Thursday, July 18 was the first official day of the Linda and Jan Yarn Crawl. There were 10 LYS we would visit in 2 days to complete the Crawl. We started with a pedicure, Powell’s BookStore and lunch. After all, knitters cannot live by yarn alone.

This is how participants kept track of the LYS they visited. Each LYS had its own button. When you visited the shop, you got a button. When your flowers (roses) were filled with the buttons of each of the 10 LYS, you received the official Rose City Yarn Crawl button which opened the magic door to the official yarn crawl patterns. The first shop we went to was Pearl Fiber.

Pearl Fiber’s slogan may be “It’s not stash it’s a souvenir” but mine is “It’s not a stash, it’s a collection.” And boy, did I ever add to the collection on the Linda and Jan Yarn Crawl. Pearl Fiber is a sweet little shop just down the street from Powell’s the largest bookstore in the continental United States. It’s a city block long and wide and 5 stories high. It was amazing but I do have to say I was a little distracted thinking about all the the yarn we were going to see. My goal for each LYS was to purchase something I’d never seen before. So my first purchase was for Ann.

Ann collects sheep and I thought this would be a perfect addition to her collection. And, I had never seen anything like this. . .

It’s a shawl closure which has a magnet on the back so you never have to stick a point into your knitted fabric. After we left the store, Linda gave me the Pearl Fiber pin and we were on our way to the next LYS.

A LYS with the slogan “Color outside the lines” was made for me. Is it any wonder I bought lots at For Yarn’s Sake!?!?!? I must admit that I was so excited to see all of the beautiful fiber that I didn’t take pictures of the first couple of shops. Oh, well! Excitement kinds of makes me loose my concentration.

This is The Moon & Other Satellites by Larissa Brown and is one of the official Rose City Yarn Crawl patterns. “With its stunning reservoirs, wooded paths and lofty views, Mt. Tabor has long been a source of peace, inspiration, mystery and raw beauty to Portlanders. This design is inspired by watery reflections of the moon, stars and other lights that pass over in the night. Its expanding rings are like ripples in otherwise still water.” The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts’ Socks That Rock in Red Dawn, Copperline, Blood Moon and Shadow. The colors are exquisite and the pattern amazing. I did buy one more thing.

This is Knitted Wit Victory Sock in Valentine’s Day. As soon as I saw it, I knew what it would become.

It will be my next Optical Delusion. As we were leaving For Yarn’s Sake, I realized that my heart was racing and my blood pressure may have been elevated. AND THIS WAS JUST THE BEGINNING! Linda gave me my pin for For Yarn's Sake and we were on our way.  Two LYS but many treasures. On to the next Fabulous Funhouse of Fiber.

The next stop on our Crawl was Knitting Bee. What a fun shop!

I did start taking pictures at Knitting Bee. Look at the front desk made out of huge Granny Squares. Isn’t it adorable!?!?! Don’t you just love seeing a child in a LYS talking knitting!?!?!

Lots of activity, lots of talk. It made me want to sign up to volunteer. I think you can tell a lot about a shop if you close your eyes and listen to the conversation. When I did this at Knitting Bee, I heard joy. I decided to take a deep breath and not buy yarn at Knitting Bee unless I absolutely fell in love with it. But don’t despair, I did buy somethings.

Aren’t these sweet? Made specially for Knitting Bee. I got my pin and we were on our way to shop four which is really over the gorge in Washington.

Blizzard Yarn and Fiber is in Vancouver, Washington and is about to become Linda’s local yarn shop. Linda and Denny are moving from Stevenson to the Vancouver area but that’s another story. We walked into Blizzard and II was overcome by the joyous noise. The shop was full of knitters each singing their own song of knitting. It was amazing.

Gorgeous, hand dyed yarn everywhere I looked. One of the things I noticed about most LYS we visited was the prevalence of small, local fiber companies with hand dyed yarn. The colors are amazing. I could honestly tell myself, “If I don’t buy this I will never be able to buy this exact color again.

I saw these 7 balls of yarn sitting together on the top shelf of a yarn rack.  Well, you know me!!!!  If it's Roy G Biv, get out of my way or I'll run you over.  It is Rowan Felted Tweed in in Mineral, Zinnia, Rage,Tawny, Iris,   Watery and Lotus Le.  I had to have it.  You might think that concluded my purchases at Blizzard Yarn & Fiber but you would be wrong.

In all of my days of loving and stalking Madelinetosh, I have never seen this colorway. This is Madelintosh Merino Light in Magic and it truly is magic. I tried not to buy it because I can buy Madelinetosh at Spun in Ann Arbor. but when I got to the register there it was sticking to my hand!

My last purchase of the day! Now really who could leave Mad Tosh Merino Light +Halo Glitter in Rocky Mountain High, Colorade behind!?!?! Obviously not me. Once again my photography doesn't do it justice. As I write this, I can feel the fatigue I felt at the end of the Linda and Jan Yarn Crawl Day 1. I felt Fiber Fatigue. Just think about it. Don't you think that should become a phrase in the Knitter's Lexicon? Haven't you felt Fiber Fatigue? We drove back to Stevenson basking in the vista that is the Columbia Gorge. When we reached Linda's home, we sat down to drink wine, talk and well, knit! Day 1 exceeded my expectations. On to Day 2!

I am home! I must say it was perfect. I got to spend four days with Linda in beautiful Stevenson, Washington. Linda replicated the Rose City Yarn Crawl which was held in March for me. Let’s just say the Rose City Yarn Crawl +++++. Because of the extra places it is Linda and Jan’s Yarn Crawl. Now let’s start at the very beginning.

