Before going over to the dark side of 'round the clock knitting (watch for a cavalcade of FOs later this week), my husband and I spent an all too short week in Minneapolis visiting my parents. I was supposed to have an awesome knit blogger meet-up with Ali of Skeins her Way, but Northworst Airlines had other ideas. Next time! Once we finally arrived, I went to what might be the most amazing (in terms of sock yarn) LYS ever--Borealis Yarns in St. Paul. Wow. This place blows doors off the competition in terms of the shear amount of sock yarn they have, indeed they have an entire room devoted only to that. And the employees are the embodiment of Minnesota Nice. I picked up several skeins of Dream in Color Smooshy and am loving it. Pictured below is 'Cool Fire':
While away we also visited my very close friends Phil and Randy at their farm in southwest Wisconsin. My mother recently said that "...every bit of trouble Heather ever got into was with Phil". Yes, that's true, but we're all grown up now. He is one of the head honchos at Star Valley Flowers, a huge flower farm that specializes in flowering branches. If you watch Martha Stewart, he has been on several times (most recently in Feb.) forcing branches. He and his partner are getting an entire flock of sheep as well as a ram and, if you can believe it, a llama. This ornery bugger keeps a watch over the flock and will supposedly stomp any coyotes or wolves that try to make of with a ewe. Good luck guys!
Besides visiting the farm and shopping, we did things that we can't do here in Pennsyltucky, like visit coffee shops with wi-fi. Note the Darling Resident Marxist Curmudgeon's unstoppable technique for reading in public--yes, he's wearing ear plugs. Could he be any more charming?
I do have one FO to show you, it's the Green Gable from several months ago. I decided to give it to my mom as the color was less than flattering on me. She's looking very regal for someone who has a Willy Warmer in her desk drawer, wouldn't you agree?
33 comments:
Oooh, that Dream in Color yarn looks luscious. Love the llama pic. Your green sweater looks just lovely on your mom. Willy Warmer - Ha! Still funny days later....
Ahhh willy warmer! My goodness, that changes the picture entirely. She looks suspiciously lovely and normal- your mom should let her freak flag fly, as they say.
Wow... sock yarn heaven! What fun. Your Green Gable looks great on your mom. The willy warmer totally cracks me up. It is sooo something my parents would've had as a gag gift back in the 70s.
Hi Heather! This is your SOS blog reader, Jeanie. Thanks so much for telling us about Borealis Yarns in St. Paul. I'll be the Twin Cities area next week, so I'm definitely heading there. Love the pics of all your socks in progress. :)
Your mom is gorgeous - but too bad you couldn't get her to pose with the Willy Warmer (tee hee). A LYS with a whole room of sock yarn??? Drool.
Your moms picture makes me think
" still waters run deep..."
lovely yarn store!
cool fire looks delicious.
your mother looks lovely...and so does her green gable.....oh mom, do you know what we know?????!!! :)
Love your family pix :) (Also, today you have the hardest word verification ever - esmgwkkmg - accckk!)
I love MC's technique for reading in public!! I am laughing my as* off. You just gotta love 'm.
its a good thing there was all that soft pretty yarn for you to fall into when you fainted from its beauty!
Your Mom looks fab in green gable
A willy warmer, huh? My family had one of those that was crocheted that made the rounds as a gag gift some years ago. Only they called it a "hunter's companion." Guess it' hard to shoot straight when your willy's NOT warm!
Blessings!
Who knew coffee shops could be so noisy?
Green Gable looks lovely on your Mum. Sorry the trip was too short, but glad to see you got some quality yarn shopping in.
I think I have that same color of Dream in Color. Haven't used it yet--looking forward to it. Looks like a great trip. Pennsyltucky...funny!
Green Gable looks lovely on your mom! it makes you think... what other perfectly innocent looking people have willy warmers (or similarly awkward things) in their drawers at home?
That is a nice store... I want to move in.
And a llama! We just went to a llama fest today. Llamas have the best expressions!
Wow. What a great store! And llamas!
And your mom looks great in Green Gable. Just because she's regal doesn't mean she can't have a sense of humor! ;)
Wow, who knew Minnesota had so much going on. And it's always the 'nice' ones with all the great secrets. I reckon your Mom has a certain glimmer in her eyes.
Ha-ha-ha! That last line, contrasted with the photo of your mom looking very "regal" is priceless! She looks great in her Green Gable.
Do you think your friends Phil and Randy have an extra cot at their farm? I think I want to move in with them and force brances and tend the flock. That photo of their farm looks like it could be in Tuscany. Simply gorgeous!
What a heavenly yarn store. I'm just thinking of why I need a trip to MN!!
The sweater looks great on your mom too!! I think she's very regal for her Willy Warmer! Shows she cares about her subjects on cold winter nights!!! =)
I just love summer vacation. And the twin cities are definitely on my list of places to go yarn shopping when I can!
Well, good to see she wears clothes!
(The green cable looks awesome on her!)
ROFL @ the willy warmer comment. I agree, that Green Gable really looks complementary on your mom! :-D
That shop in St. Paul looks fantastic. I've only been to one yarn shop that has an entire room/section of sock yarn. VERY hard to resist when yarn shops are set up that way. That Dream in Color stuff looks so nice. That color is right up my ally!!!
Green Gable looks great on your mom! Yeah, hard to believe she owns a willy warmer...she looks so tranquil.
Great Green Gable! I must see that yarn store someday!
That is a very flattering sweater on your mother. That willy warmer photo is still stuck in my head.
Wow! Now that's a yarn shop. Your Mom looks lovely BTW, very proper all things considered ;-D. In fact, she looks quite a bit like my Mom which is odd…
Thanks so much for your comment. It's still bugging me. I spent a good portion of the afternoon contemplating my craptacular life. Heavy Sigh…
The DRMC is brilliant! I think I may start wearing ear plugs at work.
You and your mom look SO alike- it is a good color for her.
Bonjour! Je t'aurai acceuillie a Minnesota, si j'avais su que tu y etais. Moi aussi j'habite Minnesota et dans le temps j'ensignais le francais, mais ca fait beacoup d'annees.
I don't like taking the time to hunt up the accents and I'm sure I've made plenty of 'fautes d'orthographe.' :-p
Thanks for posting on my blog and for the gold star! I'll wear it proudly!
You are the reason I am in the knit-along. I saw your post on tricot-Paris and hopped over there and joined right up. I started the blog for that reason, so you also get credit for that. What part of Pennsylvania are you in? My husband's family are in the Philadelphia area.
That's a lovely sweater you made for you mom. She looks beautiful in it.
I'm as green as Mom's Green Gable about that Sock Yarn Nirvana. Jeeez Louise. And all persons of distinction have wooly appendage warmers. Anything else would be uncivilized.
LOL! I'm so glad I'm not the only one that calls it Pennsyltucky! :) Looks like a great time. And your Mom look fab in the green gable! Perfect color for her!
Jessica
How is it that I've never been to Borealis? It's at the top of my list for when I go back to MN.
Your mom looks great in GG!
oh my goodness look at all that fabulous yarn. I am in heaven!
Your mom looks so pretty and love the Green Gable top on her. Great FO!
Post a Comment