Hill Country Weavers Yarn Shop

While in Texas, I had half a day to kill before my flight left for home. I hopped into an Uber and found the closest yarn store which happened to be Hill Country Weavers. Y’all…this shop was the bomb!

This shop had all kinds of yarn brands that I haven’t been able to lay hands on yet. I touched La Bien Aimee, Life in the Long Grass, Madeline Tosh and many more. Even the bathroom had a life size sheep painting!

I might have spent my budget plush some but it was totally worth it. I grabbed a mix of sock yarn, DK and worsted. I had some Uneek Worsted in a self striping pattern (top), La Bien Aimee BFL Sock, Life In the Long Grass Fine Sock, Madeline Tosh DK, Madelinetosh Pashmina, and two skeins of Spin Cycle!

Truth be told, other than the hat I cast on with the Uneek Worsted, I have zero plans for this yarn. I just wanted some special/souvenir pieces to add to my collection and stash. These are yarns I don’t normally get to lay hands on. Definitely yarn to remember!!

Happy Knitting!!

Accidental Yarn Crawl

Oops, I also went on an accidental yarn crawl this weekend while with my mom. My mom needed to pick up her BOM (block of the month) quilt packs from a quilt shop that is sponsoring a remote quilt along. Not only did this fabric store carry yarn….there was a full fledge yarn shop on the way to the fabric shop.

Our first stop was Stitch and Chatter in Stockton KS. It was an bright and fun little shop with a small yarn selection in the back. I ended up coming away with two vegan pompoms, some KFI painted sock and six KFI minis for heels, toes and cuffs. Everyone was masked it was nice to peruse the almost empty shop because we got there right at opening.

Next up was the Shepherd’s Mill in Phillipsburg KS. This is a yarn shop AND working mill. They mill custom yarns for their shop as well as mill yarn for other fiber producers. There are long windows so you can see the mill working even. Of course we were there on a Saturday and they only mill during the week.

But I came away with quite the yarn haul. Starting in the top left I got some Lanaloft worsted weight in a camo colored single for another stockinette hat. Then I picked up a 2 ply fingering weight yarn that has mohair blended with wool, alpaca and nylon (grey). Next up are two skeins worsted weight for more beanie hats. The red/purple one is a 3 ply marled worsted while the teal skeins is a 2 ply tonal worsted.

Next up, at the bottom, are some custom gradients. The dark blue/purple is a 2 ply fingering gradient with alpaca, rayon, wool and nylon. And the pink skein, which my mom picked out for a hat, is a 2 ply DK yarn made of wool and nylon.

I really want to go back to this shop when we have more time. They offer classes and aren’t a bad distance from my parents house. I want to take some in person spinning classes after my vaccine and while I have childcare. I’m so excited I almost can’t wait!

Happy Knitting!!

A Visit To Twisted

While in Portland my friends graciously offered to help me find a yarn store. And we wandered our way into Twisted and y’all….it was amazing.

They had a well curated shop of lots of amazing mainstream yarn lines and many indie dyers. And with no sales tax in Oregon….I fell down hard and basically handed them all my birthday money. The staff was knowledgeably and helpful but just let me shop and squish yarn in my preferred way. They had Quince & Co and Brooklyn Tweed, neither of which I had seen in person before. I think I lapped the store three times just taking it all in! My friends were so great and helped me shop. They asked some very thoughtful questions and really took an interest in how the whole knitting culture worked.

I came away with quite the haul. There were two skeins of fingering weight, five skeins of DK, five mini skeins and three enamel pins. And I did actually try to thoughtfully purchase so that I didn’t just buy pretty yarn to linger in my stash. I bought yarn in color combinations that went together and with projects in mind.

The tweedy yarn will be a two color shawl, the Hazel Knits in green hues will be some sort of a faded project, the Twine will be combined with existing stash for a shawl and the Knitted Wit will be happy socks for my feet.

I can hear Jellybean rustling in his bed so I need to get moving this morning. I’ll try to get up a separate post where I geek out a little harder over this yarn haul.

Happy knitting!!

Shopping Small With Someone Small

My little man was getting a little restless after three days at the Grandparents. So we loaded up in the car and headed “to town”. Which for those raised in the sticks means driving at least an hour to a moderately large city that has more than a grocery store and antique shop/junk store. Jellybean and I dropped Grandma and Aunt Bar-bar at a Joann’s and spencer and I headed off to shop small at Yarns Sold and Told in Salina Ks.

I have been wanting to find some workhorse solid sock yarns for contrasting bits and bobs. Spence was SO FANTASTIC about shopping with mommy. We held hands and walked the sidewalks and chatted about toddler life. He was amazed by the yarn and fell in love with a shop sample knitted monkey. (Mommy was a softy and let him pick out yarn for mommy to knit a toy monkey. More about that later.)

While I perused sock yarn Jellybean found some sample ribbon scarves and proceeded to play dress up with the shop mirror. He asked one of the proprietors if he “looked pretty” and she just about burst out giggling as she assured him he did. He kept himself busy while I finished my shopping.

He was so amazing that we slid down the street to a local ice cream store and split two scoops of chocolate. It was a perfect mommy and Jellybean date! I’m going to hang on to that memory for awhile ❤️

Happy Knitting!