This is the famous carpet at PDX, the Portland airport. It is tradition (do not ask me why) to take a picture of your feet standing on the carpet and post them. The carpet is beautiful but I am still a little puzzled at the tradition. Now you must remember this carpet for something to come later.

Is there anything cuter than a baby Alpaca or a baby anything or an Alpaca? I am going to tell you the amazing story of Lucky the year old Alpaca. Lucky is the little brown guy. Last September when Lucky was just a couple of weeks old (and wasn’t named Lucky) something extraordinary happened. The alpacas were just getting ready for bed when the humans of Cedar Creek Alpaca Farm heard a very loud commotion in the pens. They were fortunate to have a camera in the pen and they viewed everything. A cougar entered the pen and grabbed this adorable 15 pound baby. The mother immediately jumped into action and did a pretty good job of clubbing the cougar until it let go of the baby and fled. The baby was rushed to the vet for stitches, antibiotics and lots of prayer. When it was obvious that the baby was going to survive, it became Lucky because it was very lucky.

This picture shows Lucky shortly after his attack looking very sporty in his pink neck bandage. Lucky made the national news, maybe you heard about it then. If you would like to see the video of the attack captured by cameras in the pen, just Google “Mama alpaca saves baby from cougar.” It is very fast, not more than 30 seconds but truly demonstrates a mother’s love. There is a tiny little shop that’s part of Cedar Creek Alpaca Farm. And I did make my first purchase of the Linda and Jan Yarn Crawl.

It was my assumption that all of the yarn sold would be alpaca. I was wrong. This is wool but it is beautiful and I love it. This is acquisition #1.

​I must admit that I have so many pictures and fabulous purchases that I will split it into 4 posts. The next post starts the actual replication of the Rose City Yarn Crawl.

I found it! After searching the Stash Studio, I found yarn for Issey Scarf to knit on my trip to Linda’s. I completed my quest for travel knitting.

I found Sheepjies Whirligig in Sapphire to Teal. It is 80% Virgin Wool and 20% Alpaca. Now for the unveil.

I even finished the pointed end so I won’t need to refer to the pattern while I’m gone.

In forty-four hours, I will be at Linda’s. I am so excited. I will come back with lots of pictures and lots of yarn. I will have so many fabulous stories to tell you.

Here I am but where have I been!?!?!? The past month has been a whirl wind of fearless knitting, color, planning. If it’s July, then it's all about working on the I-75 Yarn Crawl for Ann’s By Design. For me that means Magic Balls, Magic Balls and more Magic Balls. I’m very lucky to have recruited Thea and Linda, my knitting buddies at Ann’s, to measure yarn. For weeks we have been cutting 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 yard strips of pink yarn. But Magic Balls 2019 is a story in itself. Let’s move on.

​I also have been seriously engaged in fearless knitting. But that also is a story for another time. What I really want to talk about is. . .

LINDA!!!!!!! On Wednesday, I am going to Stevenson, Washington to see Linda. I am so excited. Last year, Linda came to stay with me at the condo so this year I am going to her. How great is that! In addition to spending time with Linda talking, knitting, talking, knitting, Linda is planning my own private Yarn Crawl because I won’t be there for the official one. I have been very good not buying UDY (undesignated yarn) in preparation for this trip. Linda has instructed me to bring an empty suitcase for all of the yarn I am going to buy. I will have 5 hours of inflight knitting and a couple hours at the airport, so I think I need to start planning my travel knitting. I do have some ideas.

​One of my favorite travel knitting patterns of all time is Issey scarf by Olga Jazzy.

Remember? It is the perfect travel knitting. Once you get started, it is wonderfully mindless but not boring. Here's where the color confusion comes in.

This is Miss Babs Polydactyl Set of Yummy 2-ply Toes in color sequence "A Play On Purple Glossy Starling." I was looking through yarn in my closet, saw this and thought “OMG! This is perfect!” Issey scarf would be absolutely stunning out of this. I can just see me knitting this in the airport and on the plane and throngs of people coming up and saying, “What are you knitting?” “This is the most beautiful yarn I’ve ever seen!” So, of course, I wound it and now it looks like this.

I got the pattern out, ok, it takes fingering weight, check. And a size 5 needle, check. When I began casting on, I realized that the yarn was way too fine for the needle. So I checked the yarn and it said “needle size 1-3.” WHAT!!!!! The pattern said heavy fingering. I decided to go down to a 3 needle. It still was loose. I’ve done this pattern many times and all of a sudden I knew it was never going to work. I decided to take a trip to the Stash Studio. Where I found this. . .

This is Twisted Fiber Art Evolution in colorway Zen. It is scrumptious! Perfect for Issey scarf. So I got my needle out and cast on, once again too fine. I feel like mama bear, papa bear and baby bear with their bed and porridge. Too hard, too soft, just right. Too hot, too cold, just right. I’ve had too fine and now I’m looking for just right. No not just right, I want perfect. So tomorrow I will take another trip to the Stash Studio and look for perfect. So, I’m in a state of “Color Confusion.” I love it! One of my very favorite problems, obsessing over the perfect yarn.  It doesn't get any better than that.

When I get back on Sunday, I will have pictures of my own private Yarn Crawl and the amazing yarn I purchased. Until next Sunday, keep your fingers crossed that I end my state of Color Confusion and find the perfect yarn for Issey.