Finished Products!

This weekend was a productive one--I lucked out and had four days off in a row, and the fun activities I'd planned (a trip to the beach, etc.) got canceled due to unforeseen circumstances (a sick spouse and a very old dog with severe issues). This meant I could work on my crafting a lot.

First, on Friday I finished the chenille washcloths I was weaving. That poor project was really, really a learning experience.

Washcloths taken off the loom on the railing in front of Yarnorama

When I was "finished" I discovered that, in addition to the mistakes I already knew I'd made, I had use the cotton that was supposed to be the warp as the hem and the yarn for the hem as the warp. Oops. And I had totally forgotten to put a row of a contrasting color between cloths to make for easy application of Fray Check and subsequent hemming. And to top THAT off, I had mis-remembered the instructions and not woven enough picks of the hem.

Saturday

I took the loom and cloths off to Yarnorama (which is looking great after remodeling) to make sure I finished it right. I am sure Susan laughed at me internally when she saw how much I had been oblivious to her carefully written-out instructions. Then I went ahead and cut the cloth you see above into separate washcloths. However, since I didn't have the convenient contrasting color to mark the part with Fray Check on it, I missed, causing much of the fabric to unravel. Sigh.

So I stuck the poor li'l washcloths (one of which is a hand towel, because I made it longer on purpose) in my bag, and decided to move on to the next thing. Perhaps I'd be more successful warping the loom if I had help. There were a couple of other people at the yarn shop with their Cricket looms, so I knew there was back-up (though one other woman was only on her second project, too). I found some nice red sport-weight wool that I thought would make a great warp for placemats for our kitchen. I wanted to warp it to use with sock yarn, so I got the 10 heddle out.

First, I brilliantly WATCHED Susan warp her loom. That helped me do mine. I did it right this time, and Susan helped me with the tension.

Correctly warped loom, or "dressed" as they say

The other thing I did at Yarnorama was to get more yarn to finish my little silky cardigan. I needed nearly all of an additional skein to finish it, even though I was making the smallest size! I worked on the last arm a bit while I was at the yarn shop, then came home and did more.

And Then Came Sunday

On Sunday, Lee and I went to see his dad for Father's Day. Since there was a lot going on there that I wasn't supposed to be involved in, I had a lot of time to knit, both in the car and in Yorktown. In rhe car, I patiently and with great difficulty finished off the washcloths. They do not have the hem they are supposed to, but they won't be unraveling. Since I took this photo I washed them and trimmed the ends where I changed the yarn, and they look fine. They will certainly make nice soft things to dry off with or clean up with. And I learned a lot from the project!

Washcloths and the little towel (the one on the left).

  When I got to Lee's dad's house and was chatting with the old fellow (just turned 89 and doing much better after his bladder cancer bout), I finished the cardigan. Adding the neck edging really made it look better.

Before the neck edging was added.

After adding the finishing edgings. And smiling because people told me the previous photo was a bit scary.

There is also a slip-stitch crochet edging around the sides and bottom of the cardigan. It's quite small--I might have needed yet another skein of Heichi if I had made the medium size.

After finishing up with the Heichi/Silk Cloud cardigan, I went back and worked on the beaded Hitchhiker and got a few more points done on it. I am getting close to the end of the first skein of yarn on that one, but I am going to add a few more, then I think another pointed edge on the cast-off side. What the heck.

When I got back I was pretty stressed out, but I used my lovely new Soak washing liquid to wash up both the washcloths and the cardigan. The lovely scent helped with the stress. The cardigan is still sitting on the dining room table drying. I sure wish I could find those darned blocking squares (so I can finish the drape front sweater!).

Today Is Monday!

Today was full of worry about our dog--we didn't know if we'd need to euthanize him today or not. Much of the day was spent waiting for a mobile vet (the part not spent taking the daughter of an old online friend from the Dysfunctional Nonprofit Organization out to lunch). I started on the sock yarn plac emats to distract myself. I think these will be a lot of fun. The plan is to use the red warp on each of four mats, but use a different one of my MANY self-striping sock yarns as the weft for each of them. I started our with an extremely yellow ball of Opal with lots of little stripes, along with some green. Here's the very beginning:

Beginning of place mat

You can see the sock yarn, and a bit of how it is working out with the red. I've done about 11 inches of it now, and the colors look really interesting. Some of it looks like tapestry weaving. I am doing a fairly loose weave, but am pretty sure it will fill out more once I wash it. I don't want very thick mats--I might do that later.

