I Took a Road Trip

Bo Peep's Not Just for Socks Yarn
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Yesterday, after the requisite interviews (thankfully, just phone ones so I wasn't too wiped out), Jody and I went on a pilgrimage to two local yarn shops that I don't get to often.

First we went to the Knitting Nest, which neither of us had ever been to. That's because it is as far in southeast Austin as I am in northwest Austin, and I'd never had the time to check it out. It's only been open a few months. I saw all sorts of places in south-est Austin that I had never seen before, including a huge shopping center over where Lilith Fair was once upon a time. We really enjoyed the shop--what a cute little building it's in, and what nice decor they have going!

Mostly I appreciated how the owner has selected yarn lines that complement the other shops in town, rather than competing with them. I got to touch many lovely things I'd never touched before, and that's what I want in a new yarn shop--fun new yarn experiences. The Peace Fleece and O-Wool were really lovely. The picture shows one of the yarns I picked up--Bo Peep's Not Just for Socks Yarn in Indian Corn, from Farmhouse Yarns. I'd never seen it anywhere else. I think it wants to be a scarf. I also got Soxx Appeal yarn with elastic in it and a type of Online Supersocke that my LYS doesn't have yet--Hiking, which was really interesting in the sample that was knit up.

Jody and I had a very nice conversation there, ran into someone else we knew (of course), and were glad we'd made the trip. I hope to get down there more regularly--maybe to one of the Knit Nights or whatever they have.

After a delicious lunch we hiked all the way up Congress Avenue to Hill Country Weavers, where we got to touch some new yarn with camel in it that felt divine, and had nice colors. There were some real doozies of new and different yarns there. I did get one skein of Araucania sock yarn, because I'd never seen that in person before. Then I found the perfect fairly inexpensive stuff to make the Shag scarf from Knitting New Scarves, which I have decided I must do. It's Nashua Wooly Stripes, which I think would make that pattern really festive.

Whew, that was a lot of yarn fun, and I felt bad about spending money on yarn, but it shows how optimistic I must be on the job front, huh.

Today I got a lot done on Lee's cardigan at "my" LYS, where I didn't have any students but helped some other folks--I got over halfway up the boring expanse of the back. Now I may just give that scarf a whirl before going back to the cardigan. Wee.