Another Day in Paradise

Located in Spokane, WA, where the high temperature this weekend was 24 degrees Fahrenheit, (minus wind chill), it might not be the paradise you normally think of...

Paradise Fibers operates inside this warehouse in Spokane, WA.  You may know them as outstanding online retailers of all things knitty, spinny, weavy, and yarny.  However, the warehouse is open to the public, and inside is a treasure trove.  It's not your average LYS.  The Paradise warehouse is chock-full of inventory, so while there's no room for squishy chairs (except in the classroom space), you will find whatever you're looking for in ALL the colors.  That's right.  The yarn racks at Paradise soar skyward, way higher than my head, and the needle collection hanging on the walls climbs all the way up to the ceiling (thanks, Sara, for getting the ladder to reach the 9" size 2 Addi circular I was admiring).  

Here are Sara, Chantal, Mimi and Kathleen at the book signing.  Just behind Sara in this picture, and to the left of the giant floor loom, is a collection of about 25 spinning wheels.  I got to stand in front of them to teach classes, and turn around and pet them any time I wanted (which I did).

I also met the lovely and talented Kathleen Cubeley, of Knitting Daily.  Subscribers to her insightful blog get daily updates on techniques, invitations to knitalongs, and the lowdown on new knitting publications.  You should sign up immediately, because she also is in the habit of sending out coupons and freebies, and what's not to love there?

I thought I had left Paradise, if only to eat dinner.  Little did I know that Kathleen would deliver me to the completely sublime Gordy's Sitchuan Cafe, where we ate dumplings, spicy noodles, and succulent lemon chicken.  Not much of a cook myself (smoke alarm vs. oven timer debate still undecided), I harbor deep appreciation for people who know their way around a noodle.  Let me assure you that the staff of Gordy's do.  Note also:  That is a dusting of powdery snow on the ground behind us - we so seldom see snow where I'm from that it felt like nature was throwing me a party.  

I finished a secret Christmas present on this trip, and cast on for another version of the Magic Carpet Socks - they are kinda addictive, if I do say so myself...Wait till you try them!  

And now I'm back below decks, rowing with the rest of the slaves, at my day job.  Paradise, once found,  is hard to leave behind.
 

Spoils

Here is something you would think a person of my age and experience would have figured out sooner:  When choosing a knitting project to work on while on the plane, you should consider more than just the finished size of the item you are working on.  You should also consider (and this is a big one for me) how many colors are in it.  It turns out that even if all you want to take with you is a little old mitten to knit on in flight, if that mitten requires you to wield 8 full-size skeins of yarn in order to perform the color changes, you may still run into trouble.  That's what happened to me on the way from Washington DC to Washington State.  There I was, with this innocent little mitten cuff, and all the yarn in the free world, fighting for supremacy in my lap.  My 300-lb seatmates (one on either side, thank you very much) did not appreciate the exercise any more than I appreciated their elbows in my ribcage (one on either side, thank you very much). 

After that lesson, I promised myself that I would only work on projects requiring not more than two skeins of yarn at a time.  I would have promised only one skein at a time, but I don't want to sabotage my success by setting the bar too high.

In pursuit of that goal, I collected some extremely dreamy yarn last weekend:

From the delightful Village Yarn & Tea comes this Great Northern Yarns mink and cashmere blend.  Really?  Mink? Cashmere? Nothing to object to there, my friends.  And not as pricey as you might think.  What you can't see in the photo is that once it's knitted and washed, it forms this really luxe halo, not unlike 100% angora does.  Very silky and very warm.  No clue what to do with it yet and totally do not care - it had to be mine.  If this doesn't cure me of my need for multiple skeins, then I bet this will:

Locally grown, sheared and processed alpaca, put up exclusively for Renaissance Yarns of Kent, WA.  Lucky them.  Lucky us!  The buttery softness of this skein can only be matched by its perfect charcoal color.  Suggestions for use of 163 yards welcome.

And here I am, by the way, with the incomparable Nancy, who owns Renaissance Yarns.  Lady knows how to rock the LYS, I don't mind telling you.  Her shop is all decked out for the holidays, right down to the delicate scent of pine boughs in the air.  And her customers are all gifted knitters and excellent students, too.  The Mother Ship clearly called me home.

Tomorrow I'm off to Spokane for more adventures with yarn.  I get to meet none other than Kathleen Cubely, of Knitting Daily fame, and then to teach at Paradise Fibers, where we will explore both hats and mittens. 

I can't wait to show my new yarn to the people on the plane.  I think they'll really appreciate it.

Go By Train

Seattle was fun:  2 signings, 2 yarn shops and 2 classes in 3 days.  At the end of day 3, I actually heard myself say I was too tired to knit.  You know you are doing all the right things in a yarn shop if, at the end, you are too tired to knit.  Not that it stopped me from acquiring some fairly prestigious fiber along the way, you understand - more on that later, when I unpack the camera. 

Plus I got to hang out with my family and eat like they just invented food.  "Gobble Till You Wobble", my brother says.   Done.  And there was beer.  We're not savages, after all.  My Liberal-Tree-Hugging-Dirt-Lover husband managed not to black any of the eyes in my Right-Wing-Gun-Toting-Capitalist family, too.  For the millionth time.  His powers of restraint are something to behold.

Worst Moment Of The Weekend:  You know that laptop, the one containing the powerpoint presentations from which you teach your classes?  You left it at your brother's house and there is no way you are getting it in time to teach these smiling faces.

Best Moment Of The Weekend:    Turns out you know your material by heart, and can teach the class just fine without it.  Doesn't hurt that the shop you are in has an extensive library of knitting books to fall back on for visuals.  And then your sister-in-law shows up with the laptop.

Yesterday I came home on the train, where I sat with a couple of knitters who were on their way to my town for a little shopping and sightseeing, while their husbands are away.  One called up the other the night before and said "You know what we oughtta do?", and so they did, the very next day.  I want to be them when I grow up. 

You know what's cool about trains?  No seatbelts.  That's right.  Apparently in a train wreck, the chance of a seatbelt helping you is so slender that they don't even bother.  So if that's the case, what's the big deal on airplanes?  You cannot convince me that my chances of surviving a plane crash are that much improved by addition of seatbelts, when they don't even install them on trains.  How typical of air travel that militant seatbelt use is added to a situation whose comfort level is already deeply compromised.

I'm back home for exactly four days before heading for Spokane, WA.  After a weekend like I had, surrounded by knitters and yarn, it is really surreal trying to slip back into my alternate day-job reality.  I'm trying to shift gears, but man, are they grinding.  In my office, I'm surrounded by people who neither know nor understand about yarn.  I've tried to enlighten and educate them, for which they care Not A Whit.  They belong to a completely different species.  Can't wait to get home and knit.