If you look at the bottom edge of the weaving you can see I tried a new skill for me, which is hem stitching. I think that will look great. That way I won't have to knot the fabric at the end, and the fringe can be nice and smooth on each one. I do hope I was able to follow THESE instructions correctly. I used a book called Weaving Made Simple for nice clear instructions.

I'm feeling a bit better about weaving. At least even the icky things I made are useful. And they don't have to be perfect.

On the other hand, I can still knit, at least simple things. Next on the list is another garment made from Heichi, this time in a rust color. It's a cool vest called Shadow. I will really enjoy wearing it, I think! I have a feeling I will enjoy the yarn more when I use smaller needles.Those huge needles and the loose gauge on the previous cardigan were not easy on my little hands!

WELL, glad I finished some stuff at last. I honestly feel better about many things. I also know I have so much still to learn. Those people who are good spinners and weavers are really amazing.

Challenging Weaving, Happy Knitting

Announcement: I have a huge sense of empathy for all the people I have taught to knit or crochet who have been frustrated at how often they wrap the wrong way, drop stitches, accidentally increase, or whatever. It had been so long since I learned the basics of these crafts that I forgot how challenging it can be to start out.

Starting out with weaving has taught me a lot! I do think now I will have to work hard to find a new wrong way to warp a project, but it won't surprise me in the least if I do something weird again next time!

In the good news department, I did finish weaving a starter scarf. I did go out to Yarnorama in Paige again, where the ever-patient Susan did NOT laugh at how I had the warp winding the wrong way, which explained why the ratchet dogs weren't ratcheting. She got me wound the right way, and even gave me some cut-up plastic mini-blind blades to make the tension good. Hooray for her! Here's the project in progress. By the way, this worsted weight wool comes with the Cricket loom. I didn't want you to think I chose the colors.

My first weaving project. Extreme close-up

I did not do too swell of a job on the selvedges, but I got better as I went along. I also missed a couple of warp threads, even though I tried to fix them when I saw them. I guess it's a learning process. One good thing is that weaving goes pretty quickly, so I got this out of the way in just a few days. It's also fascinating to cattle, which I discovered while weaving in the pasture at the ranch.

After I finished off and washed the project  I realized a couple of rows (picks) had gotten pulled in tightly somehow. I'm not sure how that happened, but it does not enhance the final product. It's also very long, because I mis-measured the warp. Oh well, it will serve as a scarf. Some people even say it looks pretty good.

Finished scarf. I think this is before washing and ironing it.

Of course, I wanted to start a second project right away, but I dawdled a bit and waited until last weekend.  I wanted to make the project I'd gotten the yarn and instructions for when I bought the loom. It's a collection of chenille washcloths, and both Susan and Deana said they were great beginner projects, because the chenille is forgiving. A couple of other customers at the shop (really GOOD weavers) said they had enjoyed doing the project--they came back for more!

This is when the comedy of errors commenced. My biggest issue is that I refuse to put a set of large photos of how to warp a loom next to me while warping. Well, make that a past refusal. I will from now on. The PDF of the Cricket manual was on my computer, so I kept walking back and forth to and from that, being too lazy to go find the nice book I had gotten, The Weaver's Idea Book (go buy it if you want to get a Cricket loom and make stuff!), which has nice, big photos and clear instructions.

First mistake: I got a nice cheap vinyl mini-blind and measured it against the heddle (the thing that you use to move warps up and down so weaving is easy, and that you also use to "beat" or press down your weft). I cut about half of them before realizing that the part of the heddle (see below, thanks to the blog of Spinninglizzy for the image)...

Rigid heddles

...that is 15 inches is the white part, not the wooden part. So I got to cut most of them twice. Lots of little pieces of plastic all around. Why the mini blinds? Susan says they work better than stiff paper or anything else she has found to insert in the wound-up warp and keep the threads nice and tight. Anyway, eventually those were all good.

Second mistake: I wound the warp around the large back beam, not just the little bitty apron rod. I discovered this after winding a whole bunch of it, and sticking a whole bunch of pieces of mini blind in there. This meant I had to enlist my patient spouse's help to unscrew the back bean so I could slip off all the loops and put them around the apron rod instead. Of course I twisted some of the loops, which added to the fun. And I totally missed a couple the first time. But eventually, I persevered and got the warp attached to the correct thing. I managed to attach the other end fairly successfully, and wound it all up.

