September with a Yarn Rep – Day 1
In an attempt to get back into blogging I decided to write about being on the road as a yarn rep and being a fiberholic for the next 30 days. While driving through Vermont yesterday I tried to think of some catchy name for this series – Repolution #9, Traveling with the Raveling Rep, etc. Nothing really worked except a kiss name – September with a Yarn Rep. Right now the photos for this post are trapped in my blackberry pearl until I get the right cable to upload the images. If only the blackberry had an underbar character so I could log into my flickr account!
This may not be the most exciting of blogs. But, it will serve to get me back into writing and possibly look at my work a little differently.
Day 1 – September 1, 2009
Miles driven – 266.7 Time on road – 8:30am to 3:30pm with two store stops
Start/Stop points – Great Adirondack Yarn Studio Amsterdam, NY/Best Western Waterbury, VT
Number of coffee shop stops – 2
Music listened to – Essential Heart, Stevie Nicks Soundstages recordings, various NPR channels
Worst part of drive – being stuck behind trucks on VT 103 & 7N
Best part of drive – being the only car along 17n between New Haven and Waitsfield VT. That road was a lot of fun driving with all the twisting turns and views. Although it must be horrible during the snowy winters.
One frustrating thing about driving so much in this job is that I get such great ideas for knitting projects, my etsy site, etc. while in the car. However, I can’t really stop and write them down and I surely can’t get started on them until I get home. For this trip, that won’t be until Thursday night.
I started the day (6:30 am) at the studio/home of Great Adirondack Yarn. The previous night Patti & I came up with some new designs to submit to Knit ‘n Style for spring while Patti did battle with a very messy cone of Holo Hoops yarn. I will knit a slouchy sweatshirt style sweater using ChaCha.
My day started with leaving Amsterdam, NY and heading first to Not Just Yarn in Brattleboro, VT to pick up the rest of my handspun yarn that I had left there on consignment months ago. The store has both knitting/crocheting supplies as well as those for needlepoint. Susan had sold 10 skeins of my yarn during that time. Now I have both some stock to sell from my car and a check!
Next stop was Knits & Bolts in New Haven, VT. Half of this store is devoted to quilting and fabrics. However, the yarn side does have taller displays filled with colorful yarns. I do know that the store will be getting some new colors in of Tofutsies from Southwest Trading Company soon.
From there I headed up to Waterbury and my hotel. This summer I decided to go as vegan as possible. That is a lot easier to do at home and definitely a challenge on the road. However, I did find a great restaurant in Waterbury where vegetarians are catered to and vegans warned about foods that may contain eggs, etc. – The Cider House BBQ & Pub on route 2. Their food was great and I am going back there again tonight. It turns out that the chef is a vegetarian and a knitter as well. She asked me about my sweater and area yarn stores and I complimented her on the great BBQ Seitan that I had for dinner.
After a long day driving I really didn’t have much energy for knitting. Instead I pulled out the needlepoint and stitched while I watched and made sure the Maria won her opening match at the US Open. I started to watch Andy Murray sail through round 1. But, my eyes were just too tired and begged for lights out.
Tomorrow – Stowe awaits.
Great Adirondack Yarn, Needlepoint, US Open, knitting, spinning
