Loot
I went to Rhinebeck and didn’t buy yarn. I know this sounds a bit odd, but I get rather frazzled when I find myself somewhere crowded. I bailed out after less than three hours. I wanted very badly to be elsewhere, so we left. Luckily, we were up in Maine after Rhinebeck, and Maine seems to be exceptionally well supplied with yarn stores. I visited quite a few of them.
Of course we went into Portland, which means of course we went to KnitWit, which means of course I bought yarn from Quince & Co. Rather a lot of yarn actually. That’s six skeins of Tern (three in Dusk and three in Back Bay) and three skeins of Chickadee in Kumlien’s Gull. I’m not quite sure what might become of them (this will be a theme, I don’t tend to buy yarn with a project in mind), but I think they’ll all turn into something grand.
And as usual, we stopped by String Theory, and I had my yearly indulgence of impressive proportions. My ongoing obsession with their bases and colors is well documented, and this should be a surprise to absolutely no one. Along the back are Merino DK in Alexandrite, Caledonia, and Earthquake. In the front is Blue Faced Sport in Skerry and Caper Aran in Canyon. I got two skeins of each because I love them all dearly and don’t want to run out. I’m just going to emphasize that if you have the chance to try this yarn, you really really should. They can do no wrong.
And of course we visited a few other spots as we wandered around. We stopped in at Over The Rainbow Yarns in Rockland (when we were in town to visit out very favorite restaurant in all the world, Primo – if you are even sort of close by you owe it to yourself to go). I grabbed a few skeins of The Fibre Company’s Road to China Light in Moonstone. And we also popped into Halcyon Yarn in Bath (I told you Maine was swimming in yarn stores). There I found something new, a mink yarn by Lotus called Mimi. I’ve not knit with mink before (though the promotional material assured me this was animal-friendly mink, harvested by brushing the critters, rather than by anything less savory). I’m going to have to do some reading to see what folks do with it, but it’s so soft I had to give it a try.
That seems like rather a lot of yarn when taken all together – quite possibly enough to make up for not getting any at Rhinebeck! How about you guys, were any of you at Rhinebeck? Did you manage to fight your way through the crowds enough to buy some yarn? I saw lots of folks with bags, so I’m guessing somebody bought some!
Wow that’s a lot of yarn! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!
I’m with you on the avoiding crowds stuff – enough that I probably wouldn’t even consider going to Rhinebeck, or really to any fiber festival. And I definitely know the feeling of “I must get out of here NOW!” 🙂
I have some of that String Theory Earthquake in my stash, it’s been there quite a while, but hasn’t told me what it wants to be yet.
Missed Rhinebeck this year due to some surgery. I hear you about the crowds though…get worse every year. Too bad, because I really love the idea of that festival…just want 80% of the people to stay home so it would be more enjoyable.
You are tempting me to take a trip to Maine though! I haven’t been there in a very long time. The Yarn Shops look like reason enough to go. You really found some lovelies.
What a loot! Well done, a productive journey 🙂
I used Mimi in a cowl on Ravelry called Escalier Cowl. It was actually a pattern designed by my LYS for the Yarn Crawl. The yarn is WONDERFUL!!!! Soft & easy to knit. Can’t wait to see what you come up with using it!!!
The quince & co. blues are to die for…..and now I’m going to ask Santa for the Alexandrite. I keep trying to resist it, but I don’t think I can…..and mink yarn?
awesome! Can’t wait to see what you do with all these goodies! : )
I don’t have ANY Quince & Co. in my stash. This seems Wrong.
Very wrong. You should buy extra to make up for the wrong. Promptly.
I used your Vert pattern and a whole pile of Tern to make summer-friendly hats for friends undergoing chemo this year. The one in Dusk turned out so lovely (and went to my neighbor, so I get to see it more often!).
Oh that would be so soft, their yarn really is amazing. Hope your friends are doing well.