Parts of the loom, from Cricket Loom Assembly and Weaving, by Schacht

Third mistake: After all that winding, I realized that I had strung the whole thing backwards. The end that should be on the "front" of the loom was on the "back." If I had looked at the picture, I would have known. As it is, I didn't realize it until I tried to weave. There was no space to insert the shuttle. Sigh. Luckily I realized that all I had to do was wind the WHOLE thing again, the other way. I didn't have to take anything off the loom. So, in the end, what should have taken about a half hour, warping the loom, took an hour and a half. I did not weave at all on Sunday, but the dang warp was ready!

I did successfully pull threads through the central holes with only one or two small glitches. Oh, I rock.

I came home last night and finally was able to weave. I got the waste yarn on, which took care of some of my weirdly twisted warp loops, then I survived a recalcitrant yarn winder and got the hem yarn wound into a ball and then onto a shuttle. I made a hem! And the selvedge is not horrible! Then, gasp, I wove some of the chenille! Here it is:

washcloth, in progress at last

KNITTING!!

I have not stopped knitting.  However, I don't have any great photo of the Heichi #5 cardigan in progress. I think it's going to be a good one, though. I made it through the underarms and got the left front done. I am over 50% through the back. It looks like another good spate of knitting (perhaps I will be stranded at an RV repair place for a couple of hours like I was last weekend!) and I will be finished with the body. The sleeves are 3/4 and knit by picking up from around the armholes, so they won't be hard to do at all or take long. There's a crochet border that doesn't look like rocket science, either. So, maybe I will have this project to wear at the office when it gets chilly--soon!

I'm also continuing to work on the second Hitchhiker shawlette. It's my "portable" project, and I carry it in a cute Lantern Moon bag. Here's what the shawlette looks like:

Hitchhiker with beads, and my office chair

The colors really mix up nicely. Not too much pooling at all. And the beads really are perfect, though hard to see in this photo.

I probably have something else to say, but need to work now. Lunch is over! Oh, if you get a chance, look at the latest Interweave Crochet. The modern Irish lace photos in it are just stunning.

May Knitting but No Weaving

So...what have I been doing? I have been knitting a good amount!

I actually did finish the drape-neck sweater. Where are the finished photos, you wonder? Well, while I finished KNITTING it, that doesn't mean it's put together. I still can't find my blankety-blank blocking squares. I am thinking the only way to find them is to buy some more. Then they will turn up and I can knit an immense item and block it. I am going to look in ONE more place, then order more. I have two shawls to block still and one was for a gift for someone else. Ugh.

In a happier vein, I did indeed start a second Hitchhiker shawl, this one with beads, which I keep trying to spell "beeds."

Extreme close-up of Hitchhiker #2 on a good book.

I got the beads at local bead shop Nomadic Notions, if you want to get some for yourself. I am alternating an orange-ish bead with a green-ish bead on every other point. This picture has more accurate colors:

Little shawl in progress. Book is called Healing Spices, and it's wonderful!

The yarn is the Araucania Huasco, fingering weight that I got two skeins of when I went to Old Oaks Ranch. I feel proud for using yarn soon after I bought it. I figure with two skeins, I can make the shawlette a little bigger, and still have enough to also make hand warmers or a hat.

I do have another project (in addition to that fall shawl that gets a few rows a month knitted on it). You see, my lovely summer house guest, Eli, and I took a road trip last Saturday.

The Graduate

She's the older boy's college friend, and she graduated a year early. She's doing a couple of summer classes and an internship, so we offered her the guest room, like we did last year.

Anyway, she agreed to drive all the way to Paige to check out Yarnorama, since my other knitting shop checker-outer friend keeps having to do things with her KIDS, sheesh. She had never been to a yarn shop. Shocking, and she made it to age 21!

I'd gone out there because I had a sudden urge to buy a Cricket loom. I want to weave placemats and napkins and such, and I want to use up some of my incredibly large stash of sock yarn. I have seen some really nice scarves (Yarnorama has some nice samples Susan the owner made) from sock yarn.

Of course, while I was there, I looked at yarn. They'd recently had a Shibui yarn trunk show, so had some really  nice patterns and yarns. I got yarn to make two items. One is a really interesting vest from their Heichi booklet, called Shadow. It's made in Heichi, which is a raw silk tweedy kind of yarn. I got rust colored yarn for that one.

