Sisterhood of the Traveling Yarn

I was once asked what I collect. I collect snow globes for my daughter. They are a lot of fun. I've tried to collect other things: postcards, magnets, Hotwheels, salt water taffy...oh wait.. I ate all of that.

I have finally found the perfect thing to collect. Socks! Okay, sock yarn and then I make socks. So far I socks from have Arizona, and various locations in California. Living where I do, 15min from LAX, is helping with my traveling sock stash enhancement. All the family members going in and out usually see us and I can have them get me yarn from where ever they go.

My Dad and my sister, Charlotte, were both recently flew out. Charlotte was heading to Idaho/Oregon to visit family and my Dad was off to Florida to see his brother. I gave them both some money. list of LYSs and asked them to pick out any colorway they wanted. What fun, huh?

My Dad did a pretty good job. You know, being one of the guys that is like, "Huh, my kid knits and is obsessed with yarn. I'm going to try to ignore that. Now where is my model airplane paint in 'Steel Grey?' No, that's 'Metal Grey'"

I gave him a list of a couple of shops I googled in the Tampa, Florida area. Apparently my uncle lives about two miles away from this place. My dad's first experience with a yarn store and it's a good one. The yarn he picked out for me is J. Knits SuperWash Me Sock in Tampa. Because really, if he is in Tampa and there is a yarn named "Tampa," well that just has to be the yarn that he picks out for me. Cause it's so cool there is a yarn named "Tampa." Dad was very excited.With all of that said, I would like to say that I am completely not related to my father. Okay, maybe I did get some of my sense of humor from my Dad. I only say this because I think that my daughter may have inherited a little bit of it.Anyways, on with the Sisterhood part of this post. My sister, Charlotte is so cool. She is actually partly responsible for my love of yarn. She is the one that taught me how to crochet. A year later I taught myself to knit. Then I found some great knitting friends and was introduced to the LYS (that's Local Yarn Store, Char), Interweave Knits subscriptions, Ravelry and all the other good stuff that come with knitting. Charlotte hasn't had as lucky of an experience as I had.

Charlotte learned to crochet from our little brother in high school. Being in HS and so naive to the world and poor, their main yarn resource was Walmart. Now, not that I am saying anything bad about Walmart, they are great for cottons and novelty yarns. I just wouldn't buy my wool there and definitely not my sock yarn. Do they even carry sock yarn? Maybe I'm just stuck up, but I think their wools are a little too scratchy. I've been spoiled with my Malabrigo and Cashmerinos.

Charlotte had a bit of a more challenging time with the whole yarn shop deal. I guess it's my fault because I didn't give her a list. You see, Char was visiting with family and I had recently had a conversation with my Aunt about how cool her LYS is (Ravelry link). I just assumed that Char would go there.

I got a call from Char asking what type of yarn it was that I wanted. "Sock yarn."

"Yeah, but what is the brand?," in a very excited voice.

"Just go over to the lady that works there and ask her to show you where the sock yarn is. Then you can pick out whatever color you want for me," I said, a little annoyed. I had written all of this out for her and couldn't get why she was having so much trouble.

"Yeah, but I need to know what brand."

It is at this time I realized that when I picked up the phone, she had said she was in the fabric store. Wait. Did she say fabric store, not yarn shop?!? "Where are you?"

"I'm at Joanne's Fabrics." This was said with such pride in her voice.

"BACK AWAY FROM THE YARN SELECTION." I couldn't believe it. That is so not what I was looking for. Charlotte got the full description of a LYS. Walls covered in skeins, ladies sitting around knitting, the tempting scent of vinegar on the hand dyeds.

As I am explaining to her exactly what I wanted, I could hear my cousin in the background, "Oh, I know what she's talking about." Really, James? You didn't just take Charlotte there in the first place?

This warranted an immediate call to Aunt Wendy, who I imagine has dragged James into a few yarn shops in his lifetime. I called my Aunt and explained my concern for Charlotte. Wendy thought it was hilarious and informed me that she was going yarn shopping the next day and would pick something up for me. "Pheew," as I wipe the sweat from my brow.

Here is what came home to me. It's Mountain Colors, Bearfoot in Juniper. Wendy picked out the Mountian Colors because it's one of her favorites, I think. She pushed me for a color and I finally said green. I don't have green socks. She thought that was a great color cause it's so Oregon-y. Love it. Plus its called Bearfoot. haha hehe. Here is my ever so beautiful sister. She is just about as cute as can be. Plus, I got her to start crocheting again. Okay, actually, she wasn't allowed to divulge in a certain habit of hers that is hard to break, so she kept her hands busy with a hook and wool. Man, this is an awesome craft. We had so much fun together when she came home. Which of course included a quick stop to show off one of my favorite LYS. I mean, it's practically right next to LAX and if I take the right road, we drive past it on the way home. Thanks Dad and Charlotte. Love ya!