Yarn to Knit For

Yes, we went to another yarn shop. I needed more needles, ok? Anyway, we had another shop we wanted to check out before I leave for language school. This time we headed up the mountains for to Hendersonville, North Carolina.

(not our car, though we wanted to steal the dog)

Yarns to Dye For is a family run yarn shop just outside of town. When we got there some other customers were leaving, so we had the place to ourselves with the husband and wife who run the store. They are a really friendly couple, checking in frequently without hovering. Mom enjoyed talking with both of them while I walked around and touched everything.

The store itself is bigger than it looks, with both yarn and other equipment for sale and a large, open loft-like area for classes. Not only do they teach knitting, but they also have classes on silk painting (something my aunt does that looks cool but I doubt I could pull off). Oh, and the man who works there makes all sorts of food stuffs that we could not help but indulge in, chief among them a date shortbread thingamabob and some yummy smelling herbs.

So of course I picked up some needles. But I couldn't stop myself from acquiring some other "much [un]needed" as well. I've been reading a lot about wool-washes that knitters use because it does not have to be rinsed out of the yarn after it has soaked. But I didn't want to spend $20 on the internet just to try something different. Well, turns out I didn't have to. The shop carried a small $4 bottle of a eucalyptus formula that is supposed to also help deter moths. I blocked some socks in it tonight and so far so good. It even helped to mask the wet dog smell of soaked yarn.

And because I'm on a sock kick lately, I also picked up two skeins of Wendy Happy. I'm not sure, but I think this might be a yarn that is not regularly carried by US vendors (consequently, they are the only shop I've seen carry another yarn that I bought during a Webs sale that I believe is also a European or UK brand). This yarn is for the eccentric in me. It's self-striping but not too much and all the colorways are named for constellations! I picked out the blue (Pises) for myself and Mom picked out the red (Virgo) for herself (as in socks for me to knit for her). Evidentially she read about the advantages of bamboo as sock yarn so we're giving it a try.

Lastly, I picked up some stitch markers. One for me and one for my sister. She's just starting to knit beyond the one pattern she learned on and last night was asking me questions about what she needed to make Calorimetry. It calls for stitch markers, so I thought a nice beaded hand-made one would be a great luxurious start for her notions collection.

Because of this, today knitting needles are not only for knitting, but for displaying beautiful beaded works of art.