I also got more Heichi and also some Silk Cloud to make a very light-weight cardigan from one of their booklets, No. 5, from the Spring Summer 2012 leaflet collection from Shibui. Here's what it looks like so far:

Good Ole #5

Up close you can see the halo from the mohair in the Silk Cloud. It is a very loose knit. The pattern says use a size 11 needle, but I am using a 10.5 needle and getting gauge. It's knit in one piece bottom up, then you sew the shoulders and knit the arms down from the armholes. What gives it some definition is a simple crocheted edge. I get chilly a lot at work, and my Wrap Me Up shawl helps, but is bulky. I hope this will be a perfect work cover-up. Note that the sweater has fake side seams. They sure would be easier if the slipped stitches were done from the front, but NOOOO, they are done from the back, which means it's harder to see when to do it. That's why I put markers in.

Yarn to teach Eli to knit was also purchased. She volunteered, honest. I think her favorite part of the store was the angora bunnies, however. Still, Yarnorama was looking great, considering they'd been hit by lightning not too long ago, and all their electrical components went wonky. I heard today they have air conditioning again! Yay! But it wasn't too hot--those old Texas buildings had good circulation.

And yes, I got a loom, one of the new 15" Cricket looms. It will be easier to make place mats and even garments with that size loom. Unfortunately, even with helpful lessons from Deana from the Olden Days (it was so good to spend time with her again), and Susan, I had trouble getting started at home. Either I am messed up, or the loom was put together funny. I'm hoping to take it in tomorrow, since I am no longer going to our ranch this evening.

Ranch??

Ranch. Yes, we now own Hermit's Retreat Ranch, which is adjacent to Wild Type Ranch in scenic Milam County, Texas. We bought a chunk of our friends' property, with a pasture, a woods, a pond, and meadows. We will eventually build a place to retire there...with an entire fiber room, I promise! First we need water, electricity, and septic. One thing at a time! If you are interested in following along with our adventures, visit the blog where we've been chronicling our RV adventures. It will now have ranch adventures, too!

Making Mittens and Keeping Friends

I think I told you that I got a couple of books on mittens recently. I really wanted to try a pair of festive ethnic mittens. I do have some yarn that I want to make mittens with, but of course, more yarn keeps creeping in.

Like this stuff here! I got it last week on another pilgrimage to Yarnorama in scenic (small) Paige, Texas.

Ella Rae Lace Merino

I went with Suzanne and Susan, so we definitely were on "Sue" name overload. Much of the fun on these trips is the conversation and camaraderie. It makes me almost (but not quite) want to learn to spin so I could go to the spinning Saturdays. We had a fun trip, and especially enjoying the farm animals. Susan is an expert, so it's fun to have her around. We saw this fine fellow at a really cool Brahma breeding facility, where there are these beautiful bull apartments, each with one spectacular bovine specimin.

Brahma Bull in eastern Williamson County, Texas

So, anyway, we met some nice folks in the knitting group there, and I saw that orange yarn above, which is the color of butternut squash and is a semi-solid, and chose the other one as a good contrast. I also got their yarn of the month colorway, which is definitely bright and happy:

Yarnorama sock yarn in "The A-Ha Moment" colorway.

My birthday gift to myself on Friday was a knitting day. I started a pair of mittens from this book, using the two new yarns:

Mostly Mittens: Ethnic Knitting Designs from Russia

by Charlene Schurch

 

The ones I am making are second from right on the bottom row. I cast on the medium size and knit through the cuff and about 6 rows into the pattern, but decided that using this laceweight yarn and 0 needles made it a bit snug. So last night I frogged it while I had a helpful older son visiting to help unwind one of the balls of yarn. But, before I frogged it, I took a photo so you can see how the colors work out (done with the phone camera, so not the best and NOT accurate):

Corrugated ribbing in Ella Rae Laceweight. Colors in earlier photo are more accurate.

I was having trouble going back and forth from the mitten guidelines to the chart, so I missed an instruction to knit the first row rather than rib it, so the new version is already better. Also, the rows are not numbered on the charts, and that bugs me a bit. It would keep me on track with the thumb and hand rows if they were numbered. The new version still isn't too big, just less snug. I look forward to knitting this along with my shawl. And luckily we got a new printer (ooh, ahh, color laser), so I was able to photocopy the chart for easier reading. 

