Pardon me while I go faint from envy...

So, there's this conversation on Ravelry from someone aboard the Wool Boat who sells some wool to a gentleman looking to pick up wool for his wife, and the benefits he will get at home if he brings home something nice...

Hold on, hold on...

Wool Boat?!?!

Yes, indeed! It's a real business, a boat that goes up and down certain canals in England, selling yarn to people in small towns where the local yarn shop has closed down.

Here's the web site: Welcome Aboard the Wool Boat

And here's a picture borrowed from the web site of this wondrous thing:

Go and look at the website right now to see the entire glory of the operation.

So how come no career counselor EVER has suggested such a career, combining oh, so many things that I like into one occupation? Okay, so I live on the other side of the hemisphere and there aren't any navigable canals here in the Pacific NorthWet, and the smaller rivers aren't so friendly to boat traffic... but still... England... on the water... yarn...

::faint::

I think the best we'd do around here is a Yarn RV, driving from town to town, and that's not nearly as envy-producing.

ETA: Also on Ravelry (The Wool Boat group) and Facebook (The Wool Boat FB page).

Fall Yarn Crawl! Knittin' the Rails 2013

It's time for another yarn crawl! Like I need new yarn, uh huh. But I need yarnophile company and a day out of town, and I'm up for a train ride, so let's go!

Here we are at the Amtrak station in Salem, waiting for the train. Six of us aboard, and one more to meet us in Portland.

The train pulls in, hooray!

And we're aboard! Fortunately it's not too crowded for this trip.

In Portland, we saw the Morrison Bridge going up. Not sure what for -- we didn't see any large ships in the vicinity.

First stop - Pearl Fiber Arts! They were having their annual stash sale where people bring in destash yarn, bagged and priced, and other folks come flocking in for bargains. Alas, I didn't get a picture inside -- too busy digging through baskets and bins to see what I might want to come home with. I ended up finding two skeins of Noro -- sock yarn for $2 and lace for $5.

We boarded the bus and went over the river to the east side, and hit Twisted for shopping and Rose and Thistle pub (directly next door) for lunch, the only place I know of to get Scotch eggs now that Nelscott Cafe on the coast stopped making them.

Twisted's famous wall o' sock yarn! Lots of local dyers here, and hard-to-find brands.

At the Rose and Thistle, Claire shows off her mad crochet skilz as she went to work on making a better handle for her shopping bag. She made out like a bandit -- a whole bag of acrylic for crafting for only $1, and another bag of odds-and-ends with some sparkly stuff for $2. The half-pint across the table is Jasper, whose mom met us in Portland. He was a handful, talking nonstop, but pretty good the whole trip. He had all seven of us playing "auntie" to keep him entertained.

We took the bus back across the river and back to the Pearl District, where we hit up Powell's Books. Alas, no pictures there, though the bins of Malabrigo as an end cap for the knitting book aisle would have been a worthy shot. From Powell's we walked to the Tea Zone to get some loose-leaf tea, though we were all too full from lunch to sit down for a snack, and just took away a few goodies for the ride home.

From there it was off to Dublin Bay for one last look at the yarny goodness. It's such a lovely shop, it was too bad we were so tired and near the end of our spending money.

Jasper hangs out with mom and some of the others. I won't say he "relaxes" because I think he goes from spring-loaded to unconscious with nothing much in between. Hey, he's four, so it's to be expected.

My loot at the end of the day! A heat-activated disappearing Tardis mug and a book of tea cozy patterns from Powell's, some black currant tea from Tea Zone, the two skeins of Noro from Pearl Fiber Arts, a skein of Madelinetosh lace and some Rainbow elastic from Twisted, and a skein of Three Irish Girls sock yarn from Dublin Bay.

Don't worry, there's still plenty of yarn left in Portland even after we were done.

Knittin' on the Rails 2013

Hello, back again after being far too busy for my own good. Much to post about FOs and such, but for now, a day away from the busy busy-ness to go on a yarn crawl to Portland on Memorial Day Weekend. Here are some highlights from the trip:

The Amtrak pulls into the station at Salem, where Helen and I awaited, bringing the delegation from Eugene.

This is the way to travel! Comfortably seated, a convenient table to use, lots of leg room, and plenty of knitting to keep us occupied. Airlines, take note.

Once in Portland, we bought day passes for the TriMet system and took a bus over to the east side of town, where we hit Twisted. Alas, I didn't think to get the camera out until after we were done, and missed documenting the Wonderful Wall 'o Sock Yarn. I'll leave it a mystery, then, and entice others to the delights of Twisted.

Just steps away was the Rose and Thistle pub, where we lunched on pub fare. I had to taste the Scotch Eggs, along with a good salad.

Back on the bus and back to the west side, where three beautiful yarn shops lie within walking distance of one another. First, Pearl Fiber Arts:

Just a few of the delights inside. Notice the beautiful Rockefeller shawl around the owner's shoulders, done up in rainbow-toned Poems sock yarn.

We took the streetcar up a few blocks to visit KnitPurl, and again, overcome by wool fumes, I forgot to photograph the interior. There were lovely things inside, trust me!

