The Quest for Sock Yarn in Alaska
Alaskan sock yarn was the quest. And this was the place to find it.
I ‘d researched on the computer from Pittsburgh, prior to our trip.
Knitty Stash is the home of Alaskan Yarn Company , right in Homer, Alaska where we were headed.
Gorgeous hand painted sock yarn with special Alaskan colorway names that invite you to knit your Alaskan experience, right into a pair of socks ( or shawl, cowl, etc) “Our Alaskan color way: Kachemak Bay, Lupine, Arctic Autumn, Northern Lights and Fireweed and Denail Autumn and High Bush Cranberry” You can click here to see what they look like knitted up
Yarn store number three on the great Northwest adventure.
You meet the nicest people. My friend Lisa and I went back on Tuesday night and watched the three women use spinning wheels, turning fiber into yarn.
Meet shop owner Jules and her sweet dog Ruby.
Jules made the knitting artwork out of duct tape with the help of a friend! Weatherproof..
You can see some of the colorways on the wall in this shot. I focused on Jules so the background a bit soft focus.
My quest was satisfied and I mailed some skeins the next day. It was here, waiting for me when I got home. I’ve wound one colorway already. Will keep you posted.
Here are the colors close up, borrowed from Knitty Stash site so you can see how lush they are.
I did not take the yarn photo below, but I wish I had bought all the colors and taken it! Thanks Jules.
p.s. If you missed my 4/27/16 post on The Satisfaction of Sock Knitting you can read it here
Wooley Mama’s on Apple Street- Omak, Washington
Meet Laura Hayner. And Shadow. What a sweet doggie. She follows Laura everywhere.
She is spinning fleece of some local sheep.
Here’s a skein of some of her handspun yarn from a spinning workshop. It was a grab bag of different fibers and has a really cool and varied look to it.
Spoiler Alert for Christmas Gifts- Made in the U.S.A.- World’s Warmest Socks for Winter. I’m sure she’d be happy to send you some. They are thick and cushy. Perfect in a big boot or to wear around a drafty house.
Thanks Laura for welcoming us to your lovely shop. Love the name of your store.
Thanks for showing us your logo. My sister likes the buttons she bought, too.
I enjoyed seeing your spinning and will enjoy knitting all the yarn I bought and shipped to myself. It’s great you get your fiber from local ranches and farms- 4R Ranch in Tonasket and Good Farms in Okanogan for two.
Prickly
Cactus at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Hill Country Weavers – yarn store on South Congress
Yarnphoria in Philadelphia
Knitters find yarn stores when they travel. It’s fun to buy souvenir yarn. Add to the stash. I bought sock yarn dyed after a Monet painting. When I wear them I’ll remember our time in Philadelphia. Of course I have to knit them first.
I bought a size one needle (similar to a toothpick) that is an 8 inch circular and will learn to master making a sock on it after I watch the video a few more times.
You can become creatively inspired in new directions in a new yarn shop.
I was fortunate I had time to knit on this trip.
I walked to Yarnphoria 1016 Pine Street from our hotel. Several times!
The wooden swift and ball winder, used expertly by Yarnphoria owner, Dona.
Gertie, the rescue dog who helps mind the store, liked my lap.
In fact, I think she likes everyone’s lap. There’s a sweet pic of her on the store’s FB page.
Fingering, sock, lace weight, worsted, bulky, chunky are all yarn weights.
Colors arrange like an artist’s palette.
Planning a project out of the “American Wildflowers Collection” cotton yarn made in Philadelphia by Made in America Yarns
(Those are Dona’s cool shoes she got on Etsy)
Rings Around the Collar Pattern. Now that’s a cowl!!!
Proprietor Donna, originally from New York, designs and knits the dresses with gorgeous yarns.
She has great energy to help calculate yardage, do all that knitting math- and I sat and swatched the yarn to get my correct gauge before I left the store. She wound all my yarn for a special project (SPOILER ALERT!)
Not just different weights but all types of fiber content from cotton, bamboo, mohair, silk, merino wool to super luxurious cashmere. You name it.
FB Yarnphoria page
Here’s a review I found online –
“Adorable shop! Fantastic yarn! The owner is amazing and will help you with anything you need. What yarn to use for what time of year, what yarn to use for babies, anything you need. If you’re a beginner or advanced, she is just amazing – and she knits/crochets? castles! And hats! And dresses! She can make anything and wants to help you make anything as well. A perfect location for a perfect shop. Of the 5 yarn stores I’ve been to in my life, this takes the cake by far.”
