I Love the Yarn Bus

You know how it is. No matter how many needles you have, there is always one you don't have when you really need it. So the fact that I didn't have a 2.75mm 32 inch addi lace circular for a particular magic loop project last Wednesday really didn't come as a great surprise. Getting one in a hurry, though, that can be flummoxing when you live a minimum of 60 miles from a yarn store that stocks addi lace needles. But look! A few new options have appeared here in our tiny Sewanee. Our amazing little mercantile Mooney's has recently started carrying a wide variety of lovely needles, addi lace included! So I headed over and found a US 2 only to find that it was a 3.00mm. Rats. For some reason Addi labels both 2.75mm and 3.00mm as US 2. I think of the 3.00mm as 2.5, really. So it pays to read the fine print. That said, I bought a very nice Knitter's Pride 2.75 and trotted home happy.

But after knitting a few rounds with the KP, I found that it really was slower than the Addi Lace, especially in the changeover from one side to the other. Ok, call me picky, but I am picky and it wasn't exactly what I wanted. And of course we all like our gratification instant, no? Option #2 was just on the horizon. Nashvill'es Haus of Yarn's Yarn Bus has just initiated a regular schedule of Sewanee stops by coming to Mooney's on the first Saturday of every month. My luck!!! I rav messaged YB's pilot Meg (knitknotes23) and asked if she could bring my desired needles from Haus. Saturday I stepped onto the beautiful bus, a vehicle brimming with colorful yarns and top flight tools and notions and there were two lovely packages of Addi Lace 32" 3.00mm. Ha!!! We both had to laugh, cuz it's the kind of thing that happens to the best of us. But on the wall of the bus hung a 32" 2.75mm addi turbo"Sock Rockets" circ. The Sock Rockets are addi's newest needle, a circ with points like the lace but with the nickel finish of the turbo. I've been dying to try them so I was very happy indeed. I'm knitting with them now and couldn't be happier. Thanks, Meg! And in the time I spent in the cozy bus, I saw that several people had had a similar idea in that they had requested special items from Haus as well. Two other knitters left with their special purchases in the short time I was there. I see a trend happening here, especially when Haus carries such a beautiful collection of handpaints...Tosh, Sweet Georgia, Malabrigo, Shi Bui, Koigu to name a few. And Mooney's is carrying more yarns too. Lots of pretty solids. No excuse not to knit on the mountain.

Stay tuned for more on the difference between sock rockets and lace needles, plus tips on magic loop technique.