Shamrocks & Clovers

Hey Everyone!

Yes, you are getting two posts today. I was not planning on writing a second post today, since I was not sure if I would get this pair of socks done today or not.

Since I did finish up the second sock today, I am able to share with you all. This is the Shamrocks & Clovers yarn I had ordered for St Patrick’s day. It took me a couple extra weeks to get these socks done since work is keeping me busy and exhausted.

The color way is Shamrocks & Clovers. This colorway is on the Coquette yarn base from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm.

When I was 5…

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was 5, I wanted to work at the zoo with the animals. Oh to be 5 and not care about money or how much school it will take.

I had a friend who worked at the zoo (but not with the animals). It was only part time and didn’t pay the best.

Being a vet take 7 – 9 years of college and no guarantee of a job at the zoo.

Favorite type of Weather

What is your favorite type of weather?

Fall! While I love the rainy, cold wet pacific northwest days, a perfect day is a 72 degree October day. These days are the ones that starts off crisp and cool and then is beautifully sunny and about 72 degrees in the afternoon.

Another Yarn Shop Went Virtual

Hey Everyone!

Brick and Mortar yarn stores have been struggling to stay afloat even before the pandemic began three years ago. Then the pandemic hit and many more closed their doors, and if they were lucky were able to transition to solely virtual.

While it’s nice to be able to buy yarn from the comfort of your own home, there is more to be said to being able to go to a LYS (Local Yarn Shop) where you can see and feel the yarn for yourself. Many also have samples up where you can see completed projects made with the yarn. Many of these shops also have a seating / work area where crafters could come and work on projects and get help with a pattern and what not.

With the physical spaces closing down, it is harder for the community to come together and be able to have in person interaction with other crafters where they are from.

I know for myself, getting to wool and sheep festivals like Rhinebeck and others back east and in the Midwest are not necessarily feasible or practical in order to have the comraderie with fellow crafters.

Not only had my favorite LYS closed down several years ago (Happy Knits on SE Hawthorne in Portland), I found out that one on my list of yarn shops to visit, closed their brick and mortar shop two and a half years ago. This was Churchmouse Yarns and Teas on Bainbridge Island (near Seattle). This was one of the “destination yarn shops” that was relatively close to me, as in a weekend adventure for me. While I can still order yarn online, I do miss the whole adventure and change of scenery aspect to it.

Part of why it makes me sad is because the generations older than me, who are not as tech savvy as my generation and those younger than I am, are missing out on the yarn shopping options that used to exist. Knitting (and Crocheting) almost died out once. I would hate to see that happen again.

For the past decade or so, I have wanted to visit as many LYS as I could in different places I went. I thought it would be fun to have socks made from yarn I bought wherever I went. The more LYS that close their physical locations, that makes this harder.

I know I talk more about knitting than Crocheting, because I am a knitter. That’s what I do. Crocheter’s are just as important as knitters.

Socks, Work, Lunch Dates & Cabela’s

Hey Everyone!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Work has basically been all consuming at this point and has been kicking my butt. The insanity has been real.

I got a long weekend with the snow days, and had another long weekend this past weekend because I started my new schedule this week.

Over the weekend I had gone out with a good friend of mine I met through a previous job, working at World Market. She and I have kept in touch over the years that we have been gone. It’s been almost 2 years since we worked together. We went and got coffee and then had a late lunch at a French restaurant down the street from the coffee shop we went to.

It was a great afternoon, and great to catch up with her.

I also finished up the first Vintage Santa sock in the pair I am working on. I also cast on my first Shamrocks & Clovers sock since my yarn arrived on Saturday.

While working on my knitting projects I binged watched “Wednesday” on Netflix as well as the Murdaugh documentary, post double murder convictions and sentencing. I had caught the last few days of the trial, verdict and sentencing via the legal commentary channels I watch on YouTube.

Today was my early start day at work. It was a long day since I didn’t sleep the greatest last night. I did stop at Cabela’s after work, since I am kind of obsessed.