Another trip to the mill.

On Thursday my husband I went to East Jordan, Michigan, so I could get a sweater's worth of yarn at Stonehedge Fiber Mill. Ever since I worked with their worsted weight for the CookieA sample knitting, and their DK on my Zori sweater, I've been wanting to knit another sweater from their yarn. The perfect pattern presented itself in Rafters, by Stephanie Tallent, and once I added up how much I'd need, we headed out to the farm.

We had a lovely drive there, once we got through the traffic jam in Traverse City. It seems like everyone is trying to get in their last bits of summer fun before Labor Day, just like we are. As we got a little farther up the road, the traffic cleared out and we drove past lovely fruit orchards and smaller lakes. As we pulled into the driveway at the mill, their little black farm cat came over to greet us. This is the same little guy we met last year, still just as deaf, but still as fond of ear skritches as last time. Anyway, the shop door was closed, so I pet our little friend until the owner came by and showed me in. She said the door was closed because the goats couldn't be trusted not to eat the yarn. She told me that one of them had eaten a check from a customer - actually snatched it out of her hand and ran away!

Once I got inside, I was able to choose a color pretty quickly - I'd been thinking I wanted a heathered purple, and there were two skeins of pansy front and center. After a quick look at it in the sunshine, I asked for 10 skeins, which she had to get from the mill shed. She hadn't twisted the hanks, but no matter. She added an extra tie to them so they'd make the trip home safely. I can't wait to start on this sweater! Of course the search for buttons will be kind of a pain, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I'm looking forward to all those pretty cables and the shawl collar, too.

Once we bought my yarn, we decided to go to Bellaire to the Short's Brewing Company pub. They make a variety of really tasty beers and my husband knew that they had a restaurant, so we took it in our way home. I had a delicious (and big!) avocado BLT and their Kolsch 45. It was so good! My husband had the Reuben sandwich and one of the IPAs. I took a picture of him with his sandwich, but he didn't want a picture of himself while he was eating posted to the internet, so you get to see my sandwich instead. I also took a picture of the beer board, just so you can see all the options. These guys aren't fooling around. If you're in the area, check them out.

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. We're headed home in the morning, so there's lots to do tonight before we leave. Until next time, Friends.

Everything's better at the lake.

Five hundred year-old book with really long sentences? Better at the lake. Yep, I'm in Michigan, enjoying the water, the sun and tonight, a magnificent storm. I'm also enjoying that I don't have good cell phone reception up here, which adds to my feeling of peaceful solitude. My phone did go off while I was on a bike ride this afternoon - I was so surprised to hear my phone ring, I actually answered it! It was work-related, but it was an easy call. Yay, easy.

Since I had a good 7 hours or so in the car as part of this trip, I've made a fair bit of progress on my husband's Gentleman's Sock. These socks actually started out as a different Kristi Schueler pattern, but I didn't like how the colors in my gorgeous Knitivity yarn (color: Cat's Paw Nebula) were pooling. I ended up ripping them out and starting over. There's still pooling, but it's softened a little by the stitch patterning. There's a sort of mock cable going on with the top of the foot and the sole of the foot is knit with the "eye of partridge" patterning, which is sort of pixelating the pooling. Of course, I'm not following the pattern exactly: I'm doing them toe-up, and I'll use my favorite heel as well. I'm only really working on these while I'm in the car, so I'm not sure when I'll get around to turning the heel, but once I do, the cuffs will practically knit themselves.

I've also done a little yarn shopping, with a little more yet to do. Our route to the lake cottage always takes us through the little village of Suttons Bay, Michigan, which is home to the Thistledown Yarn Shoppe. Every year we come up, I stop in and buy yarn. This year (same as last year) I picked up a couple skeins of Shibui Sock yarn to use on the Zirkel pattern. This is the pattern I'd tried once already, the one that didn't work with the yarn I had in my stash. It's hard to believe, I know. Anyway, that problem's been fixed, so once I can finish the Gentleman's Socks, I'll get going on this one. I also picked up a skein of my favorite worsted sock yarn, Jarbo Garn Raggi. I love it because it's super wash and has some nylon in it too. I made boot socks for my husband a couple years ago (I think) and have been coveting them ever since. Now I'll get to have a pair for myself. Whee! The last pair of worsted-weight socks I had for my own were accidentally machine washed. As they weren't superwash, they felted down to child's size. It was sad. Ah, well. At least I like knitting.

Tomorrow it looks like we're going to make a trip out to Stonehedge Fiber Mill, where they make the lovely Shepherd's Wool yarn. I'm probably going to get a sweater's worth of the worsted-weight yarn so I can make the Rafters cardigan, by Stephanie Tallent, which is in the most recent issue of Twist Collective. I'm hoping for a nice, heathery purple, but I could go for a green as well. I'll just have to see what strikes my fancy. So that's it for tonight, Friends. Until next time.

Ooh, I got some more yarn!

Last week I was on vacation in Michigan, where my husband's family has a place on a lake. We go every summer, and look forward to spending that time with his parents and whichever of his siblings are up there with their families. It's great so have all that unstructured time swimming and boating and hanging out.. Another thing I like about going up there is that I get to check out the local yarn shops, which have some locally-dyed and -spun yarns, as well as some brands I can't get at home.

