Rose City Yarn Crawl 2015: My Bag Overfloweth

Now that I've told you all about it, what did I buy? (Answer: probably too much, but what's a fiber-lovin' girl to do?) I did try to keep to the parameters of locally made, hard to find, or interesting fibers. The two zauberballs are really the only exceptions, but I'd never purchased one before so I'm calling it good.

I was super excited to finally meet 'The Spinsters' behind Spincycle Yarns at For Yarn's Sake in Beaverton on Saturday afternoon. I've been stalking following their instagram since I participated in the Pine Bough KAL and just love their yarn, colors and process. Those three skeins of Knit Fast Die Young are slated for a macro lace shawl, but I may find something else I love more between now and then. The two skeins of Dyed in the Wool in the colorway July, July won out over Salty Dog only because it's my birthday month. They'll be paired with some Pepperberry to make the Dynastid cowl...I don't love bugs, but for whatever reason, this beetle-laden cowl is asking to be made.

Yarntastic in Sellwood was our other Friday night stop, and I picked up This cushy single ply by Abstract Fiber in the colorway Lichen, and a skein of sock yarn by Nerd Girl in the colorway Grimm. Fun Portland connections all around.

 This loop pouch, hand-made by Portlander Queen Bee, is a heavy duty canvas project bag. Along with some Blissfull Knits sock yarn in the color way Chamber of Secrets (50/50 silk and wool, and so luscious) and a Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in the colorway Saturday Market-I left Twisted a happy girl.

 Pearl Fiber Arts located in, you guessed it, The Pearl was hosting a couple of local artists so it was really fun to chat with them about their process. This coral gradient kit by Thoroughly Thwacked will look beautiful knit up into the shell-patterned cowl feautured in their front window. Alexandra of Alexandra's Crafts was there and I had a great time talking with her about her color process. This sock yarn is Black Butte in Stained Glass, but she also has a line called La Grande, which was a fun connection to my hometown. I love that they really are targeting tourists and people who want to knit something with yarn made by a local artisan. Their inventory was very heavy with Northwest yarns.

Close Knit on NE Alberta was a cute shop, and I picked up the yarn to go with the Yarn Crawl pattern for that store. Extra, by Blue Sky Alpaca will make the fun, striped Kumori Cowl.

In Multnomah Village, we went to Northwest Wools and I picked up these two skeins of Autumn Winds by lotus yarns in a pretty purple and grey to make this sweet dress for baby Stella. She was a fairly good traveler...for a three month old.

Black Trillium fibers were featured in a trunk show at Knitting Bee in outer SW Portland (Washington County) and it is just beautiful! That skein of charcoal grey laceweight was a whopping 1450 yards-enough to make a shawl with just one skein. And a Crazy Zauberball for good measure. With the Trillium, I'm planning on a color block or striped shawl using the two different weights (fingering and lace). There are tons of patterns online for the zauberball, so I'll tackle that when I get there.

 

At Dublin Bay in the Pearl, I found Hedgehog Fibers Sock Yarn and Solstice Camel-Silk blend. See that beautiful golden halo? Camel. And it's so soft. Some 'Wool Fat' soap and dpn's rounded out that stop.

 At Happy Knits, I saw two bags I'd been looking at online for awhile, so it was time... Fringe Supply Co. and Knit Picks are the sources online but it was nice to see them in person first.

My stop at Knit Purl on Friday night yielded this bright pink lace-weight (looks more red in the photo) skein of 100% silk.  It was definitely the most special (some might say expensive, but that's just a word, really...) yarn I purchased. The colorway is Torchere. Because giving it a fancy french name makes you feel less guilty about the cost. I love the trend toward neon colors. This Merino Light hand-dyed is Madeline Tosh's 'Edison Bulb'.

Have you ever participated in the Yarn Crawl? What were some of your most treasured finds? How did you strategize? Any regrets? (I have none) I did make myself completely address and organize my stash before heading out, but that's for another post.