After a refreshing repast at The Tea Zone, and with the train's departure time approaching, we made a dash for Dublin Bay, where Helen found a few Jamieson yarns that she needed.

I was fairly conservative in my buying, considering all the wonders that I saw. I came away with a skein of Poems Sock for a future shawl, a skein of Black Trillium sock yarn for a sock pattern I have in mind, two books of adorable knitted toys, the Sock Report, and a pattern for a darling little short-sleeve cardigan.

Knittin' the Rails 2012

It's that time of the year again -- not only fiber festival season, but time for a Portland yarn crawl! To make this a green crawl, we hopped aboard the Amtrak to ride northward. Just a small herd of knitters this year, but quite determined in spite of threatening skies. Not a problem, I brought an umbrella and sunscreen -- therefore it didn't rain and we didn't get hot sun, either. It worked!

Here come the train at the Salem station, bringing knitters from Albany to join us:

The Salem contingent awaits their chance to board. It was a crowded train on the way up, but once we all got seated, we were underway.

Mary Scott Huff, author of Teach Yourself VISUALLY Color Knitting, met us at Union Station in Portland, wearing the gorgeous stranded colorwork and felted jacket that she gives instructions for in her book.

First stop, Dubin Bay in the Pearl District, where they always lay out the red carpet for us, or at least a selection of goodies and a discount for yarn crawls. The selection of yarns is lovely, and just for the record, they ship to anywhere in the world that the mail service goes.

A lovely knitting nook with a wide window, as well as a television with sports playing, presumably for non-knitting companions. Today it was decked out with a lovely display of goodies.

From Dublin Bay we went on to Pearl Fiber Arts (formerly Urban Fiber Arts, but apparently someone else went and trademarked the name, alas).

Inside, another tempting array of yarn, including yarn from local growers, dyers, and spinners. The store is preparing to move a few storefronts down, so it's looking an little more sparse than it has in the past, but there was still plenty to tempt.

Some adorable little souvenir spinning wheels:

And some equally adorable knobbly-kneed little felted sheep:

We left Pearl Fiber Arts with 10% off coupons for The Tea Zone, where we had a delicious lunch, including the best grilled cheese panini (with tomatoes and avocado) that I've had in a very long time. I also left with some lovely tea.

After lunch we went to Powell's Books, a vast city of new and used books, where I didn't get a picture, but we made a thorough inspection of the knitting books and came back with a few. After that, we  took the bus across the river and straight to the wonders of Twisted. Let's start with the wondrous wall of sock yarn, featuring local dyers.

They've got some lovely spinning supplies, including these Schacht spinning wheels -- a Ladybug and a Sidekick.

We had a little time to sit and knit while we waited for our bus. Then it was off to the station to catch the train back home.

My haul was modest, but I came back with some choice bits. From left and moving clockwise, I picked up a foam needle felting pad, a skein of pure silk yarn from Blue Moon Fiber arts, a little needle felting kit for making a little elephant, a couple of ounces of Soothing Comfort herbal tea from Tea zone, a skein of hand-dyed worsted merino/bamboo blend from Alexandra's Crafts, a skein of Shepherd Worsted from Lorna's Laces, a bottle of Eucalan lavender, a bit of blue elastic thread, two skeins of turquoise blue Fibranatura Flax linen yarn, and two books from Powell's: 75 Birds, Butterflies & Little Beasts to Knit and Crochet and 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet, both by Lesley Stanfield.

Blue may not be my usual color, but my mother-in-law's hair is thinning and she's feeling embarrassed about her scalp showing through, so I'm making her a few hats, one for summer and two for winter. The summer hat will need the elastic thread, which is why I picked it up.

Tra, la, and I did it all except the books with cash I'd been setting aside for yarn.

Small Business Saturday

No, I don't do the war on Thanksgiving -- a.k.a. post-Thankgiving sales, a.k.a. "Black Friday." I don't do well at all in noisy crowds of strangers, especially in enclosed spaces, and I can't stand the greed-fest. I'm not opposed to shopping, but I am opposed to stores encouraging people to camp in their parking lots on Thanksgiving day instead of being home with their families, or that start their sales on Thanksgiving itself. I've noted which stores in town did that and will not be shopping there all the next year. Maybe, like Bill O'Whatshisname who yammers about the supposed "war on Christmas," I could start a movement about the "war on Thanksgiving." And I think I'd have a much stronger case. I did Buy Nothing Day instead -- at least until the kid from the local high school wrestling team came around selling wreaths. But that's a fundraiser, so it doesn't count.

I waited for Small Business Saturday and patronized Tangled Purls, one of two yarn shops in town. Not that I really need an excuse to check out the books and yarn, but I'll take one anyway. Came home with The Knitter's Handy Book Of Patterns and a skein of Madelinetosh sock yarn.

Then the family went to our locally-owned theater pub and saw The Muppets. Ah, a lovely feel-good holiday moving. Next we want to see Hugo, and we're really looking forward to The Adventures of Tin-Tin. Directed by Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson? Sounds good already.

