was included - a tasty sandwich box lunch from Spoons!
Of course I did a little shopping and found these self striping yarns to take home from Colorful Eclectic:
The retreat was from 9-4 so after it was over I had to stop by The Loopy Ewe to pick up their monthly exclusive colorway, Summer Afternoon Escape and their 10 year anniversary kit with the super cool "Knitting is my superpower" drawstring bag! 

It was a lovely Saturday! I'm looking forward to more We Knit Colorado retreats!