Fun times on a route recon

Yesterday I drove up to Asheville NC to do a route recon* for a semi-LYS Crawl for my knitting group. You know how it is...we all get so busy in our lives that even yarn stores that are only an hour to an hour and a half away go unvisited. I wanted to make sure that some of the yarn stores that came up on my google search actually existed, or actually carry decent quantities of yarn to make the gas money worthwhile. I have been to most of the stores before, so no big deal for me. But, I did find out that one store does not exist! And another that was just a consignment shop with some yarn no longer carries yarn. And the ones that I thought would be worth a visit still are. It will be hard to get 2-3 cars worth of knitters through too many stores, so we have to limit the list.

One of these days, I need to leave early enough in the morning to actually ENJOY Asheville more. I ended up eating McDonalds for lunch while driving, and this is a crime if you know Asheville. It has so many good restaurants that it is crazy to eat crappy food. But I wanted to try to beat rush hour traffic home because there was construction on I-26. I did make time to stop at The Chocolate Fetish, for some delicious Key Lime Pie, Chai and Raspberry truffles. I warned my husband that if he did not eat his share soon, I would not be able to fight off their truffley siren song. (Note to my SP10 Pal: truffles are always welcome. :) ).



Alot of us are saying we are on yarn diets, but you know how that is. I think some of us will break down when in the presence of awesome yarn. As I did. (Just like a dieter breaks down in front of cupcakes or french fries.) I did buy two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug at Yarn Paradise, with the excuse that one is for my SP10 pal. But honestly, I knew deep down that once I showed them both to DH this morning, he would really like the one I was going to give away (and he did). So I knew both would end up in my home!** Agh! And honestly, it is a miracle that this is all that I bought. I had held out all day before and after this purchase, but it is like a pressure cooker building up steam. You finally get around some sock yarn that you hear raves about, and you are like, well....I will just buy just this one. I must be crazy. Crazy for tightly spun super soft merino sock yarn. It is my personal yarn kryptonite.

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Colorways (top to bottom) Blue Parrot #16 and Jewel #54.

Source: Yarn Paradise

The good news is that I will be going back up in ~1 week for the actual crawl. And so I will have a chance again to buy one of many new sock yarns for her. Or other yarns if I can find a deal for her. Don't worry pal-ly, shopping for you is always on my mind. :)


I have finished that purple and blue lizard ridge block, and have started another this morning. They are so like knitting dishcloths that I encourage you all to take up this project. The blocks make a nice break between knitting other projects.

* It is scary when one channels their super duper high speed Army planning and logistics skills. I was always highest rated on my planning skills. All I know is whenever I get around to having bambinos, they are in for some trouble. Mommy has it all under control! And I will be in for trouble when they do their best to perturb my plans!

** One of these yarns may end up as a gift to one of my sockerly knitting friends! Ahah!