Something a Little Different

When I go on long car trips, I like to check out yarn shops along the way if I can. It's not always possible, especially if it's Monday, when most yarn places are closed.

Part of a recent trip went through Brockville, ON, where I stopped briefly at the Woolly Lamb. Not a lot of high-end stuff there. (Perhaps the local market favours more run-of-the-mill selections.) Anyway, for some strange reason I became enamoured of the latest novelty yarn type, and bought a skein of Red Heart Boutique Sashay (I know, I know) so I could knit a frilly scarf. I wanted something quick I could knit in the car. It seemed like a good idea at the time.


Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking. Making a scarf with this stuff is, to paraphrase Douglas Adams, “almost but not quite entirely unlike knitting.” Sigh.

But the good news is I also managed to pick up some Manos del Uruguay Maxima, in the Peach Melba colourway. These are not my usual colours, but for some reason this one was calling to me.


A little later in the day I was in Rensselaer Falls, NY, at a tiny little crossroads which contained the most wonderful yarn and quilting store called Fiber Options.

When I'm picking up my touristy yarn, I like to get stuff that I maybe haven't seen before -- even if they happen to have some great Noro in stock (as this store did, though I largely ignored it). I picked up a couple of different things, since the store was having a great sale: a variety of yarns anywhere from 10 to 30 percent off. I might not have got myself some more Lumpy Bumpy, but it was 30 percent off, and I haven't seen it anywhere else but Creative Yarns in Macon, Georgia. So I picked up some in a TerraCotta colourway.

Another yarn that was 30 percent off was Colinette Prism, which is a blend of cotton and wool. There were only two skeins left in the Raspberry colourway, so I got them both.


Then there was this Ella Rae Classic Sand Art, which (according to my limited understanding) seems like it might be sort of a cross between variegated and self-striping yarn, with longish colour runs of varying length at different intervals. I picked up the colourway with purples and greens. No surprise there. It was 10 percent off, but not as pricey to start with as some of the other yarns.


My best find, though, was some yarn that is in the same family as Socks That Rock Twisted and Briar Rose Fourth of July. This is by The Great Adirondack Yarn Company and is called Pinstriped. This colourway is "Antique".


I can't wait to knit with the Pinstriped and Ella Rae. I'm not sure what I will knit with them, but I know the Pinstriped would make a good shawl, just like this one.