First time for lookin’, next time for buyin’!!!!!
What a FUN day! The hubs and I decided to take a little drive over to Laramie – me for a visit to a yarn shop and the hubs for lunch at Jersey Mike’s. We both have our priorities! We stopped for lunch first so he wouldn’t get cranky while I walked around the yarn shop at least twice. I have a system – I walk in the door and start on one side of the shop, walk all around the perimeter, then walk through the middle of the store and then usually go around AGAIN to see if there is something I cannot live without. It’s a good system for me and the same one I use at fiber festivals, however when I have others with me, they don’t always quite get the “walking around the entire place two times” thing.
Cowgirl Yarn!!!
After a yummy lunch, we drove to downtown Laramie and I visited the Cowgirl Yarn shop. It is a lovely place! Right inside the door was a small shelf with adorable cowgirl themed zippered bags that caught my eye right off the bat! SO CUTE!
Right past that are all the Wyoming brand yarns. There was Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Loft yarns which are sourced from a breed of sheep called Targhee-Columbia from Johnson County, Wyoming. Brooklyn Tweed yarn is 100% American made, some of their yarn is breed specific yarn, so instead of blending different sheep breed fibers together and spinning into yarn, they use one specific breed to keep the characteristics of that sheep fiber in that particular line of yarn. Shelter and Loft are two of those breed specific yarns that are sourced from Wyoming. They carry Mountain Meadows yarn which is located in Buffalo at the Mountain Meadows Mill which I visited in 2019 (SO MUCH FUN! Highly recommend a tour if you’re ever in Buffalo even if you’re not a knitter!).
The most local of all yarn is Tronstad Ranch which is actually located in Laramie. From the Cowgirl Yarn website – “Fun Fact: This yarn has never left the state of Wyoming. The Tronstad family takes care of all aspects of our flock, including shearing, picking, and carding, to give you the highest quality wool. The Fiber is processed at Mountain Meadows Wool Mill in Buffalo, Wyoming. Once it returns to Laramie, the Tronstad’s hand paint the yarn. Each skein is unique as the sheep it comes from and Wyoming that the sheep are raised in.” Now, how cool is that!! Finally, she carries a small amount of Fibercation yarn from a small farm in Riverside, Wyoming made from alpaca. Each skein comes with a picture of the alpaca it came from.
This time around was for buyin’!!!!
After a while spent with the local yarns, I moved on to see Queensland, Manos, Plymouth, Lamb’s Pride, Berroco, and others. Toward the back is a table with absolutely beautiful and unique shawl pins by Camille Rendal (one would be a fabulous birthday/Christmas present…) (Ed. Note – You know I don’t actually read this blog, right?!?!?!?) and yarn bowls from Muddy Mountain Pottery, both local Wyoming artists. Needles and notions were hanging on the wall near the cash register. One that caught my eye were the Prym Ergonomics Needles. They are made of a white synthetic material and supposed to be easy on your hands – bendy and very quiet to use. They have drop-shaped points which keeps stitches from slipping off as easily and the shaft is round but goes to a triangular shape. I bought a double pointed set to try with socks – I’ll let you know if I like them or not!
I mean, everybody predicted July but nobody thought they were gonna be right!!!!
Since I have finished the oldest sweater (can I hear the applause, please?!) (Ed. Note – It’ll be a casual heavyweight summer sweater!!!) and only have to wash and block it, I’m excited about starting some new projects! I bought a cotton/linen blend by Queensland, Brighton Beach, called Parrotfish for a summery scarf, Galway by Plymouth in a sage green and Gina, a varigated yarn by Plymouth for my next color work hat! Time to go knit a bit!
