the blue blog archives: good friends, good yarn, good times

What an incredible knitting weekend! First the yarn trip out to Western Mass all day Saturday, then a few hours of working at the yarn store on Sunday, and last but not least, our Knitsmiths' yarn swap yesterday afternoon. Whew!

Saturday, I met up with Kerstin, Claudia (note new blog address!) and a few knit-bloggers in from out-of-town (Annie, Leigh, Melissa, Mary, and Mary Beth) and we hit the road in search of yarn. Every single one of us had a sock-in-progress to knit while in the car. And because I'm now crazy sock lady, I took a picture of each of them: Claudia's, Kerstin's and Annie's, Leigh's, Melissa's and Mary's (note gorgeous peace fleece sweaters!), and Mary Beth's. Fabulous, aren't they? Oh yeah, the socks too! I worked on my supermerino zebra socks (more on them later!)

The front of the store has been remodeled and is now HUGE! They've got everything and in every color. Just look at all that ArtYarns Supermerino! I talked several of my fellow yarn girls into taking some of this yarn that I'm using for my zebra socks home (more on those socks later!). The thing that makes Webs really cool is the warehouse in the back, where you can rummage through bags and boxes and giant cones of yarn. We opened one unassuming box to find over a dozen rather tribble-looking cones of Berroco's Mohair Classic (remember tribbles?). And look, up in the sky, it's scores of blue yarn cones. Ooh, I like this place!

No, I didn't get that blue coned yarn, but I did get one skein of this incredibly soft malabrigo merino yarn and the last of the KFI Cashmereno (the finer, even-softer precursor to Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino), enough for a sweater for me.

And if that weren't enough, Sunday was our Knitsmiths' swap! I brought in some lovely yarns that hadn't inspired me recently, and came home with enough Debbie Bliss cotton angora and Rowan Polar to roll around naked in (uh, no picture of that moment, you'll have to trust me!) and some wicked cool retro yarn that Amber brought in in an old bread bag. Too fun!

* - Since I seem to be the new supermerino yarn-pusher, I will tempt you by telling you that this pair only took two skeins to make on US6's and it's soooo soft!

posted by alison at 9:13 am | in fantastic fiber voyage , giant white bread , people who make socks...

Comments

What a great summary! Is it okay with you if I just link to you? I'm too tired to do all of the work you've done. :)

So nice to meet you and spend the day with you. I'm counting the days until Rhinebeck!

Posted by: Annie at March 21, 2005 9:25 AM

Cool socks! I may have to get some supermerino and make some socks too. :)

And I love the pics of the store... gorgeous!

Posted by: Lisa P at March 21, 2005 9:37 AM

Is that the brand name of the supermerino..."Supermerino"? Also, what patterns are you using for socks made with this yarn on the larger US6 needles? I love making socks, but the time commitment with the really fine yarns is crazy.

Posted by: Pam Stewart at March 21, 2005 9:44 AM

Sounds like a barrel of fun.

Posted by: Norma at March 21, 2005 9:47 AM

Well I'm glad someone took notes!! Great job! My head is still spinning!

Posted by: Mary Beth at March 21, 2005 9:49 AM

I Looooove the malabrigo! I think it's funny that you had a matching ball of polar to my extra skeins, though that blue practically matches your sidebar here!

Posted by: Amber at March 21, 2005 9:53 AM

I've been to WEBS before but it was a snowy day and the place was pretty quiet. I loved the warehouse but I didn't know you could poke through the boxes like that! I'll have to go back, maybe this weekend...

Posted by: Cheryl at March 21, 2005 9:56 AM

Man - you're KILLING me! I think I *might* argue that I was pushing that Supermerino before you! ;-) (I even gave some away in a contest!)

WEBS is the perfect enabler as well. Are the socks really thick? I would think they might be perfect. Man oh man. The weekend sounds incredible. Next time, I'm DEFINITELY there!

Posted by: Cara at March 21, 2005 9:58 AM

Oh and I forgot to ask - with all you girls knitting socks in the car - WHO DROVE?

Posted by: Cara at March 21, 2005 9:59 AM

Fab! I, too would like to know what pattern you are using for your speedy socks. they appear to be toe up.. can you direct us to the pattern? thank you for your constant inspiration! Nancy

Posted by: nancy at March 21, 2005 10:06 AM

Ha, ha, Annie! I totally understand about being wiped out. I did all the pictures last night in my sleep practically. Who knew that yarn shopping could make you so tired! It was really nice getting to meet you and Mary Beth. See you at Rhinebeck for sure. :)

Pam, the Supermerino is from ArtYarns and it's just called supermerino. With this yarn, I'm using basic sock patterns written for DK weight socks. I bet Ann Budd's Handy Patterns book has a basic pattern for this gauge. Priscilla Gibson Roberts' Dream Socks pattern is what I use for short row heels and it has lots of different numbers for different sizes and gauges. (The pattern is from and old Interweave Knits and is available in the subscriber-only section of the Interweave Knits site. You can also get her Simple Socks book.) I think the supermerino socks are just the right thickness. They're thicker than store-bought, but they're not chunky socks at all. I love 'em!

