Gettysburg Weekend

My First Blog Post! Both exciting and a little intimidating. I can't imagine a large audience visiting this site, but still, what to say and not be mundane or trite? Well...it's yarn and needles and knitting...of course it can never be trite so long as I stay on that subject, right?

Anyway, about the weekend. I tricked my SigO into a trip to Gettysburg with the premise of riding our bikes around the Civil War Battlefield. History buff that he is, he jumped on the idea. Of course, we've been together long enough now for him to be fully aware I wouldn't have chosen a spot for a weekend ride if there wasn't a yarn shop nearby that I was interested in visiting. In this case, it was The Misty Mountain Fiber Workshop located right in the heart of historic Gettysburg

When I first walked in, I was a little concerned, since the bulk of the space is occupied by looms and spinning wheels. I've only been knitting for 7 months now and I'm just not ready to add that dimension to the craft. I was worried I wouldn't find anything of interest to me, but boy was I wrong.

I found this great yarn cultivated from local animals, hand-spun and hand-dyed by a couple living in a log cabin in the nearby Applachian Mountains (at least that's what the shop owner tells me--as much as I would have loved finding out first hand, there's a limit to my SigO's tolerance of fiber shopping).

This yarn is half wool, half Llama. It has a charming name, but I've forgotten what it is...I'll do better in the future

This yarn is 100% wool. You wouldn't think so to touch it. It feels much more like cotton. It's called Bobcat. Each skein is 200yds, so I think I should have plenty to do something (who knows what) with, someday. My savings account would be a lot healthier if I was what the Yarn Harlot calls a Product Knitter instead of a Process Knitter, but I can't imagine walking by yarn like this simply because I don't know what I want to make with it yet.

I do only have one project on needles right now...

My first top.

I've knit two hats, four scarves, a shawl and some Hokie Squares for the victims and families of the VA Tech Tragedy and now I feel prepared (ha ha, ho ho, hee hee---whew---I kill me sometimes) to knit a top. Actual Clothing. I had to use US#5 needles to get guage on this cotton/viscose/silk mix that splits like CRAZY! Unfortunately, when I first cast on, I used regular length needles. Those ended up being too short, but I didn't have any US#5's in the longer version, and I was unwilling to put the knitting down and pick up something else (like my now, seriously neglected cross-stitch), so some of the stitches on the ends are somewhat stretched out due to being shoved nearly off the ends of the needles while trying to cram all 106 stitches on one needle. I now have the longer needles and am knitting happily on those.

Which brings me to this:

When I first learned to cross-stitch, I went out and bought all the colors DMC had out. So, is it crazy to have two of everything (and four US#8's) as well as one of every size in the longer version of needles to ensure that the above tragedy doesn't recur? I just want to know, since I don't yet have all sizes and am wondering if other knitters out there have every size necessary for any project imaginable? And yes, my circular collection is just as crazy...is this normal? You know, now that I think about it, does it matter? Not so much. I'm not normal in any other area of life, why start now? But see, there I go getting off track, so I'll end before this gets too wierd.