My first stop was at
Kristen's Knits in Rochester. I picked up 5 balls of worsted weight superwash wool for a pair of holiday legwarmers I'm dying to make. Yes, I said legwarmers. I also purchased two balls of olive drab/tan worsted superwash wool for helmet liners to send to our troops overseas via
Operation Helmetliner. The final two balls of yarn are superwash self striping/patterning sock yarns. I started knitting a pair from one of the balls when I ran out of yarn at
Melissa's knitting night the other day. I am really liking the way it's knitting up!
These three fabulous skeins came from
Austin's Angora Goats and Mohair Farm. This is just the neatest little shop! They have locally produced handspun yarns, roving for spinning, mohair locks for crafting, goat hides, mohair socks and blankets and sweaters, fur lined slippers, Christmas ornaments, goat cheeses, goat milk soaps, goat sausages, etc. There is literally something for everyone in there. Some of the items are a bit spendy, but they are well worth it. You can also pet and feed some of the goats in the visitor pens. Whenever I visit my brother, we plan a trip to the goat farm. There are also plenty of Amish shopping opportunities and activities in the area.
We stopped at a Scandinavian gift shop along the way and I purchased these two books I have been coveting for some time. The Viking pattern book is almost a Nordic take on Aran patterns. There are charts and explanations of the different "cable" designs and what they represent. The Scandinavian knitting book is more of a chart sourcebook for colorwork. Also pictured are 4 bars of hand milled scented soaps that I bought from an Amish woman. I am a sucker for bars of soap and always try to pick up exotic ones in my travels. Soap Day is always a big day at my house when I pick out what new bar of soap will grace my shower. These were lavender and rosemary scented and made all my yarn smell lovely!
And last but not least, I successfully navigated myself to Charles City on my way home and stopped at The Knitting Korner on Highway 18. I hadn't been there in years and wasn't really expecting to find much of anything I needed other than maybe some Lopi. I found 10 balls of this Cascade Merino/Alpaca blend for a cabled sweater I've been eyeing for my older niece. This will be the most ambitious project I've yet undertaken, but the sweater size is still small enough where it isn't daunting. They also had light up knitting needles!!! I have seen these in my magazines but never thought I'd come across them here in the local area! Did I need them? No. Could I live without them? No. You can even knit with them in the
dark although I've not yet tried to. And best of all, the very nice lady who ran the store rang up my items and the total came to over $70. I handed her my credit card and she told me that she didn't accept credit or debit cards. I told her I did not have my checkbook with me. This woman actually handed me the bag of merchandise and told me to "send her a check when I got home"!!!! Good faith is alive and well in northern Iowa! I sent the check off yesterday with a thank you card and a promise to bring my knitting friends along for a yarn field trip sometime soon! Plus, I know there is an
ostrich farm nearby! Do I hear mutant Ukrainian eggs anyone?
My first stop was at Kristen's Knits in Rochester. I picked up 5 balls of worsted weight superwash wool for a pair of holiday legwarmers I'm dying to make. Yes, I said legwarmers. I also purchased two balls of olive drab/tan worsted superwash wool for helmet liners to send to our troops overseas via Operation Helmetliner. The final two balls of yarn are superwash self striping/patterning sock yarns. I started knitting a pair from one of the balls when I ran out of yarn at Melissa's knitting night the other day. I am really liking the way it's knitting up!
These three fabulous skeins came from Austin's Angora Goats and Mohair Farm. This is just the neatest little shop! They have locally produced handspun yarns, roving for spinning, mohair locks for crafting, goat hides, mohair socks and blankets and sweaters, fur lined slippers, Christmas ornaments, goat cheeses, goat milk soaps, goat sausages, etc. There is literally something for everyone in there. Some of the items are a bit spendy, but they are well worth it. You can also pet and feed some of the goats in the visitor pens. Whenever I visit my brother, we plan a trip to the goat farm. There are also plenty of Amish shopping opportunities and activities in the area.
We stopped at a Scandinavian gift shop along the way and I purchased these two books I have been coveting for some time. The Viking pattern book is almost a Nordic take on Aran patterns. There are charts and explanations of the different "cable" designs and what they represent. The Scandinavian knitting book is more of a chart sourcebook for colorwork. Also pictured are 4 bars of hand milled scented soaps that I bought from an Amish woman. I am a sucker for bars of soap and always try to pick up exotic ones in my travels. Soap Day is always a big day at my house when I pick out what new bar of soap will grace my shower. These were lavender and rosemary scented and made all my yarn smell lovely!
And last but not least, I successfully navigated myself to Charles City on my way home and stopped at The Knitting Korner on Highway 18. I hadn't been there in years and wasn't really expecting to find much of anything I needed other than maybe some Lopi. I found 10 balls of this Cascade Merino/Alpaca blend for a cabled sweater I've been eyeing for my older niece. This will be the most ambitious project I've yet undertaken, but the sweater size is still small enough where it isn't daunting. They also had light up knitting needles!!! I have seen these in my magazines but never thought I'd come across them here in the local area! Did I need them? No. Could I live without them? No. You can even knit with them in the dark although I've not yet tried to. And best of all, the very nice lady who ran the store rang up my items and the total came to over $70. I handed her my credit card and she told me that she didn't accept credit or debit cards. I told her I did not have my checkbook with me. This woman actually handed me the bag of merchandise and told me to "send her a check when I got home"!!!! Good faith is alive and well in northern Iowa! I sent the check off yesterday with a thank you card and a promise to bring my knitting friends along for a yarn field trip sometime soon! Plus, I know there is an ostrich farm nearby! Do I hear mutant Ukrainian eggs anyone?
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