I was also going to talk about keeping friends. After the nice trip to Yarnorama, we went to a meeting of people from our old LYS, which closed shortly after I stopped dropping in there (no surprise, when a yarn shop stops ordering yarn and needles for over a year other than a couple of dribs and drabs, stops paying teachers, and no longer has any employees other than the owner, it's a hint). It was at a nice La Madeleine restaurant that let us use their meeting room. I guess when I said I was going I didn't realize all who would be there. But, I think I made it through the meet-up pretty well. Interestingly, the folks who de-friended me on Facebook and sent me the helpful email telling me how poorly my breakdown reflected on me were not there, so that helped. The other members of the LYS in crowd who hadn't asked how I was or checked in with me in over a month were quite friendly, so that helped my comfort level a lot. I was repeatedly told to "be a big girl," which somewhat got old, but, heck, it will be fine. It was nice to see how everyone was doing and catch up on news. I have nice knitting friends, including the ones who invited me to the meeting, which I really appreciated, and I'll just enjoy all of them! I will try to make another of those meetings at some point, though this week I am making my dear husband a nice meal before choir on Wednesday, so I won't be going out. Sometimes family comes first!

A little aside about being a big girl, for any of you who may have to deal with disliking how you or others are treated: it IS a sign of being a "big girl" or maturity, even, to take yourself out of situations that aren't good for you or where you feel uncomfortable. Yeah, in a job you have to be around whoever you are assigned to be around, but in optional activities, if people treat you or others unkindly or repeatedly show a lack of compassion, you can choose to be elsewhere! Life's too short to torture yourself! Surround yourself with love and friendship, because kind and generous people by far outnumber the sourpusses!

And on that note let me say that I look forward to our new Monday meetings at Dawn's house, and really enjoy the atmosphere of respect and support for all that is maintained there. I wish you all could join us! I am glad that Dawn, John Francis and others are stepping up to host meetings so the community that developed at the LYS is not lost.

Free to Blog (little knitting content)

In a small amount of knitting news, I had a nice "knit and chat" with my friend Deana on Monday night, and got through all the plain knitting parts on my new, so-far intact Litla Dimun shawl. I have gotten through six rows of the lace border and it looks quite nice--a bit airy but should be warm and rustic looking. The yarn is so rough it actually CUT me, though, so I will be sure to wash it well!

I look forward to some good knitting times with my friends soon, and will tell you about it all when it comes. I hope to start going to the Saturday spinning days at Yarnorama, too, if they will let "just a knitter" participate! I have plans! A life!

And hey, thank you to those of you who wrote such kind comments on my last post, including the Facebook readers. The kind to unkind comment ratio was heartwarming, and I appreciate all the acceptance and understanding--I want to extend that to all of you AND to anyone else as well. We all have bad days and over-react sometimes, not just me! Like one of my friends said on Facebook, having gone through some rough patches with friends can make friendships stronger!

See, here I am looking happy in something I knitted. Thanks.


About Blogging

I was reading an old friend's knitting blog this morning, and it really hit home. Here's the post, if you'd like to check it out. She talks about blogging with boldness. In her blog, she quotes another blogger thus:

Instead of being hung up excessively on what others are going to think of me when I blog this, say that, do whatever, I can finally stand firm, not giving a rip if my well intentioned words are still twisted by someone with nothing better to do.

(Note that this blogger's perspective is much different from mine in many ways, but she makes a good point here.)

Even though this is my knitting blog, and not my political, religious or advocacy blog, I have still been very timid about saying what I think about things sometimes. I just want everyone to like me and everyone to get along, I guess. After all, peace IS one of my favorite non-knitting topics.

Still, I think I am doing my own self a disservice by not mentioning things like being hurt by unkind comments from people, or upset with bad service in a shop, or disappointed in a pattern...whatever. I am going to try from now on to be a little more forthcoming (no, not going out on the attack--just not omitting anything potentially controversial--after all, people still love the Yarn Harlot and she says things I think but would never say!)

What Made Me So Wimpy in Blogging in the First Place?

(No, I will not go into what made me so wimpy as an individual--lack of time and space there!) When I had been blogging a couple of years, in the personal blog that preceded this one and still exists for those who ask its address, I got a reader who had an agenda and began reading all kinds of hidden meanings, innuendos and messages in posts that I had never intended, or even thought possible. I went back in and addressed all these things, and today I don't think I'd do it. I think you can misinterpret almost anything if you try!

There are always people who are irritated with you in some way and looking for ways to interpret things you say negatively. You can't stop being yourself, saying what you think, or sharing your stories just because one or two people might not like it. Sure, you don't slander people or blatantly lie. But, you can share your perspective and do your best to treat others as you would like to be treated--and apologize if you screw up. Perhaps I go overboard apologizing (as in my last post), but I am not going to stop sharing with readers, either. That's my perspective.

