Socks At A Conference

My conference in Chicago had me in ballrooms for eight solid hours over two days. And this place was FREEZING. I was actively shivering for the first four hour session. I honestly knit on my 2018 Advent Socks just to keep my fingers from falling off.

I would knit a stripe on one sock and then switch to knit on the same stripe on the second sock. I think I confused the lady at my table but I had the irresistible urge to keep them “even”, lol. I am on color 14 of the 24, so just over the halfway point.

As with some previous advent socks, I think I will do the 2×2 ribbed cuff in the last four colors of the self striping skein. So I need to keep count when I hit color 20. I bet I mess that up on at least one of the socks.

Happy Knitting!!

Chicago Adventures

I took a very quick turnaround trip to Chicago for a professional conference. It didn’t turn out to be the most relaxing of a trip due to some work stress. So, what is a girl to do? Yes, find a yarn store!!

I managed to walk to Yarnify on Chicago’s South Side and peruse a LOVELY store. I forgot to take any pictures of the inside or outside because I was in a mood over work issues. But I did manage to spend some money in the store.

I always try to support local dyers or dyers I don’t see very often. On the left I grabbed some Leading Men Fiber Arts yarn. I grabbed some vivid mini skeins for my scrap/mini skein blankets. And then I got a skein of the Dramaturg base in the “fortune teller” colorway. Next up on the top is some RMR in the Rocio base. New to me dyer and it’s not on Ravelry but I couldn’t resist the speckles.

Next up on the right is some Baah Yarns Savannah in “Lincoln Park After Dark” colorway. This is a cashmere blend and I plan to pet this skein QUITE a lot. And then I finished up with the top corner of some Stone Barn Farms gradient cake called “Eye Of The Storm” colorway.

I really need to take one of these hot afternoons and get all my summer yarn purchases put away and organized into my bins….

Happy Stashing!!

Airplane Progress

While in the Seattle airport I stretched my legs and found some lotion bars in a cute tourist trap in the terminal. I was steadily cruising through the Second Green Hat and my hands were dry from the mohair sucking all the oils off my hands.

I picked up a local chocolate bar and this small tin of Bee Bar Lotion. The lotion bar was pretty decent quality too. Fairly robust on the lanolin and bee’s wax that left my hands moisturized but also with a barrier. The mohair was a little stickier until the lotion fully absorbed but it felt nice on my hands.

The last leg of the flight was headed into some thunderstorms in the Midwest. So I admit that I was furiously knitting waiting to see if we were going to get home. I managed to finish the hat on the flight and do a little more work on my advent socks.

The lovely couple next to me complimented me on my hat! Now I just need to wash this hat and weave in the last tail.

Happy Knitting!!

Turning A Brim In Sea-Tac

FIFA followed us everywhere on our vacation. We had a four hour layover in Seattle before coming home to the Midwest. I managed to knit the Second Green Hat brim and get it turned/folded.

Seats were hard to come by in the terminal and they had the soccer news/games playing on this festive turf area. They had free diet coke and a chair to knit in. I was happy to pass the time. Though I did watch more people than I did soccer…

Happy Knitting!!

Sweet Georgia Haul

Vancouver Canada was wonderful, but a bit of a madhouse with the FIFA World cup and having a team practicing in the City. We made it off the boat and to our hotel with a few hours to kill. I REALLY wanted to get to Baaad Anna’s Wool shop but it was deep in the heart of traffic and chaos from where were were staying.

So opted for a closer option, the SweetGeorgia main headquarters!

The store was lovely and I could see part of the warehouse and dye studio in the back. My mom came with me and it was her first ever Uber ride. The store is a little hard to find in the industrial park but we made it.

I picked up a DK weight party of five set, some BFL DK (Trifecta DK) and a skein of their superwash worsted. I rounded out my purchase with a skein of Cashsilk Lace and a travel bottle of soak in the fig scent. I’m a sucker for fig scents!!

One of my goals will be to get back to Seattle and Vancouver when the chaos is less and my family is NOT with me to do more of yarny vacation. I think it would be gloriously fun and such a great place to visit!

Happy Stashing!!

Finished: The Green Hat

I got to finish The Green Hat just in time to do a photo shoot with the Hubbard Glacier!

Pattern: My own basic beanie recipe

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Potion Yarns Foxy Sock and Potions Yarn in Phantasm Lace. Both in Lady Absinthe

That’s the glacier in the blurry background. It was so clear and blue. The day was overcast so the photos were amazing!

I have no idea how much yarn I used in the hat since I didn’t bring any scale. I would say half of each? I cast on 88 stitches on US 8s. It’s so warm and soft and Jellybean can’t wait to wear it.

Let’s see what else I can finish this vacation! Happy Knitting!!

Skagway Yarn Shopping

Skagway was my favorite stop on the cruise. Mostly because I got to hold 8 week old sled dog puppies but also because the town was beautiful and so much to do.

I found Auroras Yarn and dropped some tourist money there.

There were two indie dyed yarns in there: Raven Frog Fibers and Alaska Yarn Company. From Raven Frog I picked up a hat kit that was Glacier Bay themed, then a dark green sock yarn and some grey mohair to do more hat/cowl things. Followed by a worsted skeins, one each from Raven Frog and Alaska Yarn Company.

I had to vacuum bag and seal up all the yarn to fit it to go back home. Totally worth it and would do it again 😁😉

Happy Stashing!!

Alaskan Books

Jellybean has inherited my love of books. And we found a local used book store in Juneau.

I picked up three new books. Treasure Hunt is a series of murder mystery I think? Little Fires Everywhere is fiction and a Netflix show that looked good. And then Truly Devious I just picked up because it looked pretty.

Jellybean grabbed one kid’s fantasy novel, a fiction that also might be science fiction and then a kid’s murder mystery/detective novel.

Suitcases were stretched tight but we got all these home! And I made good progress on The Mad Wife that I started reading on the plane ride.

Happy Reading!

Juneau Woolies Haul

I was able to find yarn in Alaska! First stop was Juneau and Juneau Woolies. Walked up a very steep hill to get there but it was worth it.

The shop was quant and did a great job on the window display. My kids preferred the ice cream shop next door though.

I picked up some spinning fiber in a bright purple and it’s a merino/tencel blend. Next up was some Juneau Woolies hand dyed yarns. I picked up a mohair lace for more fuzzy hats with some of their cashmere merino sock yarn. Then two skeins of their worsted for hats and an Aran weight skein for maybe some mittens. And finally a wee mini skein for scrap blankets.

Oh and I grabbed some wool wash in cash I magically need to block something in this trip! Hahahah, wishful thinking.

Next Jellybean and I found a used book store on the way back to the boat!

Happy Knitting!!

Sweater With A View Of Glacier

Okay, break from The Green Hat. I took a flyer and packed my Bibliophile 2 in my checked luggage so I could knit a sweater in the wild north.

We got to see the Hubbard Glacier on day two and it was so majestic. We got to watch from our balcony and learn all about this ancient ice.

After the glacier experience, I took a break from Mom duties in order to relax on a couch in the adults only area before dinner. I just watched beautiful ice floes and knit round and round.

The neck band is finished and I’m just cruising down the body. I have no deadline for this and I’m just living in the moment. The views are once in a lifetime ❤️

Happy Knitting!!