Spinning Sunday at Stash LLC

Rejoice, Citizens of Corvallis! There's a new yarn shop in town, and it's lovely!

This afternoon, two of us made a pilgrimage to Corvallis to visit Stash LLC for their spinning afternoon. Having gone to grad school in Corvallis -- twice -- I was already familiar with the downtown area and quickly placed the address as a near-next-door-neighbor to a fantastic bead shop I used to frequent, one of those with the aroma of sandalwood and all the peace signs and ethnic items that makes you go, "Bead shop? Head shop? Think I'll stick with the bead cases, thanks."

Just walking in -- doesn't that feel lovely already? Polished wooden floors, samples on display, books -- and yarn! Lots of lovely yarn, and local spinning fiber too.

The spinners were already gathering, with a variety of wheels in evidence. In the back, some folks were having fun with the drum carders, making batts.

Patch came with her spindle:

Helen, who rode down with me, came armed with a spindle, too, as did I, since we didn't know how much space or seating there would be. Jakay came with her crochet:

While the spinning carried on, I trotted down the block to the head bead shop in search of at least 35 grams of beads, yes beads. I needed size 8 seed beads for some tencel yarn that I bought at the first Sock Summit, which will become an Entomology shawl, which is what I intended when I bought the yarn.

Evidence that I did come back with beads.

And I think they go with the yarn quiet nicely. Even if they do have the lingering sandalwood aroma of a... bead shop.

Last Gasp of Summer - Knitting, Pirates, Books, and Fish

Poor hubby has to go back to sch... sch... er, S-word next week. Mine starts up in a few weeks. With one week between the end of the summer classes I was teaching and his return to the working world, we were able to squeeze in a little bit of vacation time.

Spent doing what? Whatever we wanted, really, and for me that meant knitting on my Clarissa cardigan while looking out on a beautiful ocean view:

The view here is from Room 12 of the adorable Inn at Arch Rock in Depoe Bay, Oregon, looking out on the outer bay where we've been told that the Gray Whales frolic in August. However, they were shy beasties this August. I saw one spouting waaaaay off shore the whole time I was there. Apparently they were all here in July. Isn't that always how it is? Kind of like when you go fishing, and the guys at the bait shop say, "Boy, you should have been here last week, the fish were biting right and left, but this week, they're all hiding." Every time I go to Depoe Bay, it's always, "There were 500 hundred whales all dancing the cha-cha and juggling squid yesterday, but today, nothing. Ya shoulda been here yesterday." As for why I specify Room 12 -- we couldn't get one room for all three nights that we wanted, so we were in a ground floor room for the first two nights and moved to a somewhat more expensive upstairs room for the third night. Since the upstairs room also came with a gas fireplace and was a little bit nicer (and more private), we might go with that if we have the chance to stay there again.

We did manage to get out and about to do other things than knit, of course. We drove down to Newport to visit our favorite bookstore, the Canyon Way Bookstore. With the stagnant economy and with people buying fiction in alternate forms (like ebooks and audiobooks), their business has dropped a lot in the past few years, so they're a bit smaller than they used to be. But they've still got all kinds of wonderful treasures to discover. It's a browser's bookstore. They also have a great restaurant, where we had lunch out on the patio, after we did our bit to boost their income by buying a stack of books:

From there we walked down the hill to stroll around Newport's bayfront. The bay bridge is in the background. It's an interesting district, where the industrial fish processing plants are mixed with tourist shops that have grown up around them, and where you can buy fresh fish and crabs straight off of the docks.

On the other side of the bridge is a touristy little pirate-themed shopping place:

That's where you go to find Yarn for All Seasons:

Inside the shop is a delicious assortment of luxury yarns, as well as old standbys like Cascade brand.

I came away with two skeins of self-patterning sock yarn -- Opal and Trekking -- and I splurged on a skein of pure silk from Blue Ridge Yarn that came with a simple scarf pattern to show off the gorgeous colors and shimmer. (That bottle? Complimentary cream sherry that came with our room at the Inn!)

The next day we hit the science geek highlights. First the Oregon Coast Aquarium, with its tanks full of fish like these seahorses:

The famous tank of Moon Jellies:

Deep sea wildlife:

Adorable Tufted Puffins:

And the Passages of the Deep exhibit, where you walk through a glass tunnel that goes through the giant tanks, and where everyone converges on the shark tank. This ray gave quite a show, swimming at us and over the top of the tunnel:

Practically next door is the Hatfield Marine Science Center, a research station that is part of Oregon State University, where their Visitors Center has been educating people about coastal ecology and marine science for many decades:

Exhibits include fish tanks, interactive science displays, and displays showing current research at the Hatfield center.

On our way out of Depoe Bay, we popped into Ainslee's for salt water taffy (we like to stop either there or at Read's in Lincoln City to get fresh made-on-the-premises taffy, rather than shops that stock taffy bought by the case from who-knows-where). We spotted this fellow atop the memorial, who was a little less shy and a little more observable than the whales.

"Well? Ya got popcorn or not?"