Vermont trifecta perfecta

Montpelier on Saturday: great people, great yarn store, great town. The weather cooperated with lots'o wet grayness , perfect for whooping it up at The Knitting Studio. BTW? If you haven't been there in a while , check it out: spacious new storefront digs and friendly new owners. Here's the calm before the storm,

Not that I'm calling her a storm but Norma blew in a moment later. This might have been the last moment the shop was orderly until we closed them down.

Did I say Norma was famous? I meant infamous. So fun to spend the day with her, and see her CPH/no-H) in person. Her Dimorphous Mitts are also pretty spectacular. They so embody Montpelier's aesthetics- artsy, stylish and brilliantly functional. I predict a flurry of them soon.

Next came Sabra and Carol, posed with us above, two of the Mountain Fiber Folk, a cooperative of fiber farms and fiber artists even further north. Definitely Shear Spirit peeps. They cracked us up with tales of the local bar's mens knitting & drinking group (details over at Norma's). Norma seemed to know almost every knitter/blogger who popped in, including Sarah, and I knew many of the others- so it was a loud party. Knitting projects passed around, much admiring of yarns in action. Seriously, isn't it great when you see a yarn becoming a sweater and get a better sense of it? My Rhinebeck friend Barbara and her sister came by (Barbara -do you have a blog?) I know Barbara as the Mother-of-Sarah-Who-Knits-at-Landfills, it's part of her job. I know, don't you want that job too? um, maybe just the knitting part.

If Joan could have joined us it would have been a ShearSpirit reunion. Pop over to the bookblog and check out Joan's new knit, the Mendocino Vest. Rebecca, our book producer/agent was there.

I was teasing her about her passion for the sheep and dogs and not-so-much the patterns. Although a friend leaked the secret that now even Rebecca is knitting. Mission accomplished ! I left with a promise to knit her a cowl, and soon. At a delicious dinner down the street, the book's designer Linda Mirabile joined us- more blab and laughter, over wine and the kind of food you want to last for a week. That good. Seriously, my dinner made me a Brussels sprouts fan.

I left town with the lingering wish for a yarn souvenir, I'd been so busy knitting & talking I didn't get a chance to shop. My drive home goes right by Webs, but tragically (said sarcastically) they're closed on Sundays. Whatsa knitter to do? Duuuh! The Green Mountan Spinnery shop is open and also enroute.
The knitter and designer Eric Robinson was there working, I was thrilled to learn she likes our book, when she noticed me wearing the Montana Tunic (Rav link). As a perfect footnote, no groaning, she taught me to cast on two socks (or mittens) on one circular, something I've been mentally playing with but hadn't quite wrapped my brain around . And I left with two skeins of squeezy soft Mountain Mohair for Rebecca's cowl.

Now that's what I call a weekend.