Rockin’ the Stash (Only 9 Days Late)

If you are going to fall off the yarn diet wagon, fall off with a big bang.

I knew I was going to fall off the wagon July 18. I knew it was going to be hard. But yeah…this was earth shattering hard. Did you feel it? Quickly followed by the screams from my credit card.

However, that pleasant hum you hear is my stash Igor, happily satisfied from the feast he (yes, my stash is male, don’t ask) was fed from this Stash Enhancement Expedient. I believe he might actually be stuffed for the moment. Doubt this will last long, he tends to be a feast or famine sort of stash. He’ll be hungry again soon enough.

First up was Mountain Knits in Driggs, Idaho. It was fabulous! The shop is not a large by most standards but it packs such a lovely dose of everything that it feels like it offers much, much more. Complete and utter yarn pr*n! Noro, Debbie Bliss, Lorna’s Laces, Handmaiden, Mountain Colors, Fleece Artist, Alchemy, Koigu, Blue Sky, Tilli Thomas, Artful Yarns and on and on. Believe it or not, I did refrain from stripping myself naked and rolling in the fabulous yarn. But it was hard, very hard. I will now accept any applause for behaving myself in public.

The lady working was absolutely lovely to deal with. She gracefully helped 5 people all at once, paying equal attention to every single one of us with an artful, humorous flair. She thanked us for coming up all the way from Idaho Falls, told us to come again and what the owner was bringing in this fall. We got invited to their long list of classes for everything from beginning lace to felted bags to knitted toys.

Somehow I did not buy the whole entire shop out; hard it might be able to tell from the very large bag I hauled out and my credit card bill. I picked up some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, 3 skeins of Mountain Colors Bearfoot, a jumbo skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk (when I go to heaven, I hope to spend all day playing on a mountain of Sea Silk), I will be back this fall, hopefully all the damage from this trip will be cleaned up.

We quickly made the lovely drive from Driggs to Jackson where we swooped down on Knit on Pearl again. It’s even smaller than Mountain Knits. Lots of people’s living rooms are drastically bigger than this shop. But I do love it, regardless of it not having the biggest or best selection. Maybe because it as the first real yarn shop I was ever in where the people were just as great if not people than the yarn.

Trekking XXL was on sale so of course I needed 3 skeins. I love Trekking XXL sock yarn. I scored some lovely dark teal 100% alpaca yarn. It has not yet spoken to me what it will be when it grows up so it will be in the stash for a while. Igor loves alpaca so does my cat Ashly. I’m sure Ashly and Igor will be fighting over who owns it. It will be a low and dirty fight, no holds bar. I won’t put money on who will win. They are both equals when it comes to alpaca.

Then, then...I’m still in absolute awe. This breaks all the rules of knitting and should be impossible but...Let me find the words and explain the story on this one. Last visit to Knit on Pearl, I found a lovely, 600-yard skein of Interlacements Kansas 85% rayon, 15% flax yarn that was perfect for the Grape Arbor shawl. However, the shawl requires 900 yards. They didn’t have anymore of this colorway. I bought the skein anyway naively thinking I could either a.) just find another skein someplace or b.) make the shawl without the edging.

The knitting goddess must have been laughing her ass off over my thinking. Once I came home with this lovely skein, I quickly learned Interlacements had discontinued this yarn about 2 years ago and there was not another skein in this colorway to be had on the entire planet. I search ebay, I begged on message boards, I pleaded my case on knitting lists. There was none to be had no matter what the price.

Oh, I could find other colors out there but they weren’t even close to this colorway. So dreams of perhaps using a coordinating colorway for the edging were shot down real quick. I contented myself with doing the shawl without the edging.

A miracle, fellow knitters, befall me that day. There, nestled amongst other skeins of Interlacements was another skein of the same yarn, the same dye lot.

Angels sang.

The heavens parted.

I squealed at the top of my lungs and embarrassed the hell out of my sister.

What else are siblings for?

I resisted the temptation to stuff it down my shirt. I’m positive my sister would have stolen the keys and ditched me right then and there.

Somehow Katie got me dragged out there in time for the rock concert that gave me the excuse for this entire trip. I’m sure I had a silly, orgasmic grin on my face the entire evening.

The backseat of the car by the time we squeezed all of our purchases in, looked like a yarn store had exploded in the car. At least if we got hit, all the yarn would act as a whole car airbag.

Oh yeah, the rock concert. One of the better concerts I’ve been too. But to be honest I’ve been to 3 to date.

I can’t remember the name of the opening band; they weren’t bad for an opening band but nothing to really get the house jumping.

What the opening band lacked in energy, Collective Soul more than made up for it. The lead singer was doing things with the mic stand that should have made his girlfriend/wife/significant other jealous. They brought back the few good memories of my teenager years. Collective Soul was at the height of their fame during my junior/senior years of high school. I probably wore out several CD’s playing “The World I Know” over and over again as a teenager.

Yes, I was one of those depressed, melodramatic teenagers. Why do you ask?

The band Live was good, not nearly as good as Collective Soul, but still great.

I told Katie she had my blessing to buy us concert tickets for us anytime in Jackson Hole. Just please wait awhile so I can afford the trip again.