Upon the Shores of Lake Champlain

As much as I anticipated seeing lots of GOATS in Vermont, I was apparently very WRONG about the goat aspect of the festival, and instead saw a lot of alpacas and llamas in addition to the advertised sheep. I didn't approach too many of these animals, as animals in general give me the same uneasy feeling that people under 16 do: "I don't care how cute you may look, I understand that your goal in life is to wreak havoc and make smelly messes and expect me to clean it up." I did pet the above alpacas, though, because the larger one reminded me of someone I went to high school with. They have the same haircut. Once one pets a animal with such soft fur, it immediately makes sense why a person might think, "Now how can I transfer this luxurious fur onto my own body for my own warmth and enjoyment?"

I was a bit hacked off that I never made it to South Burlington to tour the Magic Hat brewery (let alone drive down to Middlebury to tour the Otter Creek/Wolaver's brewery, where they make my favorite summer beer, Middleberry Ale). There is only one way to satisfy a beer-deprived Pinky: give her a new alias of "Brown Sugar" and take her to a yarn shop or two. I'd like to thank Kaleidescope Yarns of Essex Junction and Northeast Fiberarts of Williston for putting up with our crazy nonsense, especially when it came to the KOIGU!

I'm not a huge Koigu fan; I have some buttery soft, beautiful green socks made of the stuff, but I despise the way the colors can pool and stripe (even if the colors and their combinations are themselves gorgeous). Folks do complain about the price, but I don't think it's especially expensive considering the work that goes in to making the yarn such a uniquely identifiable product. However, there seems to be a local Koigu shortage... this wouldn't matter to me normally, but I HAD to join everyone in the back room to look at the K-Stash, and that's when I met The UberSkein.



Just looking at the picture makes me want to cry! Such lovely colors, all in one skein! And there was ONLY ONE skein. Some of my readers may remember my mentioning a latch-hooked Twister-board rug: folks, these colors are the exact colors I had in mind when I first thought of making the rug. I bought the single skein with no intention of ever knitting the yarn. Its main purpose in my life is to remind me of the color palette for the rug, which may or may not ever happen, but at least I can dream of it. And keep the Koigu next to my bed so I can kiss it good night every night.

Other yarn scores:





Hmm do you all ever get the feeling that I have no pattern source other than Interweave publications? Believe it or not, I do buy other patterns. In fact, I received in the mail today a pattern that I had bought at Kaleidescope Yarns but they had been sold out of that particular one... and it's already here at my house! Such speedy service.

Speaking of the mail, I also received a giftie from my Secret Pal!



The picture is terrible, but you get the gist of it: red and black handmade stitch markers! I have always wanted some of the pretty beaded markers I see in stores and on blogs, but never have the money for them, and I never have the gumption to make my own. I salute my Secret Pal for totally Getting It Right, right from the get-go!