Knitting Socks – with a little help from experts
This post started with Steve bringing me a bowl of beanie weanies for Sunday night supper.
I looked at the color of the bowl, the sock I was knitting, and the teal of my new robe from Christmas. ( thank you, V- it is very cozy)
I try to keep the blog IRT for the most part.
The last sock yarn I used was for a Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure Pattern (thanks for the Chocolate and Cherries yarn,Toni).
Then I thought of all the references I am using to tutor myself to knit socks again. Reading about the knitting is good preparation.
I’d started a pair of socks simultaneously on two circular needles about two years ago. (Thanks for the yarn, Molly) but bought new size one double point needles yesterday to knit them singly.
I used to worry about “SSS- second sock syndrome.” Listened to Alicia and Natalie on a Mastering the Knits Podcast talk about socks and yarn and more socks and felt inspired.
Also, my long time friend, E, brought me a Christmas gift. A book –Knit Socks! –shaped like a sock -by Betsy Lee McCarthy
The two books have exclamation marks in their titles. 
Additional References pictured above
-The glare of the Round white OTT light -so I can see on a winter night
– Susan B Anderson “How I Knit My Socks”
Susan’s Blog link
-Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Knitting Rules!
Yarn Harlot link
Mom, You Should Knit a Hat to Match Your Glasses
Okay Matthew. Good idea.
Here it is – thanks for the inspiration.
Sure beats my tired brown hat from last year.
And thanks to Molly for the Noro Kuryeon yarn and I used a double strand as the pattern called for bulky yarn.
This is the Handspun Ribbed Hat patternHandspun Ribbed Hat. I knit quite a few of these hats for Christmas with Rowan Undyed Chunky yarn, the color of the breed of sheep. Suffolk and Black Welsh.
(Adjustment– I knit it to 11″ so there is a nice length to fold up and it’s double over the ears ) and I use a size 9 circular needle 16″ length.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Warmth
Warmth is what we seek this time of year.
Like a Squirrel Gathering Nuts for the Winter
Wednesday’s mail was waiting when I got home late. A box!
A box of yarn arrived from Web*sters in Ashland, Oregon. Silk Blend. 70% Merino wool and 30% silk. Manos del Uruguay. I’ve plans to knit my way through the freezing season. So soft and the colors like jewels.
Magenta, Aster, Dark Cherry. I love the names of the colorways.
Spolier alert: Knitty City Horizontal Cowls (link to their free pattern) for gifts.
I’ve made three already. Oh and an attempt for a circle scarf from a different yarn (the gray)
It can’t just post comfort food.
I like this particular pattern cause the circular knitting goes around and around and around, getting me to a peaceful place, sucking out my anxiety, making me calm. Trying not to notice the sun setting earlier already.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Twist
The perfect twist ice cream cone as suggested by this week’s challenge eluded me. These photos are taken today expressly for TWIST.
Steve and I went over to the South Side to the Dairy Queen where one of my students had a shift Saturday night.
I asked for a small twist cone! and this is how they make them on Carson Street. Waaaaah! It’s a half and half.
There was no licorice to be found so I had to think of another TWIST specifically for this week’s challenge.
Twist on a medicine bottle!
I saw TURN and an ARROW but no word TWIST what I was looking for….. a TWIST CAP! childproof? None to be found in the medicine chest here.
The leftover sock yarn ball has a twist to the strand! Finding a twist in the house
the base of the red glass goblet ( my friend Joanne knit me this patriotic dishcloth)
Twist ties for the tops of bread bags. Or garbage
For the final image for TWIST
a couple of hanger tops.
Definitely twisted
and a couple from the archives Coney Island Ride
and a student made this scarf in knitting activity period this year
Is this a twist or a swirl?
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beginning
The example posted by Cheri Lucas Rowlands was a Northern California foggy dawn.
A sunrise – a perfect beginning.
A baby, just born.
The first page of the dictionary.
The first page of the new calendar.
Once you start, more come to mind.
Beginning= possibility? A new start.
I did not search the archives for beginnings but put the iPhone to use at breakfast-
My Saturday morning.
Here’s the beginning –
The special English muffins a surprise in the Christmas mail from Ben and Susan, thanks
A newly sharpened pencil ready to begin……
a journal entry, a letter, a poem, a novel, a list-
Begin with a single match…………..
Middle C- “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start….” “When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi”
The beginning of a ball of yarn in my new yarn bowl🙂
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