The Artist Within – A Homegrown Shop in a Homegrown Town

During my time in southern Colorado, my momma and I made sure to visit the Local Yarn Store (which also happens to be the cutest little locally grown store around).  The Artist Within is a yarn store, jewelry boutique, button and bead outlet and hosts a number of other locally produced goods. 

Carol, the owner, is one of the nicest, sweetest, most fun people to talk to!  She is passionate about her wares and her yarns (and all the other goods) are all locally sourced and produced in the USA.  She carries yarns that I’ve never seen – some from local spinners and dyers, and some from other small mills around the country.

As picky as I am, I usually leave yarn stores empty handed.  This time, that was impossible.  I couldn’t decide between the beautiful yellow of this wool and the crazy soft purpley-grey of this alpaca/merino blend (the product of a local color master).

The yellow isn’t the only beautiful color from Shepherd’s Wool, my momma had visited the store previously and shown off the wonderful red/black and on our return trip, she came home with the grey too.

The purpley-grey color I came home with is a locally sourced, colored and spun Alpaca/Merino Blend from Fiber Tales, a local Durango yarn producer. 

If you’re in the area, I really, highly, recommend visiting this little shop and saying hello!

Pints & Purls Edition 3: Avalanche Amber Ale

This is the third in a series of installments that will highlight  some of my favorite brews and which knits to go with it!  Read more editions here!

…………………………………..

Brew: Avalanche Amber Style Ale

Brewer: Breckenridge Brewery

Malts: Two Row Pale, Caramel, Carapils, Chocolate

Hops: Willamette, Chinook, Palisade

Flavors:  Easy to drink, malty but with a crisp, slightly hoppy presence, the finish is clean and quick.

Knit Pairings:  This beer would go well with just about anything.  Because it’s easy to drink anytime, anywhere, feel free to tackle those focus-needing long projects.  Family sized, super cabled afghan? No problem!  Quick set of baby booties that take no longer than a pint or two? Absolutely.

Notes:  Grab a six pack and sit on the couch with your yarn nest around you and see how much of that huge project you can knock out in one sitting! (Maybe bring some food to your nest…or have some walkie talkies so your closest neighbor, spouse or roommate can bring you sustenance when the beer starts taking it’s toll).

Let me know what you think!  Suggestions for future beers, more/different information to include, this is a work in progress so I won’t be offended by constructive advice!

WIP Wednesday

I’m still in Pagosa Springs enjoying my time with my momma!  Benefit of having a momma who knits is that when we get together we do a lot of knitting, so vacation is absolutely just the way I wanted it to be 🙂

I’ve got quite a few projects going right now, two seekrit, one less than seekrit, really.  I’m making another version of my Spring Crinkle Beanie for a dear friend:

Also, this project is still growing, slowly but surely and will be ready for the world later this month!

Linking up with Tami, as usual!  What are you working on this week?

Spending Some Time Up North

Late last week (or early in the weekend, depending how you look at it) I packed up the dogs and headed up to visit some family.

Saturday morning my Dad and I went for a training run (11 miles!) in the canyons nearby.  You may recall I signed up for the Leadville Heavy Half Marathon on June 29th.  Both my Dad and I are running it and I am so happy that we can do it together! 

After the run and an appropriate breakfast (Girlscout cookies and beer, anyone?), I drove even farther north and have been spending the past few days in Pagosa Springs visiting my mom and her dogs.  Having 5 canines who don’t always get along is almost difficult, but we’ve got plenty of knitting to keep us preoccupied!

What have you been up to?  Did you do anything fun this weekend?