Cara, I said I'm the NEW supermerino yarn-pusher. You can be the first one! :) And Kerstin and Leigh took turns driving, so everyone got to knit a bit.

Posted by: alison at March 21, 2005 10:10 AM

Oooo... I wish I'd been hanging out with you this weekend!

Great socks... I love how the striping worked out. :)

Posted by: Andrea at March 21, 2005 10:32 AM

Sounds like such fun! Oh, I wish I lived in yarn country. sigh. A tour of yarn store in this part of the state would only take about an hour and a half.

Posted by: Julia at March 21, 2005 11:04 AM

Hey Norma, you were there! We took a break between shopping and eating and did a little knitblog surfing and guess who we visited?! :)

Posted by: alison at March 21, 2005 11:17 AM

I *thought* that was you I spotted yesterday at A Good Yarn! I considered saying something, but I didn't want to spook you--I know some bloggers can be quite taken aback to be recognized 'off-blog'. So I held my tongue and left you in peace. ;-)

I bought some splendid Mountain Colors alpaca while I was there. Not blue, alas, but soft and lovely nonetheless.

Posted by: Beth S. at March 21, 2005 11:45 AM

Your yarn swap and knitting tour is to be envious of!!!! Did you use DPNs or knit the zebra socks flat? Your turning all of us into sock
nuts!!!!!

Posted by: leslie at March 21, 2005 11:49 AM

Oooh, I missed the Cotton Angora that you got at the swap yesterday. What color was it? I guess that I should have looked in the cotton pile as well as the wool pile. Thoughts of what to do with the Anne kept me up last night. I'm so glad that it didn't pool for you!

Posted by: Johanna at March 21, 2005 12:07 PM

What a wonderful weekend you had! Thanks for letting me share your trip on my cloudy Monday morning over a cup of tea. I loved all the photos of your posse knitting socks in the car -- I think we're all a bit sock crazy right now.

Posted by: nona at March 21, 2005 12:31 PM

Sniff... not jealous at all. Nope... Sniff. Sniff. We NYC knitters have GOT to make a field trip up north to play with you soon.

Posted by: Cari at March 21, 2005 12:34 PM

It sounds like you had a great deal of fun. I used the supermerino to make my clapotis and the yarn is truly gorgeous. A. x

Posted by: Amelia at March 21, 2005 2:24 PM

Sleep? what a concept ;-)
Love the zebra socks. I'm envious. I don't have such delicious yarn places all around me, nor knitters to meet up with (but that I could try to find as they do exist here)
may I pout now.

Posted by: Orli at March 21, 2005 2:24 PM

I'm jealous of your trip! But I took the yarn bus (Sat's post) on Sat. with my mom and we had a TON of fun. :)

Posted by: karen at March 21, 2005 3:15 PM

ooo..I know Sockapalooza day isn't officially until tomorrow, but I wanted you to know I got my socks and have posted a pic on my blog!...This was so much fun...thank you Alison!

Posted by: fern at March 21, 2005 4:29 PM

Alison - Your post captures the yarn trip just perfectly! I love the pictures - especially the picture from the warehouse. It was so dark and dingy in there - but you made it look so good.

It was great to see you - when I found out you would be coming along on Saturday I was so glad - you add something special to every trip.

Posted by: Mary at March 21, 2005 5:19 PM

Thanks for hooking me up with that supermerino. I love it and am only wishing I'd bought more!
It was great to see you again and I must mentions how calming it was to watch you knit your zebra socks.

Hey, how 'bout that pink elephant?

Posted by: Leigh at March 21, 2005 6:37 PM

Those socks just are too cool for words!

Posted by: marti at March 21, 2005 6:46 PM

Tribbles! I mentioned tribbles at knit night last week and NO ONE knew what I was talking about. (because I was the oldest one there) (and I'm only 30!)

Cool socks!

Posted by: Amy Lu at March 21, 2005 7:46 PM

Oh the wall of supermerino. Breathtaking! What an amazing knitting weekend. You got some good stuff!

Posted by: Vicki at March 21, 2005 8:10 PM

It looks like you all had a wonderful time!!
I am going to host a swap within the next couple weeks. I was wondering if you would share your rules/process. I was thinking about individual trades, but it doesn't look like that is what you ladies do--and it looks like you all got some good trades.

Posted by: Deb at March 22, 2005 2:24 AM

Wa...makes me want to go on a yarn shopping spree soon!

Posted by: Emy at March 22, 2005 3:08 AM

I finished my sockapalooza socks (ages and ages ago) but I'm only managed to leave a comment before your Tuesday post now. The finished socks are here: http://wrypunster.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/02/third_times_the.html. Thanks for organizing such a great event!

Posted by: Elspeth at March 22, 2005 5:55 AM

Fun times !
Fab socks !

Posted by: Emma at March 22, 2005 7:23 AM

Aha! It's been proved: Malabrigo + Alisons = true love!

Posted by: other alison at March 22, 2005 5:34 PM