When I left for the US, I was mentally drooling over all the North American treats most of us living in Europe never get the fondle in our local yarn stores: Lorna’s Laces, Koigu, Fleece Artist, Socks That Rock… I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that stuff! Now, this was of course first and foremost A Holiday Together, time to meet friends and go places, so driving routes were not to be planned according to which yarn stores I wanted to visit. Which in part resulted in none of the above-mentioned yarns finding their way in my stash.
Most of it I simply couldn’t find. Lorna’s Laces, which I’d been coveting ever since seeing the original Clapotis picture, was an exception. I had a couple of colourways in mind that I especially wanted to check out, having seen warying colourway behaviour when googling finished objects and therefore not daring to order it online. When I finally saw it live at a yarn store, I eagerly grabbed a hank, found the colourway not quite as striking as in the pictures, fondled it, thought about it, and put it back. It just didn’t speak to me. I do believe I’d like to try it one day, when I find the right hank, but this time there were other things around that looked more tempting.
Although our road trip took us to four states, I did all my yarn shopping in California. Thanks to Hapagirl, I got some shopping done in the Bay Area. In San Diego I spent a very fun day with Tuulia, talking yarn, fondling yarn, going through her stash and various WIPs and FOs, talking more yarn – oh, and did I mention shopping yarn? Michael and Jo-Ann were also very helpful with lots of small stuff.
My first stop was Artfibers in San Francisco. I’d heard a lot about it, and what an experience it was! I walked into the store, and my first reaction was surprise at how small it was. The next was horror as I saw the prices. Then a strange flutter near my heart when I looked at the yarns more closely. The store was full of natural fibres in fantastic colours, each more brilliant than the next. They had swatches of nearly everything, and the yarns seemed to knit up beautifully. Nevertheless, they were pricey. Right, I thought, these yarns may be gorgeous, but I’m definitely not buying anything. Nope, I’ll just look at them and savour the moment.
About half an hour, one swatch and an x-rated amount of dollars later I walked out of there with a bag of yarn, dazed and confused but definitely elated. Now how did that happen?
First my SO points out a lovely red thing, just my colour and 100% silk. Fantastic-looking swatch, too. Oaahh. Crave it, look at the price tag, and decide to leave it on the shelf.
Next he finds me a beautiful mixture of dark browns (I’m still way behind him, advancing slowly, taking it all in). There was no swatch on the shelf, so I ask if they had one. No, it was a new arrival, but would I like to knit a bit myself? Oh well, why not, I thought – at least I’ll get to have a small Artfibers experience even if I can’t take any of it home. The friendly woman asks for my needle preferences – straight or circular, bamboo or metal – and has me sit down in one of their comfy chairs. I start knitting, and the thing is just divine. It’s dreamy soft, and the colours behave just as they should. Knitted up, the yarn has even more variety than on the cone. And the softness… My heart starts beating faster and faster, and my breathing gets heavy. I absolutely must have this yarn, no matter what. I may not need it, but I have to have it.
I buy all of it. (They didn’t have very much.)
Artfibers Quipu, colour #12, 100% baby alpaca. The softest thing ever. It may not look like much on the cone, but wait till you see it knitted up!
And while I’m at it, I grab the red one as well. A couple, in fact, to make sure I don’t run out.
Artfibers Golden Chai, colour #23, 100% golden tussah silk. Fabulous.
On we go. In the next store I find a wall full of these South American roses:
A bunch of them now adorn my humble stash.
It’s Manos del Uruguay, 115 Flame. Hand crafted, kettle dyed pure wool.
Chasing Rainbows was something I hadn’t come across before:
They had fantastic colours and absolutely brilliant reds. This one isn’t even from their “reds” shelf; it’s much darker and almost sombre compared to the real reds.
It’s 118 grams of their superwash 100% merino sock wool. Very soft, with beautiful, subtle shades of wine and plum, and a bit of chili and tomato peeking out here and there.
This was also too yummy to be left behind. It didn’t look like my colour at first, but the more I circled it – it’s so silky and soft that I went back to pat it again and again – the more it spoke to me. It’s another Chasing Rainbows yarn, 50% merino and 50% tencel, and it feels heavenly to touch. I could have sworn it was silk. This will replace the JitterBug Mist that was a little too bright for my taste after all.
Finally, a bit of Noro. You may remember that I wasn’t very impressed with its tendency to stripe when knitting my first Clapotis, but this is a colourway I’d had my eyes on for a long time. When it stared at me right in the eye, I had to take some of it home. For old times’ sake.
(The friend I was shopping with also happened to mention the magic words: camel hair coat.)
It’s Noro Silk Garden, shade 47. Later I heard that it’s been discontinued, so it’s a good thing I grabbed a few. Now all I need is that coat and a smashing scarf pattern. Any ideas?
Now, on to book stores. Couldn’t buy everything I wanted due to luggage restrictions, but I did get some magazines.
I rushed to buy the latest issue of Interweave Knits the day it came out, because I’d already seen in the previews that it had a cardigan that simply screamed my name. And while I was at it, I bought the latest Vogue Knitting as well.
I also got a bunch of back issues of IK plus Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi. It was slim and weighed next to nothing, and I’ve heard good things about it.
In addition I got about two bags full of small stuff – needles, buttons, stitch markers, beads, a massive pile of t-pins and other nice knittery things, and, surprisingly, some sewing stuff as well. Now, I don’t sew, do I? Errh, not yet, but I absolutely crave this. As soon as I find the right material, it’ll be time to dig out the old sewing machine.
Out of the small stuff, this has so far proved to be the most useful purchase:
Proper needle holders. Yes, they do make a difference compared to rubber bands and hair elastics. Love ‘em.
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