Yarn Crawl! Belated Report

Yarnorama Haul 1
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Ah, what a way to spend Christmas night, catching up on blogging! Lee and I already took his dad Christmas dinner, ate it, found cattle roving on the road, and fed well behaved cattle. Yes, a cow-theme Christmas. Lee's dad was pleased with his socks, and reported one of his pair from last year is still good, but one bit the dust. Not bad for being machine washed and dried! And I spent all day patiently making OpArt bigger. Wow, those are some long rows. So, that was the knitting content of my day.

Tuesday was way more full of knitting content. So much that I doubt I can do it justice. The quick summary is that Deana and I had an incredibly fun time driving through the scenery east of Austin and visiting very small towns with very big and beautiful yarn shops. What follows is more details.

Yarnorama in Paige

This store's been open for a while now, but due to working like a fiend and being in our LYS most Saturdays, I had never managed to get out there. I sure was anxious to go, after all the good reports from everyone else!

The top picture you see is just part of what I bought there, but it's what thrilled me the most. Louet Gems Sport comes in really, really interesting colors (the four on the left). It is also what I am fondling in the photo at left. They all appear slightly muted and all are like the prettiest possible versions of whatever color they represent. I mean, two of my colors are shades of gray, but they are such nice ones. The "charcoal" has a wonderful greenish tint, while the "pewter" color is a lovely mushroomy color. To go with them I got the lilac and teal to go with those subtle colors in one of those mitten patterns that have been coming out lately. What you see on the right is everyone's favorite, Malabrigo Worsted, in Hummingbird and Tortuga. I sure love those colors. I want it to be another Mr. Greenjeans but with contrast trim.

I also got some really nice, heathered colors of Cascade 220 Superwash. That may sound dull, but I haven't seen new colors of nice, smooth worsted in a long time, and I want to make Lee some house socks, or use them with self-striping yarns in scarves. And lest I forget, I got NEW Jojoland yarn, Consonance, half cashmere and half silk in a lovely deep rose. Get some if you can!

What a nice shop, all in all. The staff were so nice, and it was really weird when one of them (Susan the owner) asked if I was the one who got married. Apparently my reputation preceded me (actually, Dawn preceded me). So, if you ever drive through Paige, Texas, be sure to turn left where it says "Post Office" and look for the nicely renovated old building full of yarn, spinning supplies and weaving stuff. And coffee! This place is exactly what Lee and I dreamed of doing, only Susan escaped where I am currently trapped, and did it. Good for her.

Fibers Gallery in Brenham

This is a new shop that's only been open since October, and is just off the main road in a town slightly bigger than Paige (like it has real stores and gas stations and stuff). It was started by a group of women, mostly over 70 years old, plus one former plant grower who is considerably younger, but had to find an indoor job. This place is totally magnificent. Those ladies really organized this place well. Lovely shelves and hanging display drawers for yarn in skeins. Everything labeled. Organized sensibly. Wow. I have no idea if such a wonderful place will last, hiding in a small town, but if it does, I will be a happy camper. The photo is of some Rowan Colourscape by Kafe Fassett bulky yarn I got, to try to make something two-tones out of (I also got a darker colorway).

So, the yarn was really amazing. I mean it, a wonderful selection of great colors and makers. Even Knitivity! There's Mission Falls, Crystal Palace, oh....a nice blend of quality mainstay yarns plus lots of interesting and different stuff (I was on a mission to find different self-striping yarns, and I found GGH Magica, Crystal Palace Taos and Nashua Wooly Stripes. I have these...ideas...and they need something other than Noro Kureyon to come to fruition.

I hope I have gushed enough to make you go check this place out and keep them in business. Heading to Houston? Make a little detour!

Of course, there are a couple of quirks. The owner doesn't like credit cards, so take checks or cash. And be prepared to wait a while, because the check-out is not computerized. It all gets written down and added by hand. But, you get to chat, so it's pleasant. Just don't be in a hurry to get to an online chat with all your friends around the world--you'll end up an hour and a half late!

But, it was OK, because Deana and I had fun, and she got to get her husband some Dr. Pepper made with cane sugar, not corn syrup, so she was a contented woman, too. Sure is fun to have a partner on these long-distance yarn adventures! Next time, we'll bring along anyone else who wants to come!