All posts tagged: yarn

Ravelry Mini Yarn Haul, and some pandemic-era reflection

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What I bought I placed an order in late March (or whenever Knit Picks orders re-opened after Shelter-in-Place orders took effect). Reeling from the news and wanting retail therapy, and with projects all queued up and assigned on Ravelry, I was eager to receive this new little bundle of yarn. I’m especially excited to give the Upcycle yarns a try. This line of yarns is made by spinning plushy skeins with leftover wool from their mills to reduce waste. Next to my enthusiasm about these new projects on the horizon, I felt some remorse. I’d say a call to reflect on what buying for inessential (though no less enriching) projects really means during this unique and devastating time. I am not an island Essential workers are subjected to dangerous situations every day, to create and deliver loads of items both critical and nonessential. This helps keep this interdependent machine we call society running, especially for disabled or dependent folks who need to have things delivered to their home to safely meet their needs. One can …

sin city knit shop, las vegas

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The second LYS I visited was the Sin City Knit Shop on E. Windmill Ln. From the look of it, this shop has been around for quite some time. I think I recall being told that until Mirage Fiber Arts opened its doors it was the only one in Vegas for a while. I had the immediate feeling that the people relaxing and knitting were all good friends, and was greeted as if I was a part of that circle too. I can’t tell you how at home I felt here! I said I was looking for some sock yarn, and everyone there sounded off with great suggestions of what was in stock! It may have been for that reason that I wasn’t even entirely sure who was the owner of Sin City Knits, it was like everyone was at home, I was a guest, and there happened to be a ton of yarn around. The atmosphere is too charming here. I decided to pick up one of Sin City knits’ own dyed sock yarns …

​ mirage fiber arts, las vegas

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While on my thanksgiving weekend trip to Las Vegas with Nick, I took advantage again of Ravelry’s fantastic LYS finder resource and found two shops to visit. The first was Mirage Fiber Arts on S. Buffalo drive. The moment I walked in, I was warmly greeted by the ladies knitting on those adorable rocking chairs. Their full walls suggested a generous and well curated selection of squishy yarns. I spent most of my time there handing skeins of alpaca or mohair to Nick and insisting that he squeeze and appreciate them. While convincable, I was mostly on the hunt for something more local than the usual staples of Malabrigo or Berocco, and found what I was looking for. A skein of Nerd Girl Yarns Swagger in “I Ain’t Nobody’s Bitch”, and Ethereal Fibers’ Dark Matter Sock, a 70/20/10 Merino/Yak/Nylon yarn, which is unfortunately not the most well catalogued yarn on Ravelry. Stranded Show-Off pattern another try?) I’ll share my second LYS experience with you very soon! For now, I’ve got an Ease sweater to finish …

wip: nakniswemo2016, slide + knitpicks stash acquisition!

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Happy November! I recently made a big yarn purchase from Knitpicks for this special winter month, and now that they’ve arrived, I can finally show you. But first, a sock WIP update– Monkey Socks sometime soon. As for the Zen Garden yarn–it’s easily the softest sock yarn I’ve had the privilege of working with to date, but I think the colorway shifts too aggressively for the purpose of this design. I’ll likely keep knitting it, but another go at this project with a softly solid MadelineTosh might be in order in the future. Ease , a gorgeous pattern that has been sitting in my queue for a long time. I chose Knitpicks’ Wool of the Andes Superwash in Mineral Heather, which looks even better in person. This lovely but kinda garish set of Brava Sport is another new addition. I bit the bait hard and shelled out the ~whopping (not) $25 for a Rainbow Hue Shift kit from Knitpicks. This is gonna be my first afghan project (well, one that isn’t a sausage project anyway). …

places : toronto, ontario

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With just my iPhone in tow (tried to travel light), I spent a rushed three days exploring Toronto on foot. Naturally I had to ask Yelp where the nearest LYS’s were. Yarns Untangled . This small shop is gorgeously lit and incredibly well curated, I wanted to bring every one of their skeins home. I took this yarn lust as an opportunity to manage my stash. I took a good look at the entries in my Ravelry stash section, and carefully assigned the relevant ones to projects on my queue. Once that was done, I had the conscience-clearing parameters needed to make my special souvenir yarn purchase — it’s gonna have to be a skein of super soft fingering wool for the Slide socks by Cookie A. My next stop was Romni Wools , which was an overwhelming experience. The first floor was absolutely brimming with yarn of all weights and colors! I chose a Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Sequoia colorway, entirely for sentimental reasons–for Nick and my first year, we visited the …