One shop I was particularly excited about was Stonehedge Fibers, in East Jordan, which is a farm and a mill. I had a chance to knit with their Shepherd's Worsted in some test knitting I've been doing this summer, and I loved how it knit up: a very smooth 3-ply with excellent stitch definition. Since our cottage is within ninety minute's drive of the mill, we decided to make an afternoon of it.

Since we had to take my niece to meet her mother south of town, we had to head north to get to East Jordan. This took us through towns we hadn't seen before, which was a nice change of pace. Most of these towns were farming communities rather than vacation destinations, so we were hopeful that we could find a good local restaurant for lunch. We found just the place in Kalkaska: Whitetails Steak 'n' Ale. The parking lot out front was full of pickup trucks, so we figured that was the place to eat. Once we got inside, there were deer heads mounted all over the place. There was also at least one boar's head as well as a fish. From where I sat, the fish looked plastic, but I figured they wouldn't have put up a fake fish with all the real trophies hanging around the room.

After lunch we made our way to the mill where the lady who owns it showed me into the shop. She had all the colors on the wall and the shelves. I know I saw the worsted and fingering yarns, but mostly I was paying attention to the DK skeins. Once I decided on a color, she had to go to her back stock for the quantity I needed, so I got to spend a little time with her very sweet farm cat, who let me pet her while I waited. Once I had my 14 skeins of Frosty Blue Shepherd's Wool DK, we waved goodbye to the kitty and took the scenic route home, which turned out to be not as scenic as we hoped, as we wanted to see water and got to see trees. They were nice trees, though.

Once we got to Suttons Bay, I stopped in at the Thistledown Shoppe, which is stuffed full of great yarn, most of which I ignored this time, since I was really only looking for Shibui Knits sock yarns. They had plenty of Staccato Sock and the superwash Sock. I got two skeins of Staccato Sock in Poodle Skirt, which is a variegated colorway in pinks with some tan and white. I also picked up two skeins of ivory Sock yarn to replace the Kollage Luscious I just used up.

After that stop, I'd pretty much blown my yarn budget, so I wasn't able to get any yarn from Wool and Honey in Cedar, though she had some really beautiful local alpaca roving and handspun yarn. If only I were a spinner! From what I could see in my quick lap around the shop, it looks like the focus is on local goods, so I'll have to make sure to budget for that when we go up next year.

So that's all I've got for now. Next time I'll have a progress update on the Lilleput Cardigan, as well as a pair of socks I started for the drive home. Until then, Friends.

Sock Yarn Doesn't Count As Stash.

Amiright? This is what I've heard, anyway. See, when I go someplace, I like to check out the local yarn shop, if there's one anywhere near the place I'm visiting. At Sock Summit, the yarn was conveniently located mere steps from the classrooms where I learned so much. Up north, in Michigan, the shops were a little farther away, but definitely not out of our way.

When we go to the lake, in addition to spending a lot of time in/on the water, we also like to check out the surrounding countryside and small towns in the vicinity, shopping in the local stores and eating local foods. In Cedar, Michigan, we always make a point of going to Pleva's Meats, where they make the most delicious sausages. They even put cherries (a plentiful local agricultural product) and pecans in them! They're so good. Next door, there's the Cedar City Market, which stocks lots of regional wines and liquor, as well as locally-produced cheeses and other good stuff. The guy that runs the place is pretty cool, and has a very well-curated selection of booze. This makes me happy.

Conveniently located across the street from both these shops is Wool and Honey, a yarn shop with a nice selection of luxury yarns as well as locally-produced alpaca yarn, roving and felt. I keep looking at that yarn because the undyed colors are so lovely, but I can never think of what I'll make with it while I'm in the store and so end up with yarn purchasing paralysis. I really need to plan ahead, or, at the very least, take my laptop so I can search the Ravelry for an appropriate pattern. Anyway, I ended up buying the buttons to finish my Peasy cardigan and two skeins of fingering-weight yarn. I hesitate to call the Fibre Company Canopy that I purchased sock yarn, though it is 400 yards of yarn that some people have knit into socks. There are plenty of hats and shawls, too, but I think this yarn will become gloves. I still have to make up my mind.

Another town we always go to (especially as it is on our way to the cottage) is Suttons Bay, which is home to lots of places to eat. This trip we had dinner at the Village Inn (Est. 1871). The food was good and the beer was cold. We left full & happy. Just up the street from there is the Thistledown Shoppe, which is so chock full of yarn, skeins were jumping out of the bins and into my hands. I ended up with two skeins of Shibui Sock (against which I am helpless) and a skein of some lovely locally-dyed tussah silk single-ply. The color is called Leelanau Sunset and that's exactly what it looks like: beautiful reds, gold & reddish-purples that I can't wait to start knitting up. As this yarn was not fingering-weight, I think it has to count as a stash acquisition. The day I was in, they had the sweetest shop dog in the world napping on a wing chair in the front room. She very gently stuck her nose under my hand whenever I stopped scratching behind her ears, as it was obvious I had chosen my yarn and was defenseless against her beseeching eyes. She saw me coming a mile away.

So now that I'm home, I've been searching Rav's Green Acre, looking for just the right patterns for my new yarns. I haven't found exactly what I was looking for, but I'm sure that with a little patience and perseverance I'll find what I want. At least I have plenty of non-stash to get me through until the next time I leave town. If you happen to have a favorite pattern for variegated sock yarn, let me know. I may well end up knitting every sock in Carol Sulcoski's book, as most of the sock yarn I've been buying lately seems to be some variety of variegated.

Looks like that's all I have for now. Until next time, Friends!