Yarn & Coffee, Santa Fe

On April 23, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Misc5 Comments

I originally thought I’d visit the Albuquerque yarn shop on LYS Day. Instead, I ended up at Yarn & Coffee in Santa Fe! Turns out they were participating in Casapinka’s Local Yarn Shawl promotion and the Albuquerque store wasn’t. I definitely wanted Casapinka’s pattern.

Yarn tour is a definite success! My plastic backpack is nearly full! I bought a couple skeins of Dream in Color. Not a brand everyone carries, no one in the SF Bay Area that I know of. It fits the ‘something I can’t get at home’ bill. I think this combo, Mesa and Dune will be for the Casapinka shawl.

Overall, I really enjoyed Yarn & Coffee. It felt the most like my living room of all the shops I’ve visited. The owner was lovely. The other patrons were lovely. It was very inviting. I’d definitely shop here if I was a local!

Did a little Sunday driving in the area too. The Jemez Mountains are spectacular! I visited a waterfall above 8000 feet! That thin air is really something!

I’ve got more pics to share but they’ll have to wait. I’m off to see Walter White’s house and then, Roswell! That’s way more exciting than waiting for hotel wi-fi!

Happy Local Yarn Shop Day!

On April 21, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Uncategorized7 Comments

Today’s calendar includes several ‘holidays’ to support your local businesses. It’s record store day so go support your local record dealer. And it’s local yarn shop day. It’s the inaugural year. I’m prone to talking smack about such made up ridiculousness but whatever, any excuse to buy yarn, yes?

Not as though I need an excuse. (First though, notice the snow. Snow!?! It’s been years since I’ve seen snow! Gonna try to avoid it for a few more years now…)

Yesterday’s trip to Purl in the Pines, in Flagstaff, Arizona was highly successful! It’s a super shop. The only thing I’d change…bring it closer to San Francisco!

It’s a clean, bright, mostly uncluttered space, loaded with great yarns. There was room for people to pass each other without tripping over piles of stuff on the floor. The displays were neat. The yarn walls looked great! I know how much work that takes to keep so tidy! It’s worth the effort though. It makes for a great shopping experience.

Anybody else love buttons? They got ’em! Once upon a time, someone told me the guy who sells those buttons is an old school traveling salesman…buttons in his trunk driving from shop to shop, peddling his wares. Clearly, this is what I aspire to. I’ve got the driving around to yarn shops down!

Here’s what I bought! From left to right, that’s three skeins of Mountain Meadow Cody, a Dream in Color Smooshy mini skein, a skein of Mary Gavan hand dyed yarn and a skein of The Croft Shetland tweed from West Yorkshire Spinners.

I’m excited about it all but the Mountain Meadow is what I’m most excited about! It’s a 100% grown & made in the USA product. A wonderful squishy merino from Wyoming and it’s a female owned company too! It’s lovely and soft, a bit more dense than say, Brooklyn Tweed. Perhaps on par with a Quince yarn. It’s rustic but not as a euphemism for scratchy. I love it.

And here’s the whole road trip pile…

Three yarn shops, three different states and a whole lot of awesome!

Happy Local Yarn Store Day! Now I’m off to Yarn and Coffee in Santa Fe! I expect more great yarns!

On the Road Again…

On April 20, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Misc1 Comment

Back on the road again. Goodbye Nevada, Hello Arizona! I saw Lake Mead and I entered giant cactus land! Then it was the Hoover Dam!

I was too late for the tour but it’s still pretty neat just walking around. After that, time for some driving. Arizona has lots of pretty rocks to look at!

Today includes another yarn stop…Purl in the Pines in Flagstaff. I’m feeling good about this one! Friyay, indeed!

Day One: The Twisted Skein

On April 11, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Misc12 Comments

Road Trip ’18 is under way!

I did pretty good considering I-5 is generally regarded as a road no one wants to drive and Bakersfield, my destination, is a place no one wants to visit.

It was a beautiful day for a drive and I was headed to a yarn shop. No complaints from me!

The Twisted Skein is a great shop! It gets two thumbs up from me! They hit all the things I look for in a yarn shop…speckles, hand dyes, local yarns, gradients. They’ve got a selection of Berroco yarns as well, for the budget conscious.

It was spacious and uncluttered. The staff was friendly (and all male?!) They had a classroom and space to sit & knit, along with Ravelry corner (<-awesome!!)

I picked out a handful of mini skeins from Stitch Together, an indie dyer from Iowa. Not sure what they’ll be. I didn’t bring enough yarn for the trip so I’ll be busting into these beauties soon! And, adding to the pile when I get to Vegas. Sin City Yarns should be a yarn tour highlight!

The cherry on top of my day was dinner at Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace.

It’s a tourist trap but whatever! They have live music! It was a free show…apparently this dude is the last American Idol winner. He was perfectly pleasant knitting music.

Overall, not a bad start to Road Trip ’18. Now, on to Vegas…

Road Trip

On April 7, 2018April 7, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Misc16 Comments

Next week, I’m going to Vegas. The trip was planned earlier in the year to coincide with some 40th birthdays and a music festival. My funemployment status made the choice to drive a no brainer. It, also, meant I didn’t have to make any real decisions yet.

A few weeks later, it was discovered that an east coast friend will be arriving in Vegas for a conference, just as the music festival friends are leaving. Of course, I’ll extend my trip a few days. I was so happy I hadn’t done something set in stone, like buy a plane ticket!

I was thinking of taking the long way home anyhow. Then this week, a little seed got planted into my brain. Roswell.

I mean, why not? I missed it the last time I drove cross-country. It’s an awful long way to drive for a bit of novelty. I’m not a serious tinfoil type but I’ll be back to work soon enough, might as well have a little fun.

With that in mind, I pinged a friend in Dallas because, relatively speaking…I’ll be close. Much to my surprise, the answer I got was a weekend tailor made for me. My favorite band, that isn’t part of the festival in Vegas, will be in Dallas.

Suddenly my crazy idea, seemed like a really FUN crazy idea! An hour later, it seemed completely ridiculous. An hour later, it was definitely happening. An hour later, there was absolutely no way it was possible. An hour later, I was kicking myself for not doing it….and it hadn’t even happened yet! This cycle of YES – NO! – YES!! has continued ever since. Decisions still haven’t been made.

I have started doing some research though. I’ve found a brand new and seemingly great yarn shop in Bakersfield to visit and of course, there’s Sin City Yarns to visit in Vegas. I’ve found some ghost towns and state parks. I’ve located the section of Route 66 that plays America the Beautiful in New Mexico. So I’ve got some options!

I need your suggestions though, anybody have a not to be missed yarn shop? I’m not at all committed to that blue line that google drew so feel free to suggest anything southwesty! Sedona, Flagstaff and Albuquerque are all possibilities. Breaking Bad tour of ABQ? Might need to research that one!

I leave Tuesday, and it seems like this may turn into a 3 week excursion! Yarn shops, roadside attractions, great eats, scenic pieces of road…I’m open to all of your suggestions! Let me have ’em…

Hitchhiking Through Oregon

On October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Scarf24 Comments

I’m halfway through my October travel…100% of the way through my travel knitting! My latest Hitchhiker is done! It’s rainbow-ish and stripey so naturally, I love it! (The yarn is JoJoland Rhythm Superwash)

The pattern, of course, is Hitchhiker by Martina Behm. The best pattern ever, especially for traveling! I have proof:

Ta-da! I think baby socks might be next on the travel knitting agenda?!?!