Ok, you gotta send me the addy for that place. I HAVE to go!

OH I never knew they have that here, can you tell me where it is? And for the yarn, make a shawl out of it :)
For the temperatures we are really sweating here, and I was afraid of our Iowa trip which comes this weekend because of the heat, ha, they have less temperature there ...
Schönen Urlaub noch :)

Where is the Schachenmayr factory? I live in Germany so I might venture out that way *happy dance*

about the weather......we're crying out for rain over here :(

Dorothee told me about the outlets the last time I was here. They are by Stuttgart. The Regia/Gedifra one is in Salach (Eduardstr. 44, 73084 Salach; Mo-Fr 9-4) and the outlet for Schöller & Stahl is in the next village, Süssen, (Bühlstr. 14, 73079 Süssen; mondays+tuesdays 1-4 and wednesdays 9-4). We didn't make it to the Schöller & Stahl one because it was Thursday, but I think only the Regia/Gedifra outlet has the buy-whole-bags rule.

Boy! You got all of us in Germany excited with that post! lol. The Opal factory is also near Stuttgart.

Mein armes Herz hat Heimweh. I am enjoying your trip as well. Trier was one of my favorite day trips as a young girl growing up in Wiesbaden. I have many fond memories. Thanks for all the yarn factory store tips. I must sent my aunt on an excursion.
Nochmals viel spass!

Entire bags! Maybe a mitred square blanket outta sock yarn? A series of Lego cozies?

Hmmmm. Legoland or Schachenmayr--tough choice. Like Suzanne's idea of a mitred sqaure blanket from sock yarn.

Well Alison, I've got an idea for that yarn... I say you knit the whole family the same color socks! Like the new matching christmas pj's tradition. Or else, just send some to me! HA! You knew I was gonna say that right? ;)

Legoland is lots of fun - you and the boys would love it. I think it's best for youngish children, under 7 or so, so don't leave it too long!

Cool! My husband's company will be sending him to their Stuttgart office for a few weeks next summer, and I've been saving up my vacation time so I can go with him. Looks like I'll have to save up my yarn allowance and luggage space, too.

I love Regia Stretch!

you said "now what am I going to do with 5 100g balls of the exact same sock yarn?"

to which I say.. "I smell a contest!"

Elann has a real cute hat made from sock yarn. I've made a few to give away; they're fun and easy to make. Have fun!!

We went to Legoland California almost 2 years ago and got rained out. My 7 year old has been bugging me to go back ever since. LOL - we live on the east coast so it's not exactly close.

Bags of sock yarn? Oh, my. That would be a dream .. not that I know what I'd do with it either .. *drools*

Oh What fun!!!! Glad to hear your enjoying yourself even in the heat! IT's been HOT on this side of the globe too! SO your not missing much

Wow! Lego land?! Oh - you really must take them. They would be out of their minds with joy!
Here Science World has an exhibit of Egypt made entirely out of Lego. I would like to see it but can't get any of the kids I work with interested.
Just imagine a life size Tutankhamun Sarcophagus made entirely of Lego! Maybe I should go without them...

You found your own Legoland! Congrats on the shopping trip. Wow.
You could host a contest of sorts...

that will be a lot of identical socks!

You should totally go to Legoland! I've been there several times and it's awesome! More so when you've got kids in tow (but even just as an adult it's very cool). And when you go to Billund, drive around Denmark and see some sights, it's wonderful there (I used to live in DK, years ago). If you have the time/chance, go to Ribe, it's Denmark's oldest town and very quaint.

Thanks for taking us on your trip with the photos. I wouldn't have bought any sock yarn either, but I sure would've liked the looking.

Bags of sock yarn? Use what you want, and then EBAY!!

I agree with Carla - Contest time!

I actually like to buy a few balls of the same sock yarn at a time. Most self-patterning yarn just don't look that good to me. So whenver I find a good colorway, I'd get enough to make 2 or 3 pairs. Boring, I know. But hey, that way it's easier to match up socks!

You're going to offer it up on the Blog for contest fodder or cash, that's what you're gonna do. Come on. You know we have sock yarn envy.

Or Christmas gifts for knitters!

Ideas for (lots) of sock yarn: Knee-stockings or leg-warmers, coordinating socks and mittens, matching socks for two friends, knit a patterned stuffeed animal...

OMG, the factory store!!! I've been enjoying your travelogue, figures this is the one that compels me to comment. :) And holy 41 degree heat???

Ohmigod!! Visiting the factory of all that wonderful yarn!!! How can you NOT purchase suitcases of yarn that you can sell to friends and blog readers????

You know you've always wanted to knit yourself some tights, or maybe a full-body catsuit for when it's chilly...

You could swap sock yarn with a buddy. Or have a contest to share the wealth of sock yarn. It looks like a really cool store.

Socks and then a kid's sweater with the other 4.

you could make thigh high stockings.

and my boys would be drooling, too. legoland, indeed!

Well, after knitting matching socks for the family, you could swap some (hint, hint, hint).

A Knitsmiths swap would be a fun place to trade away colors you have for colors you'd like! I'm sure local knit buds would also love to swap two balls of your Regia for two balls of their Regia so everyone gets something new!

Or you can make a sock yarn sweater!

Wow, that is a VERY cool sock factory. Worth that 41 degree heat. Yuck yuck yuck.

What to do with six one-hundred gram balls of identical sock yarn? Make a mitered sweater of course. If it's self patterning yarn, you might want to make a sweater in stockinette in strips about four inches wide (this is also fun using oddballs of sock yarn in colors that play nice together). Or make an intarsia sweater (same principle). Or make a pair of socks, a generous adult stocking cap, a baby sweater, a tube scarf, a sweater for a small dog, and send the last one to a knitting friend when you're good and sick of it.

As for the Legos, I wanna play! That was my favorite toy as a child, along with my baseball and marbles and Gumby and the original Barbie, for whom I knit all sorts of ill-fitting duds out of granny's leftover yarn. Too bad kids don't play like that anymore. I'd love the legos right now to build myself a custom yarn management system!

Please please mail me the address of Schachenmayr - it may be worth a trip from Denmark!

Living vicariously through your blog, as I'd love to visit Germany one day! Why can't I have any international relatives? (Pouting in the corner.)

PS, maybe I'll stop pouting about our gasoline prices, though.

I am so jealous! I wish we had some nice yarn factories that were easy to get to here! I'm sure I'm not the only one who said they would help you use up the identical sock yarn!

Regia by the bag? Call me when you get home! That looks like a Farmer's Market for yarnaholics!