A Yarn Mystery and Travels in Search of Yarn

Earlier this year, I visited Amazing Threads, a yarn shop in Kingston NY. I was very impressed by some skeins of yarn that they labeled "Amazing Threads Special," with the yarn content, amount, washing directions, gauge and needle size. All the skeins had this store label. The price was great, $3 a skein. In fact, I wrote about this yarn and store visit back on January 13, and the mitts I was making. Imagine my surprise when I was in a Jo-Ann store in Glens Falls yesterday and I found the exact same yarn--Moda Dea's Cartwheel! Or at least, so I thought. I had to buy a skein to check. Guess what? Same thick and thin texture, same distinctive colorway, same amount of yarn, same fiber composition. In fact, it seems to indeed be the same yarn! I wonder what the story is behind this? Perhaps the mill created more yarn than Moda Dea wanted? Or...?

On this same trip, I had a chance to visit a new yarn store, Yarn Angel on Glen Street. Very nice proprietor, a good selection of yarns (many Berroco), and I had a sneak peak at some of the new fall yarns. It seems many of the new pattern books are on back order, but I look forward to seeing them. Actually, previews of the patterns are on the Berroco site. I'm not much of a self-striping yarn fan, but several of the new patterns for Geode and Jasper are calling to me.

Last weekend, a friend and I headed south to visit some yarn shops on the east side of the Hudson. We started at the jam-packed Flying Fingers in Tarrytown, where we each found sample sweaters that called--strongly--to us. Strongly enough that we couldn't leave the store without buying the necessary yarn. Mine is Karabella's Travelling Cables Cardigan. The picture on the pattern doesn't look extraordinary, but the knit garment on does! I treated myself to Aurora 8 in a gold color--something very new for me. I've heard wonderful things about knitting with this yarn. Then we went on to Yarn Central in Hopewell Junction, which has a number of European pattern books and yarns, as well as books and yarns that are more commonly seen. I couldn't leave without scooping up some of the half-price Dale Falk skeins for colorwork. Our last stop was Country Wool outside of Hudson, where we bought several of Claudia's hat and scarf patterns, and a bit more yarn. What a lovely day's excursion!